The McCartney Years

Paul McCartney is one of the most celebrated figures in contemporary music and popular culture. Since he first rose to fame as Beatle Paul in the early '60s, his career has also encompassed long runs with Wings and as a solo artist. In all, McCartney has written or co-written more than fifty Top Ten hits. Rhino's new 3-DVD set, in association with MPL, turns the spotlight on Sir Paul's extraordinarily diverse post-Beatles body of work with over 40 music videos of his classic songs as well as more than two hours of live concert performances and other assorted rarities spanning four decades. New commentary from the man himself, recorded exclusively for this release, enhances the content throughout all three discs of THE MCCARTNEY YEARS.

All elements comprising this unprecedented collection have been meticulously restored, with every film having been polished, re-graded and given a new lease on life in a Widescreen format with remastered audio. Original sound recordings have also been remixed into 5.1 Surround Sound for the first time.

On Disc 1 and Disc 2, the collection's wealth of videos reaches as far back as “Maybe I'm Amazed” from his 1970 solo debut album, on which the now-legendary artist - previously known usually just as “Paul” - won huge acclaim for the LP simply bearing his surname, McCartney. The most recent clip is his 2005 hit “Fine Line” from his GRAMMY®-nominated album Chaos And Creation In The Backyard. In between, highlights include “Heart Of The Country,” “Mamunia,” “Ebony & Ivory,” “Wonderful Christmastime,” “Pipes Of Peace” and “Say Say Say.”

Bonus rarities on these two discs include a Wings promo film for “Band On The Run” and Creating Chaos At Abbey Road, a documentary on the making of Chaos And Creation In The Backyard. Clips and films can be viewed either in chronological order or via suggested custom playlists.

Disc three showcases classic live performances including portions of Rockshow, filmed on the 1976 Wings tour. Also featured are a new edit of McCartney's 1991 appearance on MTV's Unplugged, eleven songs from his 2004 headlining set at the U.K.'s Glastonbury Festival plus two bonus extras: “Let It Be” from 1985's Live Aid concert and footage from his performance at Super Bowl XXIV.

Paul McCartney has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two times - in 1988 with the Beatles, and in 1999 individually. On their web page overviewing his '99 induction, they wrote:

“With and without Wings, McCartney has been extremely prolific, averaging an album a year since the appearance of McCartney. Moreover, he's been eclectic as well, not only recording pop and rock but also dabbling in various classical forms and ambient dance music. In the post-Beatles era McCartney has cracked the Top Forty 35 times. When combined with the Beatles' 49 Top Forty U.S. singles, it is a matter of statistical fact that Paul McCartney is the most successful pop-music composer ever and the second greatest hitmaker, behind Elvis Presley. Without question he is one of the most important musicians of the 20th century.”

In October 2007, Sir Paul McCartney was honored as the “Q Icon” at the Q Awards 2007, the prestigious annual awards ceremony for leading U.K. contemporary music magazine Q Magazine. His most recent solo album (his 21st), 2007's Memory Almost Full, won widespread praise - Entertainment Weekly graded it A- and wrote, “his best record since 1989's Flowers In The Dirt.” Also in '07, McCartney's choral oratorio Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart) was named album of the year at the annual Classical Brit Awards, the U.K.'s most highly regarded honors for classical music.