It was a massive set list, running over two hours and featuring 30 songs, and it was well received at the time, partially because he revived some
Beatles tunes, partially because it wasn't the disaster some naysayers expected, and mostly because -- like the tour itself -- it was the first chance that millions of
Beatles fans had to hear
McCartney in concert properly (
the Beatles had toured, to be sure, and had played before millions of people between 1963 and 1966, but as a result of the relatively primitive equipment they used and the frenzied, omnipresent screaming of the mid-'60s teen audiences at their shows, few of those present had actually "heard" the group).
Wings were never a particularly gifted band, and nowhere is that more evident than on
Wings Over America.
Matters aren't really helped by the fact that the large set list gives
McCartney full opportunity to show off his vast array of affected voices, from crooner to rocker to bluesman. Also, the repertory, in retrospect, is weighted too heavily toward the recent
Wings albums
Wings at the Speed of Sound and
Band on the Run, which weren't really loaded with great tunes. (It's also hard to believe that there were two
Denny Laine vocals so early in the program, or that the concert ended with the plodding rocker "Soily," which was never released on any other
McCartney album.)
In its defense, the album offers bracing renditions of "Maybe I'm Amazed" -- arguably the best of
McCartney's post-
Beatles songs and possibly his single greatest composition -- and "Band on the Run," as well as nicely distilling the harder side of his repertory, with a few breaks for softer songs such as "My Love" and "Silly Love Songs"; another highlight is the rippling bass sound, showing off that instrument in a manner closer in spirit to, say, a
John Entwistle solo LP than to
McCartney's more pop-focused studio work.
The triple LP, issued two weeks before Christmas of 1976, was priced so low that it was offered by most stores as a "loss leader" to pull customers in; what's more,
the Beatles mystique was still very much attached to record and artist alike -- at the time,
John Lennon had seemingly burnt out a major chunk of his talent,
George Harrison was losing his popular edge and had done a disastrous 1974 American tour, and no one was expecting great things from
Ringo Starr -- and it seemed like
McCartney represented the part of the group's legacy that came closest to living up to fans' expectations.
Thus the album ended up selling in numbers, rivaling the likes of
Frampton Comes Alive and other mega-hits of the period, and rode the charts for months.
Wings Over America is most valuable as a souvenir for hardcore fans and also as a reminder of the excitement -- beyond the actual merits of the group's work -- that attended
McCartney and
Wings' work in the lingering afterglow of
the Beatles.
Side A A1. Venus and Mars/Rock Show/Jet (10:20)
A2. Let Me Roll It (3:40)
A3. Spirits of Ancient Egypt (3:59)
A4. Medicine Jar (3:57)
Side B B1. Maybe I’m Amazed (5:10)
B2. Call Me Back Again (5:04)
B3. Lady Madonna (2:19)
B4. The Long and Winding Road (4:13)
B5. Live and Let Die (3:07)
Side C C1. Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me) (1:55)
C2. Richard Cory (1:52)
C3. Bluebird (3:37)
C4. I’ve Just Seen A Face (1:49)
C5. Blackbird (2:23)
C6. Yesterday (1:43)
Side D D1. You Gave Me the Answer (1:47)
D2. Magneto and Titanium Man (3:11)
D3. Go Now (3:27)
D4. My Love (4:07)
D5. Listen to What the Man Said (3:18)
Side E E1. Let ‘Em In (4:02)
E2. Time to Hide (4:46)
E3. Silly Love Songs (5:46)
E4. Beware My Love (4:49)
Side F F1. Letting Go (4:25)
F2. Band on the Run (5:03)
F3. Hi, Hi, Hi (2:57)
F4. Soily (5:10)
Notes
Release: 1976
Format: 3LP Boxset
Genre: Rock
Label: EMI-Bovema Records
Catalog# 5C 134-98497
Vinyl: VG
Cover: VG
Prijs: €25,00