Viva Mexico

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Gatefold front	Gatefold inside

Inlay under tray	Back cover

Notice that on the front cover and CD, the title is "Viva Mexico". On the sleeve and in the liner notes, it is "Hola Mexico".

One more funny thing. This CD does not contain any concert from Mexico (November 25 or 27, 1993). The first part is the Tokyo Dome concert from a TV show (either 12, 14 or 15 Nov 1993). It was edited by a man called José López Rivas to trick Paul's fans outside this country, as he said "it's not for México, it's for other countries".
 

Необходимо отметить, что на лицевой стороне и на самом диске наименование альбома указано как "Viva Mexico". На «ребре» полиграфии и в тексте на внутреннем развороте написано, что этот альбом называется "Hola Mexico".

И еще один курьез. Этот диск не содержит Мексиканский концерт (25 или 27 ноября 1993). Первая часть – это концерт в Tokyo Dome взятый из японской телепередачи (любой 12, 14 или 15 ноября 1993). Настоящее наименование было заменено человеком по имени Джозе Лопас Ривес, чтобы обманывать фанатов Пола вне этой страны, поскольку он сказал "это не для Мексики, это - для других стран".

Liner notes - Текст на внутреннем развороте:

The world is full of hidden musical treasurers. Some are great and yet some aren’t so great. However; in the case of Raul McCartney; every undiscovered musical bits are to be held in high esteem among the great musical finds of our times.

The CD you are holding is one of those unearthed great treasures. "Hola Mexico 1993" comprises of soundboard recordings of a portion of Paul’s legendary November 25, 1993 performance at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (also known as the Nuevo Foro Autodromo).

Also included on this CD is a 5 song recording of the soundcheck for that show. The soundcheck recording was actually made inside the stadium itself and the sound quality is among the best everdone for a Paul Soundcheck, Although Paul goes through some songs that are in the show itself it was the very idea that Paul actually did a soundcheck for every show on his 1989-1990 and in this case the 1993 world tour that tantalized the minds of Beatle freaks and tape collectors from around the world. And don’t forget, McCartney performed largely songs that were not a part of his regular stage show. Paul would often perform some golden oldies plus scattered performances of some of his tour songs.

However, the highlight of the soundcheck recording is a performance of an Obscure Bo Diddley song; "Bring It To Jerome" the B-side to Pretty Thing released on Checker Records in 1955. (The song was a tribute to Diddleys band member Jerome Green; whose double Maracas playing and vocalizing were a vital part of the Bo Diddley sound and influenced many in the British rock scene including Mick Jagger and of course Paul McCartney). Lead it to Paul to continue what the Beatles used to do in their stage work and BBC recording-pick obscure B-sides of popular American audiences and perform them! The recordings on this CD are a joy to hear but one can appreciate their existence more by learning how all of this came about.

McCartney was eager to get back on the road after the rousing success of his 1989-1990 world tour: Paul was delayed by different projects including the making of the Get Back film of that tour the production of “Trippin The Live Fantastic” and the “Highlights” album. Finally Paul recorded Off The Ground and off he was to support the album by extensive touring.

Although the crowds were down in attendance compared to his previous tour, people still came out in large numbers to see the ex-Mop Top. The performance went down well with the audiences and critics liked the show too. But the type of rock and roll stage act Paul likes costs a lot of money including the electronic device that brought the entire band over the front crowd.

Paul was told by MPL Boss Richard Ogden that because of production costs; the tour would lose money unless he added more shows. Paul was furious at this and after cooling down; decided he would add shows in Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. The other decision he made was to fire Richard Ogden, something he did after the tour ended.

Hence forth, That’s why Paul played Mexico. When MPL first contacted Ocessa, the official concert promoter of Mexico: They were very excited to have an ex-Beatle perform. The Beatles as a group were scheduled to play Mexico Qty but the gig fell through. George Harrison turned down a chance to play Mexico on his 1974 tour calling the country "a bunch of Loonies! And Ringo also decline to tour Mexico. So naturally Ocessa was excited by Paul’s interest in their country.

However, problems surfaced almost causing a cancellation of the Mexico gigs. Ocessa wanted Paul to play Azteca Stadium, a huge 100,000 seat outdoor venue that played hosts to many of Mexico sporting events including fights by the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez. But in Mexico, sporting events included Bull fighting; a fact that Paul and Linda McCartney being staunch vegetarians found appalling. The McCartney told Ocessa to either find another venue or no show. Lucky for Mexico, a new stadium was being finished for the public called The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a mid size stadium that would hold 50,000 people. MPL immediately agreed to play their since the stadium Wasn’t tainted by Bull fighting.

Tickets went on sale for two shows; November 25 and 27 1993. Ticket prices were as low as $30 with $121 US dollars being their top face value ticket. Although the shows did not sell out, virtually 97% of all tickets were gone by the day of the shows.

Ocessa went all out to promote the gigs. Coca-Cola was named sponsor of the tour and issued two different commemorative Coke cans with a Paul’s picture and the official 1993 tour logo on each can. Mexican radio stations played Beatles and Paul’s music and banners were everywhere trumpeting the ex-Beatles gigs. The Los Seguimos Beatles Fan Club were ecstatic that one of their heroes was to play their country and promoted the hell out of the show.

And why did Paul want to play Mexico. Although Off The Ground sold decently in the United States and did well in Europe; the album was a smash in Mexico and the rest of Central and South America over the popularity of Hope Of Deliverance. The use of the flamingo Spanish guitar style over the instrumental break was popular in Mexico and pushed that song into the #1 slot. The Off The Ground album sold over 50.000 copies which is gold record status in Mexico-compare that with the sales of Flowers In The Dirt which sold only 10,000 copies.

The two shows went over well with the audience which whipped themselves into a frenzy. One could see the dazzlers in the dark and the lighters in action. The audience were so enthusiastic that they actually burned themselves out by the end of the show. Paul was loving every moment of both performance and came out for the encore at both night wearing a sombrero which the audience responded to with great cheers.

Even those outside the stadium welcomed McCartney. An Impromptu flea market with all sorts of quasi legal McCartney merchandise was sold from Paul cigarette lighters to license plates, The newspapers were filled with rave notices on the shows. The only downer was the presence of Paul’s bearded Asshole publicist Geoff Baker Baker flew into Mexico in a bad mood, treated the locals and press like shit; and was basically not a nice person to deal with. The authorized press list assembled by EMI-Mexico was thrown out by Baker and replaced by a list assembled by Mr. Scruffy himself.

However a lot of press good came out of Mexico, The press conference in Mexico City first brought the news of the Beatles Anthology and confirmation that the three remaining Beatles were to reunite to do incidental music for the Series, which of course later lead to Free As A Bird and Real Love.

And to cap things off Geoff Baker; ignoring warning regarding Mexico’s water situation apparently drank some tap water and came down with a bad case of Montzauma’s Revenge, Well, what do you know, The ultimate Fan On The Run.

All of this and of course the performances made Paul’s trip to Mexico quite memorable. The loud cheering by the appreciative audiences and the love from the Mexican people to Paul is something the ex-Beatle will always remember. And the great performances by Paul is something Mexico will never forget and...

The hell with this; lets put the CD cover down, take out the CD and listen to these great performances. And who knows; maybe a soundboard recording of the November 27 show may leak out someday!

Marty Flesh August 2000