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 Les Paul

 June 4, 2001 

Zappa concert

June 6, 1971 
 

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,

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.

It was a beautiful holiday

 

I replaced the A.I. enhanced photograph with the original but I cannot find an original of the one of just Maureen.   

We Shall Return McCartney Vows (1976 Chicago)

 

We Shall Return McCartney Vows

Lynn Van Matre

Chicago Tribune

June 3, 1976

    "Some people," Paul McCartney was saying, with a look of puzzlement, "seem to think this is some sort of farewell tour. This is our first tour. We'll be back."

     The tour in question, of course, is McCartney and Wings' current extravaganza, marking the first time in 10 years that the ex-Beatle has appeared in the United States. 

    "All I remember about the last time we played Chicago," he recalled, "was seeing the Stockyards." The scene then was the International Amphitheater, and the band he played with was the Beatles. This time around, the scene was the Chicago Stadium, where McCartney and Wings had just wound up the second of three nights of sold-out shows that began Monday. The crowd, blessed out by more than two hours of music, was slowly filing out of the stadium with die-hard McCartney fans hanging around the gates, hoping for a glimpse of their hero.

     Backstage, McCartney and Wings, keyboard player, the woman he calls his "friend and Mrs"., otherwise known as Linda, had exchanged their stage duds for more casual jeans and cowboy boots. Settling down on the couch in their dressing room, the two chatted and bantered briefly about the tour, their music, and the Beatles.

     The rumor had been rampant that there was a possibility of John Lennon showing up to share the stage with Wings at one of their shows. The man who once collaborated with McCartney on some of the Beatles' best songs has yet to materialize. 

    "Well," said McCartney, "we saw John before the tour started in New York. Shared a cup of tea with him in his kitchen."

     "Japanese tea", Linda elaborated, taking her eyes from The Tonight Show in progress on the dressing room color telly. 

    "Yes, Japanese tea," Paul confirmed. "Anyway, we left it that if he feels like turning up any place along the way, fine, but it's no big number. We won't be hurt if he doesn't make it. Actually, anyone could turn up: Ringo, George, Mayor Baba..."

     "Even Jesus," Linda put in.

     "She's just having a bit of fun with you," Paul said. "The thing is, if any of them showed up, it'd just  mean people would start talking again about us reuniting," and as McCartney keeps saying when asked about that very possibility, "You can't reheat a soufflé."

     Actually, he and Wings are doing very nicely on their own, thank you. So far, the band has been snaring deservedly rave reviews for their shows, which amount to bang-up celebrations of rock and roll, and are musically a far cry from their records, which frequently have been marred by too much slick sweetness and vapidity.

     "Yeah, I know a lot of critics haven't liked our records," Paul admitted. "Lightweight music, that's what they've called it. I can tell the difference in our playing live and our playing on the records, though. It's true. The thing is, when you make a record, you're putting the music down on vinyl forever, making a statue, as it were, encasing it in cement. On stage, we're just throwing the music into the air, letting it happen. The pressure's off a little.

     "I don't get overly angry at what the critics have said about our records. Well, sometimes it does bother me a little, but there's nothing I can do about it anyway. At least until the next album. There's nothing to do now but enjoy the tour."

     "And punt," Linda added, lighting a cigarette. "Yeah, punt," McCartney repeated. "They've been giving her a little bit of trouble about her hands," he said with a good-humored glance at his wife. "Some reviewer from Rolling Stone wrote that when Linda stands downstage for the song "My Love", she looks funny standing there with her hands on her hips for the whole number. So, for Monday night's show, she took her hands off her hips for a while, and he wrote that she looked fidgety. Maybe she should just stick her hands in her turnips."

    Turnips? "Turn ups," spelled out McCartney, gesturing toward the rolled-up cuffs on the couple's jeans.

     "I like to fidget," Linda explained. 

    "We're just having some more fun with you," Paul said.

     "I'm really not all that nervous on stage," Linda clarified the burning issue. "Not anymore."

     During their show in Chicago, which wound up Wednesday night,  the McCartneys chose not to stay in a hotel. Instead, they rented a private home for themselves and their children. "I don't know exactly where it is," said Paul. "Someplace outside the city-- in the country, and the fresh air. We haven't really been doing much while we've been in Chicago. We went horseback riding one afternoon with the kids, and that was nice. Mostly, we've just been hanging out."

     Plans call for the McCartneys and Wings to wind up their current tour on June 23 in Los Angeles. Every concert along the way is being recorded with an eye toward a possible live album.

    " As soon as this tour is over," McCartney said, "We'll put on our little tin hats and get to work sorting through all the tapes. If we get enough good stuff, we'll release."

Suiting the Beatles and the Stones (1966)

 

Suiting the Beatles and Stones

No writer listed

The Runcorn Guardian

June 2, 1966

    "All four Beatles have changed so much in three years."

