Both B-sides were credited to Paul McCartney & Wings.Ĭolumbia Records wanted to put the live version on McCartney II but McCartney resisted the change, wanting to keep it a solo album. This version had a much fuller sound and was included as one of the two songs on the B-side of the single the other B-side was also a Wings song, “ Lunchbox/Odd Sox“, that dated back to the Venus and Mars sessions. – Paul McCartney Live versionĪ live version of the song was recorded in Glasgow, Scotland, on 17 December 1979 by Wings during their tour of the UK. I think John just thought, ‘Uh oh, I had better get working, too.’ I thought that was a nice story. But then he’d hear a song of mine where he thought, ‘Oh, shit, Paul’s putting it in, Paul’s working!’ Apparently ‘Coming Up’ was the one song that got John recording again. I heard a story from a guy who recorded with John in New York, and he said that John would sometimes get lazy. Then I heard something else that sounded like he was depressed. I heard one track – the hit, ‘Coming Up,’ which I thought was a good piece of work. But then I realized I hadn’t listened to the whole damn thing. Somebody asked me what I thought of Paul’s last album and I made some remark like I thought he was depressed and sad. – Paul McCartneyįormer band-mate John Lennon liked the song and credited it for driving him out of retirement to resume recording. I got into all sorts of tricks, and I can’t remember how I did half of them, because I was just throwing them all in and anything that sounded good, I kept. It’s been speeded up slightly and put through an echo machine I was playing around with. Then I thought, ‘Well, OK, what am I going to do for the voice?’ I was working with a vari-speed machine with which you can speed up your voice, or take it down a little bit. The absent-minded professor is what I go like when I’m doing those you get so into yourself it’s weird, crazy. I did a little version with just me as the nutty professor, doing everything and getting into my own world like a laboratory. After laying down the drum track, I added guitars and bass, building up the backing track. Then I built it up bit by bit without any idea of how the song was going to turn out. I went into the studio each day and just started with a drum track. I originally cut it on my farm in Scotland. In a Rolling Stone interview, McCartney explained how the song came about: In the United States and Canada, the live version of the song performed by Paul McCartney and Wings (released as the B-side to the single) saw much greater success. The single was a major chart hit in Britain, peaking at number 2 on the singles chart.

McCartney played all the instruments and shared vocal harmonies with wife Linda McCartney. It featured vocals sped up by using a vari-speed tape machine. Like the rest of the album, the song has a minimalist synthesised feel to it. It is the opening track on his second solo album McCartney II, which was released in 1980. “ Coming Up” is a song written and performed by Paul McCartney.

Paul mccartney coming up