Paul McCartney/Wings-song by song thread

Exactly so. Yet another Macca earworm which he seems to come up with effortlessly.
By the way , did you know if you look up the word ' earworm ' in a dictionary the definition is: " ...an unusually large number of Paul McCartney songs that , once heard , never leave a person's brain."

 

Should've given Linda a tambourine. Looks like she has nothing to do for the first 2/3 beyond shake her hair. Then when we finally see her playing keyboards toward the end, there is no keyboard sound that I hear...

Of course, then she would have had to hit the tambourine on the correct timing...

 

With A Little Luck - I don't dislike this song but I don't love it. I understand it doesn't need to be stated but I will anyway just to further discussion - its very soft. And at nearly six minutes - way too long. The song just doesn't have enough substance to support five plus minutes of playing time.

The single edit is much more palatable.

Part of it is context, I think. The entire album is too soft, so even the better quality soft songs aren't as welcome as they would be on an album with better energy. It's like Paul is giving us a break from his gentle songs with another gentle song. By the time With A Little Luck plays I, too, have had enough. I can't put up with anymore.

By the way - the town is hardly exploding. More likely it is taking a nice warm bath. That's what this song is - a nice warm bath. And it can be appreciated as such.

 

The odd thing is, I remember a different promo video, shown on US tv, possibly on Midnight Special or some such. It was the band miming, but with a herky-jerky kind of strobing effect...

 

Off topic but...
If you want to see some totally inept timing watch poor Mal Evans trying to hit the anvil on the beat during an early take of 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer ' in ' Let It Be '.

 

Sometime in the early to mid 1970s there grew to be a division between what was considered ROCK and POP. This separation into separate (albeit large) genres was probably hastened by the popularity of DISCO and the controversy when certain rock artists crossed over into that genre. As much flak the Stones took for Miss You, they more than compensated with 1) an album full of great rockers like Shattered, Respectable, When The Whip Comes Down and Beast of Burden, and 2) a pretty awesome extended mix of Miss You.

Maybe also the DISCO SUCKS arm came out of this separation as well.

Anyhow - there were only a few artists who were able to successfully transcend these radio programming divisions: Billy Joel; Paul Simon; The Rolling Stones and The Doobie Bros to name a few. Heavy rotation in Top 40, Adult Contemporary and Album Oriented Rock.

Paul wasn't one of those artists as far as AOR goes. In 1978, in a heated discussion of "Who is Rock and Who isn't?" (these types of discussions were not uncommon) - Paul and Wings would lose. By the time of Goodnight Tonight, the largest and fastest growing segment of radio, AOR, had left Paul behind except for catalogue play from Band on the Run, RAM and McCartney (mostly) and a few singles (Live and Let Die, Juniors Farm).

 

More about With a Little Luck...

A controversial review:

The Number Ones: Wings’ “With A Little Luck”

"You have probably already figured out that I think “With A Little Luck” is a bad song. Like so many other Wings hits, it’s a perfectly passable piece of studio craftsmanship that has no compelling reason to exist. It doesn’t suck, exactly. You can hear McCartney reaching for the woozy modular prom-prog gurgle of 10cc and Gary Young. If you’re going to rip something off, that’s not a bad sound to rip off. McCartney stacks up the backing vocals nicely, hitting a few vintage Beach Boys oooh-oooh-ooohs. But the song just idles there, never asserting itself. Even the attempted song-ending crescendo, with McCartney trying out soul-gospel vocal runs, just flatlines."

 

Thank you! I was beginning to think I was the only one who feels this way. I can tolerate the DJ edit but cannot stand the full-length version.

Maybe I'm Amazed
I prefer this over the original. There's just more life to the live version.

I've Had Enough
This really is a good rave-up and one of my favorites. It's only problem is that it's a lousy-sounding recording.

 

I thunk it had more to do with the rise in popularity of soft-rock. You mentioned disco, but it had it's splinter groups, too. There was the light disco, or pop music with a disco feel. Think: "Change Of heart" by Eric Carmen for an example. The kind of stuff you'd probably hear on The Love Boat.

 

Yeah, soft rock for sure. I mentioned disco because it seemed to produce a louder objection than soft rock. And - soft rock could be accepted if done intelligently and well: Paul Simon, Doobies and others. So it wasn't across the board anti-soft rock.

Still - With A Little Luck has more in common with Captain and Tennille than it did Paul Simon or Joni Mitchell or even The Doobies....

 

I can’t believe how the DJ edit made it onto three successive compilations (All The Best US, Wingspan and Pure McCartney). It’s almost as if Paul resents the instrumental break these days.

