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Paul McCartney and Wings: A Brief History

1970 - Following a bitter breakup with the most successful rock band up to that time, Paul McCartney dared to do what few had accomplished, become a rock star in his own right. While many blamed Paul and/or Linda Eastman for the Breakup of the Beatles, those same people overlooked that Ringo was the first to release a solo recording, John had already been recording his material and announced his resignation. It was kept hush hush to prevent record sales from dropping. Also, the Beatles individualism was evident on many of their last recordings, especially Abbey Road. In April, while Apollo 13 was on it's way to the moon, the Beatles made it official, and Paul released his first solo album simply titled McCartney, commonly known as the Bowl of Cherries Album. A home recording with Paul playing all the instruments, the standout track was Maybe I'm Amazed which did not chart until 1976, but the strength of this album was clear, Paul had what it took to be a successful star on his own. After charting hits like; Another Day, Too Many People, Uncle Albert and Smile Away, Paul decided to put his own band together. His first hire was former Moody Blues singer/songwriter/guitarist, Denny Laine. Together with Denny and Linda, this trio made up the core of one of the most influential, and biggest record selling classic rock bands of all time, WINGS!!!!!!

1971-1972 While Paul charted a number two album and two top 10 hits, including his first number 1 single "Uncle Albert", Paul was being lambasted publicly by critics and by John Lennon. Paul decided after hiring Denny Laine and forming Wings, that he needed to complete his roster. He hired lead guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Denny Seiwell. Together they completed Wings first album "Wildlife" which failed miserably on the charts as well as with the critics. "Give Ireleand Back to the Irish" was banned from British radio after the Bloody Sunday affair and great tunes like, Wildlife and Bip Bop went relatively un-noticed by the record buying public. In 1972 Wings went to work on their next album and prepared for a tour.

1972-1973 Following up after the mediocre success of Wildlife, Wings took a different approach, they put together some great new numbers, put forth a new album and decided to do some grass roots promoting. Red Rose Speedway was being recorded, and Paul and the band painted a psychedelic bus, packed the kids up too, and drove all over Europe. They showed up at Britisth Universities un-announced and performed for free for the college students. (compared to how band's make it today, Wings was WAY AHEAD OF IT'S TIME). When college administrators heard that Paul McCartney of the Beatles was in the bus ready to perform, the response was, "Sure, let them play". Many bootleg recordings exist today of these raw and unpolished performances, but the exposure was fantastic. Performing songs from Wildlife and Ram, including the new rocker, penned on the bus, Hi Hi Hi, the soon to be famous ballad, "My Love" and the show stopping "Maybe I'm Amazed" the band was proving that they could rock out with all of their own material. This self promotion helped Wings next album release of "Red Rose Speedway" to go right to number one on the charts, with "MY LOVE" making it to number one as a single. Following this success, Wings really took off (pun intended) and a subsequent tour of Spain, a performance at the Montreaux jazz festival, more university's and theatres across England made Wings a bonafide rock group and a commercial success.


The first band posing with ELVIS	The Band in a relaxing moment

1973-74 After charting his first number 1 album and second #1 hit in early 73, Wings needed a great follow up. Their success did not go unnoticed and Wings was commissioned to compose and perform the title track to the newest James Bond film, "Live and Let Die". Paul finished the song, and was reunited with producer George Martin to finish it. Wings went to the studio with the London Philharmonic and recorded it. The movie was released, and Wings had another #1 single sensation, becoming one of the most well known rock anthems of all time. It was even nominated for the Best Song Oscar, and lost to The Way We Were.After the release of Live and Let Die, Wings got busy on their next album. With all this success coming their way, it seemed nothing could go wrong, but oh how the band leading business is unpredictable. Denny Seiwell and Henry McCullough both quit the band after Paul and Linda decided to do their next recording session in Lagos.

Denny Laine stayed on, and off to Africa they went. Once there, Paul and Linda were mugged and their demo tapes were stolen. All the tracks to their new album would have to be re-written from memory. After some break neck sessions with Paul playing a Fender Jazz Bass, and Denny filling in on all theguitar parts, the "Band on the Run" album was finished. It skyrocketed to #1 on all the charts and stayed on the Billboard Top 100 for 3 years. Wings garnered 2 grammy's and sold over 6 million copies. Several singles charted from this album such as JET, BAND ON THE RUN, LET ME ROLL IT, 1985 and several other hits. Generally reknowned as McCartney's best work ever, this album set a standard for 1970's recording artists. More tours were booked and a couple of new members came to Wings. Most notably young and unkown guitarist Jimmy McCullough who would later set the world ablaze with his sizzling guitar work on the Wings over the World tour.


Denny at the Lagos Studio during BOTR sessions	Relaxing in Lagos	On Stage at Royal Albert Hall 1973

1974-1975 1973 was a banner year by all accounts for Wings, 2 number 1 singles, several top 10 hits, a number one album, a movie soundtrack and 2 grammy's would be hard to beat. 1974 saw the band capitalize on their record charting success as Band on the Run stayed atop the charts and more singles kept charting from it. At the start of 74 the band needed a new drummer and guitarist. Drummer Geoff Britton won an audition over 50 other drummers and guitarist Jimmy McCullough became a full time member. The band went to Nashville in the USA to record their next album and get acquainted. They stayed on a Nashville farm and Paul penned "Junior's Farm" to tell the story. Sally G was written in a Nashville bar and became a single hit.

