While conceding that it took the band a few albums to gel, I always loved the band and think the latter albums (London Town and Back to the Egg) are very underrated.
A few years back, Macca put out the splendid DVD Wingspan, which chronicled the whole of the 70s for Paul, from the Beatles break-up and his massive depression following it, to his re-energized career and the ashes to glory story of Wings.
The apex for Wings was this mid 70s period where McCartney could sell out arenas again and put out great sounding singles that placed well in the charts. Once Wings achieved this massive success, I get the feeling McCartney felt vindicated and didn't need to prove himself anymore, and then Wings kind of petered out.
Wings Over America, the triple album that chronicled the 1976 tour I just mentioned, is going to come out in expanded, remastered format on May 28. This version will have an additional disc from a California concert, plus a DVD of the Wings special Wings Over The World. There will also be the regular less expensive version that maps to the original release, but of course also remastered.
Also being released is the film Rockshow, the full concert (not the edited version that came out on VHS and Betamax in 1980) fully restored from the original 35mm film and with restored & remastered sound. I didn't know this before looking into the re-release but this tour was the only time McCartney toured the States in the 70s, and it was his first appearance there since the mid-60s with the Beatles, so no wonder it was such a success!
I had Rockshow on a video tape and watched it a million times. Its the ultimate chronicle of live Wings, from Paul pulling out old Beatles tunes in an acoustic set (I've Just Seen A Face, Blackbird), to Wings hits (Live and Let Die, Band on the Run), to Wings B-sides (Letting Go, Rockshow, Let Me Roll It).
Rockshow will also be shown on the big screen for one night only on May 15. For a listing of theaters, go to http://rockshowonscreen.com/.
Below is a YouTube of Let Me Roll It from the film. It'll be nice to have a cleaned up version. I was wondering when this might come out again, and I happy to see it's imminent!
2 comments:
Used to have a VHS copy of Rockshow back in the early 80s and I played it until the tape stretched/snapped. A buddy of mine and I were talking about this period of Wings a few weeks ago. In his opinion (and mine) Paul greatly benefitted from having Denny Laine in the band. Swiss Army knife instrumentalist, strong singer, decent writer, etc. This was Wings at their tightest. Nice to see a remastered version hitting the streets. I really dig Back to the Egg as well, though that was the end of an era (and Wings).
I'm disappointed that the only way to get the bonus film or extra live tracks is to shell out the uber-big bucks for the deluxe edition. I was willing to pay semi-uber bucks for the McCartney and McCartney II stuff because it didn't come with multiple books and stuff I didn't really want. Same thing with RAM.
That said - the remasters are great, sound wonderful and the price is reasonable as long as you don't go for the deluxe version.
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