By the middle of the 1970s a clear frontrunner had emerged in terms of success levels among the four ex-Beatles.
Between them John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr had all made one exceptional solo album, but the cachet of being a former ‘Fab’ ensured that no matter how unremarkable were some of their other releases, a lofty chart position awaited. Yet as the second half of the decade fast approached, each faced realisation their individual careers no longer had the momentum they once did.
1975 proved a case in point. Harrison put out ‘Extra Texture’ (Read All About It) to a largely negative critical response, this lacklustre set returning steady rather spectacular sales figures. All Ringo managed was the greatest hits package ‘Blast From Your Past‘ that was easy to like if hardly essential. Meanwhile John also entered the ‘Best of’ market with ‘Shaved Fish‘ and following a 12-month delay finally released ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll‘ a collection of covers that, depending on your point of view, was engaging or evidence Lennon had run out of ideas.
All of which left the field open for Paul McCartney to consolidate his position as the most high-profile, prior-Beatle. Making his definitive post-Beatles statement with ‘Band on the Run‘ (1973), this sublime, worldwide best-seller was attributed to McCartney and Wings, a loose aggregation, (but always including wife Linda), who had undergone several personnel changes through the previous couple of albums recorded by Paul and his back-up players.
The follow-up effort ‘Venus and Mars‘ (May 1975) was another hugely successful venture and as if to emphasise the taking shape of a more stable supporting cast, namely Linda (keyboards), Jimmy McCulloch (guitar), Denny Laine (guitar), Joe English (drums) – Paul taking up the slack on guitar, keyboards and obviously bass – the ‘McCartney and‘ prefix was dropped with the album credited solely to Wings.
Containing the big-selling single ‘Listen to What the Man Said‘ and released to generally positive reviews, the success of ‘Venus and Mars‘ infused McCartney with such confidence to launch plans for a massive U.S. tour through the summer of 1976, his first Stateside concert appearances since the last performances of The Beatles ten years before.
But rather than rest on any Beatle/big solo star laurels, there would be a new album to present in the vast, sold-out, arenas in which they were booked to perform – ‘WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND‘ (March 1976) recorded during an already frantic period for the band, cut at Abbey Road studios, London, during the autumn of 1975 and early winter of the following year, this between extensive touring in the U.K., Europe and Australia.
In response to criticism that despite their collective ‘Wings’ moniker they were still merely an outlet for the creative energies of McCartney, there is a move, albeit modest, toward making the record more of a team effort. Songwriting and lead vocal duties are shared to a greater extent than on ‘Venus and Mars’ where only McCulloch from the group contributes a song not written by the duo of Paul and Linda.
Each of the four members other than Paul receive opportunity to sing with both Laine and McCulloch submitting a song to the final track listing. As a way of maintaining morale in the ranks it was a smart move, but on the basis of creativity initiated a drop in overall quality, or as the New Musical Express were quick to state in their review, ‘The album suffers accordingly.’
That said the threadbare side two offering ‘Must Do Something About It‘ given to drummer English to sing, would have barely been improved with Paul singing lead, a notion reinforced when such a take emerged as a bonus track on a CD reissue some forty years later.
Otherwise it is a pretty amiable affair, the two cuts issued as singles – both doing exceedingly well in the process – revealed McCartney had lost none of his flair for crafting sumptuous, radio-friendly pop songs, ‘Let ‘Em In‘ and ‘Silly Love Songs‘ each testament to this ongoing knack.
Sequenced to open each side, both have sufficient exuberance to carry what follows irrespective of evident inconsistencies. Indeed, an an entity, ‘Wings at The Speed of Sound‘ may not be anywhere near the strongest entry on his solo roster, yet at the time McCartney was still arguably unique in being able to conjure an album offering plenty of enjoyment in such a tight time frame.
Described by Rolling Stone magazine in their generally favourable review as ‘a concept album based on a day in the life of the McCartney’s’, the fifth album to feature Wings in one form or another, opens with the sound of a ringing door bell (created by a vibraphone), heralding the start of opening track ‘Let ‘Em In’.
Built upon simple but effective piano chords with decoration from military-styled drums and flute reminiscent of a marching band, Paul, who receives his sole writing credit for the track (the others bearing his name attributed to he and Linda), asks for the door to be opened so visitors can enter.
