Paul McCartney,Wings/UK 1972 Raw Tapes

Wings’ excitement for Paul’s visit to Japan hasn’t waned as their two early albums, “WINGS WILD LIFE” and “RED ROSE SPEEDWAY,” have finally been reissued, making things even more exciting. It is a legendary story that when they first formed, they went on an unannounced tour of British universities to strengthen the band’s unity. Nowadays, this time of year is called “college tours,” and it’s really a random act where a band visits a university near their route and asks if they can play a show tonight. It was a live activity at the height of simplicity, negotiating with people. After all, it was a band formed after the Beatles, and Paul also added his wife Linda, who had virtually no experience as a musician, as a member, so it was the result of Paul starting the group extremely carefully. Therefore, all the concerts that were realized had the appearance of surprise gigs, but there is an audience recording of the first show held at the University of Nottingham on February 9, 1972. I can only think of it as a miracle. The group’s first album “WINGS WILD LIFE” had just been released, and people generally didn’t expect them to perform live. There are such historical sound sources, and items such as “FIRST FLIGHT” were released in the 21st century, but this sound source originally had a lot of hiss noise, and more than that, it reflected the trends of the time. As a result, intense equalization has been applied. Still, it was highly praised among enthusiasts because it was a valuable sound source, but now that more than 15 years have passed since then, it is indeed difficult to listen through with that tremendous sense of equalization. Even the details of the performance were distorted. To tell the truth, although the original sound does have a strong hiss noise, it is still an audience recording at a level that can be heard by enthusiasts. No, I definitely can’t recommend it to people who were interested in Paul’s performance in Japan the other day (lol). It is also true that the sound quality deteriorates in “Bip Bop” and the blues (song title unknown) sung by Henry McCulloch. Still, compared to the previously released version, the sound is rougher, but rather warmer and more natural, so you can enjoy it in an overwhelmingly likable state. The disadvantage of the already released version is that there was a large rise in pitch from the middle, but the sound source that was the basis of this gift, on the contrary, has a lower pitch. This time, I made some adjustments to make it even easier to listen to. After all, they were a newly formed band before going on an official live tour. There’s no way to hope for a cohesive sound. In terms of atmosphere, you might imagine it as a “big-boned school festival band.” What is surprising here is that Denny Lane and Henry McCulloch each sing the blues. Not only in Wings, but also in Paul’s live history, it is extremely rare for him to play such authentic blues. From here, you can see how Linda and other members are trying to unite by playing a simple 3-chord blues. On the other hand, it is also valuable that songs from the Red Rose era such as “My Love” and “The Mess”, which had not even been recorded yet, have already been played. What’s more, I was surprised to see Linda acting as the vocalist in both songs. It’s really moving to think that this simple performance was the starting point for the hugely successful Wings. And the same goes for the fact that the state of the first live stage remained as a sound source. It is true that the sound quality is like a so-called “rough sound source”, but it is still a historical recording that is natural and can be heard well. University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK 9th February 1972 1972 Wings University Tour(49:28) 1. Blue Moon Of Kentucky 2. Give Ireland Back To The Irish 3. You’ve Got To Help Me Darling (Denny Laine) 4. Thank You Darling 5. Wild Life 6. Bip Bop 7. Shuffle Blues (Henry McCullough) 8. The Mess 9. My Love 10. Lucille 11. Long Tall Sally