Paul McCartney is in a Class By Himself (1976 Cincinnati)

 

Paul McCartney is in a Class By Himself

By Bruno Bornino

The Cleveland Press

June 4, 1976

    "We've been amazing ourselves," said Paul McCartney in his dressing room following an incredible performance by his band, Wings, at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum. 

    "Our first US tour is going much better than we expected, or even hoped for. We'll be back."

     With that happy news, McCartney, who hasn't set foot on a concert stage in this country since the last Beatles performance 10 years ago, sank back on a couch and put his arm around his wife, Linda.

     "It's just been lovely," agreed Linda, who doubles as Wings keyboard player and backup vocalist. "We couldn't be happier."

     And no wonder. This initial Wings Over America tour, which began in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 3 and will end in Los Angeles on June 23, will play 34 sold-out dates in 21 cities. Total tour attendance will exceed 600,000. That includes the 20,731 fans who saw Wings perform in the Cleveland Richfield Coliseum on May 10, and the 18,500 who watched the show in Cincy's Coliseum on May 27.

     Wings, which, besides the McCartneys, include Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch, and Joe English, will gross more than $5 million. However, the 33-year-old multi-millionaire McCartney doesn't appear to be too impressed with money. He was dressed in a loud Hawaiian-print shirt, new, unfaded jeans, and worn-down rubber-soled desert boots. His 34-year-old wife wore a two-piece black suit with a skirt, a lavender blouse, and was shoeless. 

    When I told him that Roger Daltrey of The Who said each of their (The Who's) shows cost $30,000 to put on,  and that I thought that the Wings concert was even more lavish and probably more expensive to produce. McCartney just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't have any idea how much each of our concerts costs to produce. I never get into the money thing; someone else takes care of that. I'm just interested in the show being right, and yes, I guess that does take a lot of money."

     McCartney, who appeared on the cover of last week's Time magazine and this week's Rolling Stone, People, and literally every rock publication, was good-natured about the first inevitable question about the Beatles reunion. By his own admission, he's prepared a number of stock answers; take your pick. 

    "I would never participate in a reunion for money." The Beatles reportedly have been offered between 30 million and 50 million for one concert.

     Rolling Stone: "We maybe could be together for a thing, but it always feels to me like it would be a bit limp. The truth is just that since we split up, we've not seen much of each other. We visit occasionally. We're still friends, but we don't feel like getting up and playing again. You can't tell that to people. You say that, and they say, 'How about the money, then? ' and you end up having to think of reasons why you don't feel like it.

     "I tell you, before this tour, I was tempted to ring everyone up and say, 'Look, is it true we're not going to get back together? Because we all pretty much feel like we're not. And as long as I could get everyone to say 'No, we're definitely not', and I could say "It's a definite no-no", but I know my feeling, and I think the others' feeling, in a way, is we don't want to close the door to anything in the future, we might like it someday."

     Chicago Tribune, and many other newspapers, "You can't reheat a soufflé."

     New York Times:  "It's 'probably not' with the possibility of a 'maybe'. No one wants to shut any doors permanently, but by the same token, no one wants to start any rumors. Before we left England, I thought I'd better think of some brilliant answer to that question. If you think of one, go ahead and use it, and I'll agree with it. 

    "It's like a divorced couple, the friends of the couple keep hoping, but the reality is that the two, or the four in this case, aren't coming together again unless they feel the hots for one another."

     In Cincy, McCartney was asked if, when he formed Wings, he had any trouble concentrating on specific goals due to the success of the Beatles. Pausing before answering, he said, "Yeah, I sure did. It's a question of how to follow that kind of success. What I realized I wanted to do most, basically, was to sing. So we decided to get something together, and what we finally got together was Wings."

     Prior to seeing and hearing Wings, if someone had asked who was the world's number one rock personality, I wouldn't have hesitated a moment before choosing among Elton John, Mick Jagger, Elvis Presley, and Bob Dylan. Now that same question would get an immediate response: Paul McCartney. One word: class separates these five superstars, and only McCartney has it. 

    Elton, Mick, Elvis, Dylan, and Paul have each sold millions of records, play only sold-out concerts, and are adored by music lovers the world over. Only McCartney, however, has made himself readily available to the press, and, ironically, he has the most to fear from the media. 

    He not only does interviews following his spectacular two-and-a-half-hour show, but also seems genuinely interested in doing everything right.  Among other rock stars, that definitely puts McCartney in a class by himself,