| Cold Cuts | |
| Type: | compilation |
| Artist: | Paul McCartney |
| Cover: | blank |
| Released: | Unreleased |
| Recorded: | 1970–1987 |
| Studio: | Various |
| Genre: | Rock |
| Producer: | Paul McCartney |
Cold Cuts (also known as Hot Hitz/Kold Kutz) is an unreleased album of outtakes by Paul McCartney. The album was originally planned to be released in 1975 and McCartney revisited the project several times over the years, changing the tracklist and adding overdubs to the tracks, until the project was abandoned permanently in the late 1980s. The songs on the album were recorded during his solo career and with Wings in the 1970s and 1980s.
The album was originally conceived as a budget release in 1975, composed of non-album singles and previously unreleased tracks.[1] [2] McCartney began work on the album during Wings' recording sessions in Nashville, Tennessee in July 1974, recording several new songs and overdubbing some previously unused tracks. The album, variously referred to as Cold Cuts or Hot Hitz and Kold Kutz, was slated for release in March 1975 but never materialized.[3] [4] The project was abandoned when McCartney's label commented "Why have cold cuts on a hot hits album?”[5] The Hot Hitz disc idea was later revisited in 1978 as Wings Greatest.
In January 1981, McCartney and Wings recorded additional overdubs for the unreleased tracks with the album slated for release in early 1981.[6] This time it was to be a standalone album retitled Cold Cuts. However, Columbia Records was not interested in releasing an album of outtakes and the album was shelved.[7] It was also believed that its release soon after the murder of John Lennon would seem inappropriate.
The project was rebooted again in late 1986 and further overdubs to the McCartney II outtake "Blue Sway" were done with arranger-producer Richard Niles.[8] [9] The final sessions that attempted an official release of Cold Cuts was in August 1987. McCartney mixed and edited another version of the album with producer Chris Thomas and engineer Bill Price.[10] That album also went unreleased and, after bootleg versions appeared on the market, McCartney abandoned the project permanently.[11]
Below is a list of the possible tracks that were under consideration over the lifetime of the project. Most of these songs have appeared on various bootlegs connected to the album.
| Song | Origins | Release(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "A Love for You" | Recorded in 1970 during the Ram sessions, the track received additional overdubs by Laurence Juber and Steve Holley from Wings' third line-up. | The Wings version was released in 2003 on The In-Laws soundtrack album; another mix of the song (c. 1981) was released in 2012 on the Special Edition reissue of Ram.[12] | |
| "Best Friend" | Recorded live during the 1972 Wings Over Europe Tour.[13] It was originally intended to be released on the double album version of Red Rose Speedway. | Released on the 2018 reissue of Red Rose Speedway and the 2018 live album Wings Over Europe. | |
| "Blue Sway" | Recorded in 1979 during the McCartney II sessions. The track received additional overdubs by producer/arranger Richard Niles in 1986. | Both versions, with and without overdubs, were released on the 2011 reissue of McCartney II. | |
| "Cage" | Recorded in 1978 and planned for Back to the Egg, but it removed from the album at the last minute in favour of "Baby's Request".[14] This song features the chords C-A-G-E as its riff, to go along with the lyrics. | Unreleased | |
| "Did We Meet Somewhere Before?" | Recorded in 1978 during the sessions for Back to the Egg.[15] The track was intented as the main theme for Warren Beatty's film Heaven Can Wait but got rejected.[16] A snippet of the track was used in the film Rock 'n' Roll High School although it did not appear on the soundtrack album nor in the screen credits. | Unreleased | |
| "Hey Diddle" | Recorded in 1970 during the Ram sessions as a Paul and Linda duet. Later, the track received further overdubs when Wings were in Nashville in 1974. | The first official release of the song was a snippet of home demo performance from 1971 with "Bip Bop" on the compilation. The original 1971 studio version was released in 2012 on the Special Edition reissue of Ram. The Nashville version was released on the 2014 reissue of Venus and Mars.[17] A complete home demo version was released on the 2018 reissue of Wild Life. | |
| "I Would Only Smile" | Written by Denny Laine and recorded in 1972 during the Red Rose Speedway sessions, it was intended to be released on the double album version of Red Rose Speedway. | Released on Denny Laine's album Japanese Tears in 1980. An alternative mix was released on the 2018 reissue of Red Rose Speedway. | |
| "Lunch Box/Odd Sox" | Recorded in 1975 during the Venus and Mars sessions. | Released as the B-side of "Coming Up" in 1980. | |
| "Mama's Little Girl" | Recorded in 1972 during the Red Rose Speedway sessions. It was intended to be on the double album version of Red Rose Speedway. | Released as the B-side of "Put It There" in 1990. Included on the 1993 reissue of Wild Life and on the 2018 reissue of Red Rose Speedway. | |
| "My Carnival" | Recorded during the Venus and Mars sessions in New Orleans in 1975. | Released as the B-side of "Spies Like Us" in 1985. Included on the 2014 reissue of Venus and Mars | |
