McCartney II is the third solo studio album by the English musician Paul McCartney, released on 16 May 1980. McCartney envisioned it as an experiment and did not intend to release it commercially, following his disillusionment with his band Wings. He recorded it in the summer of 1979 at his home studio in Peasmarsh and Campbeltown. Like his debut solo studio album, McCartney (1970), he produced, engineered and performed all the instruments himself. Originally intended to be a double album, McCartney trimmed it to a single album for commercial reasons. One of its outtakes was the 1979 non-album single "Wonderful Christmastime".
The album was a significant departure for McCartney, relying heavily on synthesisers and studio experimentation, while its musical style embraces new wave and elements of electronica and synth-pop. McCartney's vocals were tinkered with using vari-speed effects. Three of its songs were released as singles: "Coming Up", a UK number 2 and US number 1, "Waterfalls", a UK top 10, and "Temporary Secretary"; the first two were accompanied by music videos.
Critics initially gave McCartney II largely unfavourable reviews, being dismissed as self-indulgent and disappointing. However, retrospective reception has been more positive and the album has become a cult favourite. Some critics credit it as ahead of its time and a forerunner to the sound of 1980s pop. In 2011, an expanded edition of McCartney II was issued with over a dozen bonus tracks. In 2020, the album was succeeded by McCartney III. In 2022, the trilogy was reissued in the McCartney I II III box set.
Background and recording
Following the commercial failure of the Wings' album Back to the Egg (1979), Paul McCartney retreated to his newly purchased Lower Gate Farm in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, where he decided to experiment with new recordings. Similar to his first solo album McCartney (1970). the recordings were initially intended as experiments and not planned for commercial release. At the time, McCartney stated: "I wasn't trying to do an album. It was just for my own satisfaction. But in the end, I got a few tracks, and I played it to a couple people, and they said, 'Oh, I see, that's your next album.' So, then I got a bit serious on it, trying to make it into an album." Additionally, he had begun to feel disillusioned with Wings, so aimed to create music different than Wings' output.
McCartney II was recorded over six weeks in the summer of 1979, beginning in June at Lower Gate Farm and moving to the Spirit of Ranachan Studio in Campbeltown through July and August. McCartney himself produced and engineered, only receiving help from his technician Eddie Klein, who supplied him with a Studer A80 16-track machine and various microphones, stands, a 16-track mixer and recording tape.
Similar to his recording process for McCartney, McCartney began by recording drum tracks first, which he then overdubbed instruments and vocals onto. In a contemporary interview, he explained that he enjoyed the freedom the sessions gave him, negatively comparing it to his recent experience recording Back to the Egg with Wings. McCartney performed every instrument himself, which included synthesisers, keyboards, bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, electric piano, drums and percussion. He utilised unconventional methods to receive his desired sounds, such as using a kitchen or bathroom as an echo chamber to achieve an "echo snare". For his vocals, he applied vari-speed effects to change his pitch. While most songs originated from experiments, "One of These Days" was inspired by a Hare Krishna devotee visiting McCartney in the studio.
By September 1979, McCartney decided to release the tracks as his second solo album. Mixing occurred at Abbey Road Studios in London from late September to mid-October, with Klein engineering. With 19 total tracks recorded, he originally planned for McCartney II to be a double album but trimmed it down to a single album for commercial reasons. Eleven songs appeared on the original album. Outtakes included "Wonderful Christmastime", released as a single in November 1979; "Check My Machine" and "Secret Friend", both released as single B-sides; "Bogey Wobble", "Mr. H Atom", "You Know I'll Get You Baby", "All You Horse Riders" and "Blue Sway", all of which were shelved until they were released on the deluxe edition of McCartney II in 2011.
Following McCartney II completion, McCartney and Wings regrouped for a UK tour from November to December 1979. Plans for a world tour were cancelled in early 1980 when McCartney was arrested after being caught in possession of 219 grams of marijuana in Tokyo, Japan, on 16 January. McCartney's arrest generated a wave of publicity in tabloids and on television. After a ten-day stay in jail, he returned home to his Scottish farm. Deciding to put Wings on hold while he contemplated his future, he now decided to issue his solo recordings from the previous summer.
Music and lyrics Featuring arrangements that are heavy on synthesisers, McCartney II has been said to represent McCartney's "acceptance of new wave", and has been described as "airless proto-electronica". The album is often experimental, with most of its songs having been described as strange "eccentric synthpop". Although McCartney denies any direct influences on the album, he admired the "eccentricity" and "not-mainstream attitude" of Talking Heads' David Byrne. McCartney was also inspired by experimental composers John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and Luciano Berio; McCartney explained: "I went to their concerts in London because I had plenty of time on my hands so it was the kind of thing I would go and see. Again, just to see what it was about, not necessarily because I was a massive fan. It was more like: what is a prepared piano? Oh, that's what it is. You know, funky stuff like that."
