Wings Over America - Wings

...He formed the overly democratic Wings with the limited musical talents of his wife Linda on keyboards, but struggled to get any other lieutenants who could step into the limelight with him. Denny Laine, formerly of the Moody Blues and Go Now, was an early recruit, but no one else looked likely to stay the course, and Macca even agreed to use the term Paul McCartney And… to let you know exactly who we were dealing about, as if you didn’t know. It ...
...helped out on the promising Wings At The Speed Of Sound album.

A couple of years later, McCartney was comfortable enough with this new band and the catalogue of material that his Wings project had built up to generate a lovely triple live album, Wings Over America, which could happily double up as a Greatest Hits collection, for it roamed happily through all the stuff which had been churned out since the disintegration of the Beatles. ... more

Paul McCartney was absolutely determined when the Beatles broke up and went their very separate ways that he would not become the big star, trading on his history for his success. He could have capitalised easily on the fame of being a former Beatle and “the cute one” and made a decent living out of his penchant for catchy melodies. Instead he opted for the obscure mystery of being just one part of a working band, a live unit which toured the college circuit and paid its dues. He formed the overly democratic Wings with the limited musical talents of his wife Linda on keyboards, but struggled to get any other lieutenants who could step into the limelight with him. Denny Laine, formerly of the Moody Blues and Go Now, was an early recruit, but no one else looked likely to stay the course, and Macca even agreed to use the term Paul McCartney And… to let you know exactly who we were dealing about, as if you didn’t know. It was the trio who recorded the sublime Band On The Run album in 1973, but eventually McCartney achieved his aim when he managed to secure the employment of guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Joe English, who helped out on the promising Wings At The Speed Of Sound album.

A couple of years later, McCartney was comfortable enough with this new band and the catalogue of material that his Wings project had built up to generate a lovely triple live album, Wings Over America, which could happily double up as a Greatest Hits collection, for it roamed happily through all the stuff which had been churned out since the disintegration of the Beatles. For a Wings fan, it was certainly a rare treat and delivered everything that it promised, and even for those for whom Wings were not very much at all, Wings Over America was certainly an interesting collection, capturing a strong live band in full flight performing some remarkably strong songs.

McCartney had always had a gift for penning hooks and memorable lines, and his Beatles material stands up strongly to the more credible outpourings of John Lennon. Macca may have been panned by critics as the shallow pretty one who jumped on the coat tails of the raw and uncompromising talent that was his sometime partner, but he certainly had a way with music and knew what it took to create a hit single. He took that talent on into Wings and displayed incredible perseverance in the face of fierce criticism as his new band stumbled around in the basement of the pop scene. The music papers had endless fun at the expense of Paul and Linda as they openly slagged her abilities off, but they carried on regardless.

After some poor false starts with McCartney, Ram, Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway, Macca finally came good with the critically and popularly acclaimed Band On The Run. Speed Of Sound and Venus And Mars were retrograde steps but did enough to maintain Wings as a major chart presence particularly in the States, and the major goal of establishing a viable working unit had been achieved, bringing a knowing smirk to the face of Macca.

With the live album, he was ready to demonstrate that he was no longer just an ex-Beatle – he was actually an artist who mattered.

Alongside the standard five piece line up the tour which generated the material for the triple album was a brass section which had been regular contributors over the previous couple of years -
Tony Dorsey - trombone
Howie Casey - saxophone
Steve Howard - trumpet, flugelhorn
Thadeus Richard - saxophone, clarinet, flute

The full (and immense) track listing ran thus –
Venus And Mars / Rock Show / Jet
Let Me Roll It
Spirits Of Ancient Egypt
Medicine Jar
Maybe I'm Amazed
Call Me Back Again
Lady Madonna
The Long And Winding Road
Live And Let Die
Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)
Richard Cory
Bluebird
I've Just Seen A Face
Blackbird
Yesterday
You Gave Me The Answer
Magneto And Titanium Man
Go Now
My Love
Listen To What The Man Said
Let 'Em In
Time To Hide
Silly Love Songs
Beware My Love
Letting Go
Band On The Run
Hi Hi Hi
Soily

What was immediately noticeable about the record was McCartney’s new found preparedness to showcase former Beatles songs in his set. He had previously always fought shy of capitalising on his famous past, but now was much more comfortable with his heritage and gave us exactly what we wanted, throwing in strong versions of Lady Madonna, The Long And Winding Road, Blackbird and Yesterday. There were also places for Paul Simon’s Richard Cory and Laine’s Go Now, as well as a liberal dose of old Wings numbers and his early solo single Maybe I’m Amazed. This was a man totally at ease with his past, his present and his future and equipped to make the most of all of them.

Wings Over America was an astonishingly fresh and enthusiastic album, providing note perfect and raucous versions of a strong collection of songs, packed with highlights. Even for those who don’t like McCartney, this is a record which offers a great deal. Among the highlights are the folksy and lively Richard Cory, with Macca ad libbing cheerily “I wish that I could be (pause) John Denver”, a telling reading of Yesterday, and a smashing version of Live And Let Die, but really it would be mean to pick out a few favourites because from start to finish Wings Over America is a wonderful record, documenting a wonderful live band and a telling collection of songs. The band is tight, the versions are faithful but with sufficient space to redefine things, and the whole is a hugely entertaining memory.

With the release of Wings Over America, Paul McCartney could be satisfied that he was more than just the cute one from the Beatles. He could also put behind him the ignominy of being the man responsible for the dreary rearrangement of the Crossroads theme tune!
 

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