Driving Rain

Driving Rain
Studio album by Paul McCartney
Released	12 November 2001
Recorded	16 February 2001 – 2 March 2001
Genre	Rock
Length	67:17
Label	Parlophone/EMI
Producer	David Kahne
Paul McCartney chronology
Wingspan: Hits and History (2001) Driving Rain (2001) Back in the U.S. (2002)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	[2]
Entertainment.ie	[3]
NME	[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

Driving Rain is the twelfth studio album by Paul McCartney, recorded and released in 2001 it has now sold 2 million copies globally. It is his first studio album since publicly announcing his relationship with former model and anti-land mines activist Heather Mills, whom McCartney would marry in 2002. The cover of the album was taken with a wristwatch that had a built in camera.

Background

Driving Rain features many uplifiting songs inspired by and written for Heather. Clearly determined to follow the example of Run Devil Run's brisk making, Driving Rain — except for two songs — was cut with David Kahne co-producing in two weeks, starting in February 2001 and with a set of new musicians whom McCartney intended on backing him on tour.

On 11 September 2001, McCartney was sitting on a plane in New York City when the terrorist attacks occurred and was able to witness the events from his seat. Incensed at the tragedy and determined to respond, he composed "Freedom" (the simplicity of which greatly recalls John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance") and helped organise (alongside Harvey Weinstein) The Concert for New York City, a massive all star show at Madison Square Garden on 20 October where "Freedom" was performed to a very receptive audience. Impulsively, McCartney halted the pressing of Driving Rain so that "Freedom" could appear as a hidden track (since the artwork had already been printed). The just released, and somewhat daringly uncommercial "From a Lover to a Friend" (which only reached #45 in the UK) was repackaged with "Freedom", though the single failed to re-chart.

In May 2007, McCartney said there are those who ascribe "militant" connotations to "Freedom" and, because of this, his decision to remove the performing of it from his 2007 setlist. although suggesting it could possibly return when he next mounted a US tour. About the song, McCartney added "I thought it was a great sentiment, and immediately post 9/11, I thought it was the right sentiment. But it got hijacked. And it got a bit of a militaristic meaning attached itself to it, and you found Mr. Bush using that kind of idea rather a lot, in a way I felt altered the meaning of the song."^[6]

In November 2001, Driving Rain was released to generally strong reviews but stunned many with its very low sales, specially considering that McCartney's previous studio album of original material, Flaming Pie was a Top 2 hit in both the US and the UK. Maybe due to the lack of a hit single to support it, Driving Rain peaked at #46 in the UK, and became McCartney's lowest selling album in his homeland. The US reaction was a little stronger, though still underwhelming, with the album making #26 and going gold. Once again, there were no major US singles for McCartney and his new album.

Beginning in April 2002, the "Driving USA" tour — a massive success which would lead to worldwide tour extensions — was launched. After a nearly ten year break and a difficult period in between after losing Linda, McCartney was back on the road and enjoying himself again.

The album will be re-released with no additional content on 23 May 2011.

Track listing

All songs by Paul McCartney, except "Spinning on an Axis" and "Back in the Sunshine Again" co-written by James McCartney.

1. "Lonely Road" – 3:16
2. "From a Lover to a Friend" – 3:48
3. "She's Given Up Talking" – 4:57
4. "Driving Rain" – 3:26
5. "I Do" – 2:56
6. "Tiny Bubble" – 4:21
7. "Magic" – 3:59
8. "Your Way" – 2:55
9. "Spinning On An Axis" – 5:16
10. "About You" – 2:54
11. "Heather" – 3:26
12. "Back In The Sunshine Again"– 4:21
13. "Your Loving Flame" – 3:43
14. "Riding Into Jaipur" – 4:08
15. "Rinse The Raindrops" – 10:08
16. "Freedom" – 3:34
    • Due to the last minute addition of "Freedom" to Driving Rain, it was not listed in the track list and thus appears as a hidden track. "Freedom" was recorded live during The Concert for New York City with later studio overdubs. There are some copies of the CD that was issued with an outerbox and a different cover and the tracklistings featured "Freedom" as an official track.

iTunes exclusive track

17. "From a Lover to a Friend" (David Kahne remix 2) – 5:26
    • In 2007, upon adding McCartney's catalog of music, the iTunes Store added one of David Kahne's two remixes of the song "From a Lover to a Friend" as an exclusive bonus track. This remix is the version released on CD-singles for this song and "Freedom".

