Who is Mrs. Vandebilt?

www.PaulMcCartney.com

MAY

30

2016

You Gave Me The Answer – Ian from England asks...

What a mad May! Paul’s ‘One On One’ tour has been very much out there and on the run – covering some serious ground from Little Rock to Sioux Falls, Minneapolis and all the way to Argentina!

Although busy with tour rehearsals and performances, perhaps unsurprisingly, Paul has also had fingers in other very exciting project pies. Earlier this month we announced the launch of a brand new six-part virtual reality documentary series, which finds Paul in his private home studio, discussing songs from his forthcoming release ‘Pure Mcartney’. (Check out the first two episodes/songs ‘Coming Up and ‘Dance Tonight’ HERE!)

We loved hearing the stories and facts behind some of our favourite songs. In the films Paul recounts some of the thoughts and processes he went through whilst writing them... and it's a super cool experience seeing him in virtual reality too!

Paul often creates whole narratives around the characters in his songs, some fictitious, somes not. Fans will be familiar with Uncle Albert, Jenny Wren, Admiral Halsey, and one of Paul's most enigmatic and mysterious creations: Eleanor Rigby. And what about Mrs. Vandebilt?

Ian from England got in touch to ask a question we’ve often pondered ourselves whilst dancing along to the Band on the Run album - Ho Hey Ho! “Just who exactly is Mrs. Vandebilt?”

Shortly before he flew to Düsseldorf, Germany to bring the 'One On One' tour to Europe, we caught up with Paul to find out:

“Thank you for your question, Ian. In America there was a famously rich family called Vandebilt. So in the song I wanted one of my characters to be a figure of authority, and I randomly chose Mrs. Vandebilt to indicate this.”

Who is your favourite character from Paul's songs? Let us know in the comments below...

en.wikipedia.org
Mrs. Vandebilt


"Mrs. Vandebilt" is a song by Paul McCartney and Wings from the album Band on the Run. The track was not issued as a single in the UK or US, but was a single in Continental Europe and Australia.

Writing and recording

The opening lines of the song are taken from the catchphrase of English music hall performer Charlie Chester. Chester's catchphrase was "Down in the jungle living in a tent, better than a bungalow, no rent"; the lyrics changed this to "Down in the jungle living in a tent, You don't use money you don't pay rent".

Howie Casey is featured with a saxophone solo.

The song was recorded during the album sessions in Lagos, Nigeria. The studio suffered a power outage during the session, but the recording continued with backup generators. Additional overdubs were later done in London.

The forced laughter that closed Mrs Vandebilt was influenced by Charlie Chester's effects on his studio audience. Wings added more laughter in London's AIR Studios after returning from Lagos, Nigeria. McCartney recalled: "The laughing? It started off in Africa. We were doing sort of daft laughs at the end. When we got back we eventually overdubbed this crowd of people who were laughing. It was great listening to the tapes, trying to select the little bit of laughter that we would use. Most of it was us, but we need a little bit to cushion it up. It was great listening to a roomful of people laughing in stereo. They were getting into all these laughing bits, and we were on the floor."

www.beatlesbible.com

Mrs Vandebilt

An album track from the 1973 Paul McCartney and Wings album Band On The Run, Mrs Vandebilt later became a fixture of McCartney's live shows.

The name was a misspelling of the Vanderbilt family, the US dynasty of Dutch descent whose patriarch, Cornelius Vanderbilt, made a fortune in the 19th century through rail and shipping empires.

The lyrics, however, contained little more than a passing mention to the family - notably in the lines "When your pile is on the wane/You don't complain of robbery", a reference to the family's financial decline in the 20th century. Instead, McCartney used the name as a starting point for a scenario of his own invention.

Mrs Vandebilt was a good one. I didn't know anything about her but I just knew she was like... a rich person.

Paul McCartney

Wingspan