The Family Way, Paul McCartney’s first try at film music, has been rereleased by the Montreal-based XXI-21 Records label. McCartney scored the British film in late 1966, while the Beatles were on break between the Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band albums.
The original version of the album was only 24 minutes long, with McCartney’s music performed mostly by the Claudel String Quartet. The new edition of The Family Way features the McCartney soundtrack along with two additional treatments of the music performed by the George Martin Orchestra and Carl Aubut.
All of the tracks on the album are instrumental, though that wasn’t the original plan. Jazz and pop songwriter Johnny Mercer was lined up to write lyrics for the song “Love In The Open Air,” but McCartney passed because at the time he didn’t know who Mercer was.
McCartney has continued to contribute music to films, including his title track for the James Bond film Live And Let Die and his title track for Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky. He has two previously unreleased songs, “A Love For You” and an alternate version of “Live And Let Die,” on the soundtrack for The In-Laws, which opens in theaters Friday, May 23.
McCartney’s European tour continues Saturday, May 24, at Red Square in Moscow, Russia.
