Paul McCartney has gone into the vault to resurrect One Hand Clapping, an album he recorded in 1974 but never released, although the bootleggers certainly did.
In August 1974, when Band on the Run was topping the charts, he and Wings went into London's Abbey Road Studios to film of a video documentary and possible live studio album.
Filmed and recorded over four days, the project was scrapped, although McCartney has released some of the material.
Now set for release on June 14th, One Hand Clapping features the audio recorded for the film, several additional songs recorded off-camera, along with the original artwork designed for the project, including a TV sales brochure for the unreleased film at the time.
Opening with an instrumental jam that would become the One Hand Clapping theme song, the album features live-in-studio renditions of “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run,” “Jet,” “My Love,” “Hi, Hi, Hi,” “Junior’s Farm” and “Maybe I’m Amazed,” plus covers of The Beatles’ “Let It Be,” “The Long and Winding Road” and “Lady Madonna,” and the song Wings guitarist Denny Laine sang when he was in The Moody Blues -- “Go Now.”
One Hand Clapping will be released in multiple formats, including an online exclusive two-LP plus seven-inch package featuring a vinyl single of previously unreleased solo performances recorded on the final day of the sessions in the backyard of Abbey Road studios. These include the unreleased track “Blackpool,” "Country Dreamer," The Beatles’ "Blackbird,” Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock,” and Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue” and “I’m Gonna Love You Too.”
Speaking of The Beatles....
Following the news of the recent discovery of Paul McCartney's 1961 Hofner bass that was stolen in 1972, comes another long lost Beatle guitar.
The 12-string Framus Hootenanny acoustic that John Lennon played on the sessions for The Beatles' Help! album film, as well as on other recordings, will be sold by Julien's Auctions on May 30th at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York.
The guitar ended up in the hands of Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon who later gave it to their road managers. It was recently found in an attic in the UK after being unseen for over 50 years. Considered the most important Beatles guitar ever to come to market, it's expected to exceed its estimate of $600,000 - $800,000 set a new world record for the highest-selling Beatles guitar.
Lennon can be heard playing it on such songs as “Help!,” “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” “It’s Only Love,” “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” and "Girl," and George Harrison played it on "Norwegian Wood."
The guitar will come in its original, although beat-up, case, plus a copy of the book, The Beatles: Photographs From the Set of Help!
Darren Julien, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s Auctions says, “Finding this remarkable instrument is like finding a lost Rembrandt or Picasso, and it still looks and plays like a dream after having been preserved in an attic for more than 50 years..."
A previous John Lennon acoustic guitar sold for a record $2.4 million.
You can see the guitar on display now through April 29th at the Hard Rock Cafe in London's Piccadilly Circus, followed by the New York Hard Rock from May 22nd to the 28th.
The Music Icons auction also includes instruments and memorabilia once owned by Ringo Starr, U2 bassist Adam Clayton, Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, The Who, Mark Knopfler, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, Elton John and many others.