Spoiler for the twelfth installment of "Oobu Joobu"
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Mean Woman Blues When the Wind She Blows Cool The Intro and Outro - Bonzo Dog Band Making of the Mull of Kintyre Coming Up I Want Love - ??? Another Day Praying Mantis Heart Mambo Me Baby Inka Dinka Doo - Jimmy Durante Heart on Water What About Love - Heart Asparagus Soup No More Lamb Chops for Paul Sheep May Safely Graze - Bach Instrumental Beautiful Boy - John LennonThis installment of "Paul McCartney's Oobu Joobu" starts with a recording I've been waiting for for a long time--the electric, heavy arrangement of "Mean Woman Blues" performed by Paul at soundchecks on the 1993 tour. Paul also did a version of this rockabilly standard at his "Unplugged" taping, of course, but this version is very different, bringing a whole new feel to the song. This version--recorded in Winnipeg, 5/21/93--isn't quite as exciting as I remember the song being at the Philly soundcheck that year, but perhaps that's due to the rush of charging across the parking lot to catch a nearly private performance from McCartney, even if it's through a fence. In any event, this is a terrific arrangement of the song, and even the recording quality is noteworthy.
Also from that Winnipeg soundcheck is a tune called "The Wind She Blows Cool"--Paul gives little info (at least we have a title!), but it sounds like an improv, since the lyrics are mostly about the Winipeg weather. It's repetitive, and therefore dull, but there's some potential there for it to be developed into something worthwhile.
For no apparent reason, Paul introduces a rehearsal of "Coming Up" with a bit of talk about the success of "Mull Of Kintyre", noting that "Coming Up" was written fairly soon after that record. The rehearsal itself is well sung but drags a bit and relies too much on synth horns. Hamish's vocals and the tape loops are not yet in place; perhaps this is an early 1989 rehearsal. There's a rehearsal of "Midnight Special"--apparantly another "Unplugged" rehearsal as we got a couple weeks ago. Rounding out the band material is a top-notch soundcheck of "Another Day", with strong performances by the band and a bit of vocal messing about by Macca. Am I correct in saying that this is the first soundboard of Paul doing the song on his tour to surface?
In addition, there are two songs recorded at Paul's home studio--but he's taken his policy of not playing the whole outtake to extremes here. "Praying Mantis Heart" is a promising (and well-titled) funk tune, but we only get 24 seconds of it. It then gives way to a cute but forgettable instrumental bit of Paul's called "Mambo Me Baby".
There are also more little bits of song mentioning the shows title than in recent weeks--like the earliest shows. There's a fairly long, mostly instrumental piece with incongruous, angry vocals that I quite enjoy. There's also a rerun of an older "Oobu Joobu" song, the one that's "sweeping the nation in its enormous popularity". Well, I don't care *how* much it's sweeping the country; this series is too short and valuable to play anything twice.
Lida's recipe for asparagus soup leads to Paul's retelling of one of the hoariest stories in his repertoire--how he and Linda were eating lamb, saw sheep on their farm, and became vegetarians. We know, Paul, we know. It is, however, a nice touch that he tells it over a Bach piece called "Safely May Sheep Graze".
Outside material is led by a piece of truly inspired lunacy--"The Intro And The Outro" by the Bonzo Dog Band. This is such a treat to hear on the radio that I'm willing to overlook the incredibly bland "What About Love" by Heart. (Ann and Nancy Wilson from that group check in with an anti-meat message as well.) There's an excerpt of Jimmy Durante's "Inka Dinka Doo." And John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy" is played. Paul says he likes the song so much because it shows that John could be warm as well as ascerbic; perhaps Paul is making a case by connection that he isn't like the stereotypes he's often saddled with.
All in all, this episode was a little thin on music compared to some installments. However, it has a couple of terrific moments, with "Mean Woman Blues" filling a big hole in our McCartney collections--and earning my song of the week prize.
One note on future shows--Billboard is reporting that an episode in early September--probably the Labor Day wrapup--will feature the world premiere of two tracks form Brian Wilson's forthcoming, Van Dyke Parks-produced album "Orange Crate Art" (the title track and "San Francisco").
... Oobu is Joobu and Joobu is Oobu.
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