 

I don t see much point in categorising music. I know some enjoy it and remember those weird discussions in the seventies. What I did like about Wings is the fact they just didn t fit in any category. That s part of their sucess but also that their music lives on so many years after their active period
With a little luck is a good example it s music that doesn t sound much than any other

 

Same deal with the studio ' Coming Up '... but that's a topic for later on.

 

I agree but I think it's inevitable that an artist will be categorized. Paul was categorized mostly by his hit singles. With Let Em In, Silly Love Songs, Mull of Kintyre, London Town & With A Little Luck Paul had five hits in a row without any hard rock. His immediate follow up was a disco track. I think that period of time branded him. I fear that, by the time he responded with Getting Closer, no one wanted to hear him rock anymore.

Perhaps it made good commercial sense - these were hits after all. But I think he got boxed in my his success.

 

I prefer the studio Coming Up over the live version, but both are entirely different beasts, imo.

 

I'll second all the praise for With a Little Luck. I do have a soft spot for all these catchy pop earworms Paul does. That said, it was also the 3rd lead single from 3 albums in a row that became huge hits while reinforcing the notion that Paul's music was, as a friend put it at the time, "cute." Yes, the followup singles were often rockers -- Rock Show, I've Had Enough -- but they never charted as well or made as much of an impression on the general public.

 

"With a Little Luck" was the first "new" Wings/McCartney song that came out when I could remember, around five years old. I was already a fan of his due to my dad's records. I can see now how the song could be seen by many as milquetoast and overlong too. But hearing it when I was little, with that vulnerable innocence, it was a rather intense song, somehow! He sounded so reassuring on the major key verses, letting the listener know everything was going to work out fine. But then that change to the minor key, that had a somber, almost spooky edge to it. "There is no end...there is no end..." I think I remember hearing the song a lot around the time I learned about missiles, and war, nuclear even maybe. And all those fears that began to grow. And my child's interpretation was wrong (likely), but I imagined I heard a bit of that stuff in this song. "The town exploding", "comet exploding", "with a little push, we could set it off", "send it rocketing skywards..." Seriously, at the time I think I connected all that with the possibility of World War III! So, yeah, haha, not too mellow a song for me in my youth, despite its surface. I've revised my interpretation of it with more adult eyes, but I still enjoy it.

 

Wow!

 

Next one
Ladies and gentlemen, those magnificent examples of female pulchritude and luminosity, direct from their global perambulations to the very boards of this supremely magnificent proscenium arch
Ladies and gentlemen I give you, famous groupies!

Famous groupies

A rather bizarre track that even managed to get on Rolling Stones list of Paul McCartney’s 12 strangest songs ever

Musically it s rather intriguing, mixing music-hall with rock and folk in a way rarely heard. Perhaps understandanly so. Also some nice chord-changes and melody-shift. Musically it s hilarious or sexistic depending on how you interpret them. I think this song is one of the best example of why Paul/Wings-stuff is so difficult to categorize. This goes beyond such ventures

Me-I kind of like it. It s fun and musically interesting. It s not a favorite but a colourful addition to the far-out, humorous side of McCartney/Wings


[Chorus]
All stand back, let the people see
Take a snap of the famous groupies for me

[Verse 1]
Behold the famous groupies
They are alike as two peas
And where the other goes, the other goes
But though the famous groupies
Are only paid in rupees
Nobody knows what the famous groupies know
And nobody goes where the famous groupies go
There was a bongo player
Who kept an extra layer
Of Dunlopillo mattress in his van
But when the famous groupies
Arrived with their twin snoopies
Nobody saw which way the poor boy ran
Nobody does it like a famous groupie can

[Chorus]
All stand back, let the people see
Take a snap of the famous groupies for me

[Verse 2]
There was a lead guitarist
Who lived in Epping forest
And all he ever wanted was to blow
(Who knows why but)
But when the girls were with him
He never lost his rhythm
'Cause nobody knows what the famous groupies know
(alright, girls?)
And nobody goes where the famous groupies go
There was the classic story
Of a roadie nicknamed Rory
Who used to practice voodoo on the side
But when the famous twosome
Suggested something gruesome
All that they found was a crater two miles wide
Which left the music business absolutely horrified



[Chorus]
All stand back, let the people see
Take a snap of the famous groupies

[Outro]
Ladies and gentlemen, those magnificent examples of female pulchritude and luminosity, direct from their global perambulations to the very boards of this supremely magnificent proscenium arch
Ladies and gentlemen I give you, famous groupies!

