Run Devil Run (Paul McCartney song) explained
"Run Devil Run" is a 1999 original Paul McCartney composition written in a Chuck Berry style as the title track of his 1999 covers album Run Devil Run. It is one of three original songs on the 15-song album, along with "Try Not to Cry", and "What It Is", and was also released as a promotional 7" vinyl single.[2] [3] [4]
Title and lyrics
The title originated from the name of a brand of bath salts or Run Devil Run oil a folk remedy to ward off evildoers which McCartney had picked up at Miller's Rexall Drugs, a hoodoo store in Atlanta.[5] The mock up of a shop with the name "Run Devil Run" on the album cover is of Miller's Rexall Drugs, with the name altered to fit the title song. In the album press release interview prior to release of the album the interviewer asked McCartney about the genesis of the title track.[6] McCartney answered as follows:After continuing to describe the process of the lyrics, written while sailing, McCartney said that he himself was planning to use the Run Devil Run bath salts:
References
- Citations
- Sources
- Book: Benitez, Vincent P.. The Words and Music of Paul McCartney: The Solo Years. 2010. Praeger. Santa Barbara, Calif.. 978-0-313-34969-0.
- Book: Carlin, Peter Ames. Paul McCartney: A Life. 2010. Simon & Schuster. New York. 9781416562238.
- Book: Jackson, Andrew Grant. Still the Greatest: The Essential Songs of the Beatles' Solo Careers. 2012. Scarecrow Press. Lanham, Md.. 9780810882232. illustrated.
- Book: Sounes, Howard. Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney. 2010. HarperCollins. [S.l.]. 978-0-00-723706-7. registration.
Notes and References
- Web site: Run Devil Run (song) . The Paul McCartney Project.
- Sounes 2010, p. 496 "He also returned to his roots, recording a new rock 'n' roll album, Run Devil Run, with guitarist mates Dave Gilmour and Mick Green. ... most of them obscure, with a couple of newly written tracks including the title song, 'Run Devil Run', inspired by a voodoo remedy Paul had picked up in Atlanta to ward off evildoers, thieves and liars. To promote the CD, and help mark the end of the millennium, Paul decided to perform these rockers at the Cavern."
- Benitez 2010, p. 154 "With the exceptions of the album's title track, Try Not to Cry, and What It Is, songs composed by McCartney, Run Devil Run consisted primarily of covers McCartney did with the Beatles before they became famous."
- Carlin 2009, p. 312 "Paul released the sessions a few months later under the title Run Devil Run, and you don't have to listen long to hear the voice of a man only just brushing past the hellhound that had been tailing him through the last few years."
- Jackson 2012, p. 240 "He got the album title Run Devil Run from a brand of bath salts used to ward off evil he saw being sold at an herbal medicine shop on 87 Broad Street in Atlanta."
- Web site: Paul McCartney: The "Run Devil Run" interview . Abbeyrd.best.vwh.net . 7 January 2014.
