Red Rose Speedway
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| Red Rose Speedway | ||
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| Studio album by Paul McCartney & Wings | ||
| Released | 4 May 1973 | |
| Recorded | March - June & September - October 1972 except: "Get On The Right Thing" & "Little Lamb Dragonfly": begun in late 1970 |
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| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 42:13 | |
| Label | Apple/EMI | |
| Producer(s) | Paul and Linda McCartney | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Paul McCartney & Wings chronology | ||
| Wild Life (1971) |
Red Rose Speedway (1973) |
Band on the Run (1973) |
Red Rose Speedway is Paul McCartney's fourth album release and second Wings album, officially credited to "Paul McCartney & Wings" upon its 1973 release, after the relatively weak commercial performance of the band's debut Wild Life had been credited only to the then-unknown Wings.
In early 1972, McCartney decided to expand Wings to a five-piece band by adding an additional guitarist, Henry McCullough and to begin touring with the group. The group spent many months on the road across Europe, beginning with a tour of British universities, and continuing in the summer in bigger European venues - where Paul and wife Linda McCartney would encounter their first of several marijuana busts over the ensuing years. Both tours were bookended by Red Rose Speedway's long string of studio sessions, which started that March in Los Angeles and finished in London that October. Initially planned as a double album, Red Rose Speedway was held up a further six months before finally appearing as a single record.
Despite not releasing an album in 1972, the first year of his professional career that McCartney had failed to do so, Wings managed to release three singles: "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" (banned by the BBC for political reasons), "Mary Had A Little Lamb" (an updated rendition of the nursery rhyme) and "Hi Hi Hi" (banned by the BBC for alleged sexual references, whereby B-Side "C Moon" received exposure).
In March of 1973 "My Love", the only single release from Red Rose Speedway, was released. It became a UK Top 10 hit and McCartney's second US #1, as well as an enduring love song (again, written for Linda). It raised expectations for the album, which shot to #5 in the UK when it appeared and went to #1 in the US. Still, the critical reception was mixed.
Its cover design - with its striking Linda McCartney cover shot - was by Eduardo Paolozzi, while the back cover of the album contains a Braille message of "We love ya baby" for Stevie Wonder.
In 1993, Red Rose Speedway was remastered and reissued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series with "C Moon", "Hi Hi Hi", "The Mess" ("My Love"'s B-side) and "I Lie Around" (single "Live And Let Die"'s B-Side) as bonus tracks.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
All songs by Paul and Linda McCartney.
- "Big Barn Bed" – 3:50
- Originally introduced on Ram in 1971
- "My Love" – 4:08
- "Get On The Right Thing" – 4:16
- "One More Kiss" – 2:29
- "Little Lamb Dragonfly" – 6:20
- Tracks 3 and 5 were recorded in late 1970 during the Ram sessions
- "Single Pigeon" – 1:53
- "When The Night" – 3:37
- "Loup (1st Indian On The Moon)" – 4:23
- Medley – 11:16
- "Hold Me Tight"
- "Lazy Dynamite"
- "Hands of Love"
- "Power Cut"
[edit] Personnel
- Paul McCartney: Bass guitar, guitars, keyboards, piano, vocals.
- Linda McCartney: Keyboards, organ, percussion, vocals.
- Denny Laine: Guitars, piano, vocals.
- Henry McCullough: Guitars.
- Denny Seiwell: Drums, percussion.
[edit] Additional personnel
- Hugh McCracken: Guitar.
- David Spinozza: Guitar.
[edit] "Double LP" Tracklisting
The tracklisting from the Acetates of the early incarnation of Red Rose Speedway. Most tracks left off the released version ended up on B sides but some are still unreleased.
- Big Barn Bed
- My Love
- When The Night
- Single Pigeon
- Tragedy (Unreleased)
- Mama's Little Girl (Later released in January 1990 on the Put It There CD single)
- Loup (Later retitled Loup (1st Indian On The Moon))
- I Would Only Smile (Unreleased Denny Laine Song)
- Country Dreamer (Issued as the B-side of Helen Wheels in 1973)
- Night Out (Unreleased)
- Only One More Kiss (Later retitled One More Kiss)
- Jazz Street (An 8 minute unreleased instrumental)
- I Lie Around (Issued as the B-side of Live and Let Die)
- Little Lamb Dragonfly
- Get On The Right Thing
- 1882 (Unreleased)
- The Mess I'm In (Later retitled The Mess and issued on B-side of My Love)
