June 7, 1996
An online Beatles fan club for and about Beatle fans
Sunday, June 7, 2026
Brian's first American group
The Cyrkle , with Brian and Nat Weiss hold a press conference on June 7, 1966 ,
They Don't Make Rock Stars like McCartney Any More (Denver 1976)
They Don't Make Rock Stars Like McCartney Any More
By John Seelmeyer
Greeley Daily Tribune
June 9, 1976
They just don't make rock stars like Paul McCartney anymore. Although this summer's tour has been billed as 'Wings Over America', and McCartney has soft-pedaled his role in the group, Monday's concert in Denver made it clear the group is mostly McCartney and four other people.
Even when McCartney was in the musical background, the eyes of the 19,000 fans at McNichols Arena followed him through the shadows, and that friends is what makes a big-time rock star. As a former Beatle, McCartney is in a precarious position as a performer. Fans demand a lot. Monday, McCartney delivered in a two-hour set.
It's hard to imagine that "I've Just Seen a Face" has been around for a decade, yet McCartney gave the song a touch of country and western, and it came out sounding better than ever. Of the four remaining Beatles songs in McCartney's show, it was clearly "Yesterday" that most moved the audience. For once, a rock crowd was nearly silent as he sang. Filling out "Yesterday" was McCartney's four-piece brass section, which ably imitated the cello of the original recording.
On the more raucous side of Wings, "Live and Let Die" tore the house down through imaginative use of lights. A machine gun-like spray of light splattered across the audience as Wings burned through last summer's hit.
"Hi, Hi, Hi," one of the group's encores, along with "Soily", was another of those jump up and down numbers.
McCartney has garnered numerous non-fans since the Beatles broke up. Generally, they complain his sound is too lush, too romantic, and too sloppy. In Monday's concert, the middle-of-the-road quality was gone from Wings' work, and it's been replaced by a hard edge that isn't apparent in the recordings, but makes the music more enjoyable.
McCartney's wife, Linda, has sometimes faced charges of being a supergroupie with minimal musical talent. She did much to dispel those claims on Monday as she ably handled keyboards and synthesizers.
While most people will remember McCartney mostly for his voice, he played some nice bass lines on Monday. He was clearly enjoying himself, and he transferred that sparkle to his music.
It's rumored that McCartney is losing money on this tour. With the light show, specially constructed stage, and magnificent sound system, the rumor is at least plausible. Still, the combination of those elements and the care Wings took in preparing for the tour bring it several steps above most tours.
In the final analysis, though, it's difficult to objectively view the concert. As a former Beatle, McCartney carries a certain magic for all rock fans, particularly those who grew up in the mid-1960s. With that magic, McCartney could possibly stand on stage whistling sailor ditties to overwhelming applause. No matter how hard he tries to escape that magic, it's always with him, and that two friends is .what makes a big time rock star.
Thursday, June 4, 2026
Paul McCartney Still Inspires Beatlemania (St. Paul 1976)
 |
| That is "Blond Brenda" in the lower right corner |
Paul McCartney Still Inspires Beatlemania
By Mike Newgren
Post Bulletin
June 7, 1976
Having grown up during the apex of Beatlemania, listening to "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" for hours on end led me to consider Paul McCartney more than just another rock star. That would easily explain why I've spent the last month eagerly awaiting Friday night's Paul McCartney and Wings concert at the St. Paul Civic Center. My wait was well worth its duration after watching the former Beatle perform for two hours.
Oh, the voice is fading, and there are a few wrinkles on his boyish-looking face, but that didn't matter. It was Paul McCartney, resplendent in a yellow t-shirt, black satin suit, and white-and-black shoes, and that in itself was enough.
I arrived at the Civic Center at 5:28pm, two and a half hours before the concert was scheduled to begin, thinking that would give me plenty of time to avoid the rush before the doors opened at six. I was wrong. There were 1000s of people milling around the building when I found my way to one of the doors marked 'entrance'. Some had sleeping bags tucked under their arms, and one man in his mid 20s said he had driven down from Montreal to see the concert. It was obvious that I wasn't the only person who remembered how the shaggy-haired, blue-eyed boy from Liverpool set hearts fluttering over a decade ago, when he, John, George, and Ringo were the idols of millions of teenagers.
The doors opened at 6:03, and there was a mad rush to get inside to grab a seat as close to the stage as possible. By 6:30, the place was half full. Approximately 17,000 people attended the concert. As the minutes slowly ticked away towards 8 o'clock, the rumors began to trickle through the civic center.
Someone said they saw John Lennon. "I hear Ringo Starr's going to sit in on drums for a couple of numbers," a teenage boy kept repeating. Lennon and Starr never showed, but it made little difference whatsoever to the audience. It came to see McCartney the leader of Wings, a band that includes his wife, Linda, didn't let his fans down.
