Paul McCartney & Wings - Band On The Run ("Basic" Keyboards & Bass Mix)

Paul McCartney & Wings: James Paul McCartney TV Special (1973)

Paul McCartney & Wings: Band on the Run - Full Album

Paul McCartney & Wings: Venus And Mars

Paul McCartney & Wings: Let 'Em Out Vol. 5 - The Trevor Jones Tapes

Rehearsals & Outtakes

Disc One

01 Live And Let Die
02 Call Me Back Again
03 Picasso's Last Words - Richard Cory
04 Bluebird
05 I've Just Seen A Face
06 Blackbird
07 Yesterday
08 You Gave Me The Answer
09 Magneto And Titanium Man
10 Go Now
11 Letting Go
12 Maybe I'm Amazed
- rehearsals for the Wings Over The World Tour (mono)
13 Your Lucky Day (version #1)
14 Your Lucky Day (version #2)
15 Blues improvisation
16 Lend Me Your Comb
17 Goin' Back To Tennessee
18 Your True Love - Lend Me Your Comb
- from Wings' last rehearsal, 1981 (beg.)(stereo)

Disc Two

01 Oh Boy - Peggy Sue
02 I'm Gonna Love You Too
03 Ain't That A Shame - I'm In Love Again
04 Rockin' In Your Seat
- Wings' last rehearsal (concl.)
05 Best Friend
- live Antwerp, Belgium 72-08-22
06 Mull Of Kintyre
07 My Carnival
08 Night Out
09 Robber's Ball
10 Mama's Little Girl
11 Hey Diddle
12 Tragedy
13 Same Time Next Year
14 We're Open Tonight
15 Spin It On
16 Old Siam, Sir
17 Again And Again And Again
18 The Broadcast
19 To You
20 Cage

Paul McCartney & Wings: Let 'Em Out Vol. 4 - The Trevor Jones Tapes

World Tour Rehearsals

Disc 1:
01 Venus And Mars - Rock Show - Jet
02 Let Me Roll It
03 Spirits Of Ancient Egypt
04 Medicine Jar
05 Lady Madonna
06 The Long And Winding Road
07 Live And Let Die
08 Call Me Back Again (incomplete)
09 Picasso's Last Words - Richard Cory
10 Bluebird
11 I've Just Seen A Face

Disc 2:
01 Blackbird
02 Yesterday
03 You Gave Me The Answer
04 Magneto And Titanium Man
05 Go Now
06 My Love
07 Listen To What The Man Said
08 Letting Go
09 Band On The Run
10 Hi Hi Hi
11 Soily
12 Bonus - Martha My Dear (instrumental edit)

Paul McCartney & Wings: Let 'Em Out Vol. 3 - The Trevor Jones Tapes

Outtakes and Upgrades

01 Reception (long version)
02 Getting Closer (instrumental backing track)
03 Cage (instrumental backing track)
04 Rockestra Theme + So Glad To See You Here (instrumentals)
05 Fabulous + Teddy Bear
06 Mama's Little Girl
07 Mama's Little Girl (fragment)
08 Take It Away (Paul teaching the song to Wings)
09 No Values
10 Denny's Song (rerecorded in Montserrat Feb 1981)
11 Did We Meet Somewhere Before
12 A Love For You
13 Waterspout
14 CHOBA B CCCP Medley (part 1)
15 CHOBA B CCCP Medley (part 2)

Paul McCartney & Wings: Let 'Em Out Vol. 2 - The Trevor Jones Tapes

Elstree Rehearsals September 1975

01 Little Woman Love + C Moon #1
02 Suicide
03 You Gave Me The Answer
04 Ol' Man River
05 Stealin'
06 Junior's Farm #1
07 Junior's Farm #2
08 Little Woman Love + C Moon #2
09 Let 'Em In
10 Live And Let Die
11 Soily

Paul McCartney & Wings: Let 'Em Out Vol. 1 - The Trevor Jones Tapes

01 Silly Love Songs (no strings or horns)
02 Beware My Love (complete instrumental acetate)
03 Beware My Love (incomplete)
04 Must Do Something About It (Paul vocal)
05 She's My Baby (take 1)
06 She's My Baby (version 2)
07 The Note You Never Wrote (no strings)
08 Time To Hide
09 Wino Junko
10 Let 'Em In (mono promo edit)
11 Let 'Em In (stereo promo edit)
12 Newt Rack (instrumental, monitor mix)
13 Take It Away (monitor mix)
14 What's That You're Doing (rough take, monitor mix)
15 Hi Hi Hi (mono acetate alt mix)
16 Another Day (mono acetate mix)
17 Junior's Farm (alt mix by Ernie Winfrey)
18 Sally G (alt mix by Ernie Winfrey)
19 Daytime Nighttime Suffering (early mix)

Beatle People: Denny Laine

Denny Laine (born Brian Frederick Arthur Hines, 29 October 1944, Holcombe Road Tyseley, Birmingham) is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his roles as former guitarist and lead singer of The Moody Blues and, later, co-founder (with Paul McCartney) of Wings. Laine was the only musician in Wings who did not quit. Laine joined Wings in 1971 for the album Wild Life and stayed until 1980, when Wings broke up.

