Tug of War

Tug of War is the eleventh studio album by Paul McCartney, released in April 1982 on Parlophone/Columbia Records and produced by George Martin, the first collaboration between McCartney and Martin since 'Silly Love Songs' in 1976, and a reunion that gave the album the most deliberately orchestrated and polished production of any McCartney solo work since the Beatles' final years. McCartney wrote all the original material; the album's guest appearances include Stevie Wonder (on the duet 'Ebony and Ivory,' which spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the most commercially successful singles of McCartney's solo career), Carl Perkins (on 'Get It,' a country duet that was recorded in a single day and reflects McCartney's abiding affection for his rockabilly roots), and Ringo Starr and Dave Mattacks on drums. The album was conceived partly as a tribute to John Lennon, who had been murdered in December 1980; 'Here Today,' a McCartney composition addressing Lennon directly in the second person, is among the most widely cited examples of McCartney at his most personally candid. Tug of War reached number one on both the UK Albums Chart and the Billboard 200, and the critical response was more enthusiastic than for any McCartney solo album since Band on the Run, reviewers noting that the Martin collaboration had restored the production grandeur that McCartney's work in the late 1970s had lacked. The album has been certified double platinum in the United States.