Sir Paul McCartney is to reissue two of his solo albums, 1970’s McCartney and 1980’s McCartney II. Both albums are due to come out on June 14 (in the US) and both feature fancy remastering and bonus material.
McCartney, the first album he released after the split of the Beatles, is actually a very fine thing, even if many lump it in with his more sanitised Wings output. The reissue features the full remastered album and an extra disc containing seven bonus tracks, including a rare live version of Maybe I’m Amazed.
A deluxe edition of the album includes all that plus a hard-bound book, DVD, unpublished photos, original artwork, track-by-track information and much more.
McCartney II is not as good a record, coming after nine years of Wings activity. The reissue includes the remastered album plus eight bonus tracks including B-sides and alternative takes. The deluxe edition features a similar array of stuff to McCartney, with unpublished Linda McCartney photos, a DVD including a video to the unreleased track Blue Sway and another hard-bound book.
Both reissues will also be available on vinyl and as digital releases.
The news comes six months after the reissue of the Wings album Band On The Run, which got a thorough updating in November 2010. The reissuing of Sir Paul’s post-Beatles career is a work in progress from Concord Music Group, so expect the likes of Ram, Venus and Mars and Wildlife sometime soon.
To pay tribute to how good an album McCartney genuinely is, here is a clip of Jack White doing a cover of one of the LP’s best songs, That Would Be Something (along with Beatles song Mother Nature’s Son).