Biography

Denny Laine is of Romani descent, was educated at Yardley Grammar School in Birmingham, and took up the guitar as a boy under the influence of Gypsy jazz legend Django Reinhardt; he had his first solo performance as a musician at the age of twelve and began his career as a professional musician fronting Denny & The Diplomats, which also included future The Move and Electric Light Orchestra drummer Bev Bevan.

In 1964, Laine left The Diplomats to join Mike Pinder in The Moody Blues and sang their first big hit, "Go Now"; other early highlights included "From The Bottom Of My Heart", "Can't Nobody Love You" and the harmonica-ripping "Bye Bye Bird". However, Denny's tenure with the MB's was short-lived and, after a number of comparative failures, Laine quit the band in late 1966 (the last record issued by The Moody Blues that featured Laine was "Life's Not Life"/"He Can Win" in 1967, but the 1966 "Boulevard De La Madeleine" looked ahead to the fancier sounds that the MB's would later become famous for).

After leaving The Moody Blues, he formed The Electric String Band, which featured Denny (guitar, vocals), Trevor Burton (guitar, another former member of The Move) and Viv Prince (drums), also featuring electrified strings in a format not dissimilar to what Electric Light Orchestra would later attempt. They made two singles, "Say You Don't Mind / Ask The People" (Apr 1967, Deram) and "Too Much In Love / Catherine's Wheel" (Jan 1968, Deram); and, in June 1967, they shared a bill with The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Procol Harum at the Saville Theatre in London. However, national attention was not to be, and the pioneering Electric String Band broke up. (There was apparently a third single recorded called "Why Did You Come?". Why it never released is unknown, but there have been rumours that the finished track - and probably the B side as well - was sent by post to Decca and was lost.) Laine and Burton then went on to the band Balls from 1969 until the band's breakup in 1971, with both also taking time to play in Ginger Baker's Air Force in 1970. (Only one single was issued by Balls; "Fight For My Country" / "Janie, Slow Down" on UK Wizard Records. Strangely, the top side was re-edited and reissued on UK Wizard and issued in the US on Epic under the name of Trevor Burton, which was odd since Laine and Burton shared lead vocals on the B side. The single was reissued again as B.L.W. as "Live In The Mountains" for a small Pye distributed label. There was supposed to have been a Balls album recorded, but it has never seen the light of day). Laine's 1967 song "Say You Don't Mind" was a hit when recorded in 1972 by ex-Zombie, Colin Blunstone.

In 1971, Denny joined Paul McCartney to found the group known as Wings, and would stay with them for a full ten years until they officially disbanded in 1981; Denny provided lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals, keyboards, bass, writing and co-writing skills, as well as being a solid solo performer. Together with Paul and his wife, the late Linda, they formed the nucleus of the band, being called that "strange, 3-winged beast". It was with Wings that Denny enjoyed the biggest commercial and critical successes of his career, including co-writing the smash hit "Mull of Kintyre".

In January 1980, McCartney was arrested for possession of marijuana upon arrival at an airport for a tour in Japan. The tour was cancelled. Wings recorded through the year on new tracks as well as tracks still in the vaults, but a press release by Paul in early 1981 officially announced that Wings had broken up. The new tracks ended up on Paul's next two solo albums, and Laine's relationship with McCartney soured (speculation also has it that financial matters were close to the heart of this dissolution, similar to the McCartney/Jackson partnership).

The title track of Denny's first solo album after Wings, called "Japanese Tears", appeared to be a visible attack on McCartney much like John Lennon's "How Do You Sleep?" in 1971; however, closer inspection to the lyrics shows that it more likely tells the tongue-in-cheek story of a Japanese fan's disappointment after Wings' tour got cancelled (or possibly even tears of excitement at Wings' arrival in Japan in the first place).

Denny filed for bankruptcy in the mid-80's after selling his lucrative co-publishing rights to "Mull of Kintyre" to co-author McCartney. However, he has continued to record music at a prolific rate and has appeared at Beatles conventions and on tributes to both The Beatles and Wings. He is currently working on an autobiography.

He was briefly married to Jo Jo Laine (born 13 July 1953 — died 29 October 2006), with whom he had a son, Laine Hines, and a daughter, Heidi Hines. He has three other children from other relationships: Luciannne Grant, Damian James, and Ainsley Laine-Adams. His current wife is Rosha.

Discography

The Moody Blues

* The Magnificent Moodies (1965)

non-album singles:

* Steal Your Heart Away b/w Lose Your Money
* It's Easy, Child
* I Don't Want To Go On Without You b/w Time On My Side
* From The Bottom Of My Heart b/w And My Baby's Gone
* Ev'ryday b/w You Don't(All The Time)
* Boulevard De La Madeleine b/w This Is My House (But Nobody Calls)
* People Gotta Go (issued on a French EP only),
* Life's Not Life b/w He Can Win.

