Wednesday 22 July 1987 | Hog Hill Mill Studio, Icklesham, Sussex, England
Engineer: Peter Henderson
On 22 July 1987, Paul McCartney spent the day mixing the tracks recorded over the two previous days for his rock and roll covers album Choba B CCCP. The mixing session took place at McCartney’s own Hog Hill Mill studio in Icklesham, East Sussex, and was engineered by Peter Henderson. The result was one of the most unusual albums of McCartney’s solo career — a spontaneous, joyful collection of rock and roll and rhythm and blues classics, recorded in two days and originally released exclusively in the Soviet Union.
The Recording Sessions: 20–21 July 1987
The Choba B CCCP sessions had taken place over just two consecutive days — 20 and 21 July 1987 — at Hog Hill Mill. The speed and informality of the recording was entirely deliberate: McCartney wanted to capture the energy of a live band playing songs he had loved since childhood, without the polish and perfectionism that had characterised his studio work since the Beatles era.
Day one (20 July 1987) produced at least 12 songs:
- Kansas City
- Twenty Flight Rock
- Lawdy Miss Clawdy
- I’m In Love Again
- Bring It On Home to Me
- Lucille
- I’m Gonna Be a Wheel Someday
- That’s All Right (Mama)
- Summertime
- Just Because
- Midnight Special
- It’s Now or Never
Day two (21 July 1987) added at least four more:
- Ain’t That a Shame
- Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
- Crackin’ Up
- I Wanna Cry
All tracks from both days were released on Choba B CCCP with the exception of ‘I Wanna Cry’, which remained unreleased. Several of the songs were later issued as B-sides of singles from the Flowers in the Dirt era (1989–90), giving them a wider audience before the album’s international release.
Choba B CCCP: The Album
Choba B CCCP — the title translates from Russian as ‘Back in the USSR’, a nod to the Beatles song — was conceived as a gift to Soviet music fans, who had limited access to Western rock and roll. McCartney had been approached by the Soviet state record label Melodiya to release an album exclusively for the Soviet market, and he responded with characteristic generosity and spontaneity: rather than compiling existing material, he recorded an entirely new set of rock and roll covers in two days.
The album was released in the Soviet Union in 1988, initially as a vinyl LP available only through Soviet record shops. It was a significant cultural moment: McCartney’s music had been enormously popular in the USSR throughout the Beatles era, and the release of a new album — however informal — was a major event for Soviet rock fans.
The album was released internationally in 1991, by which point the Soviet Union itself was in its final months. The international edition included additional tracks not on the original Soviet release.
The Songs: A Rock and Roll Education
The tracklist of Choba B CCCP reads like a map of McCartney’s musical formation. The songs span the full range of the rock and roll and rhythm and blues repertoire that had shaped The Beatles in their Hamburg and Cavern Club years:
- ‘Kansas City’ — a Leiber and Stoller classic that The Beatles had recorded for Beatles for Sale in 1964
- ‘Twenty Flight Rock’ — the Eddie Cochran song that McCartney had played for John Lennon at their first meeting in July 1957
- ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy’ — Lloyd Price’s 1952 R&B hit, a staple of the early Beatles live set
- ‘Lucille’ — Little Richard’s 1957 classic, one of McCartney’s signature songs from the Hamburg era
- ‘That’s All Right (Mama)’ — Elvis Presley’s debut single from 1954, the record that started everything
- ‘Summertime’ — the Gershwin standard, here given a blues treatment
- ‘It’s Now or Never’ — Elvis Presley’s 1960 number one, based on the Italian classic ‘O Sole Mio’
- ‘Don’t Get Around Much Anymore’ — the Duke Ellington standard, showing the breadth of McCartney’s musical range
The inclusion of ‘Twenty Flight Rock’ is particularly resonant. It was the song McCartney had played for John Lennon at the Woolton Village Fete on 6 July 1957 — the day the two future Beatles met for the first time. McCartney’s ability to play the song’s tricky bass line from memory had impressed Lennon sufficiently to invite him to join The Quarrymen. Recording it thirty years later for a Soviet audience was a quietly poetic act of musical memory.