Jimmy McCullough and Geoff Britton did not hit it off at all. Jimmy got in trouble with the law and was purportedly asked to leave the USA. Upon the Bands return to Britain, they were all over the tabloids. Rumor's that they broke up were rampant. The band did stay together though and started working on Venus and Mars. With Junior's fam on the charts critics finally were giving Wings credit for being a good rock band. Wings planned a budget album release called cold cuts which would be a hodge podge of unreleased studio material. This never made it out though, but several bootleg versions of the songs intended for this album have made it into public hands.

At the Hard Rock Cafe ca. 1974

	1975 Did not start on a happy note.Geoff Briton quit Wings. He was tired of all the partying and drugs, and specifically did not like Jimmy McCullough or Denny Laine. The press tried to use this as an opportunity to down Linda's presence in the group but Britton had nothing but praise for Linda. Joe English, who toured with the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix and the Allman Brothers took over on drums and the Venus and Mars sessions in New Orleans went very well, and included another new addition to Wings, a horn section. 18 months after the release of Band on the Run, it hit number 1 again for it's third trip to the number one spot on Billboards top 100, an industry record. As a preview to Venus and Mars, the single "Listen What the Man Said" was released in May and skyrocketed to number 1 in the USA. This was Wings 8th consecutive top ten single and Paul's 5th number 1 hit. During this time Apple records was dissolved and John Lennon announced his retirement from the music industry. With the new musicians and a great new #1 Album and #1 single, Wings was ready for it's first full fledged tour. Paul planned it to be huge and worldwide. The "Wings Over the World Tour" was the first ever to use lasers, pyrothechnics and a PA that pushed more than 10,000 watts. Wings Over The World set the standard for tours for years to come. Bands like KISS and Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin followed in the footsteps of this tour. Paul put everybody including the sound and lighting crews through exhaustive dress rehearsals. Everything was to be perfect before setting off on the tour. The first leg of the tour consisted of 12 British cities in two weeks. The reviews were estatic. Finally the critics were on Paul's side and unanimously gave Wings the status of "great rock band". Next they were off to Australia and Japan to play the Budokan. Japan never happened due to Paul's prior drug convictions, his visa was cancelled. All in all the tour was a gigantic success, and Paul planned 1976 to include a European and American tour.


	1976 -Before heading back out on tour another album was to be recorded, titled "At the Speed of Sound". The album was released and immediately soared to number 1, however the critics in America gave it the worst ratings of any Wings album. Some critics even stated that the musicians were third rate and Linda was better than Denny Laine. 1976 in America was the bi-centennial. Despite a recession, rising inflation and the final end to an unpopular war, the biecentennial was by all accounts a "happy time" in the USA. Wings was a huge commercial success in America and summer tours were hip. To open the 1976 leg of the Wings Over the World Tour, the group first toured Denmark and other European cities then would start in America during the summer. The singles "Silly Love Songs" and "Let em In", were both lifted from "At the Speed of Sound" and both went straight to number 1. Silly Love Songs was named the number 1 single for all of 1976 surpassing Philadelphia Freedom by Elton John. Paul was the first artist to chart 2 #1 singles of the year, with two different bands, a remarkable achievement.. "Medicine Jar" was another hit single from this album.

Everybody was nervous. The last time Paul toured the US, it was with the Beatles and all the members of Wings anticipated the American critics to be sitting in the first row with their pencils ready. To the critics chagrin, the performances were nearly flawless. The audience response was deafening. Most critics heralded this tour as the greatest concert tour ever produced. By the end of June the band had played 34 concerts in 21 cities before more than 600,000 people. The Madison Square Garden show sold out in four hours, and 40,000 tickets for the Los Angeles Forum concerts sold out in three hours and fifteen minutes. Tickets sold out in some locations within 2 hours. Remember, back then people camped out and stood in line for days for tickets, there were no ticketmasters or internet which allows today for near immediate sellouts. The Kingdome concert in Seattle sold 67,100 tickets. This broke the indoor concert record previously set by Elvis Presley on New Year's Eve 1975 at the Detroit Superdome. This tour would be covered by the media like none before. The concert film "Rockshow" would be produced from this tour as well as "Wings over America", which was a backstage documentary of the tour. A triple LP was released of the tour and went straight to number 1 on the charts. This was Wings 5th number 1 album and the Live Version of "Maybe I'm Amazed" went to number 5 becoming a rock classic. At the LA Forum, after the last encore, RINGO STARR appeared on stage with Paul. Many expected a song, which did not happen. The tour continued again in Europe in the fall of 1976, but despite the success of Wings Over America, the group would not tour the USA ever again. Wings lasted until 1981 and charted many more hits, including "With a Little Luck", "Goodnight Tonight" and "Coming Up" but in hindsight, many writers and music buffs rank the "Wings Over America" tour as one of the top 5 classic rock concerts of all time, right alongside with "Frampton Comes Alive" and shows by Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin and Elton John. It is this era of the Wings Phenomonen that Band on the Run brings back to the stages of America. We hope you have enjoyed this brief synopsis. Below are some more rare photos of the 1976 tour, enjoy.