Stranglehold | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

‘Stranglehold’ is the opening song on Paul McCartney’s sixth solo album Press To Play.

The song was co-written with former 10cc guitarist Eric Stewart. See more…

I’d known Eric socially back in the Sixties when he was in The Mindbenders. He, Linda and I started doing harmonies on Tug Of War and Pipes Of Peace… It started very casually with Eric, I just said ‘Fancy coming round one day to try out some stuff?’ We started off with ‘Stranglehold’, putting rhythmic words in, using lyrics like a bongo, accenting the words. We both enjoyed the experience, then went on together to write the six songs that are featured on the album…

I remembered the old way I’d written songs with John, the two acoustic guitars facing each other, like a mirror, but better! Like an objective mirror, you’re looking at the person playing chords, but it’s not you. I’d never really tried to do that with anyone else: I’d either sit on my own with a guitar or piano, or with Michael Jackson doing lyrics, or Stevie [Wonder] and I just made that other one up. But it was never across the acoustics, which I’d always found a very complete way of writing.