Though Paul McCartney turned 80 on Saturday, June 19, he's hardly slowed down.  He wrapped his acclaimed, sold-out Got Back tour of North America on Thursday evening in East Rutherford, New Jersey - joined by a couple of the state's favorite sons, Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi - and will soon headline the Glastonbury Festival.  On Friday, the legendary artist announced an upcoming box set collecting his three influential self-titled albums.  McCartney (1970), McCartney II (1980), and McCartney III (2020) will be united on CD, black vinyl, and colored vinyl in a set due August 5.

Macca's first solo album, McCartney was recorded by the artist in the seclusion of his home studio. The multi-instrumentalist took on bass plus drums, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, piano, Mellotron, and organ (as well as "toy xylophone and bow and arrow," he added) for the album, with wife Linda adding harmonies as well as providing the sleeve photography. The April 1970 release arrived amidst great controversy.  The acrimony of The Beatles' breakup was being played out before the press and a contretemps even arose over the album's release date when it appeared that it would conflict with the planned release of Let it Be; Phil Spector was assembling and remixing the Beatles' swansong to McCartney's chagrin while McCartney was recording his solo debut.  Following its April 1970 release, McCartney reached the top spot in the U.S. Billboard chart, while only Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water denied it that spot on the U.K. chart.  Today, McCartney's blend of Beatles leftovers, homespun instrumentals, intimate charmers, and one truly majestic ballad remains altogether beguiling, with songs such as "Maybe I'm Amazed," "Junk," and "Every Night" among his finest compositions.  It also influenced a generation of lo-fi singer-songwriters.

With The Beatles in limbo, Paul cut McCartney. When the same fate befell Wings in summer 1979 after the release of what would turn out to be the band's final album, Back to the Egg, the artist turned again to his home studio. That summer, he made a number of recordings including "Wonderful Christmastime." He was then back on the road for a U.K. tour with Wings, and then the Japanese leg which led to his infamous marijuana bust. After serving nine days in jail, McCartney returned home. Still unsure if he wished Wings to have a future, he made the decision to release his solo recordings of the previous year as McCartney II.  Released in May 1980, II boasted one major hit, just like its predecessor. This time, it was "Coming Up," an infectious dance tune which was reportedly a favorite of John Lennon's.  Also like the 1970 album, McCartney II offered instrumental tracks and experimental compositions, this time utilizing modern (and New Wave-inspired) synthesizer sounds.  The second single, "Waterfalls," performed well in the U.K. but the low-key song failed to make any waves in America. Still, the album topped the U.K. chart and hit No. 3 in the U.S., and its success encouraged McCartney to continue his career sans Wings.

It took forty years for another album in the series, but the COVID-19 pandemic gave the prolific artist another opportunity to make music within the confines of his home studio without commercial expectation.  The December 2020 album arrived within the first year of the pandemic lockdown, or "rockdown" as Paul preferred.  The stripped-down, self-produced, and self-engineered set featured the artist building tracks around his voice and piano or guitar, adding overdubbed bass, Mellotron, harpsichord, harmonium, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, and more.  (Longtime bandmates Abe Laboriel, Jr. and Rusty Anderson did add drums and electric guitar to one track, and a previously unreleased George Martin orchestral score was also employed.)  McCartney II, initially released in a variety of CD, digital, and vinyl formats, was a success all over the world.  It became his first U.K. No. 1 since 1989's Flowers in the Dirt, and hit No. 2 in the U.S. - a reversal of the positions held by McCartney fifty years earlier.  The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the Grammy Awards while "Find My Way" was nominated for Best Rock Song.  Early in 2021, Macca announced McCartney III Imagined, boasting various reinterpretations of the album's songs from artists including St. Vincent, Beck, Phoebe Bridgers, and Damon Albarn.

The trilogy box set will be available on three 180-gram black vinyl LPs; three 180-gram color vinyl LPs (clear for McCartney, white for II, and creamy white for III); and three CDs.  No bonus material is included for any of the albums.  All formats have cover art and typography from Ed Ruscha and include three photo prints as well as a new introduction by Paul.  The collection is due on August 5.  You'll find pre-order links (not yet active as of this writing) and the track listing below.

Paul McCartney, I II III (MPL, 2022)

3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / uDiscoverMusic.com
Standard 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Links TBD / uDiscoverMusic.com
Color 3LP: uDiscoverMusic.com

CD 1: McCartney (Apple LP PCS 7102 (U.K.)/STAO 3363 (U.S.), 1970)

1. The Lovely Linda
2. That Would Be Something
3. Valentine Day
4. Every Night
5. Hot as Sun/Glasses
6. Junk
7. Man We Was Lonely
8. Oo You
9. Momma Miss America
10. Teddy Boy
11. Singalong Junk
12. Maybe I'm Amazed
13. Kreen-Akore

CD 2: McCartney II (Parlophone LP PCTC 258 (U.K.)/Columbia FC 36511 (U.S.), 1980)

1. Coming Up
2. Temporary Secretary
3. On the Way
4. Waterfalls
5. Nobody Knows
6. Front Parlour
7. Summer Day's Song
8. Frozen Jap
9. Bogey Music
10. Darkroom
11. One of These Days

CD 3: McCartney III (Capitol/MPL 00602435321820, 2020)

1. Long Tailed Winter Bird
2. Find My Way
3. Pretty Boys
4. Women and Wives
5. Lavatory Lil
6. Deep, Deep Feeling
7. Slidin'
8. The Kiss of Venus
9. Seize the Day
10. Deep Down
11. Winter Bird/When Winter Comes