Solo

* Say You Don't Mind/Ask The People (1967)
* Too Much In Love/Catherine's Wheel (1968)
* Why Did You Come?/unknown (never released) (1968)

Balls

* Fight For My Country/Janie, Slow Down (1969)

This single was reissued twice:

Trevor Burton

* Fight For My Country (edited)/Janie, Slow Down" (1970)

B.L.G.

* Live In The Mountains/Janie, Slow Down (issued in 1972? on UK Paladin)

Ginger Baker's Airforce

* Ginger Baker's Air Force (1970)

Wings

* Wild Life (1971)
* Red Rose Speedway (1973)
* Band On The Run (1973)
* Venus and Mars (1975)
* Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976)
* Wings Over America (1976 triple live album)
* London Town (1978)
* Back to the Egg (1979)

Solo albums

* Ahh...Laine (1973 Wizard, but recorded sometime earlier)
* Holly Days (1976 EMI/Capitol)
* Japanese Tears (1981 Polydor)
* Anyone Can Fly (1982 polydor)
* In Flight (1984 Breakway)
* Weep For Love (1985 President)
* Hometown Girls (1985 President)
* Wings On My Feet (1986 President)
* Lonely Road (1988 President)
* Master Suite (1988 Magnum Force)
* All I Want Is Freedom (1990 JAWS)
* Blue Nights (1994 President)
* Rock Survivor (1995 WCP)
* Go Now (1995 Prime Cuts)
* Reborn (1996 Griffin)
* Wings At The Sound Of Denny Laine (1996 Scratch)
* Arctic Song (1998)

Guest appearances

* Ginger Baker's Air Force 2 (two tracks: 'Man Of Constant Sorrow' & 'I Don't Want To Go On Without You', 1970)
* McGear (1974)
* The Reluctant Dog (1980)
* Somewhere in England (one track, 'All Those Years Ago', 1981)
* Tug of War (1982)
* Pipes of Peace (1983)
* Wind In The Willows (one track: 'The Life We Left Behind', 1985)
* Metal Christmas (one track: 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday', released in 1996 but sounds like it was recorded earlier)
* Wide Prairie (1998)
* Old Friends In New Places (one track: 'And The Thunder Rolls...', 1999)

Bootlegs

* Memory Laine (1972)
* Rock & Roll Jam Sessions (aka: 'Lympne Castle Sessions', aka: 'Wings: In A Jam', 1978-79)
* 2 Buddies On Holly Days (excerpts from 'Holly Days' and live performances during Buddy Holly Week, 1979)
* Hot Hits & Cold Cuts (1979)
* Birmingham Boy (1982)

Live albums

* Ginger Baker's Air Force (one track: 'Man Of Constant Sorrow(live)', 1970)
* Wings Over America (1976)
* Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea (1981)

Compilation albums

* Wings Greatest (1978)
* In Flight (1984)
* Weep For Love (1985)
* Blue Nights (1994)
* Rock Survivor (1995)
* Danger Zone (1995)
* Go Now (1995)
* The Masters (1998)
* Wingspan: Hits and History (2001)
* Spreading My Wings: The Ultimate Denny Laine Collection (2002)
* The Collection (3 albums: Blue Nights/The Masters/Reborn) (2003)
* An Introduction to The Moody Blues (2004)
* Send Me The Heart (2004)

Wikipedia

Beatle People: Wings

Wings (sometimes referred to as "Paul McCartney and Wings") was a rock group formed in August 1971 by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney. The group was the only "permanent" group that any of the former members of the Beatles joined after their break-up. During its life, Wings had 12 top-10 singles (including one #1) in the United Kingdom and 14 top-10 singles (including six #1s) in the United States. All 23 singles credited to Wings reached the U.S. Top 40 (and one single, Junior's Farm/Sally G, reached it with each side). Of the nine albums credited to Wings during the group's life, all went top 10 in either the United Kingdom or United States, with five consecutive U.S. #1s.

Wings was noted for its personnel changes as well as its success. The only three members in all of the different versions of Wings were McCartney, his wife Linda, and ex-Moody Blues guitarist and singer Denny Laine. In less than a decade, Wings had three different lead guitarists and four different drummers.

History

As the Beatles were breaking up in 1970, McCartney was working on his debut solo album, McCartney. Backing vocals were provided by his wife, Linda, whom he had married the previous year. McCartney had insisted from the beginning of their marriage that his wife should be involved in his musical projects, so that they did not have to be apart when he was on tour. On his second solo album, Ram, McCartney added select outside musicians, including drummer Denny Seiwell, who had to perform in a secret audition for Paul and Linda before being chosen.

First lineup (1971–1973)

In August 1971, Seiwell and guitarist/singer Denny Laine joined Paul and Linda McCartney to record Paul's third post-Beatles project on Apple Records. The result was Wild Life, released December 7. It was the first project to credit Wings as the artist. In an attempt to capture the spontaneity of live performances, five of the eight songs on Wild Life were first takes by the band. However, the record left music critics cold.

The band name is said to have come to McCartney as he was praying in the hospital while Linda was giving birth to their second child together, Stella McCartney. Paul McCartney recalled in the film Wingspan that the birth of Stella was "a bit of a drama"; there were complications at the birth and that both Linda and the baby almost died. He was praying fervently and the image of wings came to his mind. He decided to name his new band Wings.

