FEATURE:
Second Spin
Paul McCartney – Pipes of Peace
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ONE of Paul McCartney’s underrated solo albums…
IN THIS PHOTO: Paul McCartney in 1983/PHOTO CREDIT: Dave Hogan/Getty Images
I wanted to shed some new light on Pipes of Peace. Released on 31st October, 1983, it has never really got the love it deserves. Aside from its brilliant title track, Say Say Say, So Bad and Sweetest Little Show are really great. There are as couple of weaker tracks. Maybe people were slightly disappointed following 1982’s excellent Tug of War. Not the most fertile and inspired couple of years for McCartney – 1984’s soundtrack album, Give My Regards to Broad Street, was widely panned -, I think that we need to throw some new light and love in the direction of Pipes of Peace. I think this is an album that was bringing in a bit of John Lennon. I think of Lennon’s anti-war songs and his give peace a chance mantra. Maybe some Ringo Starr too. McCartney nodding to his Beatles bandmates. George Harrison too. I am going to come to another feature soon. First, and thanks to the Paul McCartney Project, here are some background details and depth regarding Pipes of Peace:
“About
“Tug Of War” is supposed to be about opposites, I forget what you call it, dichotomy or something. The duality. Yes and No, Up and Down, Man and Woman. Always some kind of conflict, even if you’re married and in love, she’s still a girl, you’re still a boy… Blacks and whites. Dualities. It’s not easy to bring together two sides of a coin. So that was like the question if there was a theme on “Tug Of War”, that was the sort of theme we played with.
So, on ‘Pipes Of Peace,’ I wanted to answer that, I didn’t want to just leave the question posing ‘How do you ever get the dualities together?’ And on ‘Pipes Of Peace,’ there’s a little quote from Rabindranath Tagore would you believe, Indian lovers? He was an Indian poet, and he just has a thing about ‘In love, life’s contradictions dissolve and disappear.’
It seems to me that that’s the kind of thing. There is this big paradox, and duality. But in love, somehow, it mystically goes away. Somehow there aren’t problems with black and white if they sort of love each other. So in trying to find an answer, this one is a bit more towards ‘The answer is love.’ And it’s very corny, and it’s been said a million times before. But if you can’t find another answer, what are you going to do? I would like to have been able to say the answer is Ralph! And I’ve got it, and it’s very original…
But the only one I could find was love. I ask myself, what is the answer to that duality? So that’s what this one became about, ‘Pipes Of Peace’, love! ‘The Other Me,’ ‘So Bad,’ ‘Keep Under Cover’ stuff. It’s all about trying to answer the dilemma of ‘Tug Of War,’ and that’s enough serious talk — for months!
Paul McCartney, from Club Sandwich N° 31, 1983
Way back, when we started ‘Tug of War,’ my thoughts to Paul were ‘Let’s make a slightly harder, a more funky album than perhaps you have done in the past’… In fact, the ‘Pipes Of Peace’ album became more what we were looking for in ‘Tug Of War,’ and certainly Michael Jackson’s tracks turned out that way. Although they were Paul and Michael’s songs, they seemed to get more of that dynamism on those tracks.
George Martin, from Club Sandwich N° 31, 1983
From Wikipedia:
Pipes of Peace is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney, released in 1983. As the follow-up to the popular Tug of War, the album came close to matching the commercial success of its predecessor in Britain but peaked only at number 15 on America’s Billboard 200 albums chart. While Pipes of Peace was the source of international hit singles such as “Say Say Say” (recorded with Michael Jackson) and the title track, the critical response to the album was less favourable than that afforded to Tug of War.
Critical reception
Critical reaction was less than that which had greeted Tug of War, many feeling that Pipes of Peace was a weaker execution of its predecessor’s formula. In addition, author Howard Sounes writes, the album’s commercial reception was “slightly disappointing, considering the quality of the work“. Sounes views Pipes of Peace and its predecessor as “abounding with well-crafted tunes” that almost match the standard of McCartney’s work with the Beatles; yet, he adds, the two albums “must be marked down for a surfeit of love ballads with lamentable lyrics“.
Reviewing the album for the NME, Penny Reel described Pipes of Peace as “A dull, tired and empty collection of quasi-funk and gooey rock arrangements … with McCartney cooing platitudinous sentiments on a set of lyrics seemingly made up on the spur of the moment.” Reel opined that the “one decent moment” was the title track, which he found to be “a Beatlish soiree surely destined as a Christmas single“, before concluding: “Even here, however, a note of insincerity in the vocal finally defeats the lyric’s objective.“
The album featured the duet between McCartney and Jackson, “Say Say Say“, which reached number 2 in the UK and number 1 in the US, where it remained for six weeks through to early in 1984.
