Written by: McCartney
Recorded: December 1969-February 1970
Producer: Paul McCartney
Released: 17 April 1970 (UK), 20 April 1970 (US)
Paul McCartney: vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano, xylophone, Mellotron, drums
Linda McCartney: backing vocals
Available on:
McCartney
Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)
Working Classical
A song originally written in Rishikesh, India in 1968, Junk was considered for The Beatles (White Album) and Abbey Road, although it remained unreleased until Paul McCartney's first solo album in 1970.
Junk had an early working title of Jubilee, and was also known as Junk In The Yard.
Paul McCartney recorded a demo version of Junk at Kinfauns, George Harrison's Esher bungalow, upon The Beatles' return from India. It was eventually released in 1996 on Anthology 3. A rough version, lasting just 16 seconds and sung in mock French, was busked on 9 January 1969 during the Get Back sessions at Twickenham Film Studios.
When beginning work on his first solo album, McCartney recorded two versions of Junk using his home studio at 7 Cavendish Avenue, London. More instrumentation was added at Morgan Studios.
Take one appeared on the McCartney album as Singalong Junk, with added Mellotron and percussion, whereas take two was given vocals and was issued as Junk.
Junk was first performed live as an instrumental during McCartney's appearance on MTV Unplugged on 25 January 1991, and appeared as the final track on that year's Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) album. An orchestral version opened McCartney's 1999 album Working Classical.
who sings the backing vocals on Junk on the Beatles Anthology?
It was recorded at George’s bungalow in Surrey with Paul. George provides harmonies on the vocals and backing guitar. It was all very ad lib.
Shouldn’t availability of this song be listed on Beatles Anthology 3 as well?
Tricky one that. They were different recordings done for different projects, and there’s a separate page for the Anthology version. The way I’ve organised the site is Beatles songs under /songs, solo songs under their respective artists’ profiles. But I appreciate it’s a bit of a grey area.
Joe, where are the rest of the Wings era tracks? Such as Venus and Mars songs, Wings At The Speed Of Sound, etc….
Your site is awesome BTW!
They’re on my rather lengthy to-do list! I wish I had more time to research and write those articles. They’ll get done one day.
Such a lovely tune. Overlooked by music critics at the time (surprise not) and still to some extent. A McCartney gem. Well done Paul.