Wings over America

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Wings over America
Wings over America cover
Live album by Wings
Released 10 December 1976
Recorded May - June 1976
Studio overdubs:
October - November 1976
Genre Rock
Length 1:55:53
Label Parlophone/EMI
Producer Paul McCartney
Professional reviews
Wings chronology
Wings at the Speed of Sound
(1976)		 Wings over America
(1976)		 London Town
(1978)

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 length, but it was reissued as a double-CD in 1984 on Columbia/CBS Records, which is currently out of print. The Columbia version is known as the "Holy Grail" of compact discs due to its scarcity. On April 14th, 2008, it was released on iTunes.

Compiled from all recorded shows of the band's Wings Over America Tour that spring, Wings over America was another success for McCartney and Wings, reaching #1 in the US in early 1977 (the last in a 5-album stretch of consecutive #1 albums for Wings) and #8 in the UK, and selling several million copies.

Originally, Wings over America was to be a 2 record set but due to the enormous success of a bootleg called "Wings From The Wings" (recorded live at the Forum in Los Angeles, California, June 22, 1976) which was released on bi-centennial red white and blue triple vinyl, this caused McCartney to redo the official release as a 3 record set covering the entire concert including Denny Laine's "Go Now," a song from his time as a member of The Moody Blues. The song was only performed June 21, 22 and 23, 1976 at the Los Angeles Forum.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All songs by Paul McCartney, except where noted.

  1. "Venus and Mars/Rock Show/Jet" – 10:20
  2. "Let Me Roll It" – 3:45
  3. "Spirits of Ancient Egypt" – 4:06
  4. "Medicine Jar" (Jimmy McCulloch/Colin Allen) – 4:06
  5. "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
  6. "Call Me Back Again" – 5:16
  7. "Lady Madonna" (Lennon/McCartney) – 2:37
  8. "The Long and Winding Road" (Lennon/McCartney) – 4:29
  9. "Live and Let Die" – 3:34
  10. "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" – 1:54
  11. "Richard Cory" (Paul Simon) – 3:05
  12. "Bluebird" – 3:44
  13. "I've Just Seen a Face" (Lennon/McCartney) – 2:11
  14. "Blackbird" (Lennon/McCartney) – 2:27
  15. "Yesterday" (Lennon/McCartney) – 1:50
  16. "You Gave Me the Answer" – 2:06
  17. "Magneto and Titanium Man" – 3:21
  18. "Go Now" (Larry Banks/Milton Bennett) – 3:47
  19. "My Love" – 4:15
  20. "Listen to What the Man Said" – 3:41
  21. "Let 'Em In" – 4:08
  22. "Time to Hide" (Denny Laine) – 4:56
  23. "Silly Love Songs" – 6:05
  24. "Beware My Love" – 4:59
  25. "Letting Go" – 4:34
  26. "Band on the Run" – 5:46
  27. "Hi Hi Hi" – 3:49
  28. "Soily" – 5:45

The original song running order was grouped with each individual album side highlighting McCartney 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)

  1. "Medley : Venus And Mars/Rock Show/Jet" (McCartney) – 11:15
  2. "Let Me Roll It" (McCartney) – 3:40
  3. "Spirits Of Ancient Egypt" (McCartney) – 3:59
  4. "Medicine Jar" (McCulloch/Allen) – 3:57

Side 2 - PCS 7201 (McCartney on piano: mostly romantic, slower songs)

  1. "Maybe I'm Amazed" (McCartney) – 5:10
  2. "Call Me Back Again" (McCartney) – 5:04
  3. "Lady Madonna" (Lennon/McCartney) – 2:19
  4. "The Long And Winding Road" (Lennon/McCartney) – 4:13
  5. "Live And Let Die" (McCartney) – 3:07

Side 3 - PCS 7202 (McCartney & Laine on acoustic guitars: mostly folk-rock based acoustic songs)

  1. "Picasso's Last Words" (McCartney) – 1:55
  2. "Richard Cory" (Paul Simon) – 1:52
  3. "Bluebird" (McCartney) – 3:37
  4. "I've Just Seen A Face" (Lennon/McCartney) – 1:49
  5. "Blackbird" (Lennon/McCartney) – 2:23
  6. "Yesterday" (Lennon/McCartney) – 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)

  1. "You Gave Me The Answer (McCartney) – 1:47
  2. "Magneto And Titanium Man (McCartney) – 3:11
  3. "Go Now (Banks/Bennett) – 3:27
  4. "My Love (McCartney) – 4:07
  5. "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)

  1. "Let 'Em In" (McCartney) – 4:02
  2. "Time To Hide" (Laine) – 4:46
  3. "Silly Love Songs" (McCartney) – 5:46
  4. "Beware My Love" (McCartney) – 4:49

Side 6 - PCS 7203 (McCartney on bass guitar: the most "rocking" side closes the show)

  1. "Letting Go" (McCartney) – 4:25
  2. "Band On The Run" (McCartney) – 5:03
  3. "Hi Hi Hi" (McCartney) – 2:57
  4. "Soily" (McCartney) – 5:10

A 1999 reissue of the album by EMI-Toshiba in Japan reinstated the three-disc format from the original LP issue. This coincided with a new remastering of the album from the source tapes, which greatly improved the sound quality of the album. As of 2007, this three-disc set has not been issued anywhere other than Japan.

[edit] Songwriting credits

McCartney elected to reverse the songwriting credit for the five Beatles songs included on Wings over America to "McCartney/Lennon" (rather than Lennon/McCartney, as each of the songs was originally credited).

Many of McCartney's earlier songs from the 1970s, notably ones first found on Red Rose Speedway and Band on the Run, which are officially credited to "Paul and Linda McCartney", were attributed to Paul alone on Wings over America.

[edit] Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1977 Billboard 200 1
1977 Norway's album chart 7

[edit] Personnel

  1. Paul McCartney: Bass guitar, guitar, piano, keyboards, vocals.
  2. Linda McCartney: Keyboards, percussion, piano, vocals.
  3. Denny Laine: Guitars, bass guitar, piano, keyboards, percussion, harmonica, vocals.
  4. Jimmy McCulloch: Guitars, bass guitar, vocals.
  5. Joe English: Drums, percussion, vocals.
  6. Tony Dorsey: Trombone, percussion.
  7. Howie Casey: Saxophone, percussion.
  8. Steve Howard:Trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion.
  9. Thaddeus Richard: Saxophone, clarinet, flute, percussion.

[edit] See also

Preceded by
Hotel California by Eagles		 Billboard 200 number-one album
January 22 - January 29, 1977		 Succeeded by
A Star Is Born (soundtrack)
by Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson
v • d • e
Paul McCartney
Studio albums
With Wings
Live albums
Compilations
Soundtracks
Experimental albums
Classical albums
Filmography
James Paul McCartney (film) (1973) · One Hand Clapping (unreleased) (1974) · Wings Over the World (1979) · Concert for Kampuchea (1980) · Rockshow (1980) · Back To The Egg (1981) · Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984) · Get Back (1991) · Paul Is Live - The New World Tour (1993) · In The World Tonight (1997) · Live at the Cavern Club (1999) · Wingspan (2001) · Back in the U.S. (2002) · Paul McCartney in Red Square (2003) · Between Chaos and Creation (2005) · Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road (2005) · The Space Within US (2006) · The McCartney Years (2007)
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