''Tug of War'' is the third solo

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by English musician

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, released on 26 April 1982. It was McCartney's first album released after the dissolution of

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

the previous year. Overall, it was his 11th album since the break up of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. It was also McCartney's first album after the murder of former songwriting partner John Lennon. The cover features an abstract oil painting by the artist

Brian Clarke Brian Clarke (born 2 July 1953) is a British painter, architectural artist and printmaker, known for his large-scale stained glass and mosaic projects, symbolist paintings, set designs, and collaborations with major figures in Modern and conte ...

, a frequent McCartney collaborator, incorporating an over-painted transparency of a portrait of Paul taken by

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

. ''Tug of War'' was produced by former Beatles producer

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

and was a number one hit in many countries, selling over one million copies in the United States in the year of its release. Some critics hailed it as a return to form for McCartney. Its remastered deluxe edition received a nomination for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package at the 2017 Grammy Awards.

Recording

Following the release of the solo album ''

McCartney II ''McCartney II'' is the second solo album by English musician Paul McCartney, released on 16 May 1980. It was recorded by McCartney at his home studio in the summer of 1979, shortly before the dissolution of his band Wings in 1981. Like his firs ...

'', Wings regrouped in July and October 1980 to rehearse several songs which later appeared on ''Tug of War'' and ''

Pipes of Peace ''Pipes of Peace'' is the fourth solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney, released on 31 October 1983. As the follow-up to the popular ''Tug of War'', the album came close to matching the commercial success of its predeces ...

''. Feeling the need for direction, McCartney called upon his former producer,

, to begin recording a song written for the animated

Rupert Bear Rupert Bear is a British children's comic strip character and franchise created by artist Mary Tourtel and first appearing in the ''Daily Express'' newspaper on 8 November 1920. Rupert's initial purpose was to win sales from the rival ''Da ...

character (to which McCartney acquired the film rights in 1970), titled "

We All Stand Together "We All Stand Together" (sometimes referred to as the Frog Song or the Frog Chorus) is a song by Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus. History "We All Stand Together" is from the animated film ''Rupert and the Frog Song'' and reached number thre ...

", among others. The productive sessions continued until 9 December, the morning McCartney woke up to discover his former songwriting partner and fellow ex-

Beatle The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the development ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

, had been shot and killed in New York City on the previous night. Abandoning that day's session (in which he and

Denny Laine Denny Laine (born Brian Frederick Hines, 29 October 1944) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, known as a founder of two major rock bands: the Moody Blues, with whom he played from 1964 to 1966, and Wings, with whom he played from 1 ...

were recording future B-side "Rainclouds") part-way through, both Martin and McCartney felt it was best to leave the project for the time being and start anew once they were ready. In February 1981, two months after Lennon's death, McCartney resumed the sessions, recording that month with

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jaz ...

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

and

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

, and laying down several songs in the process. The sessions were held at

AIR The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

Studios in Montserrat, in the Caribbean, and lasted from 3 February to 2 March, ending with "Ebony and Ivory" and "What's That You're Doing", two songs featuring Stevie Wonder.

10cc 10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group featured t ...

guitarist

Eric Stewart Eric Michael Stewart (born 20 January 1945) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the rock groups the Mindbenders with whom he played from 1963 to 1968, and likewise of 10 ...

also became a frequent collaborator of McCartney during this period. Further sessions were undertaken that summer at Martin's AIR studios in

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

, London. The sessions were so productive that several resulting tracks were held over for McCartney's next album, ''

'', which followed in 1983. The rest of 1981 was spent in a quiet fashion, with McCartney and Martin giving finishing touches to the album.

Release, critical reception and aftermath

In a contemporary review for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', music critic

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

hailed ''Tug of War'' as "the masterpiece everyone has always known Paul McCartney could make", and particularly admired its vivid music and consistent songwriting. Robert Palmer was less enthusiastic in his review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', and found the album "exquisitely crafted though lyrically flawed", as he thought McCartney's lyrics were often "clichéd or mawkish", but that the album "at its best, is as finely crafted as his work with the Beatles". In March 1982, McCartney's duet with Stevie Wonder, "

Ebony and Ivory "Ebony and Ivory" is a song that was released in 1982 as a single by Paul McCartney featuring Stevie Wonder. It was issued on 29 March that year as the lead single from McCartney's third solo album, ''Tug of War'' (1982). Written by McCartney ...

