:Memory Almost Full

Nine demos were recorded at Hog Hill Mill studio in September 2003 by Paul McCartney and his touring band.{{cite web|title=The McCartney Recording Sessions – 2003|url=http://webpages.charter.net/ram71/2003.htm|access-date=6 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407065449/http://webpages.charter.net/ram71/2003.htm|archive-date=7 April 2014|url-status=dead}} A month later, in October, album sessions for Memory Almost Full began, and were produced by David Kahne and recorded at Abbey Road Studios. McCartney and the band recorded the songs "You Tell Me", "Only Mama Knows", "Vintage Clothes", "That Was Me", "Feet in the Clouds", "House of Wax", "The End of the End", and "Whole Life".{{#tag:ref|The latter of which, originally recorded in 1995,{{cite web|title=The McCartney Recording Sessions – 1995|url=http://webpages.charter.net/ram71/1995.htm|access-date=6 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226061838/http://webpages.charter.net/ram71/1995.htm|archive-date=26 December 2013|url-status=dead}} was released as its own CD, separate from the Memory Almost Full album.|group="nb"}} However, the sessions were cut short and put on hiatus when McCartney started another album, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, with producer Nigel Godrich.

In the website constructed for the album, McCartney stated: "I actually started this album, Memory Almost Full, before my last album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, released September 2005. (...) When I was just finishing up everything concerned with Chaos and had just got the Grammy nominations (2006) I realised I had this album to go back to and finish off. So I got it out to listen to it again, wondering if I would enjoy it, but actually I really loved it. All I did at first was just listen to a couple of things and then I began to think, 'OK, I like that track – now, what is wrong with it?' And it might be something like a drum sound, so then I would re-drum and see where we would get to. (...) In places it's a very personal record and a lot of it is retrospective, drawing from memory, like memories from being a kid, from Liverpool and from summers gone. The album is evocative, emotional, rocking, but I can't really sum it up in one sentence".{{cite web |title=Paul McCartney – Memory Almost Full |url=http://www.memoryalmostfull.com |access-date=25 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904102959/http://www.memoryalmostfull.com/ |archive-date=4 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}

Many songs from Memory Almost Full were from a group of songs, which also included songs from Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, and some intended for the former nearly ended up on the latter. Any songs that were started, but not finished, for Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, McCartney didn't want to re-do for Memory Almost Full. As sessions for the album progressed McCartney wrote some more songs, something that McCartney used to do when he was in the Beatles. An early version of "Ever Present Past" was recorded at either one of the three following studios: RAK Studios, AIR Studios or Ocean Way Studios; sometime between November 2003 and April 2005.{{cite web|title=The McCartney Recording Sessions – 2005|url=http://webpages.charter.net/ram71/2005.htm|access-date=6 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201221659/http://webpages.charter.net/ram71/2005.htm|archive-date=1 February 2014|url-status=dead}} Two years after the 2003 session, sessions for the album started again.{{cite web|title=The McCartney Recording Sessions – 2006|url=http://webpages.charter.net/ram71/2006.htm|access-date=6 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201221038/http://webpages.charter.net/ram71/2006.htm|archive-date=1 February 2014|url-status=dead}} The book Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969–2013). A Journey Through Paul McCartney's Songs After the Beatles reports that the recordings of the album were started in September–October 2003 and resumed in February 2004 at Abbey Road, with other sessions taking place between March 2006 and February 2007.Luca Perasi, Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969–2013), L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2013, {{ISBN|978-88-909122-1-4}}, pp.366-376 and pp.392-400.

New tracks were recorded at the following studios: McCartney's home studio in Sussex, Hog Hill Mill, Los Angeles' Henson Studios, London's RAK Studios and AIR Studios, and New York's SeeSquared Studios. The songs recorded at those studios were "Nod Your Head", "In Private", "222", "Gratitude", "Mr Bellamy", "See Your Sunshine", and "Ever Present Past". Of those songs, "Mr Bellamy", "Ever Present Past", "Gratitude", "Nod Your Head", and "In Private" were all recorded on the same day, in March 2006. As well as working on songs from the first Memory Almost Full album session in 2003, "Why So Blue" was re-recorded. In total, between 20 and 25 songs were recorded for the album. "Dance Tonight" was recorded, along with "Feet in the Clouds" and "222" being reworked, between January and February 2007 at RAK Studios,{{cite web|title=The McCartney Recording Sessions – 2007|url=http://webpages.charter.net/ram71/2007.htm|access-date=6 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419014144/http://webpages.charter.net/ram71/2007.htm|archive-date=19 April 2014|url-status=dead}} as the last song recorded for the album.{{cite web |url=http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/16777-dance-tonight-press-release |title=Dance Tonight Press Release |website=Paulmccartney.com |date=20 May 2007 |access-date=7 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406225555/http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/16777-dance-tonight-press-release |archive-date=6 April 2013 }} The album was mixed by Kahne and Andy Wallace.

