Set featured on upcoming The Flaming Pie Archive Collection
Paul McCartney has released the Beautiful Night EP as part of the forthcoming reissue of his acclaimed 1997 album, Flaming Pie. Due for release on July 31st, Flaming Pie: Archive Collection marks the thirteenth installment in his GRAMMY Award-winning series.
The EP recreates the original 1997 “Beautiful Night” maxi single, featuring the remastered Flaming Pie single, “Beautiful Night,” a 1995 demo of the song, an alternate “Run Through” recording, and “Oobu Joobu Part 5” – a medley of Beautiful Night-themed chat, alternate mixes and interview recordings of McCartney and Ringo Starr speaking about the song.
A newly remastered music video for “Beautiful Night,” originally filmed in 1997, has also been released. “Beautiful Night” marks one of the first collaborations between the former Beatles since the band broke up.
“I’d been saying to Ringo for years that it’d be great to do something, because we’d never really done that much work together outside The Beatles,” McCartney shares of the collabs. “One night Jeff Lynne suggested, ‘Why don’t you get Ringo in?’ and I said, ‘OK!’ It just sort of happened.”
He continues, “I had this song ‘Beautiful Night’ which I’d written quite a few years ago. I’d always liked it but I felt I didn’t quite have the right version of it.
“So I got this song out for when Ringo was coming in, and right away it was just like the old days.”
Originally released May 5, 1997, Flaming Pie ended a four-year gap between McCartney studio albums. Recorded largely in the wake of his involvement in the curation and release of The Beatles Anthology series, Flaming Pie was shaped and inspired by that experience, with McCartney remarking at the time “(The Beatles Anthology) reminded me of The Beatles’ standards and the standards that we reached with the songs. So in a way it was a refresher course that set the framework for this album.”
Produced by McCartney, Jeff Lynne and George Martin and featuring a supporting cast of family and friends including Ringo Starr, Steve Miller, Linda McCartney and son James, Flaming Pie is equal parts a masterclass in songcraft and a sustained burst of joyful spontaneity. With highlights ranging from the uplifting and inspirational opener “The Song We Were Singing” to the raucous title track (named for a quote from an early John Lennon interview on the origin of The Beatles’ name: “It came in a vision – a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, ‘from this day on you are Beatles with an A.’”) to the pensive ‘Calico Skies,’ and featuring singles ‘Young Boy,’ ‘The World Tonight’ and ‘Beautiful Night,’ Flaming Pie would represent yet another pinnacle in Paul’s solo catalogue: Released to rapturous reviews, the album would be Paul’s most commercially successful release of the ‘90s, achieving his highest chart positions since the ‘80s and would receive gold certifications in the US, UK, Japan and more.
McCartney’s critically acclaimed and universally beloved tenth solo album Flaming Pie will be the latest to receive the Archive Collection treatment, released on formats including a 5 CD/2 DVD/4 LP Collector’s Edition, a 5 CD/2 DVD Deluxe Edition, plus 3 LP, 2 LP and 2 CD editions.
- Beautiful Night (Main Album – Remastered)
- Beautiful Night (1995 Demo)
- Beautiful Night (Run Through)
- Oobu Joobu Part 5:
1. And Now (Jingle)
2. Oobu Joobu Main Theme
3. Beautiful Night Chat
4. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Chat About ‘Beautiful Night’
5. Ringo Starr Chat
6. Beautiful Night (Flaming Pie Mix)
7. Beautiful Night (Original Version)
8. Goodbyes
9. Oobu Joobu Main Theme