", was released to considerable commercial success, reaching number one in many countries. ''Tug of War'' followed in April, and similarly became a worldwide number one. The follow-up single, "Take It Away", reached the top ten in the United States. The album went on to sell several million copies and did much to restore McCartney's critical reputation after what was viewed as a lean period for him. ''Tug of War'' was nominated for the "Album of the Year"

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

in 1983. ''Wingspan'' author

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

thought it was a better album than ''

Band on the Run ''Band on the Run'' is the third studio album by the British–American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, released in December 1973. It was McCartney's fifth album after leaving the Beatles in April 1970. Although sales were modest initially ...

''. '' Far Out'' thought it an artful and successful from the effort, surmising that the album was his strongest work, "not something to say lightly when Ram, Band On The Run and Chaos and Creation In The Backyard are also part of the catalogue." The album was issued in the US on compact disc on 29 February 1984. In 1993, ''Tug of War'' was remastered and re-issued on CD as part of ''

The Paul McCartney Collection ''The Paul McCartney Collection'' is a series of 16 remastered CDs by Paul McCartney of his solo and Wings albums, with most adding bonus tracks. The albums in the collection were released separately, with the first eight released on 7 June 1993, ...

'' series. There were no bonus tracks: "Rainclouds" and "I'll Give You a Ring", B-sides of "Ebony and Ivory" and "Take It Away", respectively, were omitted. In 2007, ''Tug of War'' was remastered and re-released on the iTunes Store adding a solo version of "Ebony and Ivory". A further reissue of ''Tug of War'' was released on 2 October 2015, as part of the ''

Paul McCartney Archive Collection The Paul McCartney Archive Collection is an ongoing project to remaster and reissue Paul McCartney's solo catalogue, including various albums released with Wings. These editions feature deluxe packaging and bonus rare tracks. Thus far, there have ...

''. This edition included a remixed version of the album, along with the original mix, and a series of videos.

Track listing

All songs were written by

, except "What's That You're Doing?" co-written by

. Side one #"

Tug of War Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

" – 4:22 #" Take It Away" – 4:14 #"Somebody Who Cares" – 3:19 #"What's That You're Doing?" – 6:19 #" Here Today" – 2:27 Side two #

"Ballroom Dancing" – 4:07 #"The Pound Is Sinking" – 2:54 #"Wanderlust" – 3:49 #"Get It" – 2:29 #"Be What You See (Link)" – 0:34 #"Dress Me Up as a Robber" – 2:41 #"

" – 3:46

Archive Collection Reissue

In 2015 the album was re-issued by

Hear Music Hear Music was a record label that was founded in 2007 in a partnership between Concord Music Group and Starbucks. Hear Music began as a catalog company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1990 before being purchased by Starbucks in 1999. Conce ...

Concord Music Group Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings ( Fearless Records, Concord R ...

as part of the sixth set of releases, alongside ''

'', in the ''

''. It was released in multiple formats: *Standard Edition 2-CD; remixed version of the original 12-track album on the first disc, plus 11 bonus tracks on a second disc. *Deluxe Edition 3CD/1DVD Box Set + 112 page essay book and 64 page scrapbook; *Super Deluxe CD/DVD 3CD/1DVD Box Set + 112 page essay book and 64 page scrapbook + limited edition acrylic slipcase *Remastered vinyl The albums will also be available on special gatefold vinyl editions (vinyl editions include a download card). Digital Standard: Standard Res – without Ebooklet Standard Res – with Ebooklet Mastered for iTunes – without Ebooklet Hi-Res – 24-bit/96 kHz – with Ebooklet Deluxe: Standard Res (with or without Ebooklet) Mastered for iTunes (with Ebooklet) Hi-Res – 24-bit/96 kHz (with Ebooklet) ;Disc 1 – Remixed album Remixed version of the original 12-track album. ;Disc 2 – Original album remastered (deluxe edition only) The original 12-track album. ;Bonus Audio (disc 2 for standard version, disc 3 for deluxe edition) All songs written by Paul McCartney except "Rainclouds" written with

. #"Stop, You Don't Know Where She Came From" – 1:44 #"Wanderlust" – 1:46 #"Ballroom Dancing" – 2:04 #"Take It Away" – 5:37 #"The Pound Is Sinking" – 2:35 #"Something That Didn't Happen" – 2:17 #"Ebony and Ivory" – 1:46 #"Dress Me Up as a Robber/Robber Riff" – 3:42 #"Ebony and Ivory" – 3:50 #"Rainclouds" – 3:13 #"I'll Give You a Ring" – 3:09 Note: Tracks 1-8 previously unreleased. ;Additional download tracks available via paulmccartney.com #"Take It Away" – 4:05 ;Disc 4 – DVD #"Tug of War" Music Video #"Tug of War" Music Video #"Take It Away" Music Video #"Ebony and Ivory" Music Video #"Fly TIA" – Behind The Scenes on Take It Away

Personnel

Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album. *

– arrangements, vocals, backing vocals (1–4, 6–9, 11, 12), synthesizers (1, 7, 9, 12), acoustic guitar (1–3, 7–9), electric guitar (1, 4, 6, 7), bass guitar (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12), drums (1, 4, 6, 7), acoustic piano (2, 6, 8, 12), Spanish guitar (3), guitars (5, 10–12), percussion (6, 9, 12),

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

(10, 12) *

– arrangements,

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

(2, 11) *

– vocals (4, 12), backing vocals (4, 12), synthesizers (4, 12), Fender Rhodes (12), drums (12), percussion (12) *

– electric guitar (1, 6, 11),

guitar synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partner ...

