Flowers in the Dirt
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| Flowers in the Dirt | |||||
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| Studio album by Paul McCartney | |||||
| Released | 5 June 1989 | ||||
| Recorded | September 1987 - February 1989 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 53:42 | ||||
| Label | Parlophone/EMI Capitol Records (US) |
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| Producer | Paul McCartney, George Martin, Elvis Costello, Trevor Horn, Steve Lipson, Mitchell Froom Chris Hughes and Neil Dorfsman |
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| Professional reviews | |||||
| Paul McCartney chronology | |||||
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Flowers in the Dirt is Paul McCartney's comeback album, released in 1989. It was considered a major return upon release for McCartney due to the fact that he was embarking on his first world tour since the Wings Over the World jaunt back in 1975/1976. Flowers in the Dirt was also celebrated due to its musical quality, which earned McCartney his best reviews in years.
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[edit] History
After the meagre sales that greeted Press to Play, McCartney realised he needed to work much harder on his follow-up. Thus, he not only teamed up with several different producers, but also spent the better part of eighteen months perfecting Flowers in the Dirt. A highlight of the sessions was McCartney's unlikely alliance with Elvis Costello, with whom he composed many new songs. McCartney greatly enjoyed the partnership, even finding that Costello mirrored John Lennon in certain aspects of his personality. Costello would also appear on the album, even co-singing "You Want Her Too" (an update of "The Girl Is Mine") with Paul. Another celebrity guest included was friend David Gilmour from Pink Floyd on his trademark electric guitar.
Knowing full well he intended to launch the biggest tour of his career thus far, McCartney also put together a regular band to take out on the road, and whom would appear in various forms on Flowers in the Dirt. Hamish Stuart was best known for his tenure in Average White Band, while Robbie McIntosh had been a member of The Pretenders. Filling out the sound would be Chris Whitten on drums and Paul Wickens joining McCartney's wife Linda McCartney on keyboards.
Finally, early in 1989, the project was ready. In May, the Beatlesque "My Brave Face" was released as a single and promptly gave McCartney a US hit, reaching #25, while reaching #18 in the UK. In June, Flowers in the Dirt was released to high anticipation and immediately entered the UK charts at #1, garnering very receptive reviews from all around. In the US, the reaction was better than Press to Play, with the album reaching #21, staying on the charts for a year and going gold, though it still sold beneath expectations. The second single, "This One" reached #18 in the UK, as did "My Brave Face". The follow-ups "Figure Of Eight"/"Ou Est Le Soleil?" and "Put It There" would all be minor UK hits.
"The Paul McCartney World Tour" opened on 26 September 1989 and would travel the globe (including Japan) until the following July, becoming one of the highest grossing and best reviewed tours of all time.
A limited-edition "World Tour Pack" of Flowers in the Dirt, sold in a facsimile trunk, was issued in Britain in October 1989 and America (with British catalogue numbers) in January 1990. The set included a bonus single of "Party Party" (released on a one-sided 7" single in vinyl editions of the "World Tour Pack" and a 3" CD-single in compact disc editions of the "World Tour Pack"). In March 1990, limited-edition two-CD set of Flowers in the Dirt was released in Japan. The second disc of the Japanese set included a special message for Japanese fans, an alternate take of "Rough Ride", "Party Party" (previously only available in the "World Tour Pack" edition of the album) as well as many (but not all) of the B-sides associated with Flowers in the Dirt.
In 1993, Flowers in the Dirt was remastered and reissued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series with "Once Upon A Long Ago"'s B-Side "Back On My Feet", "Flying To My Home" ("My Brave Face"'s flip side) and "Figure Of Eight"'s B-Side "Loveliest Thing" all added as bonus tracks.
[edit] Track listing
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"This One" - Problems playing the files? See media help.
All songs by Paul McCartney, except where noted.
- "My Brave Face" (Paul McCartney/Declan MacManus) – 3:18
- "Rough Ride" – 4:43
- "You Want Her Too" (McCartney/MacManus) – 3:11
- A duet with co-writer Elvis Costello (i.e. Declan MacManus)
- "Distractions" – 4:39
- "We Got Married" – 4:57
- Features David Gilmour on lead guitar
- "Put It There" – 2:07
- Based upon a saying of McCartney's father, James McCartney
- "Figure of Eight" – 3:25
- Re-recorded in September 1989 for its single release as a double A-Side with "Ou Est Le Soleil?"
- "This One" – 4:10
- "Don't Be Careless Love" (McCartney/MacManus) – 3:18
- "That Day is Done" (McCartney/MacManus) – 4:19
- "How Many People" – 4:14
- Dedicated to the memory of Chico Mendes, Brazilian Rain Forest Campaigner
- "Motor of Love" – 6:18
- "Ou Est Le Soleil?" – 4:45
- Added to the CD edition of Flowers in the Dirt
In Japan, a "Special Package" 2 CD edition was released (EMI/Odeon TOCP 6118•19) with the following tracks:
- "Message" - 0:28
- A environmental message from Paul to the Japanese fans.
- "The Long And Winding Road" (John Lennon/McCartney) (sic) - 3:51
- From the video "Put It There".
- "Loveliest Thing" - 3:59
- "Rough Ride" - 4:53
- "Ou Est Le Soleil (7" Mix)" - 4:50
- "Mama's Little Girl" - 3:41
- "Same Time Next Year" - 3:06
- "Party, Party" (McCartney/Linda McCartney/Robbie McIntosh/Hamish Stuart/Chris Whitten/Paul "Wix" Wickens) - 5:35
- "P.S. Love Me Do" (McCartney/Lennon) - 3:40
- The studio version of the combination of two of the Beatle songs owned by MPL Communications. The live version is found on the "Birthday" CD single.
[edit] Charts
[edit] Album
| Country | Charts (1989) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Peak position | Weeks | ||
| Norway [1] | 1 (4 weeks) | 21 | |
| United Kingdom [2] | 1 (1 week) | 20 | |
| Sweden [1] | 2 | 10 | |
| Japan [3] | 9 | 8 | |
| Switzerland [1] | 13 | 9 | |
| Austria [1] | 18 | 8 | |
| United States | 21 [4] | 49 | |
| Country | Charts (1990 JP 2CD deluxe edition) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Peak position | Weeks | ||
| Japan [3] | 27 | 4 | |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | UK | US | NO | AT | SE | CH | DE | AU | FR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | "My Brave Face" | 18 | 25 | 4 | - | 19 | 25 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
| 1989 | "This One" | 18 | 94 | - | 8 | - | - | 40 | - | - |
| 1989 | "Figure of Eight" | 42 | 92 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1989 | "Ou Est Le Soleil?" | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1990 | "Put It There" | 32 | - | - | - | - | - | 60 | - | - |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d norwegiancharts.com Paul McCartney - Flowers In The Dirt
- ^ Paul McCartney UK Albums Chart Archives
- ^ a b Paul McCartney Japanese Oricon Album Charts Archives
- ^ Paul McCartney US billboard albums chart Archives
