|
|
 |
Wings officially formed in 1971. Paul and Linda were joined by Denny Seiwell, who played drums on McCartney's second solo disc, Ram, and Moody Blues founder Denny Laine on guitar. Even the band name Wings was inspired by Paul's new experience as a family man. Here he talks about the frighteningly touch-and-go birth of his fashion designer daughter Stella and the angels he imagined protecting her.
1973's Band on the Run was the breakthrough album for Wings. Their most commercially and artistically successful work, it's a rollicking ride that moves from "Jet" to the lilting melody of "Bluebird," and also takes time to answer John Lennon's scathing infamous 1971 indictment "How Do You Sleep?" with the benign "Let Me Roll It." McCartney had always been known as the "smiling Beatle," Lennon the "angry Beatle"; these roles became more defined once the group broke up, leaving behind a legal mess and trampled friendships.
In actuality McCartney authored a handful of what he deems "nightmare songs from hell," such as "Helter Skelter." He says he resisted being tagged "the love-song guy" until he began thinking about what love songs actually meant to people.
He talks about the conviction behind his smash-hit defense of the genre, "Silly Love Songs."
"Silly Love Songs" appeared on the 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound. For McCartney, the ensuing 1976 American tour was "the payoff" for all their hard work; it was the band's shining moment and it led to the triple-album set, Wings Over America. But after almost two decades of solid band activities, Paul was feeling the need to simply "sit under an oak tree." Despite featuring the formidable talents of Pete Townshend, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones, 1979's return to rock Back to the Egg fell flat. But it would take a life-shaking event for McCartney to start seriously thinking about breaking up Wings.
Here he takes a humorous look back at the 1980 pot bust for which he spent nine days in a Japanese jail. But, he notes, "I wasn't laughing then, believe me."
Due in part to the murder of John Lennon and McCartney's ensuing reluctance to tour, Wings called it quits. Here's the singer discussing the need for that "final moment" to realize the end had come.
For a lifetime musician like Paul McCartney, the end of one thing simply means the beginning of another: In 1980 he released the solo album McCartney II, featuring the new wave hit "Coming Up"; 1982's Tug of War paired him with Stevie Wonder on the heartwarming "Ebony and Ivory." And he hasn't really slowed down since, with the exception of the period following Linda's death in 1998 from breast cancer.
The loss of his soul mate and creative partner was devastating for the famously devoted McCartney, whose only nights apart from his wife of nearly 30 years had been that time in jail. Reports on his forthcoming solo album, due this fall, reveal that the album's highlight is an homage to Linda that repeats the refrain "You're still here." We're glad Paul's sticking around, too. 
|
|
| < back |
|
 |
|