In an interview with Billboard magazine in May 2007, McCartney said that the album's material was "in some ways a little bit retrospective. Some of them are of now, some of them hark back to the past, but all of them are songs I'm very proud of."{{cite magazine|last=Cohen |first=Jonathan |title=Sweet Sound |magazine=Billboard |date=5 May 2007 |page=20 |volume=119 |issue=18 }} McCartney played mandolin on the song "Dance Tonight". He comments that "In searching the instrument to try and find chords, which I did with the guitar when I was 14, probably, that freshness was brought back." "Ever Present Past", which McCartney called "personal", originally started out as a song called "Perfect Lover". This early version was more folk-like, similar to Chaos and Creation in the Backyard's "Friends to Go". "Perfect Lover" went through a minor lyrical change, the bridge was changed, and an overhaul of its musical arrangement, before it finally became "Ever Present Past". The track also includes references to the Beatles. In June 2007, McCartney revealed that "See Your Sunshine" "is pretty much an out-and-out love song for Heather. A lot of the album was done before, during and after our separation. I didn't go back and take out any songs to do with her."{{cite web |title=Paul McCartney Writes Song for Heather Mills |last=Gregory |first=Jason |work=Gigwise |date=22 June 2007 |url=http://www.gigwise.com/news.asp?contentid=33522 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20090205194722/http://www.gigwise.com/news.asp?contentid=33522 |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 February 2009 }} "You Tell Me" is about McCartney's memories of his previous wife, Linda.

"Mr Bellamy", the sixth song on the album, was thought by online fans to be about McCartney's then-recent divorce.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7311450.stm |title=McCartney fans hail 'Mills' song |publisher=BBC News |date=24 March 2008 |access-date=24 March 2008 |archive-date=25 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325121308/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7311450.stm |url-status=live }} McCartney invited Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke to play piano on the song, but he declined. The press ran articles claiming that Yorke had "snubbed" McCartney, but Yorke later revealed that he "really liked the song" but felt he would be unable to perform to the required standard.{{cite web |url=http://www.gigwise.com/news/39327/thom-yorke-reveals-reason-behind-paul-mccartney-snub |title=Thom Yorke Reveals Reason Behind Paul McCartney Snub |work=Gigwise |date=10 December 2007 |first=Scott |last=Colothan |access-date=12 June 2008 |archive-date=27 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527102328/http://www.gigwise.com/news/39327/thom-yorke-reveals-reason-behind-paul-mccartney-snub |url-status=live }} "Gratitude" is reportedly about the divorce between Heather Mills and McCartney.{{cite book|last=Sounes|first=Howard|title=Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney|year=2010|publisher=HarperCollins|location=London|isbn=9780007321551|page=541}}

The album features a five song-medley (starting off with “Vintage Clothes“ and ending with “The End of the End“), which in an interview with Billboard magazine, McCartney said that it was previously "something I wanted to revisit" as "nobody had been doing that for a while." The medley was a set of intentionally written material, whereas the medley that McCartney had worked on for the Beatles' Abbey Road was actually made up of "bits we had knocking around." The medley starts off with "Vintage Clothes", which McCartney "sat down one day" to write, that was "looking back, [and] looking back.", about life.{{cite book|last=Carlin |first=Peter Ames|title=Paul McCartney: A Life|year=2010|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|isbn=9781416562238|page=333}} It was followed by the bass-led "That Was Me", which is about his "school days and teachers", the medley, as McCartney stated, then "progressed from there." The next songs are "Feet in the Clouds", about the inactivity while one is growing up, and "House of Wax", about the life of being a celebrity. The final song in medley, "The End of the End", was written at McCartney's Cavendish Avenue home while playing on his father, Jim's, piano.

