Wings over America
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wings over America | ||
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| Live album by Wings | ||
| Released | 10 December 1976 | |
| Recorded | May - June 1976 Studio overdubs: October - November 1976 |
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| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 1:55:53 | |
| Label | Parlophone/EMI | |
| Producer(s) | Paul McCartney | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Wings chronology | ||
| Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976) |
Wings over America (1976) |
Thrillington (Percy "Thrills" Thrillington) (1977) |
Wings over America is the sixth album issued by Wings and their only live album. In its initial 1976 release, it was a triple album due to its sheer length, but was reissued as a double-CD in 1987.
A celebration of the band's highly successful Wings Over America Tour that spring, Wings over America was compiled from all recorded shows of the tour.
Well before the furore that greeted McCartney in 2002 over his Lennon-McCartney credit swap on Back in the U.S./Back in the World, he elected to reverse the credit to "McCartney-Lennon" on the five Beatles songs performed on tour and included on Wings over America. Although Lennon's widow Yoko Ono took extreme exception to McCartney's credit reversal in 2002, it is interesting to note that John Lennon - with still four years to live in 1976 - did not publicly object to the credit swap on Wings over America (though it should be noted that, in 1976, Lennon did not pay close attention to his former bandmates, or to contemporary music at all).
A further note of interest is that many of McCartney's earlier songs from the 1970's, notably ones first found on Red Rose Speedway and Band on the Run, which were originally credited to "Paul and Linda McCartney", are now simply attributed to Paul alone on Wings over America.
Wings over America was another success for McCartney and Wings, reaching #1 in the US in early 1977 and #8 in the UK, selling several million copies.
A film from the tour, Rockshow, was also made, and released in 1981.
[edit] Track listing
All songs by Paul McCartney, except where noted.
- "Venus and Mars/Rock Show/Jet" – 10:20
- "Let Me Roll It" – 3:45
- "Spirits of Ancient Egypt" – 4:06
- "Medicine Jar" (Jimmy McCulloch/Colin Allen) – 4:06
- "Maybe I'm Amazed" – 5:20
- Released as a single in February 1977 in its live form, "Maybe I'm Amazed" reached #20 in the UK and #10 in the US
- "Call Me Back Again" – 5:16
- "Lady Madonna" (Paul McCartney/John Lennon) – 2:37
- "The Long and Winding Road" (Paul McCartney/John Lennon) – 4:29
- "Live and Let Die" – 3:34
- "Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)" – 1:54
- "Richard Cory" (Paul Simon) – 3:05
- "Bluebird" – 3:44
- "I've Just Seen a Face" (Paul McCartney/John Lennon) – 2:11
- "Blackbird" (Paul McCartney/John Lennon) – 2:27
- "Yesterday" (Paul McCartney/John Lennon) – 1:50
- "You Gave Me the Answer" – 2:06
- "Magneto and Titanium Man" – 3:21
- "Go Now" (Larry Banks/Milton Bennett) – 3:47
- "My Love" – 4:15
- "Listen to What the Man Said" – 3:41
- "Let 'Em In" – 4:08
- "Time to Hide" (Denny Laine) – 4:56
- "Silly Love Songs" – 6:05
- "Beware My Love" – 4:59
- "Letting Go" – 4:34
- "Band on the Run" – 5:46
- "Hi Hi Hi" – 3:49
- "Soily" – 5:45
The original song running order was grouped with each individual album side highlighting Paul on a particular instrument, and with the songs on that side generally sharing the same general "feel", or in the case of side 5, from the newest studio release before Wings Over America, Wings at the Speed of Sound. The episodic structure of a 6 sided triple vinyl album, and the ordering of more dramatic and dynamic songs to open (and end) an album side can be more clearly seen when the running order is grouped by album sides.
Original vinyl sides running order:
Side 1 - PCS 7201 (McCartney on bass guitar: uptempo rocking songs)
- "Medley : Venus And Mars/Rock Show/Jet" (McCartney) – 11:15
- "Let Me Roll It" (McCartney) – 3:40
- "Spirits Of Ancient Egypt" (McCartney) – 3:59
- "Medicine Jar" (McCulloch-Allen) – 3:57
Side 2 - PCS 7201 (McCartney on piano: mostly romantic, slower songs)
- "May'be I'm Amazed" (McCartney) – 5:10
- "Call Me Back Again" (McCartney) – 5:04
- "Lady Madonna" (McCartney-Lennon) – 2:19
- "The Long And Winding Road" (McCartney) – 4:13
- "Live And Let Die" (McCartney) – 3:07
Side 3 - PCS 7202 (McCartney & Laine on acoustic guitars: mostly folk-rock based acoustic songs)
- "Picasso's Last Words" (McCartney) – 1:55
- "Richard Cory" (Paul Simon) – 1:52
- "Bluebird" (McCartney) – 3:37
- "I've Just Seen A Face" (McCartney-Lennon) – 1:49
- "Blackbird" (McCartney-Lennon) – 2:23
- "Yesterday" (McCartney-Lennon) – 1:43 (long, extended applause and crowd cheering left to finish this side)
Side 4 - PCS 7202 (McCartney on piano: mostly upbeat piano songs plus My Love)
- "You Gave Me The Answer (McCartney) – 1:47
- "Magneto And Titanium Man (McCartney) – 3:11
- "Go Now (Banks-Bennett) – 3:27
- "My Love (McCartney) – 4:07
- "Listen To What The Man Said (McCartney) – 3:18
Side 5 - PCS 7203 (McCartney on bass guitar: songs from the latest studio release, Wings at the Speed of Sound)
- "Let 'Em In" (McCartney) – 4:02
- "Time To Hide" (Laine) – 4:46
- "Silly Love Songs" (McCartney) – 5:46
- "Beware My Love" (McCartney) – 4:49
Side 6 - PCS 7203 (McCartney on bass guitar: the most "rocking" side closes the show)
- "Letting Go" (McCartney) – 4:25
- "Band On The Run" (McCartney) – 5:03
- "Hi Hi Hi" (McCartney) – 2:57
- "Soily" (McCartney) – 5:10
[edit] Personnel
- Paul McCartney: Bass guitar, guitar, piano, keyboards, vocals.
- Linda McCartney: Keyboards, percussion, piano, vocals.
- Denny Laine: Guitars, bass guitar, piano, keyboards, percussion, harmonica, vocals.
- Jimmy McCulloch: Guitars, bass guitar, vocals.
- Joe English: Drums, percussion, vocals.
- Tony Dorsey: Trombone, percussion.
- Howie Casey: Saxophone, percussion.
- Steve Howard:Trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion.
- Thaddeus Richard: Saxophone, clarinet, flute, percussion.
