One Hand Clapping was a live-in-the-studio album and film by Paul McCartney and Wings, made at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, on 26-30 August 1974.
The sessions were filmed by David Litchfield for a documentary. Although parts of it were widely bootlegged, and some material emerged on official McCartney releases, the album remained unreleased until June 2024.
In the studio
One Hand Clapping was mostly recorded at Abbey Road’s Studio Two.
On 26 August 1974 Wings recorded Jet, ‘Let Me Roll It’, Junior’s Farm, ‘My Love’, C Moon/Little Woman Love, and Maybe I’m Amazed. The following day they taped ‘Band On The Run’, Wild Life, Hi, Hi, Hi, ‘Live And Let Die’, Soily, Go Now, ‘Blue Moon Of Kentucky’, ‘Bluebird’, and a piece known as ‘Wild Drum Track & Jam’. On 28 August 1974 a section called ‘Paul’s Cabaret Sequence’ was filmed, although no band performances were recorded.
The group sessions resumed on 29 August, with overdubs for ‘My Love’, ‘Live And Let Die’, ‘Band On The Run’, ‘Bluebird’, and ‘Jet’. The final day was filmed and recorded in the back yard of EMI. The nine-minute sequence contained versions of ‘Blackpool’, ‘Twenty Flight Rock’, ‘Peggy Sue’, ‘I’m Gonna Love You Too’, and ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’. Some additional performances included ‘Blackbird’, ‘Country Dreamer’, ‘Freight Train’, ‘Cumberland Gap’ and ‘Rock Island Line’.
The release
Much of One Hand Clapping was included on the 2010 Band On The Run Archive Collection DVD. It included performances of ‘One Hand Clapping’, Jet, Soily, C Moon/Little Woman Love, Maybe I’m Amazed, ‘My Love’, ‘Bluebird’, ‘Let’s Love’, ‘All Of You’, I’ll Give You A Ring, ‘Band On The Run’, ‘Live And Let Die’, ‘Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five’, and ‘Baby Face’. ‘Let Me Roll It’ and ‘Country Dreamer’ were released as bonus audio on other Archive Collection releases.
The album One Hand Clapping was released on 14 June 2024 on 2xCD, 2xLP, and digital editions, plus an online exclusive vinyl version that includes a bonus 7″ EP containing six songs recorded on the final day: ‘Blackpool’, ‘Blackbird’, ‘Country Dreamer’, ‘Twenty Flight Rock’, ‘Peggy Sue’, and ‘I’m Gonna Love You Too’.
It was also made available to stream in Dolby Atmos, with a new mix by Giles Martin and Steve Orchard.