Following “Say Say Say“, the album’s title track became a UK number 1, while in the US, “So Bad” was a top 30 hit. Pipes of Peace peaked at number 4 in the UK and number 15 in the US. […]”.
I think I will finish with a couple of reviews that paint a kinder picture of a great album by Paul McCartney. Similar to later albums like Off the Ground (1993), some people really love it, whilst most find it disappointing or below-par. This is what Pop Rescue said in 2018 – twenty-five years after the release of Pipes of Peace:
“This George Martin (The Beatles, Cilla Black etc) produced album opens with the title track Pipes Of Peace, its own opening reminiscent of The Beatles orchestral warm ups caught on tracks like A Day In The Life. Soon though, Paul’s vocals come in with a gently plodding beat, bass, and tinkering piano, aiding to his lyrical delivery of a message promoting human and Earthly unity, with an anti-war video set in the trenches of France during Christmas 1914. This would be the second and final UK single, hitting the top of the UK singles charts in 1983.
The tempo takes a welcome turn up for Say Say Say. This was the album’s lead single, allowing the album to hit the ground running with this hit #2 UK single. The track still feels as catchy and fresh as it undoubtedly was back then. Michael Jackson‘s vocals sit well alongside Paul’s, and the whole track is lent a funkier sound that wouldn’t be amiss from his Off The Wall album. It’s hard not to tap a foot to this track.
This is followed by The Other Me, which possibly takes the historic title of being the only song so far to have the line “acted like a dustbin lid”. This track feels, in contrast to the previous tracks, quite simple, and it takes some time before a roaring electric guitar chugs in.
Up next is Keep Under Cover, which is quite uptempo and bouncy. At times it sounds like something that you might find on a Madness album, or something that didn’t make it on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack.
Side One closes with So Bad, which is a gentle ballad, which seems to be sung by Linda McCartney and Paul. Violins and cellos wash in in the later half. Lyrically it’s a bit nauseating, but it draws side one to a close just fine. This track was a top 30 single for Paul in the US.
Side Two bursts opens with the second Michael Jackson collaboration, The Man. Opening with guitars and strings, and punctuated with handclaps, this song is pretty mellow to be honest, and almost feels like they’re singing about each other, and a bit of a waste of the collaboration opportunity.
This is followed by Sweetest Little Show, which has some really nice vocal harmonies, and a great bassline. A little guitar solo in the middle isn’t little enough, but eventually heads back to the action before getting stuck on a fade into…
…Average Person. This track is laden with piano, and more familiar McCartney character narratives. This feels like it could have been a Beatles draft song, but it’s uptempo, fun, and bright, and works well here with what sounds like Ringo Starr on backing vocals.
Near-instrumental Hey Hey follows this, and whilst there’s some nice funky bass, and guitar riffs throughout, it’s just filling up some vinyl space with little else to offer.
Tug Of Peace begins with what I couldn’t decide whether it was a didgeridoo or some bass low vocal synths. However, it soon abandons this for a bit of a mess of beats, instruments and occasional vocals. Despite it being a nod to previous hit album Tug Of War, just move along…
The album closes with Throughout Love, a mid-tempo track that gently wanders along with strings, Paul’s soft vocals and plenty of Oohs. The song gradually builds up, almost sounding something that could could imagine Dusty Springfield or Cilla belting out in the 60s. It’s a nice ending to the album.
Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson’s ‘Say, Say, Say’ single
Over all, this album is a pretty easy listen, and I can imagine it had wide appeal – with plenty for older fans in the George Martin production, Paul’s familiar vocals and narrative lyrics, and the appearance of Ringo on drums for a couple of tracks.
It also had a nod to the modern, with the appearance of Michael Jackson, and what sounded like a gentle sprinkling of keyboards just to nudge it towards the electronic music fans”.
I will round off now. I know Pipes of Peace is getting a new vinyl release on 23rd October, but it seems like it will ship from the U.S. You can get a C.D. or vinyl copy here. When Pipes of Peace was reissued in 2015, PASTE came to its defence and argued why it is so much stronger and more worthy than a lot of people have given it credit for. It has plenty of wonderful moments that prove Paul McCartney is a constant brilliant artist who at least always puts a moment of genius or two onto every album:
“Eighteen months after the release Tug Of War, Paul McCartney’s follow-up album hit shelves. Leading off with the huge smash single with Michael Jackson “Say Say Say,” expectations were high for Pipes Of Peace. The single, which spent six weeks at the top of the chart starting in mid-October of ‘83, had been recorded in 1981. However, it didn’t see release until nearly two years later. If it were released as a single today, it would still rise up the charts. There is an obvious chemistry with the duo’s trading of lines in the verses, and the rhythm guitar’s presence, while slight, is exemplary. Add in some well-arranged horns and an always-welcome harmonica, and you’ve got a hit that has stood the test of time for 30-plus years. While Jackson’s vocals are the most impassioned of the two, McCartney’s steadying vocal presence provides a needed balance that helps keep the track overall in the pocket.
