Wings Wild Life - One of McCartney's worst records?

I had been wanting to pick up this CD for awhile because I must admit, I had never heard it before. I had all of the other '70's McCartney records and I figured if this came right after RAM, it must be pretty decent. Boy was I surprised! If this wasn't by McCartney, I would have to say that this was one of the worst albums I've ever heard. What happened here? Was this conceived as sort of a throwaway/jam type project just for fun or a legitimate album. You would think that the inaugural Wings album would be a lot more spectacular than this. There aren't many "songs" on here and the ones that are "songs" are definitely not up to McCartney's standards.

As a side note, on the single "Give Ireland Back To The Irish," what is the B-Side, "Give Ireland Back To The Irish (Version)"? Is it the instrumental track?

 

I don't think it's a horrible album. It's not up to Paul's usaul standards but given the reason why it was made (quick sales at gigs) I can understand. I actually really enjoy the mood of 'Dear Friend'...

Todd

 

Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway were trashed when then came out, and they still aren't beloved but many outside of Macca fans. I always got the impression that Paul knew this, which is what spurred him to push things a bit with Band on the Run (I think he went on record in a Rolling Stone interview that he didn't tour with Wings until Band on the Run because he didn't feel he had a strong album to push until then).

 

The best thing on the Wild Life CD is a track which isn't even part of the album, "Oh Woman Oh Why". That rocks! The rest of it is, even by solo Macca standards, pretty crappy. The rushed, 3-day recording session may work for Dylan, but not for McCartney.

 

If Macca would have dropped Mumbo, Bip Bop and I Am Your Singer and replaced them with Give Ireland Back to the Irish, Little Woman Love and Little Lamb Dragonfly (which was already in the can at this point) he would have had a decent album.

 

To answer the Give Ireland back (version), it is in fact an instrumental of the song, but without all the heavy guitars. I think (please correct me) "version" refers to a reggae type song, which is how the instrumental version basically plays out. I have not seen that "version" of GIBTTI on legitimate CD anywhere.

 

I think I remember reading somewhere that Wild Life was recorded quickly (in like what, a couple days?) in an attempt to recapture the spontaneous vibe of the (recorded-in-a-single-day) Beatles' first album. Of course the key difference is that the Beatles had played hundreds of shows together in the couple years before recording their first album, whereas Wings had not. And, of course, PPM had much better material. I think recording albums quickly works well only when sufficient time has been taken to develop the songs adequately before going into the studio.

Didn't "Oh Woman Oh Why" actually get recorded during the Ram sessions? The McCartney bonus tracks make no sense sometimes.

 

Actually, just prior with Hugh McCracken & Denny Seiwell, it was for the "Another Day" single session. It would have made more sense for this to have been on the Ram CD, but I guess Macca wanted no bonus tracks on that disc.

 

'Oh Woman, Oh Why' was actually recorded during the 'Ram' sessions, as was 'Another Day'. The 'Ram' sessions started with David Spinozza on guitar, and when he ran afoul of Linda, McCracken was brought in.

Chip Madinger
www.8-arms.com