McGear

 January 1974 

The Family Tour

 

Wings rehearsals

 

The arrival of Wings

 

Wings over Yugoslavia

 

Boating with Wings

All photos taken by Geoff Emerick

 

Wings in Australia

 Wings in Australia

By Christine Fisher

Beatles Unlimited

January/February 1976

 

Wings in Australia.  I wish I had had more tickets, but I only had two for the two Melbourne concerts.   The other cities are hundreds of miles away and I wasn’t able to visit them.

 

Wings arrived at our airport Tullamarine.  I saw the cars and waited until the group arrived.  When they were there, I took pictures madly but none of Paul!  Five shielas were jumping up and down in Paul’s open window wanting autographs, so I only saw him for a split second.  Linda was laughing at my homemade T-shirt though and I knew she would remember me again if only the T-shirt.   Some of my friends were standing on the other side of the car and took pics of Paul.  Only 10 or 12 fans were there, but Paul said, “We have to go now” before I could do anything (smile, wave, press a shutter, etc.).  The car started to roll and I had to let go.

I was up early the next day to park myself in the queue outside the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.  Around the back, 3 T.V. trucks were setting up.  One guy was very friendly and let me see their equipment.  IT was very impressive, to say the least!  He told me Wings would arrive for the soundcheck at 1 o’clock.  I was used to waiting a whole day due to the day before at Tullamarine, so the wait was only a hardship due to the burning Australian sun beating mercilessly down on the gathered fans.  First ten fans but as the hours passed it reached 50-100 fans.

The brass-section arrived at one o’clock with Joe (English).  He walked right past me and I was the only person to recognize him it seemed!  I took a bad photo just for posterity.  Later he strolled back up the driveway and talked to my Armstrong Studios friend, on the other grass-island from me.  He walked back down.  We could hear one of the security guys' walkie-talkie and Paul would be one hour late and arrive at two.

At ten past two Jimmy arrived with a lady a d a 6-7-year-old girl.  I got one picture of Jimmy looking right at me and yet another one that’s decent.   Paul arrived at 3.10pm (2 hours and 10 minutes late).  Buy this time there were too many fans around the back of the bowl.  Paul was sitting on my side and Linda came out after him.  I shot out from behind the rope to give Paul a present (which had always been my dream).  Some girls were screaming and I had to repeat myself to be heard.  “A present,” I said simply.  Paul was surprised, “Thanks!” and walked toward a lady and talked to her.  “Linda, Linda, a present,” I called.  She looked ever so delighted and I am sure it must have been her first Aussie present by her expression.  I know British fans give them flowers so to be different I gave her some expensive nail polish.   I was knocked out by her delighted expression!  I could tell she remembered me in my grubby little Wings T-shirt and London badge (sent to me by an American).  It was as if her face said “So this is what that kid was buzzing around for at the airport.”  She said no words but had an expression that said it all.  They both talked to this lady and I took a good pic of them both looking back at me.  A girl in a light blue t-shirt is also in the photograph and with her mouth open in mid-question.  I was later to learn that the lady was from the television news and that it was filmed.  The film showed just how little time I had and the girl in the blue t-shirt was the one who shook Paul’s left hand.  She had to ask twice because he turned around to wave to everyone.  One of my photographs had the door’s window in the way which reflected one of the “heavies” instead of photographing the gorgeous Paul who looked so much better one foot away from me than on TV. I was so disappointed about that shot!

In the concert, the bowl had only a limited number of seats and I was so unfortunate as to have a ticket for the lawn section.  But I picked my way through people and ended on the very front of the lawn and in the centre to look at the stage.

The heavies ordered all fans with lawn tickets to get out of their queues and go to the centre-queue -- one hour before the gates opened.  What lunacy!  14,000 fans all running to the one queue!  Just so that seat ticket owners (a very small number, maybe 1,000 but no more than that) could enter in style.  It was just a struggle to breathe, so there was no reason to worry about originally having 20 people ahead of you changed to 2,000!  One girl not owning a ticket fell out of a tree and was put in an ambulance.  The bowl was crowded when I eventually got in, but I managed to squeeze myself to the choice lawn spot.  It wouldn’t have been possible if the concert hadn’t been filmed because a camera platform was my saviour.

