Paul McCartney/Wings-song by song thread

I give Wild Life a 2.5/5. There are some good songs, and no songs I hate, but nearly all the songs overstay their welcome and the loose feel does not suit the good songs on side 2 at all. In fact, I would say it detracts from them. I also question the sequencing: I get that he sequenced it the way he did to make a statement, but it doesn't really work for me. The incredibly strong songs on Side 2 seem tucked out of sight. In the end, the album may actually be a rarity in that it is less than the sum of its parts. I think there are more "great" songs here than on McCartney; and nothing that bores me nearly as much as a couple of those instrumentals there. But the overall effect is less because the production does not suit the songs, as I've said.

 

"Give Ireland Back to the Irish"

The band sound a lot stronger here than they did on Wild Life, I guess the addition of McCollough (1) did good things of it. But there's still something a bit ramshackle about the sound, much like on Wild Life and again, I don't think that suits McCartney songs too much. The mastering is quite bad on the You Tube and does the song no favors at all, as the YouTube clip shows: the original and the Youtubers remaster are both superior.

The lyrics are a bit heavy-handed, and unlike many McCartney songs, they can't really be ignored; but there's a spirit to the overall track that, dumb as it is, I like.

3/5, as usual.

 

I prefer Lennon' s ' Luck of the Irish ' over ' Give Ireland ...'
There' s a good clip on YouTube of John and Yoko performing it. Lennon is very into it.

 

Give Ireland is a good rocking track. This would’ve been a much better Wings introduction than the Wild Life album.

Nice to have a real lead guitar on a Wings song. Paul’s bass is good and obviously they tracked a lot of this live.

I don’t mind the lyrics, though they need to be considered in the context of the times.

But this sounds like Wings and points towards some encouraging future recordings.

 

Give Ireland Back To The Irish 8/10

The title of the song is very appropriate for what is happening right now!

 

Give Ireland Back To The Irish 7.5/10

I kind of like Paul throwing his hat into the political arena. Maybe Paul should put out a double A single with a rerecording of this track backed with a song about his feelings on Brexit.

Spoiler: Paul knocks it out of the park twice, privately!

Night Out 10/10
Moma's Little Girl 10/10

Two perfectly realized songs that aren't trying to be hits, but would add atmosphere, variety, and depth to any album, if they had been allowed to be heard!

 

[SPOILER="Paul knocks it out of the park twice, privately!"[/SPOILER][/QUOTE]
Don' t want to get ahead of this thread but one of your spoiler cuts is among my fave Macca songs. It's beautiful and heartfelt.

 

I thank @Bemagnus for indulging my idiocentricities. I think responses to my spoilers should ideally be in spoiler format.

Spoiler: Mr. Montana and any curious others

Moma's Little Girl absolutely confounds me that it was not deemed worthy of release. What an absolutely wonderful track! I disagree with the rest of the decisions about the album but at least they make sense, they probably decided let's include no live tracks, no covers, and no tracks by any member of the band other than Paul. Night Out doesn't feel finished and Country Dreamer is not one of Paul stronger tracks, so I could see leaving that off. Mama's Little Girl is just such a beautiful track that I can't see how they would possibly decide to leave it off. My only theory is that they left it off because it is so intimate that they felt like it was too much personal inside baseball maybe.

Today I have off work and am enjoying listening to:

Alright I've listened to Red Rose Speedway single and double album versions enough to make the definitive playlist. This playlist makes it my favorite Paul album of the 1970s! I never noticed, but of the first 10 tracks only two were on the original single album release.

Red Pepper Speedway - Paul McCartney, a playlist by Dr. Pepper on Spotify

1 Night Out - Wings
2 Get On The Right Thing - 2018 Remaster - Wings
3 Mama's Little Girl - Wings
4 I Would Only Smile - Wings
5 1882 - Live In Berlin/1972 - Wings
6 One More Kiss - 2018 Remaster - Wings
7 Little Woman Love - 2018 Remaster - Wings
8 Hi, Hi, Hi - 2018 Remaster - Wings
9 Seaside Woman - Wings
10 The Mess - Live At The Hague/1972 - Wings
11 When The Night - 2018 Remaster - Wings
12 My Love - 2018 Remaster - Wings
13 Big Barn Bed - 2018 Remaster - Wings
14 Tragedy - Wings
15 Best Friend - Live In Antwerp/1972 - Wings
16 Jazz Street - Wings
17 Single Pigeon - 2018 Remaster - Wings
18 Thank You Darling - Wings
19 Live And Let Die - 2018 Remaster - Wings
20 I Lie Around - 2018 Remaster - Wings
21 Loup (1st Indian On The Moon) - 2018 Remaster - Wings
22 Country Dreamer - 2018 Remaster - Wings
23 Medley: Hold Me Tight/Lazy Dynamite/Hands Of Love/Power Cut - 2018 Remaster - Wings
24 Mary Had A Little Lamb - 2018 Remaster - Wings
25 Little Lamb Dragonfly - 2018 Remaster - Wings

 

A number of folks on this thread have indicated that they felt that Wild Life was a misunderstood record. I was hoping you might expand upon that. What about it do you think is not understood and why?

