Working Classical is Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

's third full-length release of original classical music and was issued one month after Run Devil Run

Run Devil Run

Run Devil Run is the eleventh solo studio album by Paul McCartney, released in 1999. It features covers of both familiar and obscure 1950s rock and roll songs, along with three new McCartney songs written in the same style...

s release in 1999.

Following up on 1997's Standing Stone, the concept behind Working Classical was to place pre-existing (and in some cases, very well known) McCartney songs into an orchestral context. Specially for this project, McCartney also unveiled some new pieces, namely "Haymakers", "Midwife", "Spiral" and "Tuesday". A different performance of "A Leaf" was originally released in October 1995 on a CD single, and is presented here in a new recording.

Performing the new arrangements are the London Symphony Orchestra

London Symphony Orchestra

The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...

 and the Loma Mar Quartet, with special orchestrations arranged by noted musicians Richard Rodney Bennett

Richard Rodney Bennett

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, CBE is an English composer renowned for his film scores and his jazz performance as much as for his challenging concert works...

 and Jonathan Tunick

Jonathan Tunick

Jonathan Tunick is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer, one of twelve people to have won all four major American show business awards: the Tony, Oscar, Emmy and Grammy. He has also worked with all of the other eleven people. His principal instrument is the clarinet...

.

The title of this project is a pun on the phrase "working class", in the sense that McCartney, despite his elevated stature, still cherishes his Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 roots and is proud of them. Mirroring this ideology is his pride in his rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 songs and willingness to transfer them into the "elevated" classical music genre.

Paul McCartney's Working Classical was another success in that genre, even though this time it failed to dent the regular US album charts. His subsequent foray into the classical realm is Ecce Cor Meum

Ecce Cor Meum

Ecce Cor Meum is the fourth classical album by Paul McCartney. The album was released on 25 September 2006 by EMI Classics...

 (Behold My Heart), released in the autumn of 2006.

Track listing

All pieces by Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

.

1. "Junk
   Junk (song)
   "Junk" is a song written by Paul McCartney in 1968 while The Beatles were in India. It was originally under consideration for The Beatles . It was passed over for that LP, as it was for Abbey Road. It was eventually released on McCartney's debut solo album McCartney in 1970...
   
   " – 2:49
   • Originally introduced on McCartney's 1970 debut solo album McCartney
     McCartney (album)
     McCartney is the debut solo album by Paul McCartney. Apart from Linda McCartney's vocal contributions, McCartney performed the entire album solo...
     
     
2. "A Leaf" – 11:08
   • Originally premiered as a CD Single in an alternate performance in 1995
3. "Haymakers" – 3:33
4. "Midwife" – 3:34
5. "Spiral" – 10:02
6. "Warm and Beautiful
   Warm and Beautiful
   "Warm and Beautiful" is a song credited to Paul and Linda McCartney that was first released by Wings on their 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound. It is a love ballad sung by Paul directed to Linda...
   
   " – 2:31
   • Originally introduced on Wings
     Wings (band)
     Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....
     
     ' 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound
     Wings at the Speed of Sound
     Wings at the Speed of Sound is the fifth album by Wings and was recorded and issued in 1976 in the midst of a large world tour as the follow-up album to the popular Venus and Mars.- History :...
     
     
7. "My Love" – 3:48
   • Originally introduced on Paul McCartney & Wings' 1973 album Red Rose Speedway
     Red Rose Speedway
     -Additional tracks:-Original LP Recording:Originally planned as a double album, this is the tracklisting from the acetates of the early incarnation of the album dated 13 December 1972...
     
     
8. "Maybe I'm Amazed
   Maybe I'm Amazed
   "Maybe I'm Amazed" is a song written by Paul McCartney that was first released on his McCartney album on 17 April 1970. The studio version from the album has never been released as a single. McCartney dedicated the song to his wife, Linda, who had helped him get through the break-up of The Beatles...
   
   " – 2:04
   • Originally introduced on McCartney's 1970 debut album McCartney
     McCartney (album)
     McCartney is the debut solo album by Paul McCartney. Apart from Linda McCartney's vocal contributions, McCartney performed the entire album solo...
     
     
9. "Calico Skies
   Calico Skies
   Calico Skies is the sixth song on Paul McCartney's 1997 album, Flaming Pie.While it wreaked havoc in the north-east US, the category-three storm Hurricane Bob that made landfall in August 1991 prompted McCartney to sit with an acoustic guitar and write what he describes as "a gentle love song that...
   
   " – 1:52
   • Originally introduced on McCartney's 1997 album Flaming Pie
     Flaming Pie
     Flaming Pie is an album by Paul McCartney, first released in 1997. His first studio album in over four years, it was mostly recorded following McCartney's involvement in the highly successful The Beatles Anthology project. In Flaming Pies liner notes McCartney said: " reminded me of The Beatles'...
     
     
10. "Golden Earth Girl" – 1:57
    • Originally introduced on McCartney's 1993 album Off the Ground
      Off the Ground
      Off the Ground is the ninth studio album by Paul McCartney, released in 1993. As his first studio album of the 1990s, it is also the follow-up to the acclaimed Flowers in the Dirt .-Recording and structure:...
      
      
11. "Somedays" – 3:05
    • Originally introduced on McCartney's 1997 album Flaming Pie
12. "Tuesday" – 12:27
13. "She's My Baby
    She's My Baby (Wings song)
    "She's My Baby" is a song credited to Paul and Linda McCartney that was first released by Wings on their 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound. It is a love song sung by Paul directed at Linda...
    
    " – 1:47
    • Originally introduced on Wings' 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound
14. "The Lovely Linda
    The Lovely Linda
    "The Lovely Linda" is the first song on Paul McCartney's debut solo album McCartney. The song is a home demo dedicated to McCartney's first wife Linda. It is the shortest song in McCartney's catalogue at 42 seconds long. The song was featured on the compilation Wingspan: Hits and History....
    
    " – 0:56
    • Originally introduced on McCartney's 1970 debut album McCartney