In late 1971, McCartney added ex-Spooky Tooth guitarist Henry McCullough, a native of Northern Ireland, to the line-up of Wings and returned to touring, mounting an impromptu tour of U.K. universities and later a tour of small European venues (with the group driving around in a van), playing no Beatles numbers. In February 1972, Wings released a single called "Give Ireland Back to the Irish," a response to the events of Bloody Sunday. The song was banned by the BBC for its anti-Unionist political stance and only mentioned in chart rundowns on BBC Radio 1 as "a record by Wings." Despite its limited airplay, it reached #16 in the United Kingdom, as well as #1 in The Republic of Ireland and #1 in Spain.

Partly in reaction to the ban, Wings released a children's song, "Mary Had a Little Lamb," as its next single, which surprisingly reached the Top 10 in the United Kingdom. However, Wings followed that with November 1972's "Hi, Hi, Hi," which was again banned by the BBC, this time for its alleged drug and sexual references. The B-side, "C Moon," was played instead. The single made it into the Top 5 in the United Kingdom and the Top 10 in the United States.

In late 1972, Wings was re-christened Paul McCartney and Wings for the 1973 album Red Rose Speedway, which yielded the first U.S. #1 Wings hit, the romantic ballad "My Love". One possible reason for the renaming was that two songs on this album had been recorded by Paul, Linda, and Denny Seiwell during the Ram sessions; Denny Laine added backing vocals to one of these songs, but Henry McCullough was not on either. Among the unreleased songs recorded by Wings during the extensive sessions for this album (which stretched over seven months and two continents) was the Linda composition "Seaside Woman", which was finally released in 1977 (although credited to "Suzy and the Red Stripes").

Near the end of these sessions, in October 1972, Wings recorded the theme song to the James Bond film Live and Let Die, which reunited McCartney with Beatles producer/arranger George Martin. The uptempo song, released as a non-album single in the summer of 1973 (immediately after "My Love"), became a sizable worldwide hit and has remained a popular part of McCartney's post-Wings concert performances (often accompanied by pyrotechnics). That same year, McCartney released his first American TV special James Paul McCartney, which featured extensive footage of Wings but was savagely criticized by noted rock journalist Lillian Roxon.

After a successful British tour in May-June 1973, Wings went right into rehearsals for the next album. However, Henry McCullough and Denny Seiwell left the band in August, at the end of rehearsals, leaving the McCartneys and Laine to cut what turned out to be Wings' most successful album, Band on the Run, at EMI's primitive 8-track recording studio in Lagos, Nigeria. The album went to #1 in both the United States and United Kingdom and spawned three hit singles: the rockers "Jet" and "Helen Wheels" (originally included on the U.S. album only) and the title track—a suite of movements recalling side 2 of Abbey Road. It also included "Let Me Roll It", which was seen as an affectionate impersonation of John Lennon's vocal style, and "No Words," the first song released by Wings that was co-written by Denny Laine (all Wings releases to this time were either Paul and Linda compositions or cover versions). Band on the Run enjoyed very positive critical reception and did much to restore McCartney's tarnished post-Beatles image among critics.

Second lineup (1974–1978)

After Band on the Run, Jimmy McCulloch, former lead guitarist in Thunderclap Newman and Stone the Crows, joined the band. The first Wings project with McCulloch was McGear, a 1974 collaboration between Paul and his younger brother Mike McGear, with session musician Gerry Conway playing drums. Warner Bros. Records chose not to play up the "Wings" angle in its marketing for McGear, and the album sold poorly. However, the sessions also generated a single credited to McGear's group The Scaffold, "Liverpool Lou," which became a top-10 hit in the United Kingdom.

Shortly thereafter, Geoff Britton joined Wings on drums, and the first recording session with this full lineup was held in Nashville, where the band stayed at the rural farm of songwriter Curly Putman Jr. The trip was memorialized in the 1974 non-album single "Junior's Farm", backed with a straight country track entitled "Sally G," the group's last release on Apple Records. In a rare occurrence, both sides of the single separately reached the Billboard Top 20 in the U.S. During these sessions, Wings (with guest musicians Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer) also recorded a single that was attributed to The Country Hams entitled "Walking in the Park with Eloise," a song written years before by Paul's father James. At the end of 1974, Paul McCartney's contract with Apple expired, and the band returned to just being named Wings.

Wings started recording sessions for its next album in London in November 1974, then moved to New Orleans to complete Venus and Mars (1975), the first release from the group on MPL Communications, distributed worldwide by EMI (Parlophone in the United Kingdom, Capitol in the United States). The album topped the charts and contained the U.S. #1 single "Listen to What the Man Said," which also featured Dave Mason of Traffic on guitar and Tom Scott on saxophone. When the Venus and Mars recording sessions moved to New Orleans, Britton quit Wings and was replaced by Joe English. Like Denny Seiwell before him, English won the job at a secret audition before McCartney. McCulloch co-composed (with former bandmate Colin Allen) and sang one song ("Medicine Jar"); Laine sang lead vocals on a McCartney song ("Spirits of Ancient Egypt"); Paul composed and sang the rest.