 

Too Many People

A rocker song. Impressive mix of guitars and drums. Paul's voice is wonderful and powerful. The lyrics are an expression of freedom, part of the healing process with a subliminal message. The performance is brilliant.

Lyrics:

[Intro]
(Piss off cake)

[Verse 1]
Too many people going underground
Too many reaching for a piece of cake
Too many people pulled and pushed around
Too many waiting for that lucky break

[Chorus]
That was your first mistake
You took your lucky break and broke it in two
Now what can be done for you?
You broke it in two

[Verse 2]
Too many people sharing party lines
Too many people never sleeping late
Too many people paying parking fines
Too many hungry people losing weight

[Chorus]
That was your first mistake
You took your lucky break and broke it in two
Now what can be done for you?
You broke it in two
[Guitar Solo]

[Verse 3]
Too many people preaching practices
Don't let them tell you what you want to be
Too many people holding back
This is crazy, and baby, it's not like me

[Chorus]
That was your last mistake
I find my love awake and waiting to be
Now what can be done for you?
She's waiting for me

Credits:

Produced by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney
Written by Paul McCartney
Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Vocals by Paul McCartney
Backing Vocals by Linda McCartney
Drums, Percussion, Shaker, Cow Bell by Denny Seiwell
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar by Hugh McCracken
Label: Apple Records
Release Date: May 17, 1971
Recorded at CBS Studios / A&R Studios / Sound Recorder Studios
Length: 4:10 minutes

Paul's own words:

1984

"I was looking at my second solo album, Ram, the other day and I remember there was one tiny little reference to John in the whole thing. He'd been doing a lot of preaching, and it got up my nose a little bit. In one song, I wrote, "Too many people preaching
practices," I think is the line. I mean, that was a little dig at John
and Yoko. There wasn't anything else on it that was about them. Oh, there was "You took your lucky break and broke it in two.""

Source: Paul McCartney 1984 Playboy Interview

2001

"Piss off, cake. Like, a piece of cake becomes piss off cake, And it's nothing, it's so harmless really, just little digs. But the first line is about "too many people preaching practices." I felt John and Yoko were telling everyone what to do. And I felt we didn't need to be told what to do. The whole tenor of the Beatles thing had been, like, to each his own. Freedom. Suddenly it was "You should do this." It was just a bit the wagging finger, and I was pissed off with it. So that one got to be a thing about them.

— Paul McCartney, Mojo, 2001"

Source: https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/paul-mccartney/songs/too-many-people/

 

I'll take a shot at this.
Paul's first album McCartney was really just a collection of home demos and was never really an album but was released that way.
Paul's second album Ram was a true attempt at making an album and a wonderful success in my opinion though at the time it didn't appear so.
Paul put together a band called Wings and their first jam sessions were put together as an album and released though still it wasn't really an album it was just a collection of their jams an early work at becoming a band, which is what Paul wanted of course but it shouldn't be judged against Ram or Paul's other later releases.
Paul's fourth album Red Rose Speedway was really to be a double album that was slashed apart to make a single album so still shouldn't be judged as an album that was designed to be an album.
So to me Paul's fifth album Band on the run is really the second album or the follow-up to Ram in my opinion and Ram and Band on the run are considered to be two of the greatest albums of all time by many of us.

 

I think Wild Life is misunderstood in a few ways. It was an album recorded in less than a week aiming to bcaatch a moment with the new band . Also deliver some stuff spontaneosly and low-key. The very thing it got-and still get critizizism for. Like being unpolished, raw and in parts unfinished. Exactley what Paul wanted it to be.
That s not to say one have to like the album.

 

I made up an imaginary album by picking three songs from each album discussed so far plus one single. The result-well it would have been an album for the ages.
Side 1

To many people
Every night
Some people never know
Junk
Another day

Side 2
Maybe Im amazed
Tomorrow
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
Back seat of my car
Dear friend

 

I still point back to my post earlier as the reason for this: Paul McCartney/Wings-song by song thread


Everything Paul did was compared to The Beatles. The spectre loomed over his first 3 albums. It seems to me everyone wanted another Abbey Road and he just wasn't going to do that. He could still write the songs (Maybe I'm Amazed, etc) but this wasn't The Beatles anymore and he wasn't going to replicate that.

