Paul McCartney releasing box set featuring his trilogy of ‘McCartney’ solo albums in August

A day before Paul McCartney celebrates his 80th birthday, the music legend has announced plans to release a limited-edition box set gathering together his three self-titled solo albums — 1970’s McCartney, 1980’s McCartney II and 2020’s McCartney III — on August 5.

The McCartney I II III collection, which can be pre-ordered now, will be available in three formats -– a three-CD set, a three-LP black-vinyl package and a limited-edition three-LP colored-vinyl set.

All three versions will feature three photo prints with notes from the former Beatles star about each record. The box set also will boast newly created cover art.

The common thread between all three albums is that Paul wrote, produced and recorded almost entirely by himself.

Released in April 1970, McCartney was Paul’s debut album and signaled the breakup of The Beatles. The record spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, although no singles were released from it. The album included the enduring song “Maybe I’m Amazed” as well as such gems as “Every Night,” “Junk” and “Teddy Boy,” three tunes that McCartney previously had worked on with The Beatles.

McCartney II was released in May 1980 and found the veteran rocker experimenting with synthesizers and modern recording techniques. The album reached #3 on the Billboard 200 and included the chart-topping hit “Coming Up” and the tune “Waterfalls,” which was a top-10 single in the U.K.

McCartney III was recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown and was released at the end of December 2020. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200.

Here’s the McCartney track list:

“The Lovely Linda”
“That Would Be Something”
“Valentine Day”
“Every Night”
“Hot as Sun/Glasses”
“Junk”
“Man We Was Lonely”
“Oo You”
“Momma Miss America”
“Teddy Boy”
“Singalong Junk”
“Maybe I’m Amazed”
“Kreen-Akrore”

Here’s the McCartney II track list:

“Coming Up”
“Temporary Secretary”
“On the Way”
“Waterfalls”
“Nobody Knows”
“Front Parlour”
“Summer’s Day Song”
“Frozen Jap”
“Bogey Music”
“Darkroom”
“One of These Days”

And here’s the McCartney III track list:

“Long Tailed Winter Bird”
“Find My Way”
“Pretty Boys”
“Women and Wives”
“Lavatory Lil”
“Slidin'”
“Deep Deep Feeling”
“The Kiss of Venus”
“Seize the Day”
“Deep Down”
“Winter Bird/When Winter Comes”