In the Autumn of 1975 Wings embarked on the Wings Over the World tour, starting in Bristol, which took them to Australia (November), Europe (March 1976), the United States (May/June), and Europe again (September), before ending in a four-night grand finale at London's Wembley Empire Pool. For this tour, added to Wings' stage act was a horn section consisting of Tony Dorsey, Howie Casey, Thaddeus Richard, and Steve Howard on horns, brass, and percussion.

In between, Wings recorded Wings at the Speed of Sound, which was released at the end of March 1976, just prior to the U.S. leg of the world tour. It represented a departure from the prior Wings template in that each of the five primary members of the band (including Linda and Joe English) sang lead on at least one song, and both Laine ("Time to Hide") and McCulloch ("Wino Junko", again with Colin Allen) contributed songs. However, the two U.S. #1 singles, "Silly Love Songs" and "Let 'em In", were both written and sung by Paul. Four of the album tracks were played in the 1976 portion of the tour, which also included five Beatles songs. Laine sang lead vocals on several songs (including his old Moody Blues hit "Go Now" and Paul Simon's "Richard Cory"), and McCulloch on one ("Medicine Jar"), emphasizing that Wings was more than just Paul McCartney's backing band. One of the Seattle concerts from the American leg of the 1975–76 world tour was filmed and later released as the concert feature Rockshow (1980). The tour also spawned a triple live album, Wings over America (1976), which became the fifth consecutive Wings album to reach number 1 in the U.S.
Joe English, Jimmy McCulloch, Linda & Paul McCartney and Denny Laine (l. to r.) during 1976 Wings Over the World tour.

After the world tour, and following the single release of a live version of "Maybe I'm Amazed" in early 1977, Wings took a break. Later in the year, the band started recording their next album in the Virgin Islands, but the sessions were interrupted by Linda's pregnancy and then by the departures of both Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English. McCulloch, who joined The Small Faces, had difficulty handling the rock'n'roll lifestyle, ultimately dying of a heroin overdose in 1979. English joined Chuck Leavell's band Sea Level and later founded the Christian-oriented Joe English Band.

Undeterred by their departure, Wings released the already-completed McCartney-Laine ballad "Mull of Kintyre", an ode to the Scottish Mull of Kintyre coastal region where McCartney had made his home in the early 1970s. Its broad appeal was maximized by a pre-Christmas release. It became a massive international hit, dominating the charts in Britain (where it was Wings' only #1 single), Australia and many other countries over the Christmas/New Year period. Ultimately, it became one of the biggest selling U.K. singles of all time. However, it was not a success in the United States, where the B-side "Girls School" received most of the airplay but barely reached the Top 40.

The core trio of Wings then released the album London Town in 1978, a collection that sometimes included McCulloch and English. Much of the album had been recorded before the departures of McCulloch and English, but only pictures of the remaining trio appeared on the album. It was a commercial success, although it became the first Wings album since Wild Life to not reach #1 in the United States (peaking at #2). London Town featured a markedly softer-rock, synth-based sound than prior Wings albums. Laine co-wrote five of the album's songs with McCartney and sang two of them. "With a Little Luck" reached #1 in the United States and #5 in the United Kingdom, but "I've Had Enough" and "London Town" were commercial disappointments in both countries.

Third lineup (1978–1981)

Later in 1978, lead guitarist Laurence Juber and former Elton John drummer Steve Holley joined the band, restoring Wings to touring strength. In 1979, McCartney signed a new record contract, leaving Capitol, the company he had been with since he was a Beatle, in the United States and Canada and joining Columbia Records, while remaining with Parlophone/EMI in the rest of the world. Influenced by the punk and New Wave scenes, Wings abandoned its mellow touch and hired former Apple engineer Chris Thomas to help in the production process. The result was a somewhat less polished sound. This new version of Wings first released the disco-oriented single "Goodnight Tonight", backed by "Daytime Nighttime Suffering", which reached the top 5 in both the United States and United Kingdom. However, the subsequent album Back to the Egg, which was not favorably received by critics, sold disappointingly, at least when compared to its immediate predecessors. Still, it went platinum in the United States. It contained the Grammy-winning song "Rockestra Theme", the result of an October 1978 superstar session with members of Wings, The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd, among others. Two other singles were culled from the album, but both performed poorly on the charts. One album song ("Again and Again and Again") was composed and sung by Laine; the rest were Paul's.

During much of 1979, Wings was inactive as McCartney worked on a new solo album (McCartney II) without the band. In November and December 1979, Wings performed its final tour of the United Kingdom, once again adding the horns and brass section consisting of Tony Dorsey, Howie Casey, Thaddeus Richard, and Steve Howard. This tour climaxed with a massive "Rockestra" all-star collection of musicians in London in aid of UNICEF and Kampuchean refugees. Also during this tour, a live version of the McCartney II track "Coming Up" was recorded in Glasgow and became Wings' sixth and final U.S. #1 hit (as well as the last Wings single, although once again credited to Paul McCartney and Wings) the following year.