Musicians

• Paul McCartney - Vocals, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Piano, Drums, Spanish Guitar, Fender Rhodes, Percussion, Tambourine, Knee Slaps
• Eric Clapton - Guitar (appears only on "Freedom")
• Rusty Anderson - Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, 12-String Guitar, Backing Vocals, Pedal Steel Guitar, Bass, Tampura, Percussion
• David Campbell - Viola
• Larry Corbett - Cello
• Joel Derouin - Violin
• Gabe Dixon - Organ, Piano, Wurlitzer, Backing Vocals, Fender Rhodes, Percussion
• Matt Funes - Viola
• David Kahne - Synth, Samples, Electric Guitar, Organ, Wurlitzer
• Abe Laboriel Jr. - Drums, Percussion, Tambourine, Backing Vocals, Accordion
• James McCartney - Electric Guitar, Percussion
• Ralph Morrison - Violin

Production

• Producer: David Kahne
• Executive Producer: Paul McCartney
• Engineer: Mark Sickora
• Recorded at Henson Recording Studio, L.A.
• Mixing: Mark Dearnley, David Kahne, David Leonard
• Mastering: Stephen Marcussen
• Digitally edited by Stewart Whitmore
• Design: Norman Hathaway, Micha Weidmann, Donat Raetzo
• Photography: Paul McCartney

Charts and certifications

Chart positions Chart (2001) Position Danish Albums Chart [7] 17 Italian Albums Chart[8] 17 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[9] 18 Swedish Albums Chart[10] 19 U.S. Billboard 200[11] 26 Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[12] 27 Austrian Albums Chart[13] 31 French SNEP Albums Chart[14] 33 UK Albums Chart [15] 46 Swiss Albums Chart[16] 62 Dutch Mega Albums Chart[17] 76

Certifications and sales Region Certification Sales/shipments Japan (Oricon Charts) 17,560[18][19] United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Silver 60,000^ United States (RIAA)[21] Gold 399,000[22] Summaries Worldwide 1000,000[22] *sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. ^ Driving Rain at Allmusic
2. ^ Chris Willman (2001-11-16). "Driving Rain Review". ew.com. Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,183909,00.html. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
3. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "NME Album Reviews - Paul McCartney : Driving Rain". Nme.Com. 2001-11-20. http://www.nme.com/reviews/paul-mccartney/5866. Retrieved 2011-09-09. 
5. ^ Greg Kot (2011-10-30), "Music Reviews : Driving Rain by Paul McCartney", Rolling Stone, archived from the original on 2011-08-29, http://web.archive.org/web/20080420055810/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/paulmccartney/albums/album/165011/review/5944918/driving_rain, retrieved 2008-04-20 
6. ^ Dahlen, Chris (2007-05-21). "Interview:Sir Paul McCartney". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/42799-interview-sir-paul-mccartney. Retrieved 2008-01-09. 
7. ^ "danishcharts.com Paul McCartney - Driving Rain". danishcharts.com. http://danishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=Driving+Rain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
8. ^ "italiancharts.com Paul McCartney - Driving Rain". italiancharts.com. http://italiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=Driving+Rain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
9. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Paul McCartney - Driving Rain". http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=Driving+Rain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-29. 
10. ^ "swedishcharts.com Paul McCartney - Driving Rain". Sverigetopplistan. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=Driving+Rain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
11. ^ Allmusic - Driving Rain > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
12. ^ ポール・マッカートニー-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック "Highest position and charting weeks of Driving Rain by Paul McCartney" (in Japanese). oricon.co.jp. Oricon Style. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/455525/1/ ポール・マッカートニー-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック. Retrieved 2011-08-29. 
13. ^ "Paul McCartney - Driving Rain - austriancharts.at". http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=Driving+Rain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-29. 
14. ^ "lescharts.com Paul McCartney - Driving Rain". lescharts.com. SNEP. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=Driving+Rain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
15. ^ "Chart Stats - Paul McCartney - Driving Rain". UK Albums Chart. http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=48261. Retrieved 2011-08-29. 
16. ^ "Paul McCartney - Driving Rain - hitparade.ch". http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=Driving+Rain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-29. 
17. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Paul McCartney - Driving Rain". dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=Driving+Rain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-29. 
18. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4871310779. 
19. ^ a-ビートルズ "Yamachan Land (Japanese Chart Archives) - Albums Chart Daijiten - The Beatles" (in Japanese). Original Confidence. 2007-12-30. http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_beatles.html a-ビートルズ. Retrieved 2011-08-29. 
20. ^ "British album certifications – Paul McCartney – Driving Rain". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx.  Enter Driving Rain in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
21. ^ "American album certifications – Paul McCartney – Driving Rain". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Driving+Rain%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
22. ^ ^{a b} "Paul McCartney's new album "Memory Almost Full" will be released June 5 in North America". billboard. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20070926234412/http://billboard.biz/bbbiz/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003583983&imw=Y. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 

External links

• JPGR's Beatles site: Paul McCartney's Driving Rain