We weren’t allowed to stand up or dance and I was so upset by that.  I sneaked down the right-hand aisle and tried to shout up to Linda to tell the blue meanies (the security) to back off.  She couldn’t hear me as far as I could make out but she could see me.  I was almost crying as she smiled down at me especially as I was sheering woefully from between iron bars as if I was the Band on the Run.  Blue Meanies told me to go back to my section or they’d kick me out, so I crawled back to my camera spot.  My roll of film had run out and I didn’t take the camera to the front what a sin.  I left near the end of Band On the Run because I wanted to see them leave.  I could hear the two encores and I saw all but Paul from the drive-way as they walked between party and stage.  Paul was doing a TV interview.  But the Blue Meanies were being very offensive.  Each time they came up the drive, we would whisper “here come the Blue Meanies” and we would jump behind the rope and try not to get into a fight.

Because I’m only 14 and my father had been waiting 3 hours to take me home, I had to leave at midnight.  

 

The next day, Friday, I was exhausted but still arrived at the bowl early in the morning – especially as I had to be quick before public transport went into their strike.  I wasn’t going to be stuck 10 miles out of town!

When I got to the bowl one guy was ahead of me in the second queue (three entrances) and I went and got two rolls of film developed at a special place while I waited 3 hours for the work to be completed.  Without transportation I had to wait in the shop for the whole time.  I walked back to the bowl and had no idea of the time.  I found the guy in front of me had disappeared so I was FIRST in the queue!!!  I went around the back and met a girl from interstate who was attending her 6^th Aussie concert.  She said she saw me the day before.  I wish we had met before because she was very clued up and really had her wits about her.  She was wearing Paul’s guitar strings given by a roadies – Aussie bodyguard actually.

The cars drove right down to the bottom of the drive.  Paul got out of the other side this time and had his own movie camera.  I know both Paul and Linda waved to my friend who was a long way behind me (I had sneaked more than that halfway down the drive with a heavie in front of me).  Paul was cute with a camera, but I am not sure he filmed me because I was out of place and not on the two sides of the walls (The drive went into a hollow).  There were only about 20 fans this time which was good.  I shouted to Linda, “Good shot of you Linda!”  

It was fun to spend the sunny afternoon listening to Wings doodle musically but we couldn’t see a thing because the bowl was fenced and covered with blankets – including blankets on the gates!  Occasionally the wind would blow a blanket and we could see Paul playing some very catchy rhythms on the drums but later let Joe bang on them.

Joe was great on those drums in concert, and Jimmy played one or two good guitar bits. I took some photos from near the front in an aisle but ran out of film again.  I couldn’t get their attention either.  We were able to dance a whole lot better the 2^nd night and we all filled the aisles.  I squeezed myself up to the front.

 

There was the stage then 10’ drop, a fence and then the seats.  Linda threw an apple during “Go Now” and the guy next to me caught it.  He had to put it down his pants to stop everyone from killing him.   I missed everything the group threw, but I got a red and yellow balloon, a red and yellow candle, a Wings packet of matches, a roadie thrown a cap of Paul’s from top of his piano, a flower and someone’s Polaroid throw-away part.   I wanted one of the three sweaty towels
but missed.  Joe threw three pairs of drum-sticks too. 

Cards with pictures were thrown, but I missed.  I couldn’t afford any of the Paul scarves on sale.

I had bruises all over and could hardly walk afterwards but it was worth it.  I loved being in the front, legs stuck in the railing and all!

 

Wings Over Holland (Part 4)

 The 4th and final part of the story of when Wings came to Holland in March of 1976 from the point of the writers for the Beatles Unlimited Magazine (March/April 1976 issue).   This last part tells what happened after the concert and the next morning.  