Some people mentioned that the album's title, Memory Almost Full, is an anagram of "for my soulmate LLM" (the initials of Linda Louise McCartney). When asked if this was intentional, McCartney replied; "Some things are best left a mystery".{{cite news |first=Simon |last=Hattenstone |date=19 May 2007 |url=http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,2082152,00.html |title=There is a tunnel and there is light, and I will get there |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=21 May 2007 |archive-date=21 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070521192814/http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,2082152,00.html |url-status=live }} In an interview with Pitchfork Media, McCartney clarified, "I must say, someone told me [there is an anagram], and I think it's a complete mystery, because it's so complete. There does appear to be an anagram in the title. And it's a mystery. It was not intentional."{{cite web|first=Chris |last=Dahlen |date=21 May 2007 |url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/42799-interview-sir-paul-mccartney |title=Interview: Sir Paul McCartney |work=Pitchfork |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212200832/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/42799-interview-sir-paul-mccartney |archive-date=12 February 2009 }} The album's title was actually inspired by a message that came up on his mobile phone.{{cite book|last=Erwin|first=Kathie T.|title=Group Techniques for Aging Adults: Putting Geriatric Skills Enhancement into Practice|year=2013|publisher=Brunner-Routledge|location=New York, NY|isbn=9780415897839|page=40|edition=2nd}} He thought the phrase summed up modern life.{{cite news |date=3 June 2007 |first=Kim |last=Murphy |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-mccartney3jun03,1,1265126.story?track=rss&ctrack=2&cset=true |title=Life for a man on the run |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=4 July 2007 |archive-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708161512/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jun-03-ca-mccartney3-story.html |url-status=live }}

A significant proportion of the CD release of Memory Almost Full incorporated a cover insert whose top-right corner was intentionally folded down to the center of the insert, leaving the CD tray visible. The folded-down white corner covers up the corner of the armchair image, but has the artist and album names printed so that the text is complete despite the fold. Upon opening and flattening out the cover insert, the armchair is complete, but the portion of the text which is printed on the folded-down corner is not printed on the front of the cover, leaving the text incomplete. This was the first time such an artistic intervention occurred within a standard jewel-case, and at first glance had the possibility of being viewed as a mis-manufactured copy. McCartney on the CD case/album artwork: "I really wanted to make the CD a desirable object. Something that I know I'd want to pick up from the shelf, something that would make people curious."

The chair on the cover is the etching Black Love Chair by Humphrey Ocean printed by Maurice Payne and chosen by Paul McCartney after a visit to Miankoma Studio, Amagansett, Long Island.

The album was his first for Starbucks' Hear Music record label, after previously having a 45-year-old relationship with Capitol/EMI.{{cite magazine|last=Sexton |first=Paul |title=Billboard Q&A: McCartney |magazine=Billboard |date=19 May 2007 |page=23 |volume=119 |issue=20 }} The recording contract with Capitol/EMI ended a few months prior to the release of the album, after McCartney had found out that EMI were planning to take six months to set up a promotional plan for the album.{{cite book|last=Crouch|first=Tanja|title=100 Careers in the Music Business|year=2008|publisher=Barron's Educational Series|isbn=9781438081175|page=255|edition=revised}} McCartney was the first artist to sign to Hear Music.{{cite book|last=Fellner|first=Kim|title=Wrestling with Starbucks: Conscience, Capital, Cappuccino|url=https://archive.org/details/wrestlingwithsta00fell|url-access=limited|year=2008|publisher=Rutgers University Press|location=New Brunswick, NJ|isbn=9780813545066|page=[https://archive.org/details/wrestlingwithsta00fell/page/n41 32]}} The Rock Radio website leaked a track listing for the album on 12 April 2007.{{cite web |title=New Paul McCartney album tracklisting leaked |work=The Rock Radio |date=12 April 2007 |url=http://www.therockradio.com/2007/04/new-paul-mccartney-album-tracklisting.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715184920/http://www.therockradio.com/2007/04/new-paul-mccartney-album-tracklisting.html|archive-date=15 July 2007|url-status=usurped|access-date=26 February 2016}} A day later, producer David Kahne stated on the same site that the leaked listing was bogus.{{cite web |title=Paul McCartney producer says leaked tracklisting is bogus |work=The Rock Radio |date=13 April 2007 |url=http://www.therockradio.com/2007/04/paul-mccartney-producer-says-leaked.html |access-date=15 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070417230739/http://www.therockradio.com/2007/04/paul-mccartney-producer-says-leaked.html |archive-date=17 April 2007 |url-status=usurped }} The first US single, "Ever Present Past", made its radio debut on 20 April.{{cite web |title=New Paul McCartney single to air on Friday |work=The Rock Radio |date=18 April 2007 |url=http://www.therockradio.com/2007/04/new-paul-mccartney-single-to-air-on.html |access-date=22 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205220642/http://www.therockradio.com/2007/04/new-paul-mccartney-single-to-air-on.html |archive-date=5 February 2012 |url-status=usurped }} A music video for "Dance Tonight" premiered on 23 May via YouTube. The album was released on 4 June 2007 in the UK,{{#tag:ref|Standard edition: Europe Hear Music 723 0348; Special CD casing: Europe Hear Music 723 0357|group="nb"}} and a day later on the 5th in the US,{{#tag:ref|US Hear Music HMCD-30348|group="nb"}} and with a vinyl edition later in the month on 25 June.{{#tag:ref|Europe Hear Music 723 0383|group="nb"}}{{cite web |last=Calkin |first=Graham |url=http://www.jpgr.co.uk/h7230358.html |title=Memory Almost Full |website=Jpgr.co.uk |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-date=2 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302035516/http://www.jpgr.co.uk/h7230358.html |url-status=live }}

