Rough Cuts Soundcheck 1993 (Beatles Master Works BMW002)
Waldbuhne, Berlin, Germany – September 3rd 1993
(56:54): Let Me Roll It, Off The Ground, Robbie’s Bit, Good Rocking Tonight, I Lost My Little Girl, Ain’t No Sunshine, Can’t Buy Me Love, Michelle, Looking For Changes, Back In The USSR, Jet, Lady Madonna, C Moon, Live And Let Die, Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying
Ever since Paul McCartney’s return to the road in 1989, he’s been an obsessive soundchecker. For between an hour and an hour and a half, he will run through the setlist with the band and playing all means of different instruments. They can take on a life of their own and are as entertaining as the actual concert.
Collecting these tapes is almost a subset of Macca collecting. There are at least ten tape from the New World Tour in 1993 alone including tapes from Europe, the USA and Japan. Rough Cuts Soundcheck 1993 contains a tape, running just under and hour, from the afternoon before the September 3rd Berlin concert. Berlin was the first stop on the European leg of the tour and their first live show since June 15th in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It comes from a very good and clear amateur recording from someone standing inside the massive Waldbuhne that day.
It is incomplete since it cuts in while they’re rehearsing “Let Me Roll It.” Robbie McIntosh practicies his “bit” for ninety seconds after “Off The Ground” while they’re discussing some technical details. They follow with runthroughs of “Good Rocking Tonight” and “I Lost My Little Girl.”
McCartney mixes things up a bit in the middle. He sings “Ain’t No Sunshine” from the new album as a crooner (sounding like Bob Dylan c. 1969) and “Can’t Buy Me Love” is played as a country and western number instead of the normal rock arrangement.
While he’s playing the “piano” numbers such as “Lady Madonna” and “Live And Let Die” he leads the band into a performance of “C Moon.” It was performed live in 1975 in a short medley with “Little Woman Love” but dropped in 1976 when he introduced Wings At The Speed Of Sound songs into the set. He soundchecked “C Moon” again in November while playing in Tokyo, but didn’t play it live again for another decade.
The tape ends with a cover of the Gerry & The Pacemakers hit “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying,” a song he played live in Montreal on December 9th, 1989 and found its way onto the official live album Tripping The Live Fantastic.
McCartney soundcheck tapes have varying degrees of worth for the collector since some are more interesting than others. I think the Berlin soundcheck would fit better as a bonus disc for the actual Berlin show (which has never been pressed). On its own, it’s interesting for the rearrangement of “Can’t Buy Me Love” only. BMW did a good job with the design by keeping it in line with the theme of the tour.
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Not the Pacemakers hit, but the Ray Charles vakkad if the same title;