Wings...The New World for Paul McCartney

 Wings...The New World for Paul McCartney

By Tony Jasper

Black County Evening Mail

March 30, 1976

        Paul McCartney sat there. Perhaps he was uncertain to which era he belonged. Was he still a Beatle? After all, here in 1976 "Yesterday", is in the top 20 with "Hey Jude", "Paperback Writer", and "Get Back"  struggling for a fresh chart life.

     In America, promoters talk of sums ranging from 25 million to $100 million as a fee if the four will come together right now.

    "I'm not disappointed", he says, with disarming simplicity "that a lot of people have never heard of The Beatles."

 No more words, but he seemed pleased.

     However, he has other concerns, and if he wonders for a moment, which world he lives in, the sheer reality of a European and American tour for Wings makes the answer definite. Paul is now a Wings man. There is, though, still Beatle blood in him. There could be a come-together for a few dates.

     Paul is with Linda, Jimmy, Joe, and Denny. On this occasion, Jimmy does most of the talking. After all, as he says, "We've much more of a group now. I'm writing so is Linda and Denny is getting things together."

     Their get-together is a launch of the new Wings album, Wings at the Speed of Sound, the successor of Band on the Run and Venus and Mars. Obviously, the album must be good. It can't be anything else with such pedigree. 

    Jimmy says it's got variety. "It's good, good songs. Linda here has a five minute song, "Cook of the House", and I got one called "Wino Junko", a warning for those who want to get messed up. Paul has a beaut called "Warm and Beautiful". It will be a big, big one.

     "I think the album takes off much more than previous ones because Wings is really flowing as a group. We stayed together and have now established a real basic feel. And our coming tours of Europe, Scandinavia, and 32 32-date trip through the States will be playing stuff from all our albums and right back to Paul's own beginning days after he left the Beatles, he will be singing "Lady Madonna" and "The Long and Winding Road"

    . The group says Britain should see them in the autumn, but if that seems ages, then Jimmy and company, not unnaturally, say take time and hear Wings at the Speed of Sound.  And for Jimmy, "This latest album is the peak moment of my career. It's that good."