Think you have all of Paul McCartney’s solo albums? You don’t if you don’t have this one, the oddest of all Beatles oddities – Thrillington.
During the recording of McCartney’s second solo effort, Ram, he decided to record a second version of the LP as lounge music instrumentals!
Paul and Linda also decided to form a new rock band, which became known as Wings. That proved to take up most of Paul’s time, so the instrumental album sat on the shelf for 6 years.
When he finally decided to release it in April of 1977, he created a totally fictious persona, British socialite Percy Thrillington as the album’s creator. He then took out ads in various British music papers chronicling the comings and goings of Thrillington.
The album came out and was virtually ignored by all but a small handful of fans who saw through the deception.
McCartney finally confessed to the hoax during an interview in 1989. By that time, the album was already out of print.
A few years later, McCartney also confessed to being Clint Harrigan, who had written the liner notes for both Thrillington and the Wings’ album Wild Life.
Thrillington came back into print with CD releases on 1995, 2004 and as a special 2nd disc with a deluxe re-release of Ram in 2012.
The album is scheduled to be re-issued on CD, vinyl, and limited edition colored vinyl on the 18th of this month (May, 2018)!
So if you ever wondered what the Ram album would sound like if it had been recorded by Les Brown and His Band of Renown, wonder no longer!