Plans for a new Wings world tour were abandoned when Paul McCartney was arrested for possession of about 7.7 ounces of marijuana at Tokyo airport on 16 January 1980. Other Wings members were questioned but not charged. Although McCartney was released from jail after 9 days, on 25 January, he was deported from Japan. As a result, the Japanese tour was canceled along with other short-term plans for Wings.

During 1980, Wings continued to demo some more tunes, and some work was done on a never-released "cold cuts" album of previously unreleased songs. Finally, in October 1980, Wings returned to the studio to record demonstration versions of a number of songs for its next album. However, following the murder of John Lennon in December 1980, Paul McCartney was unable to continue with the sessions, and Wings went into hiatus. When McCartney restarted the project on 2 February 1981 as a solo album to be dedicated to Lennon, Juber and Holley left Wings, although Denny Laine continued as part of what became the Tug of War sessions, which ended on 3 March. Finally, on 27 April 1981, it was announced that Laine also had left the group, and that Wings had disbanded. McCartney claimed that the band "parted in a friendly way."

Potential reunion

In March 1997, former Wings members Denny Laine, Laurence Juber and Steve Holley did an impromptu "Wings" reunion at a BeatleFest in East Rutherford, New Jersey. This was not a planned event, and no further reunions were intended. However, ten years later, in July 2007, Laine, Juber and Denny Seiwell (excluding Paul McCartney, who was not interested in participating) reunited for one show at a BeatleFest in Las Vegas. They performed Wings classics including "Band on the Run," "Mull of Kintyre" and "Go Now." According to one report, Laine said that the three are discussing plans for a reunion tour.

Legacy

Unlike other post-Beatles projects such as the Plastic Ono Band, Wings was more than just a backing band for an ex-Beatle. Both Denny Laine and Jimmy McCulloch wrote songs, and Laine, McCulloch, Joe English, and Linda McCartney all contributed lead vocals. However, Paul McCartney was unquestionably the band's leader and star. Every song on a single credited to Wings was at least co-composed by Paul, and the only three songs to appear on Wings singles that weren't sung by Paul were all B-sides: "I Lie Around" (Denny Laine, flip of "Live and Let Die"), "Cook of the House" (Linda McCartney, flip of "Silly Love Songs"), and "Deliver Your Children" (Laine, flip of "I've Had Enough").

The success of Wings was a vindication for McCartney. His early home-grown solo output, which often featured simpler songs and less lavish production than The Beatles received from George Martin, often was dismissed by critics as "lightweight" next to the more serious nature of his former bandmates' solo output after the breakup. But, by 1975, John Lennon's solo career had been put on hold following the birth of his son Sean, and he stopped recording. A year later, George Harrison had all but retired from performing live (although not from recording). Ringo Starr was living in L.A. and he was still recording and writing, but his success was intermittent. As the leader of Wings, however, McCartney continued to tour regularly and to enjoy hit singles and albums the world over. By 1980, even Lennon was envious of Wings' (and McCartney's) continuing success, which largely inspired Lennon's own comeback that year.

In addition to its own output, Wings recorded several songs which ended up on non-Wings albums. The solo albums of three former Wings members feature songs performed by Wings. Three tracks written by Denny Laine appear on Laine's 1980 solo album Japanese Tears: "I Would Only Smile" from the Red Rose Speedway sessions; "Send Me the Heart" (a Laine/McCartney composition) from the Nashville sessions; and "Weep for Love" from the Back to the Egg sessions. Laurence Juber's song "Maisie", also from the Back to the Egg sessions, appeared on his album Standard Time. After Linda McCartney's death, a compilation of her songs entitled Wide Prairie was released that featured six Wings songs written by Linda: the Suzy and the Red Stripes' songs "Seaside Woman", recorded in 1972 during Red Rose Speedway, and "B-Side to Seaside", co-written by Paul and recorded in 1977 during London Town, as well as "I Got Up", again co-written by Paul and recorded around the time of the McGear sessions (before Geoff Britton joined Wings), "Wide Prairie", recorded during the Nashville sessions, "New Orleans", recorded during Venus & Mars, and "Love's Full Glory", recorded in 1980 after the Japanese fiasco. Wings also backed Paul's brother Mike McGear on the McGear album, as well as Mike's band The Scaffold on the single "Liverpool Lou" and the B-side instrumental "Ten Years After on Strawberry Jam".

During its life, Wings had 12 top-10 singles in the United Kingdom and 14 top-10 singles (including six #1s) in the United States. All 23 singles credited to Wings reached the U.S. Top 40 (and one single reached it with each side). Wings had only one fewer #1 single in the United States than John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr combined in their post-Beatle careers. Of the nine albums credited to Wings at the time, all went top 10 in either the United Kingdom or United States, with five consecutive U.S. #1s. (Ironically, the only Wings album not to reach the U.S. Top 10 was Wings Greatest.)