 

Famous Groupies

Basically an acoustic folk song on something. Once again we are entering McCartneyII territory. Hilarious stuff! I love Paul going nuts but even for me some of these rhymes are ... err ... wow!

3.5/5

 

Absolutely love WITH A LITTLE LUCK - Another one of those masterful pop songs that only McCartney can do! Love every second of it's groove, nothing too long about it, McCartney's soulful vocal is just sweet icing on the cake! One of my very favorite Wings Songs.
GIRLFRIEND - McCartney's versatility is just amazing! Loved this song from the moment I heard it. McCartney's soulful vocals are so tasteful, the man can just do any style. Love MJ's version as well.
I'VE HAD ENOUGH - That's right Wings laying it down! This is another one that I CRANK, the opening guitar riff lets you know that some rocking is going on! A tough hard rocker with some excellent guitar work throughout and one of the Premier rock shouters emphatically stating that he's FED UP! Another that I've always wanted McCartney to perform live, that opening rock riff would be a great way to start a concert! One of my very favorite Wings rockers!

 

"Famous Groupies" is inessential in McCartney's songbook but -- like "Deliver your Children" -- essential to the sound of "London Town".

I sometimes think that it's a pity that "London Town" did not include the songs from the previous single (Mull of Kyntyre/Girls' School), given that there are so many Ok-but-not-great tracks in "London Town".

But it's many of those little tracks like "... Groupies" that give the album it's character and unique place in McCartney's catalogue.

 

I’ve Had Enough: 4/5 A tide-me-over rocker between the Wings heydays and BTTE. Paul’s voice has a bit more scruff in it now since the world tours and it helps sauce up this track a bit. I like the lyrical concept well enough and particularly like the stopwatch line. The last 30 seconds get a bit ear-piercing for me.

With A Little Luck: 5/5 Paul goes almost full synth in this McCartney II prototype. I enjoy the exercise of the longer album track but I think it’s the single edit that shines the most and really hits home with the effectiveness of the song. Paul also effectively ratchets up his voice throughout the song to the end. On an album that is a bit overstuffed to the point where sound quality suffered, I have to wonder why Paul wanted that extra coda to the song on the album. I guess he really wanted this album to be a bang for its buck stuffed with things.

Famous Groupies: 4/5 Things are getting dead weird here on side 2. Love it and wouldn’t dare think of cutting this one out of the album. Is this the last truly wacky Paul song? Temporary Secretary maybe?

 

Famous Groupies

A weird folk song. Funny lyrics with great music changes.

Lyrics:

[Chorus]
All stand back, let the people see
Take a snap of the famous groupies for me

[Verse 1]
Behold the famous groupies
They are alike as two peas
And where the other goes, the other goes
But though the famous groupies
Are only paid in rupees
Nobody knows what the famous groupies know
And nobody goes where the famous groupies go
There was a bongo player
Who kept an extra layer
Of Dunlopillo mattress in his van
But when the famous groupies
Arrived with their twin snoopies
Nobody saw which way the poor boy ran
Nobody does it like a famous groupie can

[Chorus]
All stand back, let the people see
Take a snap of the famous groupies for me

[Verse 2]
There was a lead guitarist
Who lived in Epping forest
And all he ever wanted was to blow
(Who knows why but)
But when the girls were with him
He never lost his rhythm
'Cause nobody knows what the famous groupies know
(alright, girls?)
And nobody goes where the famous groupies go
There was the classic story
Of a roadie nicknamed Rory
Who used to practice voodoo on the side
But when the famous twosome
Suggested something gruesome
All that they found was a crater two miles wide
Which left the music business absolutely horrified

[Chorus]
All stand back, let the people see
Take a snap of the famous groupies

[Outro]
Ladies and gentlemen, those magnificent examples of female pulchritude and luminosity, direct from their global perambulations to the very boards of this supremely magnificent proscenium arch
Ladies and gentlemen I give you, famous groupies!

Credits:

Produced by Paul McCartney
Written by Paul McCartney
Acoustic Guitar (?), Bass, Electric Guitar (?), Mellotron, Percussion, Slide Guitar (?), Vocals by Paul McCartney
Backing Vocals by Linda McCartney
Acoustic Guitar (?), Backing Vocals, Electric Guitar (?) by Denny Laine
Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar by Jimmy McCulloch
Drums by Joe English
Label: MPL
Release Date: March 31, 1978
Recorded at Record Plant Mobile Studio, Fair Carol Yacht, US Virgin Islands / EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Length: 3:36 minutes

Paul's own words:

BBC Interview 1978

 

More about Famous Groupies...

Rough mix: