Wings: Wild Life & Red Rose Speedway (Expanded Reissue)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Vaughan, Oct 18, 2018.

  1. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    +1 !!

    When I first heard this album [1973? or maybe 1974] my young self thought it was very very "soft". Certainly not helped by the crooner-esque lead single. And, yes, Big Barn Bed and Get On The Right Thing were there, but even as rockers go, they were not ... um... as "rocky" as, say, Hi Hi Hi or The Mess. The medley was fun, but lyrically weak and a bit "poppy". And Loup was... Loup. [A nice listen once in a while, but not really something that grabbed my attention...]

    Now as a more mature person I have a much greater appreciation for the "softer" tracks like When The Night and especially Little Lamb Dragonfly, but overall the album still feels desperately lacking in "rockiness".
     
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  2. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    As much as I like "Loup," it's odd he chose that song to be on the album, given all the other material that was arguably better.

    And you know what? I'm not too crazy for the medley. There, I said it. When it comes to that song, I know I have 11+ minutes of a song to listen to, and I generally am not in the mood to hear it. Abbey Road medley it ain't. But on its own, randomly choosing a song in Paul's catalog, I like it. So weird how this album does that.
     
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  3. soundQman

    soundQman Senior Member

    Location:
    Arlington, VA, USA
    Since RRS has been remastered for this set, I’m wondering if the same corresponding songs on the double album version are identical. In other words, is the single album now completely redundant?
     
  4. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    I wonder: will I live long enough to see 400-page threads on Archive editions of London Town and Back to the Egg?
     
  5. joeislive

    joeislive Streets Ahead

    You will, but will we live long enough to see the actual Archive editions themselves?
     
  6. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Ye, they are the exact same masterings. However, "Big Barn Bed" and "My Love" slightly crossfade into each other on the main album, but have clean endings on the double LP.
     
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  7. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I'm re-watching the James Paul McCartney special, and I wish we had gotten vintage stereo mixes of the unique live performances here. Big Barn Bed, the acoustic medley, Mary Had A Little Lamb (with strings), My Love (alternate string arrangement), Little Woman Love/C Moon, Live and Let Die, and interesting version of the Mess, Maybe I'm Amazed, Long Tall Sally, Yesterday... They did it with One Hand Clapping, so it's not a foreign idea in MPL Land.

    Also, that concert at the end where they're playing The Mess probably exists in full, or at least the audio does. Let's see/hear it!
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2020
  8. Darrin L.

    Darrin L. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Golden, CO
    Your being a "stick in the mud" for not mentioning "Gotta Sing Gotta Dance". :winkgrin:
     
  9. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    That was left off for a very good reason. :D
     
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  10. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    Word on the street is they’ll coincide with Mark Lewisohn’s next book.
     
  11. Darrin L.

    Darrin L. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Golden, CO
    And George's "Early Takes Vol. 2".
     
  12. johnny moondog 909

    johnny moondog 909 Beatles-Lennon & Classic rock fan

    Boy you win my prize ! For concisely saying it !! Not necessarily the running order, but releasing the coolest 10-12 songs from the sessions, as a great album ! And Yes absolutely ( depending on the particulars ) I believe it would ( have ) given Band On The Run a run for it's money, or actually surpassed it !!

    I've echoed your points in this thread or similar threads...of the 3 you listed, 2 weren't on it at all !!! Until the reissue !!

    There's a lot of questions open to subjective interpretation...a lot of good unused songs were a bit raw, & could've used a bit of editing, mixing, sweetening overdubs..songs like The Mess, 1882, Tragedy, Country Dreamer etc.That weren't used at all...and were as good or better than some they did use but needed a polishing. And/Or all the non lp singles & B-sides, that were just as good or better, but not used on the album ! Hi Hi Hi-Cmoon-I Lie Around etc..

    Clearly for a single 10-12 song album, it's ok the way it was issued, but frankly as a single album "at least" 4 or 5 weaker songs could've been exchanged with Live & Let Die, Hi Hi Hi etc...

    Or for a good or great double album they had way more than enough ! Even on a double there would've been at least several left over...even the RRS original tracklisting for the proposed double album, doesn't mention a lot of the tunes from those RRS sessions..I don't have a complete tracklist in front of me, but i've researched & compiled all the RRS songs...from all the related RRS sessions, & clearly even a double wouldn't have room for them all. I think mixing live with studio tracks is usually a miserable idea, & i'd edit, sweeten & remix The Mess & 1882 & use the studio versions on a double...they could've just flown in the studio overdubs onto the studio tracks on Mess & 1882, for the reissue, cut the length down a bit..

    I know its a long post sorry, the other question is where the cutoff is, to distinguish what's rightly or properly Red Rose Speedway & what's Wildlife bonus material, there is some overlap, but unquestionably Wildlife benefits as much or more than RRS, by getting a few extra tunes to flesh out the paltry eight songs-jams on the original release.....just adding say Give Ireland Back, Mary Had A Little Lamb & Little Woman Love to Wildlife strengthen it a lot....but which songs should Wildlife get...Henry wasn't on that album at all...but it sure is better when you add 4-5 tracks, from when he first joined !!@
     
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  13. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    I consider the medley somewhat of a guilty pleasure.

    I know it's not great [on various levels], but I enjoy it as just a fun pop sequence that, for whatever reason, just makes me smile... :hide:

    Totally agreed on Loup. My guess would be he wanted to show the band's "versatility" by including a more "psychedelic" piece of weirdness... ["See? We can do Pink Floyd, too!"]
     
  14. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    Were there vintage stereo mixes for James Paul McCartney?

    It was made for television back in the days when stereo tv just did not exist...
     
  15. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    If they did release that stuff, how much you wanna bet it would be in the "download only" section...? [Seeing as there are already a lot of discs in the box....]
     
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  16. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Well, the next year, they did One Hand Clapping, and that got vintage stereo mixes, so it's not outside the realm of possibility.
     
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  17. Paul Gase

    Paul Gase Everything is cheaper than it looks.

    Location:
    California
    Probably mentioned much further back, back in 1973, Live and Let Die was released as a single on Apple; it was the opener for the United Artists soundtrack LP for the movie. I think there might have been immediate contractual obligations that would’ve prohibited Paul from putting this on RRS at the same time as the soundtrack album.
     
  18. soundQman

    soundQman Senior Member

    Location:
    Arlington, VA, USA
    Could be, but then why was the single allowed on Apple?
     
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  19. Paul Gase

    Paul Gase Everything is cheaper than it looks.

    Location:
    California
    I think that was the contract. I don’t think too uncommon. But the best example is United Artists Hard Days Night soundtrack album in the US. The singles from the film were on Capitol Records. Those singles were on the United Artists album.
     
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  20. crossroads69

    crossroads69 Senior Member

    Location:
    London Town
    Spent the weekend reconnecting with the Red Rose Speedway box and reading the recording notes (love this part in the books!). Between the Ram and RRS boxes, we now have 5 tracks mixed by Dixon Van Winkle in July 1971.

    1) Hey Diddle
    2) Get On The Right Thing
    3) Little Lamb Dragonfly
    4) Little Woman Love
    5) Great Cock & Seagull Race

    Were any other tracks mixed by Van Winkle at these sessions? Was Paul involved in this or did he just ask Van Winkle to mix the leftovers? None of this work was ever used back then....probably the closest these mixes came to release was on the cancelled Get On Right Thing single in August 1971.

    Wild Life could’ve been so much stronger had Paul filled up a side with these Ram leftovers and left stuff like Bip Bop for the archive editions almost 50 years later :)
     
  21. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    Hey Diddle is better than Bip Bop??

    Really?

    :shrug:
     
  22. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I think so, especially with the Nashville overdubs.

    However, that one line always confuses me, and I keep thinking I'm mishearing it:

    I wouldn't make her, her wooden table, I wouldn't care.

    Am I hearing that right?
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2020
  23. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.

    I prefer the "primitive blues" style of Bip Bop to the "bouncy pop" of Hey Diddle.

    I would say lyrically, they're probably about the same level. :righton:

    But to be fair, the Nashville overdubs wouldn't come around until three years later...
     
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  24. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    OK, fine: I think "Hey Diddle" is better than "Bip Bop" even in its early Dixon Van Winkle mix from the Ram bonus disc. :p I truly mean that.

    The first time I heard either of these songs, for years and years, was the combination of both of them on Wingspan, so they are always partners in my mind. I like both songs.
     
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  25. crossroads69

    crossroads69 Senior Member

    Location:
    London Town
    I rate them both kinda equally but probably will pick Hey Diddle if I have to go with one.

    My comment was more around tracks like Get On The Right Thing, A Love For You, Little Lamb Dragonfly, Little Woman Love, etc. - pretty strong leftovers that he chose to ignore for Wild Life. I guess he was keen to start Wings from clean slate and see where it goes....although he did pick Dear Friend from the Ram sessions.
     
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