Point out a Paul McCartney tune with drums and vocals by Ringo Starr, and an orchestral association by George Martin, and also you may assume we’ve landed at some unspecified second in Beatles historical past. In truth, we’re speaking about an underrated second in Paul’s solo catalog, and the elegant ballad “Stunning Night time,” which made its UK High 40 debut on the chart of December 27, 1997.
The observe was the third and closing single from McCartney’s Flaming Pie album, which had already yielded the “Younger Boy” and “This World Tonight” releases. “Stunning Night time” stands as one thing of a hidden gem in Paul’s solo profession, with its fairly melody and evocative lyrics resembling “I received’t want a fortress, they’ve acquired castles in Versailles…and I’m nonetheless stranded, questioning why.”
The tune had been round for a decade, with a model minimize in New York in 1986 however shelved. The brand new take was co-produced by McCartney and Jeff Lynne, with whom Paul had labored on The Beatles’ Anthology undertaking of 1995-96; it was after the 2 former bandmates have been reunited on Anthology that Paul instructed he and Ringo document one thing new collectively.
The day after they minimize the observe, the pair collaborated once more on “Actually Love You,” additionally featured on Flaming Pie. That gave trivia followers an enchanting new query, because it was the primary time a tune carried the writing credit score “McCartney/Starr.”
Additional Beatles connections
“Stunning Night time” additionally had backing vocals by Linda McCartney, its launch as a single coming solely 4 months earlier than her tragic loss of life from most cancers on the age of 56. Martin’s beautiful orchestration was recorded, as appeared solely proper, at Abbey Highway Studios, on St. Valentine’s Day 1997. The Beatles’ connection was additional enhanced by the presence on that date of engineer Geoff Emerick.
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The tune had a false ending adopted by an uptempo coda, on which Ringo’s backing vocals can clearly be heard; after some closing studio banter, he pretends to be ushering the musicians out of the studio by saying “in your manner, thanks.” Surprisingly, “Stunning Night time” didn’t turn into a serious chart merchandise, coming into the UK chart at its No.25 peak earlier than falling to No.37 in a four-week run within the High 75.
Purchase or stream “Stunning Night time” on Flaming Pie, in its Paul McCartney Archive Assortment version.