From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2007 studio album by Paul McCartney
4 June 2007 (2007-06-04)
October 2003, February 2004
March 2006 – February 2007
Abbey Road, AIR and RAK, London; Henson Recording, Los Angeles; Hog Hill Mill, Sussex
Rock
42:00
Hear Music
David Kahne
Ecce Cor Meum
(2006)
Memory Almost Full
(2007)
Amoeba\'s Secret
(2007)
Ecce Cor Meum
(2006)
Memory Almost Full
(2007)
Electric Arguments
(2008)
\"Ever Present Past\"
Released: 20 April 2007
\"Dance Tonight\"
Released: 18 June 2007
\"Nod Your Head\"
Released: 28 August 2007
Memory Almost Full is the fourteenth solo studio album by English musician Paul McCartney. It was released in the United Kingdom on 4 June 2007 and in the United States a day later. The album was the first release on Starbucks\' Hear Music label. It was produced by David Kahne and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Henson Recording Studios, AIR Studios, Hog Hill Mill Studios and RAK Studios between October 2003, and from 2006 to February 2007. In between the 2003 and 2006 sessions, McCartney was working on another studio album, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005), with producer Nigel Godrich.
Memory Almost Full reached the Top 5 in both the UK and US, as well as Denmark, Sweden, Greece, and Norway. The Grammy-nominated album has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has been certified gold by the RIAA for shipments of over 500,000 copies just in the United States. The album was released in three versions: a single disc, a 2-CD set, and a CD/DVD deluxe edition, the latter of which was released on 6 November 2007.
Professional ratings
Metacritic69/100
AllMusic
Entertainment WeeklyA−The GuardianLos Angeles Times
The ObserverPitchfork Media(6.4/10)PopMatters(5/10)Robert Christgau
Rolling StoneBBCFavorable
Memory Almost Full received positive reaction. At Metacritic, the album earned an average score of 69 based on 23 reviews from critics, which indicates \"Generally favorable reviews\". Evan Serpick of Rolling Stone magazine also compared the medley of five songs in the second part of the album to the famous song suite in The Beatles\' Abbey Road. This album was ranked number 22 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.
Commercial performance
In the US, Memory Almost Full debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 with about 161,000 copies sold within the first week, making it McCartney\'s highest-charting album there since 1997\'s Flaming Pie. 47% of the album sales from the opening week were from Starbucks coffee shops, which were the best sales for any album in the history of Starbucks. While it was announced that copies of the album sold in the Starbucks coffee shops in the UK would not be counted by the Official UK Charts, because they are not registered in the copies counting system, Memory Almost Full, however, still managed to hit number 5 on the UK Album Charts. The album also peaked at number 1 on Billboard Internet Sales Chart, and number 3 on Billboard Top Internet Albums Downloads.
It was ranked at number 90 on the top-100 of the Billboard Year-end chart, and number 177 on the UK year-end chart. The album won awards for the Best PR Campaign award at the Music Week Awards ceremony, and the Online/Digital Campaign award by New Media Age. The album reportedly sold 105,000 copies in his homeland before the standard version of the CD in a unique slip-case was given away free as part of a promotion with British newspaper The Mail on Sunday (18 May 2008).
\"Ever Present Past\" peaked at number 10 in the Bubbling Under Hot 100, and also charting at number 16 on Billboard Adult Contemporary. \"Dance Tonight\" peaked at number 46 on Billboard Hot Digital Songs, number 58 Billboard Pop 100, and finally at number 69 on Billboard Hot 100.
Track listing
All songs written by Paul McCartney.
\"Dance Tonight\"2:54
\"Ever Present Past\"2:57
\"See Your Sunshine\"3:20
\"Only Mama Knows\"4:17
\"You Tell Me\"3:15
\"Mr. Bellamy\"3:39
\"Gratitude\"3:19
\"Vintage Clothes\"2:22
\"That Was Me\"2:38
\"Feet in the Clouds\"3:24
\"House of Wax\"4:59
\"The End of the End\"2:57
\"Nod Your Head\"1:58
41:59
\"Why So Blue\"3:11
45:10
\"Dance Tonight (Acoustic version)\" (iTunes Store pre-order bonus)2:47
44:46
\"In Private\"2:08
\"Why So Blue\"3:11
\"222\"3:38
50:56
\"In Private\"2:08
\"Why So Blue\"3:11
\"222\"3:38
\"Paul talks about the music of Memory Almost Full\"26:04
35:01
\"Drive My Car\"Lennon-McCartney
\"Dance Tonight\"
\"House of Wax\"
\"Nod Your Head\"
\"Only Mama Knows\"
\"Dance Tonight\" (music video)
\"Ever Present Past\" (music video)
Personnel
Personnel per booklet.
