In 1977, Percy "Thrills" Thrillington released an album simply titled Thrillington. The album consists of all eleven instrumental versions of the songs that were originally found on the 1971 album RAM from Paul & Linda McCartney. The CD includes a two page "original press release" about the mysterious Percy Thrillington. Of course most Beatle fans know already that "Thrills" is in fact Paul McCartney, and more importantly the only people who possibly even know about the existence of this CD.

Wikipedia states that this Thrillington album was arranged (by Richard Hewson) and recorded a month after Paul & Linda's RAM was released, but shelved until 1977, a fact that I wasn’t aware of. 'Percy Thrillington' is not the first pseudonym that McCartney had used, others include Bernard Webb, The Firemen, Billy Martin, etc.

Thrillington is not what you'd think it is. McCartney has added some different personalities to each of his songs, it's not just an orchestral symphonic copy. For instance, the opening song Too Many People is given a muzak feel. The added voices of Paul and Linda performing strictly background vocals add something much more than simple muzak. The song now has a slow crescendo that even leads to a different key, unlike the original.

Three Legs fuses different styles together into one idea. While originally, the song was strictly a very bluesy number, this version has a much more big band/jazzy feel where the beat is kept by a single bongo. The song Ram has a soprano clarinet as the main instrument performing with a pentatonic big band style, the song has an easy listening style yet performed against an eerie angelic chorus. Eat At Home is surprisingly given a samba feel and Monkberry Moon Delight sounds like something right out of an old Betty Boop cartoon, something Cab Calloway could be proud of, a Big Band with lots of jive and jazz.

For the past twenty years or so, we’ve seen a lot of rock bands getting the symphonic cover treatment and acts such as Beatles, Queen, & Pink Floyd’s music have been given a powdered wig on an album cover or two. The earliest such record I can think of is probably The Baroque Beatles Book released in 1965, perhaps this is where McCartney had gotten his bright idea to cover his own music in such a way. To be so far-sighted of such ideas way back in 1971 shows once again his trail blazing ways and how McCartney was a musical pioneer in more ways than just Beatles. Yet having said that, this CD is not something you would see in heavy rotation in even the most dedicated McCartney fan. But it’s worth a listen or two.

the songs

1. Too Many People
2. 3 Legs
3. Ram On
4. Dear Boy
5. Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey
6. Smile Away
7. Heart Of The Country
8. Monkberry Moon Delight
9. Eat At Home
10. Long Haired Lady
11. Back Seat Of My Car


Recommended: Yes