(3), acoustic guitar (7), bass guitar (8), synthesizers (11) *

– electric guitar (1), backing vocals (1–4, 6–8) *

– electric guitar (9), vocals (9) *

– bass guitar (3, 7) * Campbell Maloney – military snare drum (1) *

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the ''Modern D ...

– drums (2, 3), percussion (3) *

– drums (2) * Adrian Sheppard – drums (8), percussion (8) *

Dave Mattacks David James Mattacks (born 13 March 1948) is an English rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician and as a performing artist. Apart from playing the drums, he i ...

– drums (11), percussion (11) * Kenneth Sillito – orchestra conductor (1) *

Adrian Brett Adrian Brett is a British flautist. In 1979, Brett released an album entitled ''Echoes of Gold'', Warwick Records which appeared in the Top 20 of the UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digit ...

–

pan pipes A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have bee ...

(1) *

Andy Mackay Andrew Mackay (born 23 July 1946) is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member (playing oboe and saxophone) of the art rock group Roxy Music. In addition, he has taught music and provided scores for television, while his ...

–

Lyricon The Lyricon is an electronic wind instrument, the first wind controller to be constructed. Invented by Bill Bernardi (and co-engineered by Roger Noble and with the late Lyricon performer Chuck GreenbergIngham (1998) p.184), filed for patent on ...

(4) * Jack Brymer –

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

(6) * Keith Harvey – cello (5) * Ian Jewel – viola (5) * Bernard Partridge – violin (5) * Jack Rothstein – violin (5) *

Philip Jones Brass Ensemble The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, founded in 1951 by trumpeter Philip Jones, was one of the first modern classical brass ensembles to be formed. The group played either as a quintet or as a ten-piece, for larger halls. It toured and recorded exte ...

– brass section (8) *

– backing vocals (1–4, 6–8, 11) *

Peter Marshall Peter Marshall may refer to: Entertainment * Peter Marshall (entertainer) (born 1926), American game show host of ''The Hollywood Squares'', 1966–1981 * Peter Marshall (author, born 1939) (1939–1972), British novelist whose works include ''Th ...

– narrator (6)

Production

* George Martin – producer *

Geoff Emerick Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 October 2018) was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums '' Revolver'' (1966), '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) and ''Abbey Road ...

– engineer * Jon Jacobs – assistant engineer * Mike Stavrou – assistant engineer * Alex Wharton – mastering *

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, UFO, 10cc, Ba ...

– cover coordination * Sinc – cover coordination * YES – creative direction, design *

– cover painting * Linda McCartney – photography

Accolades

Grammy Awards

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, , ''Tug of War'' , , Album of the Year , , , - , rowspan=3, "Ebony and Ivory" (Duet with Stevie Wonder) , , Song of the Year , , , - ,

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

, , , - , Best Pop Vocal Performance – Duo or Group , , , - , "What's That You're Doing?"
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, , ''Tug of War (Remastered Deluxe Edition)'' , , Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package , , , -

American Music Awards

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, , Paul McCartney (performer) , , Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, , , - , "Ebony and Ivory"
(Duet with Stevie Wonder) , , Favorite Pop/Rock Single , , , -

Brit Awards

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, , rowspan=2, Paul McCartney (performer), , Best British Male Artist , , , - , Sony Trophy for Technical Excellence , , , - , George Martin (producer) , , Best British Producer , , , -

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Notes *A ^ In the United States, ''Tug of War'' also entered the R&B chart, peaking at No. 11 there. *B ^ Until January 1987, Japanese albums chart had been separated into LP, CD, and cassette charts. ''Tug of War'' also entered the cassette chart, peaking at No. 12 and entering top 100 for 19 weeks. *C ^ Combined sales of LP, CD, and audio cassette.

References

External links

*
JPGR's Beatles site: Paul McCartney's ''Tug of War''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tug of War (Album) Paul McCartney albums 1982 albums Albums produced by George Martin Parlophone albums Albums recorded at AIR Studios