Tug Of War

Tug Of War was Paul's first solo album after Wings’ split was confirmed, and followed the death of John Lennon, whose memory is poignantly evoked on the track ‘Here Today’. While the title hints at an album about power struggles, Paul saw it more as an album “of opposites”. As he says, it focuses on “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… It’s not easy to bring together two sides of a coin.” The album saw him reunite with producer George Martin and included two duets with Stevie Wonder, one of which, ‘Ebony And Ivory’, was Number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic. The sessions were so fruitful that a number of songs were held over for Pipes Of Peace, which followed in 1983. Upon its release, Tug Of War was nominated for the 1983 Grammy for Album of the Year.

Performed by:
Paul McCartney: acoustic guitar, bass, drums, electric guitar, synthesisers, vocal, backing vocals, piano, spanish guitar, percussion, vocoder
Linda McCartney (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11): backing vocals
Eric Stewart (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8): backing vocals, electric guitar
Denny Laine (Track 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11): electric guitar, guitar synthesiser, acoustic guitar, bass, synthesiser
Campbell Maloney (Track 1): military snares
Kenneth Sillito (Track 1): orchestra leader
Steve Gadd (Tracks 2 & 3): drums, percussion
Ringo Starr (Track 2): drums
George Martin (Tracks 2, 11): electric piano
Stanley Clarke (Track 3, 7): bass
Adrian Brett (Track 3): pan pipes
Stevie Wonder (Track 4): synthesisers, vocals
Andy Mackay (Track 4): lyricon
Jack Rothstein & Bernard Partridge (Track 5): violin
Ian Jewel (Track 5): viola
Keith Harvey (Track 5): cello
Jack Brymer (Track 6): clarinet gliss
Peter Marshall (Track 6): narration
Adrian Sheppard (Track 8): drums, percussion
Philip Jones Brass Ensemble (Track 8): brass ensemble
Carl Perkins (Track 9): electric guitar, vocal
Dave Mattacks (Track 11): drums, percussion
All tracks composed by McCartney except track 4 composed by Wonder/McCartney.
Produced by George Martin
Arrangements by McCartney & Martin
Engineered by Geoff Emerick
Assisted by Jon Jacobs
Additional Engineers: John Kelly, Mike Stavrou, Eddie Klein, Terry Reed
All tracks published by MPL Communications Ltd except
Track 4 published by Jobete Music (UK) Ltd / Black Bull / MPL Communications Ltd