In providing a list of those coming to call, Paul indulges himself with some amusing wordplay, making reference to, among others, family members, the Everly Brothers and Keith Moon (or at least his character in the recent film adaptation of rock opera ‘Tommy‘):
‘Sister Suzy/Brother John/Martin Luther/Phil and Don/Uncle Ernie, Auntie Gin/Open the door, let ’em in.’
The rollicking, easy going nature of the piece many found hard to resist, an edited version of the song reaching number two in the U.K. while enjoying a four week Stateside run at number one while Wings were in the midst of their 1976 U.S. tour.
If the thematic intentions of the album as suggested by Rolling Stone are to make sense, then ‘The Note You Never Wrote’ is Paul and Linda introducing their band mate Denny, guitarist Laine taking lead vocal on a brooding, melancholic song infused with Pink Floyd overtones.
The ominous keyboard inflections, fattened up with a blistering electric guitar solo from McCulloch, frame a curious tale of unrequited love (‘Later on, the story goes/A bottle floated out to sea/After days when it had found the perfect spot/It opened up/And I read the note that you never wrote to me‘), Paul and Linda throwing in some vague references to a political figure (‘The mayor of Baltimore is here/After days, now he can finally appear’) on a track that resonates for its melodicism rather than message.
Easier to fathom but altogether less memorable is ‘She’s My Baby‘, Paul restating his devotion to Linda (‘She’s a lady in the evening time/When the stars are in the sky/’That’s the time she changes back into a kitten’), in a pleasant if insubstantial piece – the McCartney’s having the good sense to wrap things up after three minutes in order to prevent its welcome from being outstayed.
Originally cut featuring Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham at the opening ‘Speed of Sound‘ sessions in September 1975, by the time ‘Beware My Love‘ was a finished article it had undergone several changes in becoming, at six and a half minutes, the longest cut on the record.
An expression of concern regarding a friend embroiled in a relationship the narrator thinks is unsuitable, it stands as an effective mid-70s up-tempo period piece of the sort Elton John often worked up.
On lead vocal Paul makes an impassioned plea directed at the woman in question to be on her guard, ‘But I don’t believe that he’s the one/But if you insist/I must be wrong/I must be wrong/I have to leave/And when I’m gone/I’ll leave my message in my song’. The track incorporates a tough-rocking closing passage into its final incarnation with English, rather than Bonham, playing on the take used for the album.
While there are moments when ‘Beware My Love‘ strays dangerously close to bluster, it became a seriously good stage number, a suitably rousing version captured on the massive selling ‘Wings over America’ (December 1976) collection, a triple album of live performances compiled from the U.S. tour from earlier in the year.
Continuing his efforts to accommodate the others, McCartney takes a step back on side one closer, ‘Wino Junko‘, the democratisation of Wings continuing with McCulloch submitting a track to the second Wings album in a row.
Once again written in conjunction with Stone the Crows drummer Colin Allen, the pair having written ‘Medicine Jar‘ for ‘Venus and Mars‘ (a live rendition of this song also included on ‘Wings cver America‘), this latest collaboration treads similar ground although with inferior results, being another self-issued warning to the perils of over-drinking and drug use.
With unmissable Steely Dan inflections, ‘Wino Junko‘ like its predecessor contained sadly prophetic subject matter where McCulloch was concerned, the guitarist dying from a combination of alcohol and morphine poisoning at the tragically young age of 26 in September 1979.
Written as rebuttal to those who accused him of producing lightweight material, former Beatle compadres among them, side two opener ‘Silly Love Songs‘ finds Paul with tongue firmly in his cheek as he delivers an engaging riposte.
Anchored by a magnificently melodic bass line and swept along with strains of Philly soul, (‘The song, in a way, was to answer people who accused me of being ‘soppy”), Paul defends himself and the notion of romantic balladry as a form of expression:
‘You’d think that people would have had enough of silly love songs/But I look around me and I see it isn’t so/ Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs/And what’s wrong with that?/I’d like to know/ Cause here I go again.’
