Paul McCartney & Wings - Last Flight

Label: Vigotone, VT-164/165

Glasgow, Scotland December 17, 1979

CD1
1 Got To Get You Into My Life 3:50
2 Getting Closer 3:58
3 Every Night 4:33
4 Again And Again And Again 3:59
5 I've Had Enough 3:23
6 No Words 3:18
7 Cook Of The House 2:49
8 Old Siam, Sir 5:32
9 Maybe I'm Amazed 5:36
10 The Fool On The Hill 3:26
11 Let It Be 4:18
12 Hot As Sun 3:00
13 Spin It On 2:23
14 Twenty Flight Rock 2:50
15 Go Now 4:19
16 Arrow Through Me 4:34
17 Wonderful Christmastime 4:06

CD2
1 Coming Up 5:40
2 Goodnight Tonight 5:22
3 Yesterday 3:42
4 Mull Of Kintyre 8:28
5 Band On The Run 7:00

Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea
6 Got To Get You Into My Life 3:04
7 Every Night 4:24
8 Coming Up 4:15
9 Lucille 3:01
10 Let It Be 4:13
11 Rockestra Theme 2:38

Last Flight is a 2CD set of the complete performance the final incarnation of Wings played at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland on December 17, 1979. These are the very tapes McCartney himself recorded for a possible live album of which only "Coming Up" has appeared. As a bonus we've also included the Wings' tracks from the Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea LP as well as a 28 page booklet of notes, facts and photos.

McCartney fans everywhere rejoiced when Paul announced plans for his 1989 - 90 World Tour. McCartney fever overtook the media who announced that this would be Paul's first series of live gigs since Wings celebrated 1975 - 76 World Tour.

Say Say Say what! The pundits seemed to forget that Wings undertook a nineteen date tour of the United Kingdom in the Winter of 1979. What you have in your hands is evidence of that forgotten tour, a complete chronicle of Wings performance at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland on December 17, 1979.

After the Christmas holidays, the group reconvened for a charity performance, The Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea, highlights of which round out this package. Rehearsals for the upcoming Japanese dates followed, as plans for American and European legs were set into motion all to go up the the proverbial puff of smoke.

But back to the performances at hand. Following the immensely successful Wings Over The World Tour, Paul and Co. entered the studio, and commenced sessions for a new album. Over a year later, and following the departure of guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Joe English, London Town hit the racks. Replacements were found in a pair of unknown British studio musicians.

The first to be contacted was drummer Steve Holly, who had made the acquaintance of Denny Laine through musician/actor David Essex. Fresh off of sessions with Elton John, Holly's first appearance with Wings was in the video for "With A Little Luck." Lead guitarist Lawrence Juber was added following auditions held in the basement of MPL headquarters. Like Holly, Juber's first public appearance with the group was in a promotional film, this time for the rocking "I've Had Enough."

A tour to promote London Town took a backseat to Paul's desire to spend time with his new son James, and the need to record and rehearse with the new Wings lineup. Sessions for Back To The Egg began in the summer of 1978, culminating with the release of the album in early June, 1979. Despite lukewarm reviews and lackluster sales, Paul felt there was still plenty of life in Back To The Egg to warrant a heavy promotional push from the concert stage. Rehearsals started shortly after Buddy Holly Week, during which Paul, Linda, and Denny Laine made a brief appearance onstage the the Crickets at the Hammersmith Odeon.

Tickets for the tour went on sale in early November and sold out rapidly as most of the venues were of a minimal capacity. The set itself was also scaled down, running just over an hour and a half. There was little duplication of material from the previous tour, resulting in an interesting collection of material from the new LP, a handful of Beatles numbers, hits from Wings and a few obscurities. Most notable was the previously unreleased "Coming Up," which originated from a series of solo McCartney sessions that summer. In fact, it was the performance from Glasgow that was released as the B-side of "Coming Up" in April, 1980. The live version was so popular in the States, that radio programmers opted to air it in lieu of the gimmicky studio track.

The tour opened with a benefit concert for the Liverpool Institute on November 23, 1979 at the Royal Court theatre in Liverpool. This was indeed the same institution that was restored and re-christened over fifteen years later as the Liverpool Institute For The Performing Arts; LIPA for short. The tour continued for just over a month, with no variations in the set list. It was this, the final performance of the official itinerary that was committed to tape, and according to those involved, it was the best show of the tour. An unsatisfactory performance at the aforementioned The Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea followed, and would in retrospect, be rationalized by Paul as his reason for taking a ten year vacation from touring.

The 1979 UK dates undoubtedly featured the most interesting and eclectic set list since Wings' 1972 European Tour. It offered a different perspective of McCartney's talents, by not relying heavily on the hits of yore. It proved to be his last attempt to distance himself and emphasize his merits as a solo performer, quite the opposite of the McCartney of today, ever anxious to reinforce his place in Beatle history.

Cuff Link
July 1998


Wings' 1979 U.K. Tour Itinerary
Date / City / Venue
11/23 - 26 Liverpool Royal Court Theatre
11/28 - 29 Ardwick, Manchester Apollo Theatre
12/1 Southampton Gaumont Cinema
12/2 Brighton Brighton Centre
12/3 Lewisham Odeon Cinema
12/5 Finsbury Park Rainbow Theatre
12/7 - 10 Wembley Wembley Arena
12/12 Birmingham Odeon Cinema
12/14 Newcastle-Upon-Tyne City Hall
12/15 Edinburgh, Scotland Odeon Cinema
12/16 - 17 Glasgow, Scotland Apollo Theatre