Wings' 1977 single, "Mull of Kintyre"/"Girls School" is still the biggest-selling non-charity single in the United Kingdom (although Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" sold more, its sales include a reissue in aid of the Terrence Higgins Trust), and it ranked fourth in the official list of best selling singles in the United Kingdom issued in 2002.

In June 2007, Apple's higher-quality iTunes Plus was released, featuring albums from EMI. Among the albums included were the nine original albums from Wings. As of 4 June 2007, Band on the Run was the third most downloaded album from iTunes Plus.

Wings are sometimes the subject of satirical reference; the more pop-friendly style of the band has attracted tongue-in-cheek comparisons with The Beatles. Steve Coogan's comic creation Alan Partridge naturally admires Wings, referring to them as "the band The Beatles could have been." In the Simpsons episode "Burns' Heir," a cult deprogrammer states that he "did get Paul McCartney out of Wings" to which Homer replies, "You idiot! He was the most talented one."

Personnel

During its ten-year lifespan, Wings underwent numerous personnel changes and was twice reduced to its core Paul-Linda-Denny trio. (Listings for 1978 to 1981 do not include the members of Rockestra, a "rock orchestra" supergroup including Wings that can be heard on the albums Back to the Egg and Concerts for the People of Kampuchea.)

Line-ups
1971-1972

* Paul McCartney - vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar
* Linda McCartney - vocals, keyboards
* Denny Laine - vocals, guitar, bass, piano
* Denny Seiwell - drums, percussion

1972-1973

* Paul McCartney - vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar
* Linda McCartney - vocals, keyboards
* Denny Laine - vocals, guitar, bass, piano
* Henry McCullough - guitar, vocals
* Denny Seiwell - drums, percussion

1973

* Paul McCartney - vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar, drums
* Linda McCartney - vocals, keyboards
* Denny Laine - vocals, guitar, bass, piano

1974-1975

* Paul McCartney - vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar
* Linda McCartney - vocals, keyboards
* Denny Laine - vocals, guitar, bass, piano
* Jimmy McCulloch - vocals, guitar
* Geoff Britton - drums, percussion

1975-1977

* Paul McCartney - vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar
* Linda McCartney - vocals, keyboards
* Denny Laine - vocals, guitar, bass, piano
* Jimmy McCulloch - vocals, guitar
* Joe English - vocals, drums, percussion

1977-1978

* Paul McCartney - vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar, drums
* Linda McCartney - vocals, keyboards
* Denny Laine - vocals, guitar, bass, piano

1978-1981

* Paul McCartney - vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar
* Linda McCartney - vocals, keyboards
* Denny Laine - vocals, guitar, bass, piano
* Laurence Juber - vocals, guitar
* Steve Holley - vocals, drums, percussion

Wikipedia

"Wild Life" Lyrics

by Paul McCartney

As Released by Wings (1971)

The word "wild" applies to the words "you" and "me"

While taking a walk through an African park one day
I saw a sign say, "The animals have the right of way"

Wild life, whatever happened to
Wild life, the animals in the zoo?

You're breathing so hot
A lot of political nonsense in the air

You're making it hard for the people who live in there
You're moving so fast, but baby, you know not where
Wild life (wild life), what's gonna happen to
Wild life (wild life), the animals in the zoo?
Oh, oh

You'd better stop, there's animals everywhere
And man is the top, an animal too
And man, you just got to care

Wild life (wild life), what's gonna happen to
Wild life (wild life), the animals in the zoo?
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh

You're breathing a lot of political nonsense in the air
You're making it hard for the people who live in there

Wild life (wild life), what's gonna happen to
(whatever happened to, whatever happened to)
Wild life (wild life), the animals in the zoo?
(whatever happened to, whatever happened to)
(wild life, whatever happened to, whatever happened to)
(wild life, whatever happened to, whatever happened to)
Wild life (wild life), what's gonna happen to
(whatever happened to, whatever happened to)
The animals in the zoo
(whatever happened to, whatever happened to)
Wild life (wild life), whatever happened to
(whatever happened to, whatever happened to)
Wild life (wild life), whatever happened to
(whatever happened to, whatever happened to)
Ooh (wild life)
(whatever happened to, whatever happened to)
(wild life)
(whatever happened to, whatever happened to)
(wild life)
(whatever happened to, whatever happened to)
Ow ow (wild life)
(whatever happened to, whatever happened to)
(wild life)
(whatever happened to, whatever happened to)



Live footage:

"Sally G" Lyrics

by Paul McCartney

As Released by Paul McCartney & Wings (1974)

Somewhere to the south of New York City
Lies the friendly state of Tennessee
Down in Nashville town I met a pretty
Who made a pretty big fool out of me
And they call her Sally, Sally G
Why do you wanna do the things you do to me?
You're my Sally, Sally G
You took the part that was the heart of me, Sally G

The nightlife took me down to Printers Alley
Where Sally sang a song behind the bar
I ran my eyes across her as she sang a tangled mime
I used to love to hear her sweet guitar

And they called her Sally, Sally G
Why do you wanna do the things you do to me?
You're my Sally, Sally G
You took the part that was the heart of me, Sally G

