Paul McCartney- Flowers in the Dirt 35th Anniversary
It is the thirty-fifth anniversary of Flowers in the Dirt, a pivotal June 1989 release by the incomparable Paul McCartney. As rock music and culture exploded in so many places and in so many ways in the second half of the Eighties, nevertheless the decade was particularly problematic for many of the giants of rock and roll’s British Invasion, the second generation of rock, even Paul McCartney. By late in the decade The Beatles had been twenty years gone down the long and winding road. The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd were either on hiatus, in court, broken up completely, or not speaking to one another. Yet standing on the threshold of the final decade of the 20th century, something remarkable was stirring worldwide, the likes of which we had not witnessed in the twenty years since Americans first walked upon the Moon and Jimi Hendrix played the “Star Spangled Banner” as the Sun rose over Woodstock.
In 1989, Soviet premiere Gorbachev lifted the Iron Curtain, cracks appeared in the Berlin Wall, a giant rock festival played Moscow, and both the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney got their respective mojos working with strong new albums and electrifying world tours. In the case of McCartney, 1989’s Flowers in the Dirt was heralded by music writers and the music public as a strong return to form after Macca released a series of uninspired pop studio releases over the previous thirteen years following Paul’s historic Wings Over America concert tour.
When revisiting this 1989 Flowers in the Dirt “comeback” album for Paul McCartney, you may be pleasantly surprised how bountiful the harvest is and, with the forthcoming expanded deluxe editions available, just how well songs like “Figure of Eight”,”Rough Ride”,”My Brave Face”, “Put It There”, and “We Got Married” have blossomed with new remastered sound. We are thrilled and honored to welcome back Sir Paul McCartney to guest host In the Studio!- Redbeard
( L-R Redbeard sticking tongue out; Paul McCartney; Andy Lockridge; Kenny Sargent 1990 Texas Stadium)