I Can’t Tell You How I Feel

Paul was going to do an interview for the press and television after the concert.  After we had recovered from the concert, we drove to Alphen to get some more sets of Beatles Unlimited.  We planned to give these sets to Paul when we could.  At ease, we drove back to Amsterdam to the Hotel and we arrived there at about a quarter past midnight. 

We parked the car and started waiting again.  At one o’clock Koos came back and to our surprise, he said that Paul and company had already gone to sleep!  It seemed the interview was done right after the show and that the group had hurried to the hotel to get to the showers.  A big disappointment we went to bed.

Every Morning Brings a New Day

The next morning, we were back early at the hotel again.  We talked to Koos for a while and to Jan, the head of the security services.

As nothing happened at 10 o’clock and it didn’t look like something would happen, we went away to do some shopping for a ballpoint and flowers to give to Paul and company when they would leave the hotel.

When we came back to the hotel at 10.30, it appeared that the departure had been delayed again.  They would take a plane later and if they would miss that one too, the whole arrival in Paris would go wrong.

At last, a few minutes before 12 o’clock they seemed all in the hall of the hotel, and also the limousines were ready.

And there they came out:  First Denny and wife.  I gave him a bundle of flowers and he thanked me and shook my hand.   Then Paul came.  “Oh, this is wonderful!” he said as I gave him the flowers.  “Thanks for the very good concert,” I said.   “Thank YOU, sir,”   I said the same thing to Linda as I gave her the flowers.  “I’m glad you liked it,” she said.

“Joe, thanks for the very good concert yesterday.”  

“You liked it, ey?”

Jimmy said he would give his flowers to Linda, but when I told him she’s already had flowers he gave them to Myra Amiel, one of the fans outside the hotel and a subscriber to Beatles Unlimited.

 

Ride On My Fast City Line

Quickly we jumped into the car (again) and followed the limousine through Amsterdam to the airport.  Near the motorway, I passed the car Paul was in and drove ahead of the limousine to Schiphol Airport.  I stopped in front of the first door of the departure hall, but unfortunately, the limousine stopped in front of the second door.  Jan ran outside to the second door to shoot some pictures, while I went into the first door and ran across the hall.

It took some time before they entered the hall, so I was ready when at last they entered.  I took a pic of Paul coming through the door and as he passed me, I said, “Paul, I have another present for you.”   I gave him two sets of Beatles Unlimited and said, “Next issue will be called Wings Unlimited.”  “Are you publishing this?” he asked.  “Yes.”

Then I heard a female voice beside me: “You should do a Wings special now!”  It was Linda.  At that very moment, I was standing between Paul and Linda.  Apparently, she hadn’t heard what I said to Paul, and I told her we would do a Wings special now.”  “Here’s Jimmy, you should take a picture of him for the special,” Linda said.  But I tried to make one of Linda, but I had some trouble focusing on her.  I said something and Linda noticed that.

“Is it too close?” she asked and she stepped backward and gave me the possibility to focus.  At the same time the Wings party was walking slowly to the customs.  We were making pictures all the time and took a shot of Paul walking with Mary, holding the sets of Beatles Unlimited in his hands. (see cover of this issue)

Before they walked through the customs, they waved at us, and then they walked around the corner and disappeared.  Exactly 43 hours after they entered Holland they left again.   They left some very happy people behind who are proud to have experienced this. 

Water Wings

 May 1977

Wings Over Holland (part 2)

 This is the 2nd part of the story from  Beatles Unlimited (March/April 1976) about a group of fans that spent the time Wings was in the Netherlands following them around and talking to them.  

I’ll Be Waiting For You Baby

The next morning we were there (Jan had been to the Neil Young concert, but had not seen Paul, who probably stayed backstage).  First, we went to buy some more film (in total our team shot over 800 photographs in two days!)

Back at the hotel, we talked to the day-porter who could give us no more information than that Paul was intending to leave at two o’clock.  Some time later we talked to Koos, who said Paul had been to see Neil Young, while he himself had gone to see Rory Gallagher.  He said Paul would be leaving at 2:30. 