So people got confused when things like Wild Life came out. What the the heck was he doing?

Well In my mind he was attempting to create a new band in his own image that would again rise to the top of the world. And he did.

Nobody got it at first though. Wings went through all of it's trials and tribulations and formation in the open spotlight from day 1. Any other band (even The Beatles) would have cut their teeth for years in relative obscurity in clubs and local circuits before they were good enough to make it big. Paul just did it all out in the open with Wings, missteps and all.

And that is why it was so misunderstood and confusing to everyone. Mega 70s group Wings, creator of #1 hits, slayer of dragons, was evolving right in front of their eyes and they just weren't able to identify it yet.

 

" bcaatch "
I like it but what word is this supposed to be? Catch? Because? Bee-yatch?
I kid ! Just messin' with ya.

 

Okay. In short, Paul hadn't meant for Wild Life to be perceived as a regular album release but rather as a kind of under the radar, jammy, raw document of a new band finding their sound. In hindsight, perhaps he should have resurrected the old Zapple label. That was designed to be an outlet for experimental work. That would have made it clear that this wasn't a "proper" album release

 

I hear you on this. But I was a young teen when those first solo albums were released and I understood right out of the gate that these weren't Beatles albums. Never compared them to the group albums. Didn't even compare them against each other. Just enjoyed them.

 

I'm sure there were some bright and intelligent people such as yourself who figured that out.

But look at us even on this thread. We are still talking about these albums in terms of and in relation to the Beatles. As just one example, a few people want to what Backseat of My Car would have sounded like if it was recorded for Abbey Road (me too actually!).

Essentially we all go "yeah, it's ok but it's not as good as . . . ".

 

You can't do That! - not without Monkberry's delight!

 

Too Many People - 10/10. Love the rawness.

 

I'm not sure if this is a compliment or if you're taking the piss! But, either way , thanks.

 

Actually I didn t compare them much with the Beatles either-back in the days.
Guess I compared them more with each other.

 

Dear Friend - I used to like this track a lot more than I do now. I'll get my usual criticism out of the way up front - it goes on too long. The wordless verses are pointless. Perhaps a guitar solo would have worked there. I find the orchestrations to be maudlin. Again, if this were three minutes long I might like it better but, as it is presented on Wild Life, I usually skip it.

When listening to some of the writing demos that Paul has released on the archive editions, we hear a lot of piano based songs where Paul plays what he has written, then continues on with wordless vocal improvisation. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this recording was based upon one of Paul's writing demos - just with orchestration overdubbed.

Although I understand the viewpoint that Wild Life represents Paul birthing a new band and shouldn't be regarded as a proper album release, I see Wild Life as Paul trying to find a musical place outside of his Beatle history. Ram was a very Beatley album and I think he was stung by its reception. By Band On The Run Paul has established a solo sound that owed much less to the Beatles, but remained true to his commercial & melodic instincts. Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway strike me as transitional albums. Wild Life was probably premature. To my ears, he really wasn't sure where to go musically, but he knew where he didn't want to go. The result was to throw any idea against the wall to see what would stick. The only reason it works as well as it does it because Paul was so profoundly musical.

I also suspect that Paul felt that editing on this particular project was "cheating". He was always one to give himself arbitrary limitations to challenge his creativity. On Sgt Pepper, every instrument wasn't supposed to sound like that instrument. On the Get Back project, no overdubs were allowed. I wonder if Paul was determined to capture the moment of spontaneous inspiration and, therefore, didn't consider editing the recordings to a more commercial length. But that is just conjecture on my part.

Once again, in summary, I want to mention sequencing. This album sabotages itself by putting the most unfinished & twee tracks up front and holding the better constructed tracks for the second side. No amount of clever or thoughtful sequencing could have saved this record, as the songs just weren't there, but sprinkling the better songs among the rest would have, at least, given the listener intermittent positive reinforcement.

Yet, I coughed up good money for the deluxe edition of what I consider to be Paul's weakest efforts. So what do I know?

 

Compliment.

 

Give Ireland Back To The Irish - I admire Paul for this record more than I like this record. It's not a very good song, but that is hardly the point. It's more of a statement than a pop song. I think this is an example of Paul's intent being clear. This was, indeed, not meant to be viewed as the new McCartney hit single. Ordinarily, I would have thought that releasing a non-commercial, political statement would have been a bad move, especially after the disappointment that was Wild Life. But, whether intentional or not, the fact that this song got banned by the BBC gave Paul a bit of credibility with the hip, rock press. Shortly afterwards, Hi Hi Hi would also be banned. Suddenly Paul was the outlaw rocker. For a brief moment.