THE MAKING OF PAUL McCARTNEY'S FLAMING PIE

AS PART OF THE PAUL MCCARTNEY ARCHIVE COLLECTION, 1997’S FLAMING PIE, WHICH STANDS AS ONE OF MCCARTNEY’S MOST SUCCESSFUL SOLO ALBUMS, IS RELEASED IN VARIOUS FORMATS FOR MUSIC COLLECTORS.

- GILLIAN G. GAAR

On September 3, 1992, Paul McCartney entered his home studio, Hog Hill Mill (aka “The Mill”), on his farm in Sussex, England, and recorded two songs, “Calico Skies” and “Great Day,” with former Beatles producer George Martin at his side, co-producing. But it would be another five years before the tracks would see release on the album Flaming Pie. The long wait would be worth it. One of McCartney’s strongest works, Flaming Pie peaked at No. 2 in the U.S., becoming his first album to hit the Top 5 in 15 years, and selling over half a million copies stateside.

It was McCartney’s first album released after the massive Beatles Anthology project, and there were reflections of The Beatles era in a number of tracks, most notably the title song. It was also the last album released before the death of McCartney’s wife, Linda, in April 1998; her photographs for the project (including the cover shot), giving the release an additional poignancy.

Flaming Pie is now the latest in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection series of reissues, with the album being issued on vinyl, CD and in two box sets, a Deluxe Edition and Collector’s Edition (both reviewed within this feature).