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Rating: Return to the beginnings, to simplicity, to the pleasure of playing just for the sake of it. McCartney proves to be an absolute genius not only for his compositional qualities but also for his versatility and his ability to surprise with always new, unexpected ideas. It's the beginning of 1991, and the super world tour of Flowers In The Dirt (the Paul McCartney World Tour) has just ended a few months ago: 104 concerts in just under a year, with dates across Europe, Japan, and America; a succession of sold-out dates in front of tens (more likely hundreds) of thousands of people; a triple live LP (Tripping live Fantastic) hugely popular and appreciated as a result of the stage endeavors. Quite something, and something to live on for a while. Yet Paul surprises us once again: after so much pompousness and oceanic crowds, he decides to pick up an acoustic guitar and a microphone, stand before a small and fortunate audience of just a few dozen people, and play only to entertain and enjoy himself, supported by a small but tight-knit group of musicians, including the inseparable Linda. The result is this Unplugged - The Official Bootleg recorded for MTV on January 25, 1991. Don't be fooled by the almost bar-like, jolly atmosphere that pleasantly accompanies us during the listening and is testified by McCartney's numerous spoken interludes with the audience: the result is of absolute quality and in some ways astonishing. The choice of pieces is also spot-on and significant because in it we find those to which Paul is most fondly attached: great blues and folk classics that represent his musical roots such as Be-Bop-A-Lula, San Francisco Bay Blues, Ain't No Sunshine to name a few; his first song written at 14 and never played before, I Lost My Little Girl; the splendid pieces he wrote during the Beatles years, both acoustic like Blackbird or I've Just Seen A and rearranged for the occasion like We Can Work It Out, She's A Woman, or Here There And Everywhere ("his best song," Paul had said in an interview of that period on Italian television); and finally some almost forgotten gems from his first solo album of 1970, a very intimate and personal record, which here find the right dimension, like the melancholic Junk or the sweet Every Night. The setlist is fluid and well assorted, and this is another point in favor of Paul, who during the performance seems to be in unprecedented form, conveying great energy and vitality.
Surely also for this reason Unplugged - The Official Bootleg turns out to be a fresh, brilliant, fun, but also relaxed and pleasant record, and it is another precious piece that once again testifies to the virtues and completeness of an artist who in his long career has never left anything to chance and who has indelibly (and unforgettable) marked the history of contemporary music and our lives.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 The Lovely Linda (00:45)
La la la la la the lovely linda
with the lovely flowers in her hair
La la la la la the lovely linda
with the lovely flowers in her hair
06 Junk (01:57)
Motor Cars, Handle Bars
Bicycles for Two
Broken Hearted Jubilee
Parachutes, Army Boots
Sleeping Bags for Two
Sentimental Jamboree
Buy Buy
Says the Sign in the Shop Window
Why Why
Says the Junk in the Yard
Candlesticks, Building Bricks
Something Old and New
Memories for You and Me
Buy Buy
Says the Sign in the Shop Window
Why Why
Says the Junk in the Yard
08 Oo You (02:50)
Look like a woman
Dress like a lady
Talk like a baby
Love like a woman
Oo you
Oo you
Walk like a woman
Sing like a blackbird
Eat like a hunger
Cook like a woman
Oo you
Oo you
Look like a woman
Dress like a lady
Talk like a baby
Love like a woman
Oo you
Oo you
12 Maybe I'm Amazed (03:55)
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time.
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pull me out of time
You hung me on the line
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you
Maybe I'm a man
Maybe I'm a lonely man who's in the middle of something
That he doesn't really understand.
Maybe I'm a man
And maybe you're the only woman who could ever help me.
Baby, won't you help me to understand?
Maybe I'm a man
Maybe I'm a lonely man who's in the middle of something
That he doesn't really understand.
Maybe I'm a man
And maybe you're the only woman who could ever help me.
Baby, won't you help me to understand?
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I leave you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song
Right me when I'm wrong
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you
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Other reviews
By London
The album feels as if Paul is playing it right in front of you, together with you and just for you.
'Maybe I’m Amazed' is a poignant declaration of love for Linda that would have become a Beatles classic.
By nessuno
Many people are just discovering it now, certainly Paul’s most refined and personal album.
A record to listen to exclusively with headphones after a day’s work.
By panlio malmieri
The result is a small, cohesive gem, which quietly starts off modestly and, surprisingly, reveals some raw and hidden pearls.
It’s a small work that smells of wood, of small handcrafted work - almost without regard for the audience that is listening.
