''Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)'' is a live album of

unplugged Unplugged may refer to: *Acoustic music, music not produced through electronic means * "Unplugged" (B.A.P song), 2014 * "Unplugged" (''Modern Family''), a 2010 episode of ''Modern Family'' Albums and EPs * ''Unplugged'' (5'nizza album), 2002 * '' ...

performance by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, recorded and released in 1991.

Overview

Following the vastness of

the Paul McCartney World Tour The Paul McCartney World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by Paul McCartney, notable for being McCartney's first tour under his own name, and for the monumental painted stage sets by artist Brian Clarke. The 103-gig tour, which ran from 1989 th ...

(1989–1990), captured on ''

Tripping the Live Fantastic ''Tripping the Live Fantastic'' is Paul McCartney's first official solo live album and his first release of concert material since Wings' 1976 '' Wings over America'' live package. Recorded during the Paul McCartney World Tour (1989–1990), ...

'', McCartney took the opportunity to strip back his songs and appear on the acoustic-only show ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

'', which had only been on air for over a year at that point. Subsequently, McCartney was the first in a long line of artists to release an album of their performance on the show. Unlike other artists who appeared on the show with acoustic instruments plugged into amplifiers, McCartney's instruments were entirely unplugged. Microphones were carefully placed close to guitars, pianos, etc. to pick up the sound (this can be seen on the album cover, where a large rectangular microphone is pictured in front of McCartney's acoustic guitar). Using the same line-up that had recently backed him (save for

Blair Cunningham Blair Cunningham (born October 11, 1957, Memphis, Tennessee) is an American drummer who has played for many bands and artists including Denise LaSalle, Robert Johnson, the Detroit Emeralds, Frederick Knight, Echo & the Bunnymen, Haircut One ...

who had replaced

Chris Whitten Chris Whitten (born 26 March 1959) is a British session drummer who provided drums for the hit singles " What I Am" by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, "World Shut Your Mouth" by Julian Cope and " The Whole of the Moon" by the Waterboys. Two no ...

), McCartney used the opportunity to bring out some of his rarer tracks, including three from his 1970 debut album ''

McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

'', alongside several covers and amid a number of familiar

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

hits.

Songs

Several tracks performed in the show were not included on the album, as follows: "Mean Woman Blues", " Midnight Special", "

Matchbox A matchbox is a container or case for matches, made of paperboard, cardboard, thin wood, or metal, generally in the form of a box with a separate drawer sliding inside the cover. Matchboxes generally measure 5 x 3.5 x 1.5 cm, and commonly have ...

", "The Fool" and "

Things We Said Today "Things We Said Today" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released in July 1964 as the B-side to the single " A Hard Day's Night" and on their album of the same ...

". "Things We Said Today" and "Midnight Special" would see official release two years later in 1993 as B-sides to the "

Biker Like an Icon "Biker Like an Icon" is a song by Paul McCartney from his 1993 album '' Off the Ground''. It was released a fourth single from the album as 7-inch and CDs. Music video The music video for the song first aired on MTV's ''First Look'' television sho ...

" single. "Mean Woman Blues" was also released on promotional single only. Songs rehearsed by the band but not performed at all include: "

Mother Nature's Son "Mother Nature's Son" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was ins ...

", "

Tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands (''Los Altos (Jal ...

", "

Cut Across Shorty "Cut Across Shorty" is a song written by Marijohn Wilkin and Wayne P. Walker, originally released and made popular by Eddie Cochran. It was the b-side of his number 1 UK hit " Three Steps To Heaven" and the last song he ever recorded. Personnel * ...

", "

Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap is a Mountain pass, pass in the Eastern United States, eastern United States through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains and near the tripoint of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. At&n ...

", "Hey Liley, Liley, Lo", "

Froggie Went A-Courtin' "Frog Went a-Courtin (Roud No. 16; ) is an English-language folk song. Its first known appearance is in Wedderburn's '' Complaynt of Scotland'' (1549) under the name "The Frog cam to the Myl dur", though this is in Scots rather than English. T ...

", " Love Me Tender", "

Rock Island Line "Rock Island Line" ( Roud 15211) was originally sung as a spiritual by slaves on the plantations of the Mississippi River Valley, and was first transcribed as a folk song in 1929. The first recording was made by John Lomax, who was traveling amo ...

" and "

Freight Train A freight train, also called a goods train or cargo train, is a railway train that is used to carry cargo, as opposed to passengers. Freight trains are made up of one or more locomotives which provide propulsion, along with one or more railroad ...

".https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/session/unplugged-rehearsals/

Release

Critical response to ''Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)'' was very warm. Initially released in a limited edition, individually numbered run in 1991, ''Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)''—with artwork that recalls ''

Снова в СССР ''CHOBA B CCCP'' (; also known as ''The Russian Album'') is the seventh solo studio album by Paul McCartney, released on 31 October 1988 exclusively in the Soviet Union. The album consists of live-in-studio recordings of covers, mainly rock and ...

s—was reissued in a more permanent fashion in the late 1990s. Upon its original issue, it reached number 7 in the UK and became McCartney's highest-peaking US album in almost ten years, reaching number 14.

Track listing

Personnel

– acoustic guitar, vocals, drums on "Ain't No Sunshine", harmony vocals on "And I Love Her" *

Linda McCartney Linda Louise, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, cookbook author, and activist. She was the keyboardist and harmony vocalist in the band Paul McCartney and Wings, Wings tha ...

– Indian harmonium,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, vocals *

Hamish Stuart James Hamish Stuart (born 8 October 1949) is a Scottish guitarist, bassist, singer, composer and record producer. He was an original member of the Average White Band. Biography Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Stuart attended Queens Park School ...

–

acoustic bass guitar The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than, a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar ...

, acoustic guitar and lead vocals on "And I Love Her" and "Ain't No Sunshine" *

Robbie McIntosh Robbie McIntosh (born 25 October 1957) is an English guitarist. McIntosh is best known as a session guitarist and member of the Pretenders from 1982 until 1987. In 1988 he began doing session guitar work for Paul McCartney, joining his band ...

– acoustic guitars,

Dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

, vocals, piano on "Ain't No Sunshine" *

Paul "Wix" Wickens Paul "Wix" Wickens is an English musician best known as keyboardist and musical director of Paul McCartney's touring band since 1989. In a career that started in 1973, Wickens has also worked with artists including Nik Kershaw, Bob Dylan, Joni ...

– piano, keyboards,

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

, percussion, vocals, acoustic bass on "Ain't No Sunshine" *

– drums, percussions, vocals

Charts

References

{{Authority control MTV Unplugged albums Paul McCartney live albums 1991 live albums Parlophone live albums Acoustic albums