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| Photos by Andre Cillag |
Wings: Business as Ususal
By: Ryan Kelly
Smash Hits
December 1979
If ever there was one British rock star who has seen everything, done everything, and emerged virtually unscathed, it has to be Paul McCartney. He's a man with the true Midas Touch who began as a Liverpudlian yob and has worked his way up to become one of the richest and most accomplished men in Britain.
There can hardly be a household in Britain that doesn't possess a record either written or performed by him, whether as a Beatle, a solo artist, or with the band he now leads, Wings.
Wings are not McCartney's yes-men (or yes-women, in Linda's case), but a working unit. Denny Laine has been with the band since its formation in '71, while both guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Steve Holly joined the ranks nine months ago.
When the group gave a few of their infrequent interviews to accompany their first British tour for three years, it was everybody in on the act, not just the main man.
Punctuality is not their strong point, I discovered, waiting for Wings to materialize after a devastating show at the Manchester Apollo. But the wait was worth it to find that the band was not big-headed or temperamental, but normal, somewhat high-spirited, reasonably sane people.
"Everyone thinks that because I've got money and some power, I'm gonna be walking around with me head in the clouds," said Paul. "I'd be the last one to know if I'd changed since the Beatles days at the Oasis Club, but though a lot of things have happened since then, I think my feet are still pretty close to the ground.
"It may seem as if I've gone round in circles and forgotten half of what I've done, but you don't; it stays with you." He continues, "I'm definitely not the same person as I was in the beginning, but that's just because you learnt so much through the years, and I've enjoyed that. You experience life and get to know yourself better. Even through things like the psychedelic era of the '60s, I learned to meditate then, and I'm glad I did, because it can be great," though he adds cautiously, "If you like that kind of thing..."
What happened to the secret gigs they had originally planned to do to warm up for this current tour? "It turned out that they were just unbelievably difficult to organize," Paul answers. "We had enough trouble playing the Royal Court in Liverpool and even concerts holding two or 3000, so club dates were out of the question. Even now, we're getting letters saying, 'My daughter is a Wings fan, but she couldn't get tickets to see you.' So small dates would have made it even worse.
Another show involving Wings also seems unlikely -- that of "Rockestra," -- a performing live rock orchestra which Wings put together to perform one track on Wings' latest album, Back to the Egg, and which featured members of the Who, Led Zeppelin, and the Shadows, to name but a few.
Paul explained the idea behind the group. "Everywhere in the world, there are kids who can play flutes and violins and so on. So they get themselves into orchestras so that they can play together. We thought it would be great to come up with a word, an example of how kids who play electric guitars and drums can do the same thing. You only need a simple tune, but arrange it for 10 guitars instead of one. It's not that difficult. I mean," he laughs. "We did it, and I can't even read music!
"The track sounded more awesome than it did when we recorded it, but the people in Rockestra are just old friends, who we shepherd together for the day. The difficulty comes in trying to get that line up together again, because it spread all over the world."
"It was surprising how quickly and easily everything came together that day," Steve continued. "Each group of instruments immediately found its own natural leader, and as soon as I had John Bonham (of Led Zeppelin) next to me, well, it was as if the third world war had started."
Wings do, however, have another ace up their extremely roomy sleeves. On their last tour, they filmed Wings Over the World, a film which gave a detailed account of their trip. At present, they are contemplating a film tentatively titled Band on the Run to show a different side of their lives.
"Willie Russell (a Liverpool playwright who wrote the musical John, Paul, George, Ringo and Bert) is currently writing a script for us, and as soon as it is in a form that we all like, we hope to go ahead and film it," said Paul. "We seem to be coming up against one big problem, though, so far, and that is that every British film company we have approached to film has turned around and told us that we should make it in America, which is exactly what we don't want to do."
"The script is being written to suit our character," adds Steve. "Although we won't actually be playing it as Wings. We'll be performing a role rather than just acting out our lives. And acting is one thing that I, for one, will have to get the hang of.
"Once we were up in Scotland, we thought we'd have a go." He smiles. "One of us would walk out of the room, then come back in and ask another for a cigarette. That sounds simple enough, but because we were aware that we were just playing a role, nine times out of 10 we would end up falling about laughing at each other."
So over the years, McCartney has written literally hundreds of hits. Does he have any favorites amongst cover versions of his own songs?
"Yes, I think the ones Ray Charles has done are amazing, particularly 'Good Day Sunshine.' But then I think all the best ones have been by black artists. Phoebe Snow had the hit with 'Every Night', and Michael Jackson had just done 'Girlfriend'. I like black music a lot, particularly reggae, Michael Jackson, and the Specials."
I asked whether his songwriting is still as prolific as ever and whether Steve or Laurence will be contributing material to the band in the near future. "If we come up with anything of the standard of Paul or Denny's work, we will," chips in Laurence tactfully, "But it won't have to be in character with the band. It's difficult to get the feel right, though, until we've had the experience of working live together and for Steve and I, this is the first time."
"I find that I often come up with songs or ideas at least when I dream," continues Paul. "I know it's the same for a lot of friends who are only vaguely musical. The trouble with that is --I'm getting very personal here ---you go through a stage when you're just waking up and semi-conscious, and if you can't get it, then you've had it. It's pretty well done for good.
"There was one night," he recalls. "When I woke up, I could remember dreaming that the Rolling Stones were on stage doing this amazing number called ' No Values'. It was just a song I pictured them doing, and it suited them down to the ground. But even though I can still remember it, there's just no way I can get it written down."
"Don't let Jagger read that, or he'll pinch it as his own," added Denny dourly as Paul and Linda break into a duet of the fabled number.
With the general air of well-fed mirth that surrounds the band, it's easy to think that they think of Wings as an amusing sideline to their lives, rather than a profession, but they know that the high standards they have set for themselves can backfire at any time, if the work isn't top quality. Apart from the very strong family ties (the McCartneys still take the four children on the road with them), Wings is the most important thing in their lives, and it's up to them not to let outside influence interfere.
"People are forever suggesting things for us to do," finishes Denny, "and if something comes along that grabs our interest, we may take it on, as we did when we brought Professor Long Hair (a blues veteran) over here, and made an album with him. Most fans, though, tend to want us to get involved and to manage them and so on, which just isn't right for us as a band. It's been Wings who has brought us this far, and so now it's up to us to put ourselves first, to stay ahead."
