28th January 1980: English songwriter and pop star Paul McCartney on his farm near Rye, Sussex. … [+]
For Paul McCartney, 2024 has been all about celebrating one specific chapter of his career. The former Beatle finally released his live studio album One Hand Clapping earlier this summer, decades after it was first recorded. Just weeks after the full-length and its accompanying film became available for fans to buy, the rocker will give longtime followers the chance to experience the project in an exciting new way.
One Hand Clapping is coming to movie theaters globally. The documentary that accompanies the music album is slated to hit the big screen starting on September 26. Tickets will go on sale on August 16.
McCartney and his band Wings recorded One Hand Clapping in 1974—both the album and the accompanying film. The movie was meant as something of a rock documentary, detailing the making of the music, but the celebrated star decided not to release it at the time.
The project had been created at Abbey Road Studios, which by then must have felt like home to McCartney. One Hand Clapping was directed by David Litchfield across several days, and while it was even promoted at the time, the documentary was never released. For decades, some fans have been bootlegging the title, but for the most part, the world has not seen the footage shot during the making of the album.
According to a release announcing the theatrical event, the documentary features “rare footage, interviews with the band, insights from the creative team, and more.” The cinematic event will also apparently include the Backyard Sessions, which McCartney recorded, but also shelved. Those performances see him putting an acoustic set with songs from across his back catalog.
One Hand Clapping will be new to most McCartney fans, but not those who have managed to find it on the internet. Thankfully, there will be new things in the film that even the most ardent supporters likely aren’t familiar with. The musician himself recorded an intro, and there will reportedly be Polaroid photos that the world hasn’t seen before featured within the movie.
Decades after recording the album and never sharing it, McCartney and Wings finally shared One Hand Clapping earlier this year. The album was properly released in June, and it became a quick win on charts all around the world. The set peaked at No. 74 on the Billboard 200, and it brought McCartney and his band back to the higher reaches of a number of Billboard’s rock-focused rankings as well.