Certainly by late 1983, it was a Michael Jackson world the music industry was living in. What even most Michael Jackson fans forget, however, is that the pair recorded another song aside from “Say Say Say” and “The Girl Is Mine” (from Thriller) called “The Man.” That track, which ended up being shelved as another single from Pipes Of Peace, finds the pair in a different mode. Compared to the rhythmic and funky “Say Say Say” and the—at times—corniness of “The Girl Is Mine,” “The Man” leans into straight-ahead pop territory. The track glides along a tick above a midtempo pace with some light orchestration and even an electric guitar solo in the middle. “The Man” is a better-than-average song, but the other two compositions by the pair were and are still better suited to be hits.
Let’s be clear, though, that Pipes Of Peace is more than a couple Michael Jackson songs and a bunch of filler. The title track, while never released as an official single in the US, was a No. 1 hit in the UK and had a video filmed for it (which is included on the DVD in the deluxe edition of this reissue). It stands firmly as a strong composition in its own right with an excellent vocal arrangement and a nice use of tabla to boot. “So Bad,” a ballad, found moderate success at the end of ‘83 and early ‘84 on the charts, reaching as high as No. 23 on Billboard’s pop chart. McCartney climbs the register into almost uncomfortable falsetto territory, although it’s a well-arranged vocal that both McCartney and longtime studio producer/friend George Martin had a hand in.
“Sweetest Little Show” is another fun number. Starting with a slightly bluesy lick, it switches gears into a singalong ditty with a light hop to it. With 90 seconds remaining in the track, it moves into a charming instrumental acoustic guitar breakdown that has a second guitar to embellish the melody before getting one final chorus reprise. Two songs later, “Hey Hey,” an instrumental with a fun party vibe, has the feel of a jauntier version of The Beatles’ “Birthday” guitar riff, although it’s not an all-out copy of it. Even though it’s panned by naysayers, “Hey Hey” is a feel-good song that feels less forced than a track like “Average Person” or “The Other Me.” To that end, it’s a refreshing piece of music.
A bonus disc collects three demos from the sessions of songs that would appear on the album (“Average Person,” “Keep Under Cover” and “Sweetest Little Show”). Of those, “Sweetest Little Show” shines brightest, although it helps that it’s the best song of the trio. Its tempo is slowed ever so slightly, and curiously the demo is longer than the final version even without having the one-minute instrumental break that is found on the album version. Two other demos are included as well: “Simple As That,” a rather uninteresting previously unreleased track and “It’s Not On,” a song that sounds finished as is and that features multiple odd character-style voices. It’s certainly a grower, but it could have been an interesting b-side, if nothing else.
Also included is a new remix of “Say Say Say” that features some alternate vocal takes where verses previously started by McCartney are now covered by Jackson. As confident as Jackson is through most of the song, McCartney gives a better vocal take in the replaced lines. Still, it gives us an alternate reality of what was envisioned for this track. Various other ad libs are sprinkled throughout the last four minutes over an instrumental bed. The original b-side to “Say Say Say” entitled “Ode To A Koala Bear,” an ‘80s song over ‘50s-styled triplets that is truly as straightforward (and head-scratching) as its title implies; the title song to the soundtrack of Twice In A Lifetime from 1985; and a previously unreleased instrumental called “Christian Bop,” which dates to 1981, round out the bonus disc.
For the deluxe set, a DVD gathers the three music videos filmed for the album (“Pipes Of Peace,” “Say Say Say” and “So Bad”), and home video from McCartney’s personal collection —ncluding locations such as Montserrat, where some of the music was recorded, and the UK with Jackson horseback riding with the McCartney family—round out the media. As with previous releases in the Archive Collection, a beautiful book is included that has interviews with various members involved with the making of the album and a bountiful collection of photos as well as another full book of shots from the “Pipes Of Peace” music video.
Pipes Of Peace as a whole isn’t a masterpiece by any stretch. There are songs that drag the album down, but there’s also a bevy of material with enough meat to make it a hearty collection. Giving it a nice remastering and including it in the Archive Collection series, which is now five years in (and still going), helps to shine a spotlight on an album that may have only otherwise been remembered for one song. It’s worth revisiting for more”.
On 31st October, we celebrate an album that has been seen more as a trick than a treat. I think that, in 1983, McCartney was still producing amazing work. Ahead of the fortieth anniversary of Pipes of Peace, we need to revisit this album – and buy it and give it another spin if you can. Beautifully produced by George Martin, it features a gorgeous and memorable title track with that incredible video. There is much to recommend about an album that has never…
GOT its fair dues.