An online Beatles fan club for and about Beatle fans
Let's take a moment to remember Jack Douglas who not only was kind enough to put up with my John Lennon babbling when I met him at the Fest in 2018 but most importantly, he produced John's Double Fantasy album in 1980. He did a lot more that that, but that is what I best remember him for. He was a really laid back nice man and had so many great stories. I am so sad to hear of his death.
The Silent Beatles on Jagger Juggernaut
By Sydney Curtis
Evening Standard (London)
May 12, 1971
Two of the Beatles met at Gatwick today. There was no exchange of words in the airport's departure lounge waiting take off to Mick Jagger's wedding.
They sat for four minutes at the same table before their flight, the Jagger Juggernaut was called and said nothing to each other. The silent confrontation was between Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
Paul was with his wife, Linda, his daughter, and Linda's daughter from a previous marriage. Ringo was with his wife, Maureen.
Earlier, I talked to both McCartney and Starr.
McCartney, who had held up the plane for half an hour by his late arrival at the airport, was asked if there was going to be a reunion. He said, "No, it's a wedding."
I asked him if there was any chance of the month-long Beatles rift being healed because of this wedding meeting. He replied, "Look, I don't want to talk about that."
But when I told him that Ringo Starr was already at the airport, he grinned and said, "Oh, good lad."
Asked why George Harrison and John Lennon had not turned up, he said, "I cannot speak for the others."
Would he be talking to the other Beatles if they arrived at the wedding? "I don't know," he said.
Earlier, I asked Ringo Starr if all the Beatles were going to St Tropez. He replied, "We've made our own arrangements."
Was the rift too great to be healed at a fellow pop idol's marriage? Ringo, wearing a white suit, black shirt, and sunglasses, turned aside without commenting.
By Edie Adam
The Reporter
May 15, 1976
This bicentennial year, nearly every occasion is optimistically called an "event." This past week, however, an event not seen in Philadelphia for 10 years took place and is liable to become the musical highlight of 1976. This was the concert appearance of Wings, featuring ex-Beatle, Paul McCartney.
The Wednesday and Friday night dates at the Spectrum mark the premier American tour of Wings, (Denny Lane, Jimmy McCulloch, Joe English, and Paul's wife Linda McCartney) and the first live shows McCartney has played since his heyday of Beatlemania.
The concert Wednesday night, a sellout was something to be reckoned with. Vendors hawked souvenirs such as McCartney T-shirts for six bucks (later to be reduced by 50%), photographs of the group and buttons of the "cute one."
Hare Krishna disciples paraded in front of the Spectrum, chanting and banging on drums, but they were ignored by onlookers after the first amused glance. And scalpers were out in full force. The lines grew longer every minute, and although Flyers talk popped up here and there, the main topic of conversation was Wings and the excitement of having a former Beatle in the City of Brotherly Love.
The concert, about two and a half hours long and scheduled to begin at eight, actually got underway about 20 minutes later. The crowd, although marijuana and booze were evident, was well behaved, but not bored. They clapped their hands, stomped their feet, whistled, and cheered. In short, did all those things that spontaneously follow with a good show. The only emotion not apparent was the screaming, hysterical adulation of Beatlemania.
The show led off with the title cut from Venus and Mars Are All Right Tonight, with the hall completely dark. The opening chords were strung as miniature circles of red and yellow light played on the ceiling. McCartney sang the slow intro in darkness, but as the band slammed into "Rock Show", the light sparked up, flashing their beams on the stage. From "Rock Show", a fast-moving number, Wings moved into "Jet", a thundering piece with Paul playing an excellent bass.
After greeting the audience, "Hello, Philadelphia and Flyers fans", McCartney moved over to the piano to take the first of five trips into his past. "Lady Madonna", a piano boogie from 1968, got the audience high enough to demand a replay. Paul obliged. "Maybe I'm Amazed," a beautiful love song from McCartney, the first solo LP followed. Then again, from the Beatles song book, " Long and Winding Road."
The stories about the next song had preceded the band to Philly. Linda introduced "Live and Let Die" as a tune about "a man known as 007." The song starts out slowly but builds to a sudden crescendo as it hits that peak, smoke bombs explode on stage, and a green laser beam flashes in time to the beat. The crowd loved it.
The band next put down its electric instruments and picked up acoustic guitars to perform what turned out to be the highlight of the concert, as they played through "Bluebird," "Picasso's Last Words", and "I've Just Seen a Face " from Rubber Soul. The rest of the group slowly faded to the wings until it was just Paul and his guitar on stage.
It took a lot of courage on McCartney's part to include tunes from his Beatles days. The comparison that is inevitable then and almost always comes out on the negative side. However, Paul managed it well, not trying to prove anything and at the same time, not attempting to avoid what had come before, as George Harrison tried to do on his tour.
Paul sang through the extraordinary, lovely "Blackbird" from the "white" album, and ended the acoustic set with one of the most loved songs of the decade: "Yesterday." The hall was silent as he sang with a voice more mature, but not lacking in intensity of feeling. A single spotlight, shining down on the simplicity and beauty of the moment, was, as one person said, "More than enough to bring tears to your eyes." As the last note faded, the audience leaped to its collective feet, applauding and cheering for several minutes.
The rest of the concert consisted of a collection of material from three albums, Band on the Run, Venus and Mars and Wings at the Speed of Sound. Jimmy McCulloch's vocals and guitar were featured on his "Medicine Jar", and Denny Laine soloed on "Spirits of Ancient Egypt" and "Time to Hide." Other selections included "My Love," "You Gave Me the Answer", a 30s type number dedicated to Fred Astaire and featuring a lighted stage in the follies tradition., "Magneto and Titanium Man", a story song about "three friends of mine," and Wings' latest single, "Silly Love Songs," spiced up a bit.
The concert ended with an extremely well known song "Band on the Run", and the band played a movie of the posing of the LP cover photo was shown. It presented an interesting and funny sideline. After the song was finished and Wings had thanked everyone, the crowd gave them a thundering standing ovation, calling them back for just one more song.
In the end, they came back for two encores. Paul thanked the audience again, promising to "see them next time" and walked off the stage arm in arm with his wife. The concert overall was a smashing success. The sound was excellent. The lighting was appropriate, and the musicianship was overwhelming. Each member knows his or her place in the group. Linda McCartney, the buff of many jokes and criticisms, performed well, not pretending to do more than she knew how.
Denny Laine, an original member of Wings, really got into the spirit of the concert, and Jimmy McCulloch's lead guitar work showed him to be near the top of his profession. Joe English has filled a position that has never been particularly stable in Wings, that of the drummer, to his credit.
Paul McCartney is, of course, the drawing card to any Wings effort. But more than that, in concert, he is the driving force. He always said that he loves performing live, and it shows. Apparently, the freedom to move, to scream if he feels like it, is very important, because even the weakest concert songs were superior to their album counterparts. A live album from this tour would seem to be a logical step for the new LP.
Paul McCartney, and coincidentally, Wings have come far since 1970. Many critics say that he's fallen prey to commercialism. He writes pop, not rock. His lyrics are schmaltzy, and he's a marshmallow without John Lennon. Whatever the case may be with the LPs, if the albums give him and the group the financial freedom, the incentive to tour and play as they did Wednesday night, more power to them, because Wings Over America is definitely an event not to be missed in any year.
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| Photos taken by Sonny McCartney (Paul's nephew / Mike's son) |