It was also McCartney's first album to be available as a digital download. The lead single for the rest of the world is "Dance Tonight", released on McCartney's 65th birthday in the UK, 18 June as a digital download, with a physical release a month later, on 23 July of a CD single and a 10" shaped picture disc.{{cite web |last=Calkin |first=Graham |url=http://www.jpgr.co.uk/h7230384.html |title=Paul McCartney – Dance Tonight |website=Jpgr.co.uk |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-date=31 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121231093053/http://www.jpgr.co.uk/h7230384.html |url-status=live }} The music video features Natalie Portman and Mackenzie Crook, and was directed by Michel Gondry.{{cite magazine |title=Paul McCartney Confirms New Album Track List |last=Cohen |first=Jonathan |magazine=Billboard |date=30 April 2007 |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1052464/paul-mccartney-confirms-new-album-track-list}} The third single, "Nod Your Head", was released as a digital download single on 28 August via the iTunes Store.{{cite web |url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/nod-your-head-single/id262418755 |title=iTunes – Music – Nod Your Head – Single by Paul McCartney |publisher=iTunes Store |date=28 August 2007 |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-date=30 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140430012353/https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/nod-your-head-single/id262418755 |url-status=dead }} "Ever Present Past" was released as a single in the UK, on 5 November, as a CD single and 7" single.{{cite web |last=Calkin |first=Graham |url=http://www.jpgr.co.uk/h7230620.html |title=Paul McCartney – Ever Present Past |website=Jpgr.co.uk |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-date=31 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121231105411/http://www.jpgr.co.uk/h7230620.html |url-status=live }}

Promotion for the album came in several forms, such as a worldwide listening party at over 10,000 Starbucks stores on the day of the album's US release,{{cite book|author1=Hutchison, Tom |author2=Allen, Paul |author3=Macy |author4=Amy |title=Record Label Marketing |year=2012|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9781136124457|edition=2nd}} with an approximation of 6 million people hearing the album.{{cite magazine|last=Sexton |first=Paul |title=Billboard Q&A: McCartney |magazine=Billboard |date=19 May 2007 |page=24 |volume=119 |issue=20 }} At ten of the Starbucks stores, fans contributed in a video tribute, that aired on the internet on 18 June 2007. Other promotions included a limited edition Paul McCartney Starbucks card, similar to what they had done for Ray Charles's Genius Loves Company, the Starbucks-owned satellite radio station XM Channel made a program about McCartney and the album, released one song prior to the album on iTunes, performed at iTunes Festival: London, and playing free shows. On 6 November 2007, the album was re-released as Memory Almost Full – Deluxe Edition. The set included one CD and one DVD. The CD included the standard album plus the three extra songs from the 2-CD edition. The DVD contained five tracks recorded live at The Electric Ballroom in London, and two music videos.{{cite magazine |title=New Songs, Live DVD Jog McCartney's 'Memory' |last=Cohen |first=Jonathan |magazine=Billboard |date=2 October 2007 |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1048726/new-songs-live-dvd-jog-mccartneys-memory}}

{{Music ratings

|MC = 69/100{{cite web|title=Memory Almost Full reviews|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/memory-almost-full|publisher=Metacritic|access-date=7 March 2010|archive-date=25 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025223052/http://www.metacritic.com/music/memory-almost-full|url-status=live}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/memory-almost-full-mw0000579143 |title=Memory Almost Full – Paul McCartney : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-date=15 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130415190630/http://www.allmusic.com/album/memory-almost-full-mw0000579143 |url-status=live }}

| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev2Score = A−{{cite news |last=Willman |first=Chris |url=https://ew.com/article/2007/06/01/memory-almost-full/ |title=Memory Almost Full |newspaper=Entertainment Weekly |date=1 June 2007 |access-date=28 May 2013 |archive-date=16 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116133628/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20040696,00.html |url-status=live }}

| rev3 = The Guardian

| rev3Score = {{rating|2|5}}{{cite news | url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2103102,00.html | title=Paul McCartney, Memory Almost Full | newspaper=The Guardian | location=London | first=Jude | last=Rogers | date=14 June 2007 | access-date=28 May 2013 | archive-date=5 September 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905054450/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2103102,00.html | url-status=live }}

