Recording and Structure
Beginning in February 1995, McCartney teamed up with Jeff Lynne, Electric Light Orchestra lead singer and guitarist, an ardent Beatles fan who had previously worked with George Harrison on his 1987 album Cloud Nine, while both were members of the Traveling Wilburys, and who had also co-produced "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" for the Anthology project. With a keen sense to produce something pure and easy — and without indulging in elaborate productions — McCartney sporadically recorded the entire album in a space of two years, working not only with Lynne, but with Steve Miller, George Martin, Ringo Starr and his own son, James McCartney, who plays lead guitar on "Heaven on a Sunday". "Calico Skies" and "Great Day" both hailed from a 1992 session, recorded even before Off the Ground had come out. This album would also be the last Paul McCartney studio album to feature vocals and participation from Linda McCartney, who would succumb to breast cancer in 1998.
The title Flaming Pie (also given to one of the album's songs) is a reference to a humorous story John Lennon told journalists in 1961 on the origin of The Beatles' name when they became newly famous: "I had a vision that a man came unto us on a flaming pie, and he said, 'You are Beatles with an A.' And so we were." (This sentence refers to Royston Ellis, who suggested the name and blew up the chicken pie he was trying to make.) The album itself definitively has a Beatles flair to it; "The Song We Were Singing" was written about the Lennon–McCartney writing team.
Read more about this topic: Flaming Pie
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