Me and Sally took up
Things began to look up
Me and her were going strong
Then she started lying
I could see our love was dying
I heard a voice say, "Move along, move along"

Well now I'm on my own again
I wonder if she ever really understood
I never thought to ask her what the letter "G" stood for
But I know for sure it wasn't good

And they call her Sally, Sally G
Why do you wanna do the things you do to me?
You're my Sally, Sally G
You took the part that was the heart of me, Sally G

Take it chaps
Sally G
Yeah, Sally G

Paul McCartney & Wings - Unsurpassed Masters Vol. 1

Label: Strawberry Records, STR 002

(Red Rose Speedway Outtakes + Live in Newcastle)

1. Big Barn Bed (McCartney)
2. The Mess (McCartney)
3. When The Night (McCartney)
4. Single Pigeon
5. Thank You Darling (McCartney)
6. Mary Had A Little Lamb (P. McCartney & L. McCartney)
7. Loup (McCartney)
8. Tragedy (McCartney)
9. Seaside Woman (L. McCartney)
10. Wild Life (McCartney)
11. Little Woman Love/C Moon (P. McCartney & L. McCartney)
12. Maybe I'm Amazed (McCartney)
13. My Love (McCartney)
14. Live And Let Die (McCartney)

More satisfying in some ways than the Red Rose Speedway album itself, this bootleg features excellent quality studio and live tracks from that era. The inclusion of a studio version of "The Mess" (inexplicably left off Red Rose Speedway) and the unreleased "Tragedy" are definite highlights, presented below:

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

Wings - Got Any Toothpicks?

Label: Madman 72

Total Time: 56:49

Tracks 1-9 August 22, 1972 Antwerp, Belgium
1. Best Friend (4:09)
2. Soily (4:11)
3. I Am Your Singer (3:22)
4. Seaside Woman (4:05)
5. Say You Don't Mind (3:22)
6. Henry's Blue (6:33)
7. Give Ireland Back To The Irish (3:30)
8. Cottonfields (3:23)
9. My Love (4:40)

Track 10 August 20, 1972 Amsterdam, Holland
10. Henry's Blue (6:52)

Tracks 11-13 August 21, 1972 The Hague, Holland
11. 1882 (6:28)
12. Wild Life (2:21)
13. Hi, Hi, Hi (2:28)

Track 14 August 20, 1972 from Dutch Radio
14. Complain To The Queen (1:24)

Harking back to an earlier incarnation of Wings, "Got Any Toothpicks?" is a collection of soundboard recordings from Wings' 1972 Summer Tour Of Europe.

This special 26th anniversary edition has been remastered from newly discovered sources, surpassing all previously available versions of this material.

"Wings Over Europe" hit the road in early July 1972, playing twenty-plus shows by the time the tour wrapped up at the end of August. The set list consisted of a mix of previously released McCartney/Wings tunes as well as providing a showcase for new material scheduled to be included on the group's forthcoming LP. Unfortunately, by the time 'Red Rose Speedway' hit the racks, it had been trimmed to a single disc of studio material, leaving the live recordings and a handful of outtakes by the wayside. All of the recordings assembled here come from the last few dates on the tour, when the tapes were rolling...

This collection of highlights from the first "official" tour, opens with a portion of Wings' show at the Cine Roma in Antwerp, Belgium on August 22, 1972. The tape picks up with the last number of the first set, 'Best Friend.' It was this performance that has served as the basic track for all the different versions prepared for the never issued 'Cold Cuts' collection. The majority of the second set is also included with an added bonus. For the only time on the tour, Paul and Co. performed the Leadbelly standard 'Cottonfields,' a huge European hit for the Beach Boys in 1970.

'Hi, Hi, Hi' and 'Wild Life' both come from the soundtrack of the uncompleted MPL film project, The Bruce McMouse Show. These performances were captured at the Congresgebouw in The Hague on August 21, 1972. Also originating from this concert is Wings' performance of '1882', an unreleased track originally slated to be included on 'Red Rose Speedway.' The version appearing here consists of the live recording after being subjected to additional studio overdubs, most noticeably additional vocals from Paul. On a side note, the commercially released live recording of 'The Mess' was also recorded at this performance.

As Wings was a "real band" opposed to just being Paul's backing group, each member was afforded a solo spot during the show. 'Henry's Blue,' a lengthy, droning 12-bar, complete with unintelligible lyrics served as lead guitarist Henry McCullough's contribution. The second version on this collection comes from Wings' appearance at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on August 20, 1972. Also recorded this day was an interview for the Dutch radio program, 'Popsmuk.' To close the broadcast, Paul, Linda and Denny Laine huddled around Henry at the piano and offered an improvised performance entitled "Complain To The Queen."

As previously noted, these recordings represent Paul in a rare democratic 'group' setting, certainly the only time this situation has existed outside of the Beatles. Not surprisingly, this period was also Wings' least successful in a commercial sense, forcing Paul to the fore on the 'Red Rose Speedway' LP, evidenced by the 'Paul McCartney and Wings' moniker on the cover. This disc contains several of the surviving documents of that era.