| rev4 = Los Angeles Times

| rev4Score = {{rating|2.5|4}}{{cite web|url=http://www.calendarlive.com/music/reviews/la-ca-mccartneyreview3jun3,0,6931155.story?coll=cl-albumreviews |title=Los Angeles Times review |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929141416/http://www.calendarlive.com/music/reviews/la-ca-mccartneyreview3jun3%2C0%2C6931155.story?coll=cl-albumreviews |archive-date=29 September 2007 }}

| rev5 = The Observer

| rev5Score = {{rating|5|5}}{{cite news|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/10bestcds/story/0,,2081014,00.html |title=The Observer review |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Neil |last=Spencer |date=20 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527114655/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/10bestcds/story/0%2C%2C2081014%2C00.html |archive-date=27 May 2007 }}

| rev6 = Pitchfork Media

| rev6Score = (6.4/10){{cite web |last=Berman |first=Stuart |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10288-memory-almost-full/ |title=Paul McCartney: Memory Almost Full | Album Reviews |website=Pitchfork |date=4 June 2007 |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-date=10 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110061519/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10288-memory-almost-full/ |url-status=live }}

| rev7 = PopMatters

| rev7Score = (5/10){{cite web |last=Lundy |first=Zeth |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/41942/paul-mccartney-memory-almost-full/ |title=Paul McCartney: Memory Almost Full |website=PopMatters |date=4 June 2007 |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-date=11 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111051943/http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/paul-mccartney-memory-almost-full |url-status=live }}

| rev8 = Robert Christgau

| rev8Score = {{rating-Christgau|hm3}}{{cite web |last=Christgau |first=Robert |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=paul+mccartney |title=CG: paul mccartney |website=robertchristgau.com |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-date=2 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402014922/http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Paul+McCartney |url-status=live }}

| rev9 = Rolling Stone

| rev9Score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Christgau |first=Robert |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/14898784/review/14933469/memory_almost_full?source=album_reviews_rssfeed |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206232149/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/14898784/review/14933469/memory_almost_full?source=album_reviews_rssfeed |archive-date=6 February 2009 |title=Memory Almost Full : Paul McCartney : Review |magazine=Rolling Stone|date=30 May 2007 |access-date=7 April 2013 |url-status=dead }}

| rev10 = BBC

| rev10Score = Favorable{{cite web|last=Easlea|first=Daryl|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/5nbd|title=Review of Paul McCartney – Memory Almost Full|publisher=BBC|date=31 May 2007|access-date=26 January 2012|archive-date=12 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110212115708/http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/5nbd|url-status=live}}

}}

Memory Almost Full received positive reaction. At Metacritic, the album earned an average score of 69 based on 23 reviews from critics, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews". Evan Serpick of Rolling Stone magazine also compared the medley of five songs in the second part of the album to the famous song suite in The Beatles' Abbey Road.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/05/15/preview-paul-mccartneys-new-album-memory-almost-full/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070517032701/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/05/15/preview-paul-mccartneys-new-album-memory-almost-full/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 May 2007 |magazine=Rolling Stone |title=Preview Paul McCartney's New Album, "Memory Almost Full" |date=15 May 2007}} This album was ranked number 22 on Rolling Stone{{'}}s list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.{{cite magazine |magazine=Rolling Stone |first1=Robert |last1=Christgau |first2=David |last2=Fricke |first3=Christian |last3=Hoard |first4=Rob |last4=Sheffield |date=17 December 2007 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17601851/the_top_50_albums_of_2007/22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220102724/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17601851/the_top_50_albums_of_2007/22 |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 December 2007 |title=The Top 50 Albums of 2007}}