He pranced out on the stage at 8:04 and sang two songs, "Venus and Mars" and "Jet", before uttering a word, but when he did speak, the crowd went wild. "Thanks a lot, St. Paul", he said, almost being drowned out by a thunderous ovation. "You're great. How are you doing? All right", and then he flashed a big smile, gave the peace sign, and shouted, "Welcome to Minnesota!"
"Listen", he added, after singing, "Maybe I'm Amazed," "It's really nice for us to be here this evening, so just enjoy yourself, because I know we will."
And enjoy himself is exactly what McCartney did. It was evident that he was having a good time, as he joked with the audience, gave numerous thumbs up and number one signals to the crowd, and stomped his feet on the stage after most of the songs.
In addition to his most recent hit records with Wings, McCartney also sang five numbers that were recorded by the Beatles. "Lady Madonna", "I've just seen a face," "Yesterday, "" Blackbird, and "The Long and Winding Road."
"This is where we have a little sit down and play our acoustic guitars," McCartney said shortly before breaking into "Yesterday", which is perhaps the most popular song ever recorded by the Beatles. When he finished, he held two guitars high in the air to acknowledge the standing ovation from the audience.
"I can see those big blue eyes all the way up here!" one woman sighed from the balcony.
"Say, listen," McCartney explained at 9:58. "We're getting near the end of the show, and you've been a grand wee bunch. Thanks for coming." With that, Wings played "Band on the Run", and the concert was over.
"I don't care if the Beatles ever get back together again", one girl told her friend as they left the Civic Center and headed for the parking lot. "Paul McCartney will always be a Beatle, as far as I'm concerned."
NBC Sweetens Terms of New Beatles Offer (1976)
NBC Sweetens Terms of New Beatles Offer
No writer listed
The Dispatch
June 6, 1976
Undaunted by the non response to his initial offer, and buoyed by the recent acclaim given NBC Saturday Night ( four Emmy Awards), the producer Lorne Michaels has renewed his efforts to effect a Beatles reunion on the show by convincing NBC to "sweeten the pot."
Since his earlier offer of $3,000 failed to trigger any mad rush on the part of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Michaels announced on the Saturday Night telecast that NBC is now prepared to up the original offer to $3,200.
"Off the record", Michaels continued, "this increase comes to an extra $50 for you each, that's if you split it equally. I'm still not sure what your situation with Ringo is." Michaels also announced that NBC was offering, as part of the deal, free accommodations at a hotel located in the heart of New York's fashionable garment district, guaranteeing the Beatles such amenities as round the clock elevator service, glasses sanitized for their convenience, room service till nine, a coin operated soft drink machine, 48 hour dry cleaning service (in by Tuesday, out by Thursday), and a leisurely checkout time of 10am.
"I've always respected you", Michael said. "You were always my favorite group, and I always liked Yoko, even at the beginning, when things were difficult. I would like to see you do our show, and so would the American people. You know where I can be reached. I'm waiting for you."
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,
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Denny Seiwell - The Best and Worst of Times - A Book Review
 |
| Paul with two of his favorite drummers: Abe and Denny S. |
 |
| Paul and Denny recording Ram |
While I was at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame a few weeks ago, I picked up a signed copy of Wings' first drummer, Denny Seiwell's biography. It was a pretty quick read (180 pages), and I found it very heartwarming, inspirational, and informative.
Denny was a successful drummer prior to joining Paul McCartney in Wings. He did a variety of jingles and sessions for all styles of music. The one thing he did prior to Wings was play the drums for songs from Schoolhouse Rock! Yes -- that is Denny Seiwell playing drums on "Conjunction Junction."
Denny tells the story of how he auditioned for Paul and Linda and began working with them on what became the Ram album. From there, he was asked to join Wings, and of course, he couldn't say no to the opportunity to be in a band with a Beatle, so he and his wife moved to Scotland and started rehearsing and recording with the new band, Wings.
I appreciate how candid and honest Denny was about the challenges and struggles he faced being in Paul McCartney's band. He didn't sugarcoat the experience, but he also didn't just talk about the negative aspects. I enjoyed reading the excitement of that first Wings University tour and the humor in the first drug bust.
Denny wasn't making money to make ends meet with Wings and made the decision to quit right before the band left for Lagos to record Band on the Run. After that Denny went into a depression and turned to alcohol while still working as a Session drummer in California.
The rest of the book is the story of Denny's recovery from alcoholism and how he basically turned his life around. I found it to be very inspiring. As part of doing the 12 steps, Denny decided to reconcile with Paul McCartney for quitting Wings. The two of them were never on bad terms to begin with, but there was much left unsaid. After the reconciliation from Denny writing Paul a letter, they have spent time together. Last year Denny went to see Paul and the band rehearse for the Got Back tour and had the opportunity to play drums with Paul once again.
I won't go into the entire story but it was so sweet and was an amazing way to end the book.
This has been one of the best books I have read in quite a while. I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates Wings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)