Remembering When Paul McCartney Reunited With George Martin for a Crucial Album in His Career in 1982

You can come up with your own ideas for who the fifth Beatle might be. We’re going the obvious route and saying it’s George Martin. No other person outside the four members of the group was as responsible for the direction their music took.

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Martin mostly steered clear of working with the solo Beatles. But his return to collaboration with Paul McCartney on the 1982 album Tug Of War helped put Macca’s solo career on a firm footing.

By George

George Martin stayed very active as a producer in the decade following The Beatles’ breakup. He also turned into an entrepreneur of sorts, with locations of his Ayr Studios in London and Montserrat drawing the cream of the crop of recording artists.

He and the members of the world’s most famous band maintained their tight friendships. Martin did help Paul McCartney out with the orchestration on his 1973 Bond theme song “Live And Let Die”. But Martin worried that any deeper collaborations might stress their relationships.

That’s why he demurred at first when McCartney called him in the late 70s about the prospect of Martin possibly producing a full album for the ex-Beatle. Martin warned McCartney that, if he accepted the role, it would mean a level of candor to which Paul might not have been accustomed. Macca would soon discover Martin was true to his word.

Initially conceived as another Wings album following the electronic detour of McCartney II, the album Paul wanted Martin to produce ended up being a solo record anyway. Attempted sessions with Wings failed to produce anything relevant. McCartney closed up shop on the band not long after that.

‘War’ Games

In the meantime, he handed Martin a tape with potential songs for the album. Martin listened and gave McCartney his frank response. A few were excellent and were real keepers. Then there were several that needed work. Finally, some of the songs simply needed to be trashed.

McCartney realized that he’d have to step up his game. He went back to the drawing board. Eventually, he wrote and recorded enough for two albums. Martin suggested that they frontload the best stuff on the first LP of the two, which would be called Tug Of War upon its release in 1982.

Once McCartney had put Wings to bed, he was free to work with anybody. As a result, he and Martin cultivated an impressive guest list for the record. It went beyond high-profile duet partners like Stevie Wonder and Carl Perkins to include some of the best session players in the world.

A Needed Hit

Tug Of War had the hits to put it over on the radio. And, thanks to Martin’s prodding, it contained plenty of depth. McCartney enjoyed both a critical and commercial resurgence with the project.

Maybe he shouldn’t have waited so long to record again with his old friend. But the timing was right when he rediscovered just how much George Martin’s production expertise could bring to a record.

(Photo by Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)