In the US, Memory Almost Full debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 with about 161,000 copies sold within the first week, making it McCartney's highest-charting album there since 1997's Flaming Pie.{{cite magazine |first=Katie |last=Hasty |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1051559/t-pain-soars-to-no-1-ahead-of-rihanna-mccartney |title=T-Pain Soars To No. 1 Ahead of Rihanna, McCartney |magazine=Billboard |date=13 June 2007}} 47% of the album sales from the opening week were from Starbucks coffee shops, which were the best sales for any album in the history of Starbucks.{{cite magazine|last=Mayfield |first=Geoff |title=McCartney Still Needed at 64; T-Pain Reigns |magazine=Billboard |date=23 June 2007 |page=73 |volume=119 |issue=25 }} While it was announced that copies of the album sold in the Starbucks coffee shops in the UK would not be counted by the Official UK Charts, because they are not registered in the copies counting system, Memory Almost Full, however, still managed to hit number 5 on the UK Album Charts.{{cite news |url=http://www.nme.com/news/paul-mccartney/28751 |title=Paul McCartney's latest album faces sales battle |work=NME |date=5 June 2007 |access-date=7 June 2007 |archive-date=7 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607211410/http://www.nme.com/news/paul-mccartney/28751 |url-status=live }} The album also peaked at number 1 on Billboard Internet Sales Chart,{{cite web |url=http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/17066-paul-tops-internet-chart |title=Paul Tops Internet Chart |website=Paulmccartney.com |date=14 June 2007 |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406234352/http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/17066-paul-tops-internet-chart |archive-date=6 April 2013 |url-status=dead }} and number 3 on Billboard Top Internet Albums Downloads.{{cite web|title=allmusic ((( Memory Almost Full > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))|publisher=AllMusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1067283/charts-awards|access-date=7 February 2012|archive-date=8 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708161512/https://www.allmusic.com/search/albums/memory+almost+full|url-status=live}}

It was ranked at number 90 on the top-100 of the Billboard Year-end chart,{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/yearendcharts/2007/the-billboard-200|title=Billboard.BIZ – Year-end Charts – Billboard 200 – 2007 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=29 January 2012}} and number 177 on the UK year-end chart. The album won awards for the Best PR Campaign award at the Music Week Awards ceremony,{{cite web |url=http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/17095-memory-almost-full-wins-an-industry-award |title=Memory Almost Full Wins An Industry Award |website=Paulmccartney.com |date=1 May 2007 |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413064510/http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/17095-memory-almost-full-wins-an-industry-award |archive-date=13 April 2013 |url-status=dead }} and the Online/Digital Campaign award by New Media Age.{{cite web |url=http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/16797-maf-online-campaign-wins-award |title=MAF Online Campaign Wins Award |website=Paulmccartney.com |date=27 June 2008 |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413063658/http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/16797-maf-online-campaign-wins-award |archive-date=13 April 2013 |url-status=dead }} The album reportedly sold 105,000 copies in his homeland before the standard version of the CD in a unique slip-case was given away free as part of a promotion with British newspaper The Mail on Sunday (18 May 2008).{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/may/09/mailonsunday.associatednewspapers |work=The Guardian |date=9 May 2008 |location=London |first=Stephen |last=Brook |title=Mail on Sunday to give away free Paul McCartney album |access-date=15 December 2016 |archive-date=23 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923001150/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/may/09/mailonsunday.associatednewspapers |url-status=live }}

"Ever Present Past" peaked at number 10 in the Bubbling Under Hot 100,{{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=paul mccartney|chart=Bubbling Under Hot 100}} |title=Paul McCartney – Chart history: Bubbling Under Hot 100 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=7 April 2013}} and also charting at number 16 on Billboard Adult Contemporary. "Dance Tonight" peaked at number 46 on Billboard Hot Digital Songs, number 58 Billboard Pop 100, and finally at number 69 on Billboard Hot 100.

All songs written by Paul McCartney.

{{Track listing

| total_length = 41:59

| title1 = Dance Tonight

| length1 = 2:54

| title2 = Ever Present Past

| length2 = 2:57

| title3 = See Your Sunshine

| length3 = 3:20

| title4 = Only Mama Knows

| length4 = 4:17

| title5 = You Tell Me

| length5 = 3:15

| title6 = Mr. Bellamy

| length6 = 3:39

| title7 = Gratitude

| length7 = 3:19

| title8 = Vintage Clothes

| length8 = 2:22

| title9 = That Was Me

| length9 = 2:38

| title10 = Feet in the Clouds

| length10 = 3:24

| title11 = House of Wax

| length11 = 4:59

| title12 = The End of the End

| length12 = 2:57

| title13 = Nod Your Head

| length13 = 1:58

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Japanese bonus track

| title14 = Why So Blue

| length14 = 3:11

| total_length = 45:10

}}

{{track listing

| headline = iTunes bonus track

| title14 = Dance Tonight (Acoustic version)

| note14 = iTunes Store pre-order bonus

| length14 = 2:47

| total_length = 44:46

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Deluxe edition bonus tracks

| title14 = In Private

| length14 = 2:08

| title15 = Why So Blue

| length15 = 3:11

| title16 = 222

| length16 = 3:38

| total_length = 50:56

}}

{{track listing

| headline = 2CD limited edition bonus disc

| title1 = In Private

| length1 = 2:08

| title2 = Why So Blue

| length2 = 3:11

| title3 = 222

| length3 = 3:38

| title4 = Paul talks about the music of Memory Almost Full

| length4 = 26:04

| total_length = 35:01

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Deluxe edition bonus DVD: Live at the Electric Ballroom, London, 7th June 2007