Musicians
Paul McCartney – all instruments except for \"Only Mama Knows\", \"You Tell Me\", \"Vintage Clothes\", \"That Was Me\", \"Feet in the Clouds\", and \"House of Wax\", where he was joined by the following musicians (all from his touring band):
Paul Wickens – keyboards
Rusty Anderson – guitar
Brian Ray – bass
Abe Laboriel Jr. – drums
Production
David Kahne – producer and programming
Adam Noble, David Kahne, Steve Orchard, Geoff Emerick, Paul Hicks – engineers
Jamie Kirkham, Eddie Klein, Adam Noble, Chris Bolster, Kevin Mills, Mirek Stiles – assistant engineers
David Kahne, Andy Wallace – mixing
Bob Ludwig – mastering
Humphrey Ocean – cover art front: black love chair (aquatint) and cover art back: black love chair (gouache)
Max Vadukul – inlay photography
Rebecca and Mike – ideas
Grammy nominations
Memory Almost Full has been nominated in the following categories:
Best Pop Vocal Album for Memory Almost Full (2008)
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for \"Dance Tonight\" (2008)
Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for \"Only Mama Knows\" (2008)
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for \"That Was Me\" (2009)
Charts
Weekly charts
position
33
17
25
25
6
2
6
3
33
13
18
4
30
8
17
17
4
6
17
3
20
5
3
1
Year-end charts
200
179
177
90
17
Certifications and sales
Gold
50,000^
Gold
15,000
—
43,563
Platinum
20,000*
Gold
105,010
Gold
634,000
* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Notes:
On the article that Concord Music Group posted on their official site in February 2007 (a month before Memory Almost Full was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America), Hear Music announced that shipments of the album reached a platinum status in the US. The label also claimed that the album gained a gold in other countries like Norway, though International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has not certified the album at any label there as of 2014.
2007 mini-tour releases
In the summer and autumn of 2007, Paul embarked on a promotional mini-tour playing concerts to small audiences - including The Olympia, in Paris, when he performed with The Beatles in 1964 - all in support of his album Memory Almost Full. Four of the performances were later released in various formats.
The Electric Ballroom
Five songs from this 7 June 2007 show at the Electric Ballroom in London were released as video tracks on the Memory Almost Full deluxe edition bonus DVD (see Track Listing above).
Amoeba Gig
On 27 June 2007, Paul and his band played unannounced at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, California. The performance was released as follows:
in 2007, a 4-track EP called Amoeba\'s Secret
also in 2007, 4 tracks were released on b-sides of different versions of the single \"Ever Present Past\" (see table below)
in 2010, a 12-track UK/Ireland promotional CD called Live in Los Angeles
in 2012, a 14-track digital release on his website to premium members, called Live in Los Angeles – The Extended Set
in 2019, the full 21-song performance was finally released as Amoeba Gig
Amoeba performance track listings
1
1
1
\"Drive My Car\"
2:41
1
UK CD
2
2
2
\"Only Mama Knows\"
3:47
UK CD
3
3
3
\"Dance Tonight\"
3:25
2
4
4
4
\"C Moon\"
3:13
5
\"The Long and Winding Road\"
3:34
6
\"I\'ll Follow the Sun\"
2:56
7
\"Calico Skies\"
2:57
3
iTunes
5
5
8
\"That Was Me\"
3:03
6
6
9
\"Blackbird\"
3:44
7
7
10
\"Here Today\"
3:13
8
8
11
\"Back in the U.S.S.R.\"
4:08
9
12
\"Nod Your Head\"
2:00
UK 7\"
10
13
\"House of Wax\"
6:02
14
\"I\'ve Got a Feeling\"
5:56
15
\"Matchbox\"
3:31
9
11
16
\"Get Back\"
4:21
17
\"Baby Face\"
0:54
10
12
18
\"Hey Jude\"
8:01
19
\"Let It Be\"
3:54
11
13
20
\"Lady Madonna\"
3:34
4
12
14
21
\"I Saw Her Standing There\"
3:25
iTunes Festival: London
On 5 July 2007, Paul and his band played for 350 fans in the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) on The Mall in London as part of the first ever iTunes Festival. On 21 August 2007, a 6-track digital EP iTunes Festival: London became available only on iTunes. All tracks written by Paul McCartney except where noted.
\"Coming Up\" 3:39
\"Only Mama Knows\" 3:38
\"That Was Me\" 2:48
\"Jet\"Paul & Linda McCartney4:13
\"Nod Your Head\" 1:58
\"House of Wax\" 4:55
19:23
BBC Electric Proms
On 25 October 2007 Paul and his band played the Roundhouse in London as part of the BBC Electric Proms 2007. The band was joined by a string section for \"Only Mama Knows,\" \"Calico Skies\" and \"Eleanor Rigby.\" More than seven years later, on 3 December 2014, 17 of the 24 songs from the concert were released on iTunes, but soon after removed inexplicably in February 2015.
\"Magical Mystery Tour\"Lennon–McCartney2:36
\"Flaming Pie\"Paul McCartney2:25
\"Got to Get You into My Life\"Lennon–McCartney2:46
\"Dance Tonight\"Paul McCartney2:52
\"Only Mama Knows\"Paul McCartney3:53
\"Blackbird\"Lennon–McCartney2:28
\"Calico Skies\"Paul McCartney2:28
\"Eleanor Rigby\"Lennon–McCartney2:15
\"Band on the Run\"Paul & Linda McCartney5:10
\"Back in the U.S.S.R.\"Lennon–McCartney3:03
\"Live and Let Die\"Paul & Linda McCartney3:06
\"Baby Face\"Harry Akst, Benny Davis0:49
\"Hey Jude\"Lennon–McCartney6:32
\"Let It Be\"Lennon–McCartney3:43
\"Lady Madonna\"Lennon–McCartney2:23
\"I Saw Her Standing There\"Lennon–McCartney3:01
\"Get Back\"Lennon–McCartney3:36
60:53
The seven songs not released from this performance are \"C Moon\", \"The Long and Winding Road\", \"I\'ll Follow the Sun\", \"That Was Me\", \"Here Today\", \"House of Wax\" and \"I\'ve Got a Feeling.\"