    "Mick Jagger is very funny about his shirts."

     "I've been responsible for some of the most outrageous clothes seen this century."

     Those were among the revealing comments passed at the London workshop of Alfred Maron, Duggie Millings, and Philip Stevens. Between them, they satisfied the suit-and-shirt whims of many of the show-business elites, including the Walker Brothers, Roger Moore, and PJ Proby.

     The next fashion surprise could be the kitchen towel look, unless designer Paul McCartney comes up with something first! Chelsea boutiques may capture Britain's dedicated followers of fashion, but it is Soho's alleyway tailors whose styles tempt the stars. These dressers of the show business elite, including Duggie Millings, who makes suits for the Beatles, Tom Jones, and Chris Andrews,  Alfred Maron, who serves Roger Moore and the Shadows. And Philip Stevens, whose shirts are worn by the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and PJ Proby.

     "It all started with Adam", joked Duggie Millings. "I was making suits for Adam Faith when the Beatles asked him if he knew a tailor. That was when they had just started, and I have been making their clothes ever since. I have made all their stage suits for them, 12 different designs over the past three years.

    "They no longer come in for fittings as we have all their measurements, though John sometimes calls if he's putting on a bit of weight." Often Duggie drives to the Beatles' homes to fit their new suits before the final stitching, and he still charges no more than he did when John, Paul, George, and Rinko called for their first stage suits, the famous Beatle Jackets, early in 1963.

     "I make this a rule", says Duggie. "My prices are the same for everybody. I sell my suits for between £35 and £40, no matter who the customer is. I don't try to push the price up just because I know they can afford to pay more."

     While we were talking, Duggie was finishing a tweed sports jacket for Billy Fury. "He's changed a lot," said Duggie. "Very conservative dresser now, used to be a rocker, but Billy has dropped all that. You'd be surprised how many people's tastes change once they become successful. When Tom Jones came to see us, he only wore those short box jackets. Now his coats are longer. Adam Faith always has black suits now, and Chris Andrews is also very somber. That boy is no mug. He used to be a tailor's cutter himself, so he knows whether a suit is good or not. Chris likes silk suits in the ordinary three-button style, but he's also had a Chesterfield overcoat from us. It cost him £35 10 s.

     "Any time now," exclaimed Duggie, "Paul McCartney will come in with some design for new suits. He designs all the Beatles' stage clothes now."

     Duggie's main rival is pint-sized Alfred Maron, who has his workshop next to the famous Flamingo Club. Maron, just five feet two inches, and well known as a character actor, usually stands at his tailor's bench in a long, badly fitted gray jumper and old slacks. 

    He admitted, "I've been responsible for some of the most outrageous clothes seen this century." His clients include Roger Moore, Acker Bilk, Patty Klaus and Gibson, Hank Marvin of the Shadows, Matt Monroe, and the Koobas. "Remember those flowered pattern trousers, the Koobas wore? Well, that was my idea. Ridiculous, wasn't it? But you wait until you see our next outfit for them: suits made from kitchen towels!

     "And those waistcoats, and bowler hats, Acre Bilk, and his band, like? We started them too. One of our best ideas, I think. 

    "Hank Marvin has been coming to me for years. You see that camel Chesterfield coat there with the yellow silk lining? Well, we've just made that for Hank. That's going to cost him something," joked Maron, who resets many of his customers in the film and television studios when playing one of the old lag roles in which he specializes.

      Above his shop is the workshop where Philip Stevens hand-tailors shirts for many of the top British and American stars. His only big competitor is Esquire of Glasgow. 

    Stevens, a handsome 28-year-old Italian, works in two tiny attic rooms. His wife operates an old treadle sewing machine. His name, hardly known outside the entertainment business, apart from a few famous politicians, draws customers such as the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Tom Jones, the Everly Brothers, PJ Proby, and the Small Faces. 

    "How did I get the Beatles custom?" asked Stevens. "Well, when they went to Duggie Millings for their first suits, he sent them to me for shirts, and they've been coming ever since.

     "Paul and George come here most. Paul likes blue shirts with long, soft button-down collars, but George chops and changes. His favorite is a pink-and-mauve denim with black buttons and a soft button-down collar. 

    "All four Beatles have changed so much in the past three years. They have become much smarter and choose their shirts now to go with their suits. Before they were made to go with jeans. Paul even designs his own shirts and often sends me sketches, and I make them up from that, but I don't see much of John. He always wears those roll-neck jumpers."

     His other clients include the Walker Brothers, who are having shirts made in many different colors with 42-inch sleeves and wide padded shoulders, and PJ Proby, who went to Stevens for his long open-thigh length stage shirts. 

    The Stones go mainly for check shirts, any color, any kind of check. Mick is very funny. He insists that the shoulders of a shirt fit like a well-made jacket, and of course, he's right

Michael Caine's birthday party