As I went to the tobacconists to buy some chewing gum, Joe came out with Steve Howard who walked to walk to Amsterdam’s major shopping street the Kalverstraat as Steve wanted to buy a leather bag.  We still don’t’ understand why they didn’t talk a taxi or one of the hired limousines.

BU: “Hi Joe.  Do you think we could have a short interview with you?”

Joe:  “Well we’re going to be leaving at three-thirty and we’re not going to be back until about midnight tonight.”

BU:  You’re going to have a soundcheck in Rotterdam?

Joe: Yeah.

BU: Well, we’re going to Rotterdam, we’re going to follow you.  Do you think you could squeeze it in?

Joe:  Well, if it’s possible…if there’s time, yeah, who are you with?

BU:  Beatles Unlimited.

Joe:  Well, if there’s time, yeah.  I’ll do it, we’ll just have to wait and see.

 

Of course, I didn’t get a chance to talk to Joe again, which is a pity for I had some interesting questions in store, like “Are you a hired musician of Paul, paid a regular salary, or are you a member of the band with all financial risks involved?”

Joe and Steve went in the direction of the city, returning some minutes later wet from the rain and “not feeling like walking.”  Steve took a limousine and went to town and Joe went inside.

In the same period, Bob Ellie returned with a pile of pictures, but he answered my “Got any pictures?” with a hysterical “Nooooo!”

Thaddeus went out by taxi to have his instrument fixed at Dijkman’s musical store at the Rozengracht in Amsterdam.  We also talked to Henri Audier of Bovema again who said Paul had to be in Rotterdam at two thirty which we were sure they wouldn’t make, judging from Joe’s words.

In the afternoon, the minutes seemed to creep.  At about two – Paul, Linda, and the children were in the bar having a drink.  They went upstairs some time later and Joe, Jimmy, Denny, and other members of the band came down and waited in the lobby.   Koos came outside at about half-past three and ordered the limousines to be stand-by.

 

If I Ever Get Out of Here

It seemed according to Koos, that Joe and Jimmy were fed up with waiting for Paul and they decided to leave for Rotterdam. Thaddeus, tony Dorsey, Steve and Howie Casey came out, followed by Jimmy and Joe.

I went up to Jimmy to tape some more statements.

BU:  “Any new songs in the show?”

Jimmy:  Yeah, off the new album.

BU:  New songs by you too?

Jimmy:  Yeah..

BU:  Wino Junko?

Jimmy:  That’s right….

BU:  So no more Medicine Jar?

Jimmy:  Sorry???

Jimmy was called away by someone and left me with the problem of Wino Junko, which was not in the show.  The next car was for Brian and his companions, while Steve Ellis was called back to take another car (“Every minute counts!” he murmured). 

And then there they were:  Paul and Linda.

Paul came out with his hand folded as if in prayer, saying “Achtung, Achtung” (which is German for attention).  As a girl wanted him to sign a Venus and Mars cover I walked up to Linda, so said:

Linda:  Hi again.

Henk:  Hi, how were the Danish and German gigs?

Linda:  Beautiful, really nice…

Henk:  Any new songs?

Linda:  Three new songs…

Henk:   From the new LP?

Linda:  Yeah ….

Henk:  I heard it on Luxembourg

Linda:  Do you like it?

Henk:  Yeah, it’s great…

Linda:  Great …

And then Paul (who was fooling around with a little boy who shouted “It’s the Beatles!”) and Linda were ordered into one of the limousines.   Paul and Linda were in the back, with Denny and his wife in front of them.   We ran to Erik’s Daf ready to start the race to Rotterdam.

 

And When I Go Away

We managed to keep up with the limousine quite nicely in Amsterdam (incidentally passing the Amsterdam Hilton where John and Yoko spent their Bed-in in 1969), but as soon as we were on the motorway, we lost them in the busy traffic.

We managed to get quite close to them again once, but then their driver drove past a red traffic light at a very busy roundabout about halfway to Rotterdam   When the light went green again, Erik did his utmost to overtake them in the suburbs of Rotterdam and Linda waved at us.

