BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982
NEW 2020 Transfer!
Meticulously Remastered!
Originally posted March 18, 2012
“Ebony and Ivory” is a 1982 number-one single by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 29 of that year. The song is featured on McCartney’s album Tug of War. A self-empowerment hit that struggles issues of racial equality, the song reached number one on both the UK and the US charts. In 2013, Billboard ranked the song as the 69th biggest hit of all-time on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
At the simplest level, the song is about the ebony (black) and ivory (white) keys on a piano, but also deals with integration and racial harmony on a deeper, human level. The title was inspired by McCartney hearing Spike Milligan say “black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony, folks!”. The figure of speech is much older. It was popularized by James Aggrey in the 1920s, inspiring the title of the pan-African journal The Keys, but was in use from at least the 1840s.
The B-side of the single, the song “Rainclouds”, is written by Paul McCartney and Denny Laine, though on early pressings of the single the song was credited only to McCartney.
SIDE A:
Ebony And Ivory 3:43
Vocals [Additional] – Stevie Wonder
SIDE B:
Rainclouds 3:08
Ebony And Ivory (Solo Vocal) 3:43
Vocals [Solo] – Paul McCartney
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Ebony And Ivory | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #1 |
| 1982 | Ebony And Ivory | U.S. Billboard US Hot Adult Contemporary Chart | #1 |
| 1982 | Ebony And Ivory | U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles | #8 |
| 1982 | Ebony And Ivory | U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream rock Tracks | #34 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Parlophone – 12R 6054
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1982
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Rock
CREDITS:
Producer – George Martin
Written-By – McCartney*
NOTES:
A-Side: From The Album “Tug Of War”
Stevie Wonder courtesy of Motown Records Inc.
Find the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
DAC/Phono Pre-amp: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Username: btg
Password: burningtheground
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One of my favourite 80’s duet records. Such a catchy production too.
Cheers Paul 🙂
Cheers Marco 🙂
Such a Nice Post!
Not all americans are alike.
Jorge: hispnaic, brown skinned from Mexico with pride.
I agree with you DJ Kwuah 🙂
Excellent and timely curation, as always. I am also reminded of the hilarious Joe Piscopo / Eddie Murphy SNL sketch – beautiful in its own way. Thanks so much.
You’re welcome, Jon 🙂
I had a feeling you’d post this today Paul. I’ve been following events closely, and although tragic I have great optimism that this time there really will be a change. It feels from afar as if US history is being made. I’ve never seen anything like it, watching those high up finally acknowledging there’s a problem, starting to take responsibility and in some cases even appearing like they mean it. On a lighter note, I love this song so much, and the last time you posted it was when I first learnt of the Paul McCartney solo version (on the… Read more »
Things are changing in the USA but not for the better our president is stoking the racism fire. Hopefully in November change will come. Love the solo video Jermajesty thank you 🙂
From my angle, I see almost every mayor telling him to butt out, I see multiple police (outside of the main case) being arrested or instantly fired for their abuse, I see some good cops actually joining in with the protesters – this is all so unprecedented. Good has to come of this. xx
Thank you! Great 12″ single and especially relevant today.
You’re welcome 🙂
This song will always be relevant, especially in light of today’s social climate. We all need to pay attention to its timeless message. Thanks Paul for bringing this one back.
Very much appreciated!
Jeff
You’re welcome, Jeff.