Hog Hill Mill Studio
Hog Hill Mill — a converted windmill in Icklesham, near Rye in East Sussex — was Paul McCartney’s private recording studio, built in the mid-1980s on the grounds of his Sussex estate. It became his primary recording base for much of the late 1980s and 1990s, used for both formal album sessions and informal projects like Choba B CCCP.
The studio’s rural setting and private ownership gave McCartney the freedom to record without the time pressures and costs of commercial studio hire — a freedom he used to full effect on the Choba B CCCP sessions, completing the entire album in two days of recording and one day of mixing.
Peter Henderson: Engineer
Peter Henderson was a British record producer and engineer who had worked with a wide range of artists including Supertramp, Tears for Fears, and Paul McCartney. His role on the Choba B CCCP mixing session on 22 July 1987 was to translate the raw energy of the two recording days into a finished album — a task that required preserving the spontaneity of the performances while ensuring the sound was coherent and balanced.
Key Facts: 22 July 1987
| Date | Wednesday 22 July 1987 |
| Activity | Mixing all tracks from the Choba B CCCP sessions |
| Studio | Hog Hill Mill, Icklesham, East Sussex, England |
| Engineer | Peter Henderson |
| Recording days | 20 July (12+ songs) and 21 July 1987 (4+ songs) |
| Unreleased track | I Wanna Cry (not included on album) |
| Soviet release | 1988 (Melodiya) |
| International release | 1991 |
Icklesham, East Sussex — where Paul McCartney’s Hog Hill Mill studio is located, and where Choba B CCCP was recorded and mixed in July 1987.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does Choba B CCCP mean?
Choba B CCCP is a Russian phrase meaning ‘Back in the USSR’ — a direct reference to The Beatles song of the same name. The album was conceived as a gift to Soviet music fans and was originally released exclusively in the Soviet Union in 1988 on the state record label Melodiya.
How long did it take to record Choba B CCCP?
Choba B CCCP was recorded in just two days — 20 and 21 July 1987 — at Paul McCartney’s Hog Hill Mill studio in East Sussex. The mixing session took place on 22 July 1987, making the entire project a three-day undertaking from first take to finished mix.
Why was Choba B CCCP released only in the Soviet Union?
Choba B CCCP was conceived as an exclusive release for Soviet music fans, who had limited access to Western rock and roll. McCartney was approached by the Soviet state record label Melodiya and responded by recording an entirely new set of rock and roll covers specifically for the Soviet market. The album was released internationally in 1991.
What songs are on Choba B CCCP?
Choba B CCCP includes rock and roll and R&B classics including Kansas City, Twenty Flight Rock, Lawdy Miss Clawdy, I’m In Love Again, Bring It On Home to Me, Lucille, I’m Gonna Be a Wheel Someday, That’s All Right (Mama), Summertime, Just Because, Midnight Special, It’s Now or Never, Ain’t That a Shame, Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, and Crackin’ Up.
What is the significance of Twenty Flight Rock on Choba B CCCP?
Twenty Flight Rock was the Eddie Cochran song that Paul McCartney played for John Lennon at their first meeting on 6 July 1957 at the Woolton Village Fete. McCartney’s ability to play the song’s bass line from memory impressed Lennon sufficiently to invite him to join The Quarrymen. Recording it thirty years later for a Soviet audience was a quietly poetic act of musical memory.
Where is Hog Hill Mill studio?
Hog Hill Mill is a converted windmill in Icklesham, near Rye in East Sussex, England. It is Paul McCartney’s private recording studio, built in the mid-1980s on the grounds of his Sussex estate. It was used for the Choba B CCCP sessions in July 1987 and has been McCartney’s primary recording base for much of his solo career.
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