A one off recording session in January led to a return to the Super Bowl on February 6th in Jacksonville’s ALLTEL Stadium. Paul and his band were invited and accepted the honor of performing at the Patriots vs Eagles halftime show.
They rocked their way through an explosive four-song set, performing the classics Drive My Car, Get Back, Live And Let Die and Hey Jude.
Watched by a record 144.4 million viewers in the US, the Super Bowl is the nation’s highest-rated TV program annually and the most-watched single-day sporting event. Paul’s performance was broadcast in more than 200 countries worldwide.
On March 10th in Helsinki, Finland, Standing Stone was performed again.
In April Paul had his 6th and FINAL recording sessions for the upcoming album.
On April 18th, Paul announced his new fall US tour. My sister, Mary, and I, we circled the opening night of September 16th in Miami, my second time seeing his tour opening show….
On April 21st Paul performed solo at the “Stars In The Sky” benefit for the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps.
He played “Lady Madonna” on piano, and “Yesterday” on acoustic.
He appeared again at the 5th annual Adopt-A-Minefield Gala on May 28th, performing “All You Need Is Love” and “Let It Be.”
On June 14th the DVD, “Paul McCartney In Red Square” was released. This features footage from two of the most eagerly anticipated live shows of all time.
Despite being banned from the Soviet Union in the 1960s, The Beatles’ albums gave hope to many who could only access their music through the black market and these shows in Moscow’s Red Square in 2003 and St. Petersburg’s Palace Square in 2004 were a celebration not only of Paul’s music but also a general sense of freedom.
Featuring classic tracks and clips of interviews in which Paul talks about his and the Soviet Union’s past relationship and the ultimate celebration that took place in Moscow’s Red Square.
Also on June 14th, Paul released TWIN FREAKS, the remix album he did with DJ Freelance Hellraiser. We will review this with other The Fireman “assorted albums” after we have reviewed Paul’s regular, live and classical releases. So, sometime in 2022…. Hint… I love it.
On July 2nd Paul and the band performed at Live 8 in Hyde Park, London. Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa.
Run in support of the aims of the UK’s Make Poverty History campaign and the Global Call for Action Against Poverty, ten simultaneous concerts were held on 2 July and one on 6 July.
On 7 July, the G8 leaders pledged to double 2004 levels of aid to poor nations from US$25 billion to US$50 billion by the year 2010. Half of the money was to go to Africa.
More than 1,000 musicians performed at the concerts, which were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.
By July 28th, Paul had settled on a name for the new album, CHAOS AND CREATION IN THE BACKYARD. This is probably based on the photo taken by brother Mike. It shows (peeking through the back door window) a young teen Paul playing acoustic guitar in his own backyard.
He went into Abbey Road studios with a small audience on July 28th and filmed a one hour special called “Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road.” This would be shown as a television special after the upcoming album release later that fall.
Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road was a live concert given by Paul McCartney at Abbey Road Studios, specifically Studio 2, where many of The Beatles’ recordings were made.
Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road was meant as a promotion for McCartney’s album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. As the audience was of close friends and selected fans, the concert was intimate in nature and was littered with monologues and song fragments. It was shown on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on 17 December 2005, and on PBS in the United States on 27 February 2006.
McCartney plays left-handed and right-handed guitars, drums, harmonium, double bass, Mellotron, and even wine glasses in a reworking of Wings song “Band on the Run“.
He also reworks the Beatles’ track “Lady Madonna“, which he calls “Old Lady in New Clothes“, with a much slower tempo and swing melody line.
The bass McCartney uses on his performance of “Heartbreak Hotel” once belonged to Bill Black, Elvis Presley’s bass player who died in 1965.
With Nigel Godrich, producer of his latest album, offering assistance, McCartney runs casually and charmingly through a set list that includes four songs from the new CD, several reworked old favorites, and some surprises – both very old and impressively new. “Friends to Go,” “How Kind of You,” “English Tea” and “Jenny Wren” are the selections from “Backyard.” In his introduction to “Jenny Wren,” McCartney makes a musical connection to “Blackbird,” then plays it – along with the pre-Ringo Starr Beatles composition “In Spite of All the Danger,” and versions of two rethought Beatles classics.
On September 12th….just four days before the tour started I excitedly bout the new album, and the cd single of the first single….
Next….. CHAOS AND CREATION IN THE BACKYARD.
A Life Through The Eyes Of A Man 