PAUL GETS BACK TO A 1990S GEM
A deluxe edition of ‘Flaming Pie’ goes deep into a slept-on moment in McCartney’s career
In the mid-Nineties, Paul McCartney revisited his Beatles years for the Anthology doc, got knighted, and hosted a freewheeling radio show, Oobu Joobu.
Those experiences put him in an excellent frame of mind for whipping up 1997’s Flaming Pie, a sturdy George Martinco-produced potpourri of rockers, ballads, and jams, including high-water marks like the gloriously soppy “Beautiful Night,” and the John Lennon–inspired title track.
McCartney puts Flaming Pie under a microscope on the super-deluxe reissue with home recordings, studio run-throughs, outtakes, and a whole lotta Oobu Joobu. His home demos are sparse and intimate, but what pulls it all together are the inclusions of excerpts from the radio shows and a one-hour documentary guided tour of his home studio. It’s a box set where the extra pieces really help complete the puzzle.