Remember When: Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder Topped the Charts with "Ebony and Ivory"
As two of the biggest stars in the planet, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder had to know that any collaboration between them would invite major scrutiny. They overcame those worries by keeping it simple with “Ebony and Ivory,” a straightforward plea for racial unity that struck a major chord with audiences when released in 1982.
How did the song develop? And how did a little tardiness almost throw a wrench into everyone’s plans? Why don’t we get all the details on this hugely successful chart-topping song? A Duet, but with Whom?
Paul McCartney took a break from Wings with his 1980 album McCartney II, but it wasn’t meant to be a permanent break. He intended to reassemble the group for his following album, which would be recorded with George Martin as producer. In October 1980, Wings did demos of a batch of songs McCartney had recently written, songs that would end up on albums like Tug of War (1982) and Pipes of Peace (1983).
One of the songs that the band demoed was “Ebony and Ivory.” McCartney envisioned the song as a duet, and he had Denny Laine, Wings’ longtime guitarist, sing it with him on the demo. Alas, those sessions were Wings’ last, as McCartney found that he didn’t like how the songs were sounding, and also that he had lost his enthusiasm for being a bandleader.
Once he knew he was moving forward as a solo artist, he decided that, since “Ebony and Ivory” was all about race relations, he should find a Black singer to do it with him. Since he had known Stevie Wonder since they met in the ’60s when McCartney was a Beatle and Wonder was already scoring hits in his teens, he immediately thought it would be a good match.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