We went in the direction of the Ahoy Sports Palace, but they suddenly overtook us, and the driver took a very strange sideway.

We managed to keep in touch, though Erik almost fainted behind the wheel as a result of the great pressure of driving 80km in a town and 125 on the very busy motorway.

When we got near the hall we were joined by two more cars with fans and when we got to the artist entrance about 20 fans were waiting there.  The driver used an old Beatles trick to get the fans away from the entrance:  he drove past the group of fans and then seemed to be heading for another direction.

The group of fans followed the car (as we and the other two cars did, Erik driving backwards very fast) and then in the parking ground the limousine turned around and went back to the entrance.

The three cars (including ours) following the Mercedes almost collided but Erik stopped.  We quickly got out and ran to the entrance.

I managed to say some words to Paul and Linda about the drive from Amsterdam, but it was too busy to tape interesting quotes.  After they went in, we went to have our dinner before the concert. 

Flying with Wings

 

Pop Award

 January 9, 1977 

Little Wing - The Jimmy McCulloch Story : A Book Review

 

I have enjoyed the music of Wings for about 20 years, but I admittedly know very little about the members of the group.   One member especially was a mystery to me, guitarist Jimmy McCulloch.  There were always so many rumors surrounding Jimmy's life and death.  I never knew what was true when it came to this lead guitarist. 

Thankfully Paul Salley spent years researching Jimmy's life and interviewing important people that knew him and wrote the book Little Wing The Jimmy McCulloch Story.

This biography tells the full story of Jimmy's 26 years on earth.   He started playing the guitar at the age of 11.   From that point on, this Scottish kid was never without a band to play with.   Seriously -- I had no idea that Jimmy McCulloch played and toured with just so many groups!   I don't think he ever had a day of his life where he just chilled at home and wasn't in a studio, on the road, or in a rehearsal with a group.   When he was just 16, he was in Thunderclap Newman and quickly had a #1 hit single called "Something in the Air." (I had never heard of this song, so I looked it up on YouTube, and it was really good).

By November 1973, Jimmy began recording some songs with Paul and Linda McCartney.   This led to him being asked to join Wings.     It is pretty much accepted that the years Jimmy McCulloch was in Wings were the most successful and "best" years of the group.   They toured the world between 1975-76.   Jimmy had a great stage presence and was well-accepted.  He even had a couple of his own songs on Wings albums.   One new bit of information that I learned about Wings is that Jimmy actually played on  "Mull of Kintyre."  Because he is not seen in the video for the song, I assumed he was not on the song.  However, this book dispels this misunderstanding and gives the reason why. 

After Wings, Jimmy went on to perform, record, and tour with a few other groups until his unfortunate death in 1979 at the age of 26. 

What I really loved about this book is the large number of photos, newspaper articles, and other handwritten items that go along with the text.   It all really enhanced the story of Jimmy's life.  The rumors surrounding Jimmy's "bad" behavior, including his arrest in Tennessee, were explained.   I feel like I now have a much better understanding behind Jimmy's behavior and issues that caused him to behave this way from time to time.    The circumstances behind Jimmy leaving (getting fired?) from Wings is still sketchy, but the story from Jimmy's brother seems most likely with maybe a few things that other people said as well.   

Probably one of the most shocking stories I read was in Detroit during the 1976 Wings over America tour, Jimmy walked off the stage and did not return.   Paul McCartney was not happy about the entire thing and actually hit Jimmy.   You will have to read this story for yourself.  

The only thing I wish this book had was more information about the Wings touring years.  However, this really isn't this book's issue.  What is really needed is an entire book about Wings tours.  But I would have liked a few more pages about the Wings tours and stories from Jimmy's fans who would wait at the stage door to meet him.   

Overall Little Wing was a well-researched and well-written book.   Anyone who considers themselves to be a Wings fan must read this book to learn more about the amazing guitarist Jimmy McCulloch. 

https://amzn.to/3uQiziC

Wings in the desert

 

Local Farmers