| "Night Out" | Recorded in 1972 during the Red Rose Speedway sessions. It was overdubbed multiple times by different incarnations of Wings. it was intended to be released on the double album version of Red Rose Speedway. | A primarily instrumental version dating from 1972 was released on the 2018 reissue of Red Rose Speedway. | |
| "Oriental Nightfish" | Written by Linda McCartney and recorded with Wings in 1973. | Released on Linda McCartney's album Wide Prairie in 1998. | |
| "Proud Mum/Proud Mum (Reprise)" | Two instrumental tracks recorded in 1974 during the Venus and Mars sessions, under the name "The Whippets".[18] The songs were meant to be in a commercial for Mother's Pride bread, but they were never used.[19] | Unreleased | |
| "Robber's Ball" | Recorded in 1978 during the Back to the Egg sessions.[20] | Unreleased | |
| "Same Time Next Year" | Recorded in 1978 for the film Same Time, Next Year, but it was rejected because too much of the plot was given away in the lyrics.[21] | Released as the B-side of "Put It There" in 1990. | |
| "Seaside Woman" | Written by Linda McCartney and recorded in 1972 during the Red Rose Speedway sessions. It was intended to be released on the double album version of Red Rose Speedway. | Released as a single in 1977 under the name Suzy and the Red Stripes.[22] Included on Linda McCartney's album Wide Prairie in 1998. An alternative mix was released on the 2018 reissue of Red Rose Speedway. | |
| "Send Me the Heart" | Written by Laine and McCartney, recorded by Wings during the Nashville sessions in 1974. After the recording of "Sally G" Paul challenged Denny Laine to write a country song too.[23] | Released on Laine's album Japanese Tears in 1980. | |
| "Thank You Darling" | Recorded in 1972 during the Red Rose Speedway sessions. It was intended to be on the double album version of Red Rose Speedway. | Released on the Red Rose Speedway 2018 reissue. | |
| "Tomorrow" | A instrumental remake of the song from the album Wild Life. Recorded in 1974 during the Venus and Mars sessions, under the name "The Whippets".[24] | Unreleased | |
| "Tragedy" | A cover of Thomas Wayne's 1959 ballad. It was recorded in 1972 during the Red Rose Speedway sessions. It was intended to be released on the double album version of Red Rose Speedway. | Released in 2018 on the deluxe reissue of Red Rose Speedway. | |
| "Twice in a Lifetime" | Recorded in 1985, it was the theme from the film Twice in a Lifetime. | Released as a bonus track on the 1993 reissue of Pipes of Peace. | |
| "Waterspout" | Recorded in 1977 during the London Town sessions, with additional overdubs done in 1987. Planned to be added to All the Best! but was ultimately scrapped in favour of "C Moon".[25] | Unreleased | |
| "Wide Prairie" | Written by Linda McCartney and recorded in 1973, with overdubs done in Nashville in 1974. | An edited version, omitting two sections with lead vocals by Paul, was released on Linda McCartney's album Wide Prairie in 1998. |
To date, an official track listing has never been announced. However, various bootlegs of the different versions have appeared on the market. These bootleg versions show the Cold Cuts project in its various stages of mixing and different overdubs on the recordings over the years.
To date, there is no information about the track selection for the album during this period. Songs recorded during the Nashville sessions in July 1974 include:[26]
Side one:
Side two:
Side three:
Side four:
This version was presented to EMI/Capitol in October 1978 as a hits and rarities compilation to be titled Hot Hitz/Kold Kutz.[27] The Hot Hitz disc was repackaged as Wings Greatest in November 1978.[27] The Kold Kutz disc would be leaked in 1988 as bootleg LP titled Cold Cuts (Another Early Version).
McCartney returned to the project in 1980, this time it was to be a standalone album retitled Cold Cuts. Members of Wings added additional overdubs to the tracks "A Love For You", "Waterspout", "My Carnival" and "Same Time Next Year" in January 1981; but none of those overdubs were later used except for the ones on "A Love For You".[28] This version also removed the Linda McCartney and Denny Laine vocal tracks in order to create a more commercial offering.[29]
Side one:
Side two:
Further overdubs to "A Love For You" were done in 1986. This version would be released on the Deluxe Edition of Ram in 2012 as the "Jon Kelly Mix".[30] In 1987, this version of the album leaked onto the bootleg market as an LP titled Cold Cuts (Club Sandwich SP-11)
The version of "Night Out" features additional vocals not featured on the Red Rose Speedway 2018 reissue version.
Side one:
Side two:
This is the final known version of the album. This time, "Blue Sway" was added to the line-up, with new overdubs from arranger-producer Richard Niles. Also, "A Love for You" was remixed. According to an interview with McCartney in 1994, this version was to feature album art by Saul Steinberg.[31] Steinberg's art would later appear on the "Put It There" single cover.
Paul's new manager, Richard Odgen, recommended that, at this point in McCartney's career, releasing a best-of compilation would be a better idea, so Cold Cuts was scrapped in place of All the Best! "Waterspout" was initially planned to be released on that album but was pulled at the last minute (originally the first track on side 2). All the Best! was released in November 1987.
Richard Niles' overdubs on "Blue Sway" would be officially released on the Deluxe Edition of McCartney II in 2010.