| title1 = Drive My Car

| writer1 = Lennon–McCartney

| title2 = Dance Tonight

| title3 = House of Wax

| title4 = Nod Your Head

| title5 = Only Mama Knows

| title6 = Dance Tonight

| note6 = music video

| title7 = Ever Present Past

| note7 = music video

}}

Personnel per booklet.{{cite AV media notes|title=Memory Almost Full |others=Paul McCartney |year=2007 |type=Booklet |publisher=MPL Communications / Hear Music |id=888072303485}}

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;Musicians

Paul McCartney – all instruments except for "Only Mama Knows", "You Tell Me", "Vintage Clothes", "That Was Me", "Feet in the Clouds", and "House of Wax", where he was joined by the following musicians (all from his touring band):

• Paul Wickens – keyboards
• Rusty Anderson – guitar
• Brian Ray – bass
• Abe Laboriel Jr. – drums

{{col-2}}

;Production

• David Kahne – producer and programming
• Adam Noble, David Kahne, Steve Orchard, Geoff Emerick, Paul Hicks – engineers
• Jamie Kirkham, Eddie Klein, Adam Noble, Chris Bolster, Kevin Mills, Mirek Stiles – assistant engineers
• David Kahne, Andy Wallace – mixing
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Humphrey Ocean – cover art front: black love chair (aquatint) and cover art back: black love chair (gouache)
• Max Vadukul – inlay photography
• Rebecca and Mike – ideas

{{col-end}}

Memory Almost Full has been nominated in the following categories:

• Best Pop Vocal Album for Memory Almost Full (2008){{cite web |url=http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/17076-message-from-paul-grammy-nominations |title=Message From Paul – Grammy Nominations – Paul McCartney Official Website |website=Paulmccartney.com |date=11 December 2007 |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126192443/http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/17076-message-from-paul-grammy-nominations |archive-date=26 January 2013 |url-status=dead }}
• Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Dance Tonight" (2008)
• Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for "Only Mama Knows" (2008)
• Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "That Was Me" (2009)

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{{col-2}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|title=Memory almost Full|artist=Paul McCartney|type=album|award=Gold|certyear=2007|relyear=2007}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|title=Memory almost Full|artist=Paul McCartney|type=album|award=Gold|certyear=2007|relyear=2007|salesamount=15,000|salesref={{cite web |url=http://www.hitlisterne.dk/lister.asp?w=36&y=2007&list=a40 |title=Album Top–40: Uge 36 – 2007 |work=Hitlisten |publisher=IFPI Denmark |language=da |format=ASP |access-date=2012-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116134516/http://www.hitlisterne.dk/lister.asp?w=36&y=2007&list=a40 |archive-date=16 January 2013 |url-status=dead }}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Japan (Oricon)|nocert=yes|salesamount=43,563|salesref={{cite book|title=Oricon Style Vol.32 (20 August 2007, No. 1405)|publisher=Oricon Entertainment|location=Roppongi, Tokyo|year=2007}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Russia|title=Memory Almost Full|artist=Paul McCartney|type=album|award=Platinum|certyear=2008|relyear=2007}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|title=Memory Almost Full|artist=Paul McCartney|type=album|award=Gold|id=11357-3435-2|salesamount=105,010|salesref={{cite web|url=http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1048481&c=1|title=Official Chart Analysis: Lana Del Rey scores biggest-selling album of 2012, Gotye shifts another 83k|work=Music Week|date=13 February 2012|access-date=14 February 2012|archive-date=16 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016030332/http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1048481&c=1|url-status=live}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|title=Memory Almost Full|artist=Paul McCartney|type=album|award=Gold|salesamount=634,000|salesref={{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RsAnJ7Zx_qgC&q=Radio%2C+and+brands+like+teleflora+and+Tiffany&pg=RA20-PA35|title=Kisses From A Battle|magazine=Billboard|date=18 February 2012|access-date=5 November 2018}}}}

{{Certification Table Bottom}}

{{col-end}}

Notes:

• On the article that Concord Music Group posted on their official site in February 2007 (a month before Memory Almost Full was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America), Hear Music announced that shipments of the album reached a platinum status in the US.{{cite web|url=http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/news/paul-mccartneys-memory-almost-full-certified-platinum/|title=Paul McCartney's "Memory Almost Full" Certified Platinum|work=Concord Music Group|date=12 February 2008|access-date=8 February 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081117064102/http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/news/paul-mccartneys-memory-almost-full-certified-platinum/|archive-date=17 November 2008}} The label also claimed that the album gained a gold in other countries like Norway, though International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has not certified the album at any label there as of 2014.

