Released in 1998
Wide Prairie
Written by Linda Eastman / McCartney
Last updated on November 16, 2019
Released in 1998
Written by Linda Eastman / McCartney
Last updated on November 16, 2019
Album This song officially appears on the Wide Prairie Official album.
Timeline This song was officially released in 1998
This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:
"Suzy And The Red Stripes" sessions
November 1973
July 1974
McCartneys still making sweet music
Nov 19, 1998 • From USA Today
Wide Prairie – A song written by Paul, for Linda to sing. Recorded in November 15, 1973 in the EMI Odeon, in Paris, with a six man horn section, led by Tony Dorsey added during the Nashville sessions, in June 1974. An 11:37 mix as placed on the 1978 Kold Kutz compilation, but when it was officially released as the title track of on Linda McCartney’s posthumous solo album in 1998, this was edited down to less than half the length.
4 versions to exist :
1) The version released on ‘Wide Prairie’ is the shortest of all the available versions, hand has the “Paul” opening verse edited out. Also, Linda re-recorded two lines that refer to “eating jerky”
2) The version from the Oobu Joobu radio series has the missing verse and has all the original lyrics, but is incomplete on both ends as Paul talks over the intro + outro (“…and looking very relaxed, Adolph Hitler on vibes!”)
3) The EPK had the ‘Wide Prairie version’, albeit with foley, and had an extended fade, which gave us more of the fade in comparatively excellent quality.
4) The version from the original Cold Cuts LP was over eleven minutes, but ran fast and was only VG sound quality (as opposed to excellent)
From Wide Prairie liner notes:
I have always thought of this song as Linda’s fantasy. Her passion for horses and riding started as a young girl and remained with her all her life. Her tongue in cheek attitude and what we caller her “twangy” voice combined to make this joyful little rocker. She recorded it during sessions at EMI studios in Paris where years before I had done a vocal for Can’t Buy Me Love. We travelled there shortly after Princess Anne’s first wedding in Westminster Abbey, taking the group van with the other band members who at the time included Jimmy McCullouch and Denny Laine. As you can probably hear we had a ball.
Paul McCartney
I was in Paris
Waiting for a flight
When this guy came up
To me and said
Have you got a light?
When I was born in Arizona
And when I was only three
My mother took me to her saddle
And we rode the wide prairie
Oh, wide prairie, wide prairie
And we rode the wide prairie
My mother took me to her saddle
And we rode the wide prairie
Well I was living in Aspebueller
And when I was only ten
My father took me to his saddle
And we rode the range again
Oh, wide prairie, wide prairie
And we rode the wide prairie
My father took me to his saddle
And we rode the wide prairie
And I ain't going back
No, I ain't going back
Going back no more
Well, now we live in Albuquerque
And we raise the family tree
We spend our days a-feeling perky
And we ride the wide prairie
Oh, wide prairie, wide prairie
And we ride the wide prairie
We spend our days
A-feeling perky
And we ride the wide prairie
I was in Paris
Waiting for a flight
When this guy came up
To me and said
Have you got a light?
And you know what happened
Official album • Released in 1998
4:36 • Studio version • A1
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Bass, Electric organ, Piano, Producer, Rhodes Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals, Lead vocals, Mellotron Denny Laine : Acoustic guitar Jimmy McCulloch : Electric guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Thaddeus Richard : Alto saxophone Davey Lutton : Drums Ernie Winfrey : Recording engineer Johnny Gimble : Fiddle George Tidwell : Trumpet Barry McDonald : Trumpet Norman Ray : Baritone saxophone Vassar Clements : Fiddle Hewlett Quillen : Trombone William Puett : Tenor saxophone
Session Recording: Nov 20, 1973 • Studio EMI Pathé Marconi Studios, Boulogne-sur-Seine, France
Session Overdubs: Jul 08, 1974 • Studio Soundshop Recording Studios, Nashville, USA
Session Overdubs: Jul 11, 1974 • Studio Soundshop Recording Studios, Nashville, USA
Official album • Released in 2019
4:36 • Studio version • A1.2019 • 2019 remaster
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Bass, Electric organ, Piano, Producer, Rhodes Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals, Lead vocals, Mellotron Denny Laine : Acoustic guitar Jimmy McCulloch : Electric guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Thaddeus Richard : Alto saxophone Davey Lutton : Drums Ernie Winfrey : Recording engineer Johnny Gimble : Fiddle George Tidwell : Trumpet Barry McDonald : Trumpet Norman Ray : Baritone saxophone Vassar Clements : Fiddle Hewlett Quillen : Trombone William Puett : Tenor saxophone Alex Wharton : Remastering
Session Recording: Nov 20, 1973 • Studio EMI Pathé Marconi Studios, Boulogne-sur-Seine, France
Session Overdubs: Jul 08, 1974 • Studio Soundshop Recording Studios, Nashville, USA
Session Overdubs: Jul 11, 1974 • Studio Soundshop Recording Studios, Nashville, USA
1997 • For Linda Eastman / McCartney
Album Wide Prairie
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 2) 1990-2012
This new book by Luca Perasi traces Paul McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1990 to 2012 in the form of 250 song entries, filled with details about the recordings, stories behind the sessions and musical analysis. His pop albums, his forays into classical and avant-garde music, his penchant for covering old standards: a complete book to discover how these languages cross-pollinate and influence each other.
The second volume in a series that has established itself as a unique guide to take the reader on a journey into the astonishing creativity of Paul McCartney.
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