Thrillington

Percy "Thrills" Thrillington
 
Thrillington - Front cover Thrillington - Rear Cover
Thrillington - C.D. Front Cover Thrillington - C.D. Rear Cover
Thrillington - The C.D.
Thrillington - The C.D.
Label Regal Zonophone
Catalogue No. EMC 3175
Release date 29th April 1977
Total time 44:52
U.K. Album Chart Detail : Did NOT Chart
Detail : Percy "Thrills" Thrillington was born in Coventry Cathedral in 1939. As a young man his travels took him to Baton Rouge U.S.A. where he studied music for five years on the trot. Moving later to Los Angeles he gained expertise in the marketing, conducting and arranging fields. Eventually the path led to London where his long ambition to form his own orchestra was realized. On this record Percy takes the themes from Paul McCartney's "Ram" and with the help of some of London's best musicians forges them into orchestral versions that bear the unmistakable imprint - the mark of .. Thrillington.

Or ....
Paul was so pleased with the tunes on "Ram", that he made a full orchestral re-make the same year under the pseudonym Percy "Thrills" Thrillington, although it wasn't released by E.M.I. until 1977.

The album starts with the sounds of an orchestra warming up and talking. As well as a full orchestra, drum, bass and piano can be heard, and also a choir contributing some melodies.
The album ends with the piano backing of "Back Seat Of My Car" fading, along with what sounds like the sound of water dripping rapidly.

The orchestra was arranged and conducted by Richard Hewson.

The cover artwork was by Jeff Cummins and designed by Hipgnosis, with sleeve notes by Clint Harrigan.

The original L.P. long since deleted is now quite sought after ... incredibly, I gave my copy away some years back.

After many years of being unavailable in any format, E.M.I. issued "Thrillington" on C.D. in May 1995 with catalogue number CZ 543.
The C.D. came with an eight page booklet which included the transcription of an original press release, and
some cuttings from various newspapers where wealthy jet-setter Percy had placed some small ads.


Side 1

Track Composer Time
Too Many People McCartney 4:29
3 Legs McCartney 3:41
Ram On McCartney 2:49
Dear Boy P.McCartney & L.McCartney 2:50
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey P.McCartney & L.McCartney 4:56
Smile Away McCartney 4:39

Side 2

Track Composer Time
Heart Of The Country P.McCartney & L.McCartney 2:26
Monkberry Moon Delight P.McCartney & L.McCartney 4:36
Eat At Home P.McCartney & L.McCartney 3:27
Long Haired Lady P.McCartney & L.McCartney 5:44
The Back Seat Of My Car McCartney 4:51

Re-issues
18th May 2018 - Marbled Vinyl version (673 7238) - Nothing new, no bonus tracks.

Press Release:
Recorded in 1971 but not released until 1977, Thrillington remains one of the most enigmatic entries in the storied McCartney discography.
Credited to the pseudonym Percy "Thrills" Thrillington, a fictitious socialite whose activities were chronicled in UK newspaper ads,
Thrillington was actually a fully reimagined instrumental lounge/jazz version of Paul and Linda's RAM.
With Thrillington's 2018 edition, Percy is given a new lease on life with this collector's item available on vinyl for the first time since the 1977 first pressings
that fetch hefty sums on the collectors' market, plus a limited edition red/black marbled 180gram vinyl LP with download card.


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