Paul McCartney’s ‘Beautiful Night’ EP Out Ahead Of ‘Flaming Pie’ Reissue

Paul McCartney releases the Beautiful Night EP today (17) as the last of three extended plays leading up to the re-release of his 1997 album Flaming Pie. His tenth solo set will be out on July 31 in a multi-format reissue as the 13th installment in the Grammy-winning Paul McCartney Archive Collection.

The new EP recreates the maxi-single released in the UK in December 1997, some seven months after the debut of Flaming Pie itself. It includes the remastered “Beautiful Night” itself, which has remained a somewhat lesser-known gem among Paul’s peerless collection of ballads. The song, which featured Ringo Starr on drums and vocals, became a top 30 UK hit, the album’s third after “Young Boy” and “The World Tonight.”

Also on the EP is a demo of the song from 1995; an alternate “Run Through” recording; and “Oobu Joobu Part 5,” which is a medley of chat based on the song, alternate mixes and interview recordings of McCartney and Starr talking about “Beautiful Night.” Also out today is a newly remastered music video for “Beautiful Night.”

“It’d be great to do something”

McCartney has been speaking about his memories of the song, the era in which it was made and his collaboration with his Beatles pal. “I’d been saying to Ringo for years that it’d be great to do something, because we’d never really done that much work together outside The Beatles,” he said.

“One night Jeff Lynne suggested, “why don’t you get Ringo in?” and I said, ‘OK!’ It just sort of happened. I had this song ‘Beautiful Night’ which I’d written quite a few years ago. I’d always liked it but I felt I didn’t quite have the right version of it. So I got this song out for when Ringo was coming in, and right away it was just like the old days.”

Flaming Pie will be released in multiple formats on 31 July. Pre-order it here.

The full Beautiful Night EP tracklist is:

1. “Beautiful Night” (Main Album – Remastered)
2. “Beautiful Night” (1995 Demo)
3. “Beautiful Night” (Run Through)
4. “Oobu Joobu Part 5:”

1. “And Now (Jingle)”
2. “Oobu Joobu Main Theme”
3. “Beautiful Night Chat”
4. “Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Chat About ‘Beautiful Night’”
5. “Ringo Starr Chat”
6. “Beautiful Night (Flaming Pie Mix)”
7. “Beautiful Night (Original Version)”
8. “Goodbyes”
9. “Oobu Joobu Main Theme“

Listen to the best of Paul McCartney on Apple Music and Spotify.