By way of irony two of his best love songs of recent times, ‘Six O’Clock’ (Ringo Starr) and ‘Mine for Me‘ (Rod Stewart) had been given to other artists, neither of them silly in the slightest. Paul no doubt afforded himself a chuckle when inserting the line, ‘Love doesn’t come in a minute/Sometimes it doesn’t come at all‘, while enjoying a hearty last laugh in the direction of his detractors when ‘Silly Love Songs‘ reached number two in the U.K. while enjoying a four week run atop of the U.S. singles charts.
If the theory of Rolling Stone in this being ‘A day in the life of the McCartney’s’ holds up, lunch hour arrives with ‘Cook of the House‘. Linda takes lead vocal on a Wings track for the first time, her cooking skills extolled through a flimsy ’50s-themed song where, for good measure, Paul plays the same double bass used by Bill Black on early Elvis Presley records.
The rockabilly feel is accentuated by some enthusiastic Little Richard styled piano playing, but all told this is no more than a novelty, providing variety to the running order but precious little else. The cooking sound effects that open and close the track are as contrived as Linda’s repeated ‘No, matter where I serve my guests/They seem to like the kitchen best/’Cause I’m the cook of the house‘, assertion in the chorus.
The agreeable pop/soul connotations of ‘Time to Hide‘, the first Laine composition to appear on a Wings album, show the band in fine light as a cohesive ensemble, the rich melody securing a place on the set list for the forthcoming U.S. tour and inclusion on the subsequent ‘Wings over America‘ album.
Lyrically the song has a protagonist who for an unspecified reason is being pursued, (‘I’ve been on the run since the Good Lord knows when/And the day I die/I’ll still be runnin’ then’). The tense ambience is established and maintained by impeccable bass lines, smart horn arrangement, busy guitar solo by McCulloch and atmospheric harmonica from the writer, Paul’s decision to delegate in this instance well-founded.
For his only vocal on a Wings song, drummer English makes a passable job of carrying formulaic power-pop piece ‘Must Do Something About It‘ to a conclusion. As a singer he is no Rod or Roger Daltrey, this breezy filler if anything closer to Roger Whittaker. The acoustic and electric guitars of Laine and McCulloch blend nicely while Linda injects some synthesiser effects to enliven proceedings, yet it is hard not feel sorry for English who upon the thrill of being given a Paul McCartney song to sing receives one from well down the barrel.
Based on the French expression ‘Ca Ne Fait Rein’ (It doesn’t matter), Paul turns it into a brief, folk-based tale centred on ‘San Ferry Anne‘. This attractive woman has many admirers, one of whom (‘Your little man/Brings you trinkets when he can’), appears doomed in his hopes of wooing her. The Parisienne backdrop is coloured by a horn solo evoking tree-lined boulevards, the lady eventually left (‘Let your feelings leap away/Into the laughter’), to live life on her own terms.
Paul brings the album to a close at the piano, ‘Warm and Beautiful‘ a heartfelt, if somewhat trademark ballad affirming his love for Linda:
‘Sunlight’s morning glory/Tells the story of our love/Moonlight on the water/Brings me inspiration ever after.’
Critical reaction to the song would reflect the mixed notices that greeted the album, the final track described alternately by the NME as ‘Sentimental, but compelling‘, (a compliment if only in the back-handed sense), while Rolling Stone labelled it ‘cliched‘ to which they added, ‘One of the worst songs Paul McCartney has ever written’ – their reviewer so pleased with his ‘A Day in the Life of the McCartney’s’ appraisal to overlook worse songs on this album alone.
Ultimately ‘Warm and Beautiful‘ is undoubtedly sincere if failing to quite reach his exceptional standards of yore.
Upon release ‘Wings at the Speed of Sound‘ became an immediate best-seller, their fourth consecutive U.S. Number One album topping the charts within three weeks of appearing. It returned to top spot for a month while Wings were undertaking the most lucrative concert tour (31 shows played to a total audience of 600,000) of the year – Paul McCartney in commercial terms alone, by far the most successful former-Beatle.
As most predicated he would be when they split up in April 1970.
WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND (Released March 26 1976):
Let ‘Em In/The Note You Never Wrote/She’s My Baby/Beware My Love/Wino Junko/Silly Love Songs/Cook of the House/Time to Hide/Must Do Something About it/San Ferry Anne/Warm and Beautiful;
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