Wings Over America Revisited

Wings Over America is the first tour I remember wanting desperately to see. I was only 13, and already a Beatles fan: the “red” and the “blue” greatest hits albums had come out a couple of years before, and had been well worn out on the family’s little suitcase plug-into-the-wall record player. At the time, my mother put her foot down and scoffed at the idea of two young girls going off (my sister was only 11), a notion she would finally abandon a year later when Queen rolled into town and was I finally allowed to see a rock show.

Last Wednesday night, I sat in a big, modern movie theatre and saw the concert that eluded me 37 years ago. I came out of the documentary footage in awe almost two and a half hours later, with so much going through my brain that I am confident would have completely escaped me in 1976. Wings were musically a very tight, well-rehearsed band, and it was incredible to watch the performance. Each member playing with Paul McCartney—his wife Linda, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCullogh, Joe English— played their parts to near perfection, and the newly mastered soundtrack really highlighted their individual talents. What impressed me was how versatile Denny Laine was, playing guitar, bass, and piano and occasionally singing lead vocals. The Moody Blues song Go Now, along with Richard Corey, were two of my favourite numbers, and I left the theatre realizing just what an integral part of the band he really was.

I have had Wings Over America in my LP collection all these years, and despite enjoying it over the years, the act of watching the concert made me appreciate many things that the simple audio could not manage. Among my discoveries was how much Paul McCartney and Freddie Mercury had in common on a live stage: both had a vaudeville element in their showmanship and sound, and each had a vocal range and texture that was as wide as it was diverse and nuanced as was needed in that musical moment. The horn section Wings had brought along after their foray into New Orleans really brought old and new songs to life, and I loved the added layers of sound to such classics as Live and Let Die.

The acoustic set delivered halfway through the movie was another tactic that was, for me, reminiscent of late 1970s Queen shows, and I loved listened to the pared down versions of Bluebird and Yesterday. It was also interesting to see guitar upon guitar standing in front of the drum kit, and then catching each musician swapping them out by themselves instead of what has become the standard of watching assistants do this at live shows. The generosity of seeing McCartney giving each of the band members their turn in the limelight was impressive, whether it was letting Jimmy McCullogh sing or do his impressive guitar solos, or handing the vocal lead to Laine. It seemed to be a true team effort, and nowhere was this more evident than in the appreciation bestowed upon them by the enthusiastic crowds. My favourite piece was Magneto and Titanium Man, a great rocker from the Venus and Mars LP that really got us started in the theatre. One of the best things that night was that there were less than twenty people in the audience, which meant we could hoot and holler as though we were really at a concert and not get chided by other patrons. In fact, our row of six screamed and clapped after every song, and that helped make the evening very memorable.

Sometime this week, the DVD will be released commercially. Highly recommended to anyone who is a fan, and for those of you who want to see what big tours were like in the heyday of the 1970s.

Paul McCartney at the piano for The Long and Winding Road.

Denny Laine sings Richard Corey.

Backing vocals by Linda McCartney and Denny Laine for Bluebird.