Tripping The Live Fantastic
	Produced by Paul McCartney, Bob Clearmountain & Peter Henderson
	Released on November 6, 1990
	UK CHART POSITION #26 . . . US CHART POSITION #16
	Find it at GEMM
CDP 7 94778 disc one cover [high resolution scan]

S omehow I only managed to get the first of this two-disc set; in retrospect, it was a blessing in disguise. The state of Paul McCartney’s voice is terrible from the onset, and it doesn’t get any smoother over the course of the show. The arrangements from the band are pedestrian at best, outclassed at every step by earlier versions from Wings (which one wouldn’t think was too high a hurdle to clear). Thus old gems like “Band on the Run” and “Jet” run out of gas early. The more recent McCartney material is a notch better, as it’s fresh in everyone’s mind. In fact, “We Got Married” and “Put It There” get the most sympathetic treatment from Paul and the band on disc one. There are, of course, the old Beatles tracks, which is what generated interest in the tour (nobody was that fired up about Flowers In The Dirt). A fine reading of “Got To Get You Into My Life” notwithstanding, these classics suffer from Paul’s cracking voice. “Birthday” gets rushed, “The Long And Winding Road” comes off mawkish, “Fool On The Hill” is hampered by the inexplicable use of Martin Luther King’s voice in the middle, and even “Can’t Buy Me Love” can’t bring back the magic. There are brief sections where the old pop pixie dust appears, including the opening of “Maybe I’m Amazed” (where I could actually feel a lump form in my throat) and the unsinkable Sgt. Pepper’s. Unless Paul got his voice back AND fired his backing band during the intermission, disc two is probably more of the same. As generous as it is, Tripping The Live Fantastic is a ticket to nowhere. If you must go idol gazing, the single-disc Highlights seems to capture the show’s most flattering side.

CDP 7 94778 booklet gatefold

TRACK LISTING

disc one

1. SHOWTIME    0:38
2. FIGURE OF EIGHT    (Paul McCartney)    5;33
3. JET    (Paul McCartney)    4:02
4. ROUGH RIDE    (Paul McCartney)    4:48
5. GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)    3:24
6. BAND ON THE RUN    (Paul McCartney)    5:10
7. BIRTHDAY    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)    2:43
8. EBONY AND IVORY    (Paul McCartney)    4:01
9. WE GOT MARRIED    (Paul McCartney)    6:38
10. INNER CITY MADNESS    (Paul McCartney/Linda McCartney/Hamish Stuart/Robbie McIntosh/Paul "Wix" Wickens/Chris Whitten)    1:23
11. MAYBE I'M AMAZED    (Paul McCartney)    4:42
12. THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)    4:18
13. CARCKIN' UP    (McDaniel)    0:50
14. THE FOOL ON THE HILL    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)    5:01
15. SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)    6:34
16. CAN'T BUY ME LOVE    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)    2:17
17. MATCHBOX    (Carl Perkins)    3:07
18. PUT IT THERE    (Paul McCartney)    2:44
19. TOGETHER    (Paul McCartney/Linda McCartney/Hamish Stuart/Robbie McIntosh/Paul "Wix" Wickens/Chris Whitten)    2:15
    
    disc two
    
20. THINGS WE SAID TODAY
21. ELEANOR RIGBY
22. THIS ONE
23. MY BRAVE FACE
24. BACK IN THE U.S.S.R.
25. I SAW HER STANDING THERE
26. TWENTY FLIGHT ROCK
27. COMING UP
28. SALLY
29. LET IT BE
30. AIN'T THAT A SHAME
31. LIVE AND LET DIE
32. IF I WERE NOT UPON THE STAGE
33. HEY JUDE
34. YESTERDAY
35. GET BACK
36. GOLDEN SLUMBERS/CARRY THAT WEIGHT/THE END
37. DON'T LET THE SUN CATCH YOU CRYING

CREDITS

PAUL McCARTNEY --
LINDA McCARTNEY --
ROBBIE McINTOSH --
HAMISH STUART --
CHRIS WHITTEN --
PAUL "WIX" WICKENS --
Jeff Cohen -- engineer
Bob Clearmountain -- mixing
Peter Saville -- art direction
Peter Saville Associates -- design
Donald Christie, Shoichiro Kataoka, Ross Halfin, Alan Silfen, Dave Modell, Jorie Gracen, Guido Harari -- photographers

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