POLL: How do you rate Paul McCartney & Wings "Red Rose Speedway" album?

I give it "solid effort ", and on the high end of that tier. Just below McCartney and Venus and Mars, and just a smidgen above Flaming Pie.

I first heard this album, upon release, on a program called "FM Jukebox", on NHK radio (Japan's version of the BBC). An hour and fifty minute program, initially they'd play entire albums. By the time RRS came out, they were playing 20-25 minutes or so of one record (perhaps they were warned off by the record companies?). So my initial RRS was superb as it was a broadcast of the strongest tracks.

 

Can see why this would've damaged Macca's reputation back in the day, and I'm surprised by the love for it on this board. It's not bad (my vote in the poll), but my least favourite Wings album. Very 'soft rock', and some of it is half-baked. Loop is just awful and the medley, though fun, is a pale imitation of its Abbey Road predecessor.

That said, it is full of strong tunes. My Love is majestic, and Little Lamb Dragonfly is hauntingly beautiful. I also love Get On The Right Thing. And if he'd included Momma's Little Girl and The Mess, it would've been a much stronger record.

So, another slightly faltering step for Wings. But it got much better after this.

 

Not bad, but middle of the road. Plenty of filler.

 

It was Wings' 1st #1 album in the USA, probably because of the popularity of the #1 single, "My Love". I don't recall much radio airplay for anything else from the album.

A peek at the Billboard album charts in the USA shows that they were quite Beatle-centric at the time. The #1 album was:

May 26 --- 1967-1970 The Beatles
June 2 --- Red Rose Speedway Paul McCartney & Wings
June 9 --- Red Rose Speedway Paul McCartney & Wings
June 16 --- Red Rose Speedway Paul McCartney & Wings
June 23 --- Living in the Material World George Harrison
June 30 --- Living in the Material World George Harrison
July 7 --- Living in the Material World George Harrison
July 14 --- Living in the Material World George Harrison

 

The question should be " how to you get RRS "!

Dave

Peace and love✌

 

Bought this the day it was released. Quite liked it at the time, but I feel it's very dated.
Big Barn Bed - OK, not too bad
My Love - typical Macca schmaltz, never dug it
Get On The Right Thing - some OK moments, good vocal
One More Kiss - the less said, the better
Little Lamb Dragonfly - in one of the reviews in the day, this was compared with the Partridge Family. Nuff said
Single Pigeon - masterpiece
When The Night - poor rewrite of Summertime
Loup - highlight of the album for me, especially the funky bit in the middle. I know you will all say I'm crazy, but I like Macca best when he's experimenting
Medley - overblown and overproduced rubbish, though I like the 4 songs coming together in the end

So for me it's a weak effort overall with 2 great tunes.