In the summer and autumn of 2007, Paul embarked on a promotional mini-tour playing concerts to small audiences - including The Olympia, in Paris, when he performed with The Beatles in 1964 - all in support of his album Memory Almost Full. Four of the performances were later released in various formats.

Five songs from this 7 June 2007 show at the Electric Ballroom in London were released as video tracks on the Memory Almost Full deluxe edition bonus DVD (see Track Listing above).

On 27 June 2007, Paul and his band played unannounced at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, California. The performance was released as follows:

• in 2007, a 4-track EP called Amoeba's Secret
• also in 2007, 4 tracks were released on B-sides of different versions of the single "Ever Present Past" (see table below)
• in 2010, a 12-track UK/Ireland promotional CD called Live in Los Angeles
• in 2012, a 14-track digital release on his website to premium members, called Live in Los Angeles – The Extended Set
• in 2019, the full 21-song performance was finally released as Amoeba Gig

Amoeba performance track listings

On 5 July 2007, Paul and his band played for 350 fans in the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) on The Mall in London as part of the first ever iTunes Festival. On 21 August 2007, a 6-track digital EP iTunes Festival: London became available only on iTunes. All tracks written by Paul McCartney except where noted.

{{Track listing

| total_length = 19:23

| title1 = Coming Up

| length1 = 3:39

| title2 = Only Mama Knows

| length2 = 3:38

| title3 = That Was Me

| length3 = 2:48

| title4 = Jet

| writer4 = Paul & Linda McCartney

| length4 = 4:13

| title5 = Nod Your Head

| length5 = 1:58

| title6 = House of Wax

| length6 = 4:55

}}

On 25 October 2007 Paul and his band played the Roundhouse in London as part of the BBC Electric Proms 2007. The band was joined by a string section for "Only Mama Knows," "Calico Skies" and "Eleanor Rigby." More than seven years later, on 3 December 2014, 17 of the 24 songs from the concert were released on iTunes, but soon after removed inexplicably in February 2015.

{{Track listing

| total_length = 60:53

| title1 = Magical Mystery Tour

| length1 = 2:36

| writer1 = Lennon–McCartney

| title2 = Flaming Pie

| length2 = 2:25

| writer2 = Paul McCartney

| title3 = Got to Get You into My Life

| length3 = 2:46

| writer3 = Lennon–McCartney

| title4 = Dance Tonight

| length4 = 2:52

| writer4 = Paul McCartney

| title5 = Only Mama Knows

| length5 = 3:53

| writer5 = Paul McCartney

| title6 = Blackbird

| length6 = 2:28

| writer6 = Lennon–McCartney

| title7 = Calico Skies

| length7 = 2:28

| writer7 = Paul McCartney

| title8 = Eleanor Rigby

| length8 = 2:15

| writer8 = Lennon–McCartney

| title9 = Band on the Run

| length9 = 5:10

| writer9 = Paul & Linda McCartney

| title10 = Back in the U.S.S.R.

| length10 = 3:03

| writer10 = Lennon–McCartney

| title11 = Live and Let Die

| length11 = 3:06

| writer11 = Paul & Linda McCartney

| title12 = Baby Face

| length12 = 0:49

| writer12 = Harry Akst, Benny Davis

| title13 = Hey Jude

| length13 = 6:32

| writer13 = Lennon–McCartney

| title14 = Let It Be

| length14 = 3:43

| writer14 = Lennon–McCartney

| title15 = Lady Madonna

| length15 = 2:23

| writer15 = Lennon–McCartney

| title16 = I Saw Her Standing There

| length16 = 3:01

| writer16 = Lennon–McCartney

| title17 = Get Back

| length17 = 3:36

| writer17 = Lennon–McCartney

}}

The seven songs not released from this performance are "C Moon", "The Long and Winding Road", "I'll Follow the Sun", "That Was Me", "Here Today", "House of Wax" and "I've Got a Feeling."

; Footnotes

{{reflist|3|group="nb"}}

; Citations

{{Reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|93713}}
• [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=paul mccartney|chart=all}} Memory Almost Full] discography page at Billboard.com

{{Paul McCartney}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2007 albums

Category:Paul McCartney albums

Category:Albums produced by David Kahne

Category:Hear Music albums

Category:Albums recorded at RAK Studios

Category:Albums recorded at A&M Studios

Category:Albums recorded at AIR Studios