Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)


Unplugged is a live unplugged performance by Paul McCartney, recorded and released in 1991. Following the vastness of his world tour recently captured on Tripping the Live Fantastic, McCartney relished the opportunity to strip back his songs and appear on the newly launched acoustic-only show MTV Unplugged. Consequently, McCartney was the first in a long line of artists to release an unplugged album.

Performance

Unlike other artists who appeared on the acclaimed show with acoustic instruments plugged into amplifiers, McCartney's instruments were 100 percent unplugged. Microphones were carefully placed close to guitars, pianos, etc. to pick up the sound.
Using the same line-up that had recently backed him, McCartney used the opportunity to dust off some of his rarer tracks, including three from his 1970 debut album McCartney, alongside several covers and amid a helping of familiar Beatles hits.

Songs

This recording was one of the first in the famed MTV Unplugged series.
Several tracks performed in the show were not included on the album, as follows: "Things We Said Today", "Midnight Special", "Matchbox", "Mean Woman Blues" and "The Fool". Numbers rehearsed by the band but not performed at all include: "Mother Nature's Son", "Figure of Eight", "Cut Across Shorty", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Heart of the Country", "She's My Baby", and "Mrs. Vandebilt". "Things We Said Today" and "Midnight Special" would see official release two years later in 1993 as B-sides to the "Biker Like an Icon" single.

Release

With McCartney in a loose and carefree context, critical response to Unplugged was very warm.
Initially released in a limited edition, individually numbered run in 1991, Unplugged —with artwork that recalls Снова в СССР's—was reissued in a more permanent fashion in the late 1990s. Upon its original issue, it reached number 7 in the UK and became McCartney's highest-peaking US album in almost ten years, reaching number 14.

Track listing

Personnel