Thrillington

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Thrillington
File:Thrillington album cover.jpg
Studio album by Percy "Thrills" Thrillington
Released 29 April 1977 (UK)
17 May 1977 (US)
Recorded June 1971
Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre Jazz, rock
Length 44:50
Label Regal Zonophone (UK)
Capitol (US)
Producer Percy "Thrills" Thrillington
Paul McCartney chronology
Wings over America
(1976)		 Thrillington
(1977)		 London Town
(1978)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3/5 stars[1]
MusicHound 2/5[2]

Thrillington is a 1977 album by Paul McCartney, under the pseudonym of Percy "Thrills" Thrillington. The album is an instrumental cover version of Paul and Linda McCartney's 1971 album, Ram.

History

Arranger Richard Hewson was asked to arrange the orchestration before Ram had yet been released and it was recorded in June 1971 – with McCartney as producer – and with an intended release shortly thereafter.[3] Paul and Linda's decision to form Wings resulted in the album being shelved until 1977.

In preparation for the release of Thrillington, McCartney invented the fictitious socialite Percy Thrillington, and even took out ads in various UK music papers announcing Thrillington's so-called comings and goings to generate curiosity and interest.

Released in April 1977, McCartney's name was mentioned only in the main liner notes where he is described as a friend of Percy. Thrillington went mostly unnoticed upon its release except for a mention in the Random Notes page of Rolling Stone magazine. It became a sort of collector's item, although not a hot one, for there was some doubt as to whether Thrillington was really Paul McCartney and the role he played in it. McCartney was never asked about his role in that album until he finally admitted it to journalist Peter Palmiere at a Los Angeles press conference on 27 November 1989, during the second leg of his world tour. McCartney told Palmiere: "What a great question to end the conference. The world needs to know! But seriously it was me and Linda – and we kept it a secret for a long time but now the world knows! – you blew it!" After the admission, the album nearly tripled in value.

In 1990 Paul McCartney also admitted to Palmiere, via an autograph request, that he was indeed Clint Harrigan – the liner notes writer for Thrillington and Paul McCartney and Wings' Wild Life album. The first person to reveal the identity of Clint Harrigan was John Lennon, who stated as much during a well-publicised letter feud with McCartney in the New Musical Express in 1972.

The full story of the Thrillington album was told in detail in 1995 in Beatles fanzine Good Day Sunshine[4] and in music journalist Ian Peel's book The Unknown Paul McCartney (Reynolds & Hearn, 2002). Peel tracked down various musicians who brought McCartney's vision to life – including Richard Hewson, Herbie Flowers and The Mike Sammes Singers – as well as those that were responsible in creating its mythology.

Re-release

Thrillington was issued on CD in 1995 and 2004. No accompanying vinyl version was made available on either occasion.

Thrillington was reissued as part of the deluxe edition of Ram on 21 May 2012.[5] To coincide with this release, McCartney started a Twitter account under the Thrillington name, posting tweets in a manner similar to the original newspaper announcements.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Paul and Linda McCartney, except where noted. 

Side One
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Too Many People"   Paul McCartney 4:31
2. "3 Legs"   Paul McCartney 3:41
3. "Ram On"   Paul McCartney 2:49
4. "Dear Boy"     2:50
5. "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"     4:56
6. "Smile Away"   Paul McCartney 4:39
Side Two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
7. "Heart of the Country"     2:27
8. "Monkberry Moon Delight"     4:36
9. "Eat at Home"     3:28
10. "Long Haired Lady"     5:44
11. "The Back Seat of My Car"   Paul McCartney 4:51

Personnel

Production

References

  1. ↑ Thrillington at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Gary Graff & Daniel Durcholz, MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, Visible Ink Press (Farmington Hills, MI, 1999), p. 731.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ "Thrillington", by Matt Hurwitz, Good Day Sunshine Magazine, 1995
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ "Thrillington," by Matt Hurwitz, Good Day Sunshine Magazine, 1995
  7. ↑ Richard Hewson, personal interview with Matt Hurwitz, July 2015

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