Written by: Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney
Recorded: 27 October 1970; October 1980; January 1981; September 1986; February 2002
Producer: Paul McCartney
Released: 2011
Available on:
Ram (2012 reissue)
Personnel
Paul McCartney: acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano, percussion
Linda McCartney: vocals, tambourine
Denny Laine: vocals
Hugh McCracken: electric guitar
Laurence Juber: vocals, electric guitar
Denny Seiwell: drums
Steve Holley: vocals, percussion
‘A Love For You’ was a 1970s outtake which was first released on the soundtrack of the 2003 film The In-Laws.
Paul McCartney first demoed the song in the summer of 1970, and it was recorded during the Ram sessions at New York’s Columbia Studios on 27 October 1970. The basic track featured Paul and Linda McCartney, guitarist Hugh McCracken, and drummer Denny Seiwell.
McCartney reportedly planned to issue ‘A Love For You’ as a single, with ‘Get On The Right Thing’ on the b-side, but it was cancelled after the formation of Wings.
The recording was revived in October 1980 during the final Wings days, at Rude Studio in Campbeltown, Scotland, while McCartney was working on the abandoned Cold Cuts project. The overdubs included guitar by Laurence Juber and percussion by Steve Holley.
Further work took place at Hog Hill Mill in September 1986, and the track was mixed by engineer Jon Kelly.
‘A Love For You’ remained in the archives until 2002, when film producer Ralph Sall asked McCartney if he had a song that could be used in the soundtrack of The In-Laws, a remake of the 1979 film of the same name.
McCartney agreed, and added more guitar at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles. It was mixed by Sall and David Kahne, the producer of Driving Rain.
Although The In-Laws was a box office bomb, ‘A Love For You’ appeared over the end credits. The soundtrack contained two other McCartney songs: Wings’ ‘I’m Carrying’ and a previously-unreleased version of ‘Live And Let Die’.
Jon Kelly’s 1986 mix of ‘A Love For You’ was included on the 2012 reissue of Ram.
An earworm!