According to Stephen Dalton of The Quietus, parts of the album are reminiscent of krautrock and "the whole post-punk disco boom", and described most of the album as "an alluringly weird mash-up of trip-hop, Krautrock and synth-pop." McCartney said that, "rather than me emulating anyone, it was more a question of me seeing what I could do with it. And again, not necessarily thinking I was making an album, just to have some time to experiment. These days I would say that with the Fireman project. So I've always been into that – if you go from 'Tomorrow Never Knows' through McCartney I, McCartney II, the Fireman..." Many of the most synthesised tracks are instrumentals which have been described as ambient; journalist Stephen Thomas Erlewine compared them "to a sprightly variation" of the instrumentals from the second side of Low (1977) by David Bowie, albeit with a warmer, less menacing sound.
Songs "Coming Up" is an experimental pop song. McCartney ran his vocals through a vari-speed machine, resulting in what Luca Perasi calls a "wound-up" vocal; Linda McCartney contributed backing vocals. In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (2021), McCartney described it as "a very positive song" that reflects his "very positive attitude". "Temporary Secretary" is an electronic piece built on a sequenced synthesiser loop, which McCartney likened to the sound of a "space typewriter". The lyrics concern an employer writing a letter to a hiring agency requesting a temporary secretary. McCartney described the song as "tongue-in-cheek" and compared its style to that of Ian Dury.
"On the Way" is a 12-bar blues song with echoed vocals and slow guitar parts. It began as a basic instrumental track before McCartney watched a BBC special on American blues music called The Devil's Music (1979). "Waterfalls" was the only song written before the McCartney II sessions began. Described by Perasi as "a dreamy song with an ethereal atmosphere", the song features electric piano and an orchestra created using synthesisers. Lyrically inspired by images in tourist catalogues, the song is a plea to stay safe and away from, in McCartney's words, "doing all the dangerous stuff, 'cause I need you." "Nobody Knows" was inspired by the same BBC special that inspired "On the Way". Featuring numerous electric guitar parts, "Nobody Knows" has a country and western feel.
"Front Parlour" was the first track recorded for the album and was titled after the room it was recorded in. It is built on synthesisers over a drum pattern. According to McCartney, "Summer's Day Song" originated after hearing a classical song, which he attempted to recreate using synthesisers. Perasi believes he may have been referring to Brian Eno's "Spider and I" (1977), as he says both songs have a similar tone and "lethargic melody". The instrumental "Frozen Jap" came about as McCartney was experimenting with synths and stumbled upon, in his words, an "Oriental"-sounding melody. The title was meant to be a placeholder as McCartney found earlier song names such as "Crystalline Icicles Overhang the Little Cabin By the Ice-Capped Mount Fuji" and "Snow Scene in the Orient" clumsy. On Japanese copies of the album, the title was changed to "Frozen Japanese" because McCartney was unaware that "jap" was viewed as a racial slur.
"Bogey Music" was inspired by the children's book Fungus the Bogeyman (1977). It is a 12-bar boogie containing drums, a rhythm box, synthesisers and electric guitar lines, with McCartney doing vocal impersonations of Elvis Presley. Linda McCartney provided a small vocal part. According to Perasi, "Darkroom" is "a sort of experimental blues built on a drum and bass groove". McCartney said it could be about any type of dimly lit room; a darkroom for photography and film, a dark room for sex, or a literal dark room. "One of These Days" is an acoustic ballad that uses heavy reverb. Authors Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair interpreted the lyrics as reflecting an aspiration for simplicity, while music professor Vincent P. Benitez argued that they represent McCartney advocating for himself to remove the things that prevent him from being happy and self-fulfilled.
Release and promotion McCartney II was released in the UK on 16 May and in the US on 22 May 1980. The album cover is a grainy, mug shot-style image of Paul photographed by Linda during a Wings photoshoot in the summer of 1979. To promote the album, Paul conducted various interviews with British journalists and music critics. These included one with Tim Rice, which was filmed in May 1980 for the Meet Paul McCartney television special and aired by ITV in August and October; one with Nicky Horne for the programme Thames At Six; one with Paul Gambaccini for Rolling Stone magazine, published in July; and one with Vic Garbarini, which appeared as a limited-edition LP titled The McCartney Interview. The LP was released on 4 December 1980 in the US and on 23 February 1981 in the UK, where it charted at number 34 and 158, respectively.
McCartney II performed well commercially. The album debuted in the UK at number one on the UK Albums Chart, becoming McCartney's first number-one there since Venus and Mars (1975); it was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling 100,000 copies. EMI reported that the album was on track to equal the sales of Band on the Run (1973). In the US, initial sales were strong and the album reached number three in its second week on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes album chart, where it remained for five weeks. The album quickly dropped down the charts and was off the Billboard chart after 19 weeks, McCartney's shortest run since Wild Life (1971). It was one of his lowest-selling albums in the US up to that point. Nevertheless, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Elsewhere, McCartney II reached number 2 in France, number 5 in New Zealand, Norway and Sweden, number 6 in Australia, number 7 in Spain and number 8 in Japan.
Singles