Wings at the Speed of Sound

Wings at the Speed of Sound is the fifth studio album by the British–American rock band Wings, released on 25 March 1976. Issued at the height of the band's popularity, it reached the top spot on the US album chart and peaked at number 2 on the UK album chart. Both singles from the album also reached the top 5 of the UK and US singles charts, with 'Silly Love Songs' reaching number 1 in the US.

Wings at the Speed of Sound
Studio album by
Wings
Released25 March 1976
RecordedAugust–October 1975; 5 January – 4 February 1976
StudioAbbey Road, London
GenreRock
Length46:36
LabelCapitol
ProducerPaul McCartney
Wings chronology
Venus and Mars
(1975)		 Wings at the Speed of Sound
(1976)		 Wings over America
(1976)
Singles from Wings at the Speed of Sound
  1. "Silly Love Songs"
    Released: 1 April 1976
  2. "Let 'Em In"
    Released: 28 June 1976

The album was recorded and released in the midst of Wings' highly successful Wings Over the World tour, with songs from the album performed on the tour after its release. Subsequently, performances of "Let 'Em In", "Time to Hide", 'Silly Love Songs' and "Beware My Love" were included on the live album Wings over America, released in December 1976. The album, after the 2010 CD version, was again remastered in 2014 with further improved audio quality.

As a reaction to critics who believed Wings was merely a vehicle for Paul McCartney, the album featured every member of the band taking lead vocals on at least one song, and two songs from the album are written or co-written by band members other than the McCartneys.

History

After a series of concerts in Australia in November 1975, Wings took a break from the tour to spend the holidays with their families and in January 1976 booked time at Abbey Road Studios in London to record Wings at the Speed of Sound. It was the first time McCartney had fully recorded an album in England since Red Rose Speedway. Because of the tour commitments, Wings were not afforded the opportunity to record in another locale. By the end of February, the album was complete, and Wings went back on the road.

Around the time of the studio sessions for Wings at the Speed of Sound, Wings were facing criticism for being merely a vehicle for McCartney. He encouraged each of the band members to contribute a song during the sessions. McCartney had previously attempted to create a democratic album in Red Rose Speedway, though it would be rejected by his record label.[1]

Engineer Peter Henderson later commented, "I remember one of my first engineering jobs, working with Paul McCartney on Wings at the Speed of Sound — he'd do two vocal takes and ask, 'Which is the better one?' And when he played guitar, he'd really lean into it and give it everything he got."[2] Two tracks ("The Note You Never Wrote" and "Warm and Beautiful") were arranged by Fiachra Trench.[3]

Recording

The album was recorded at Abbey Road in two different sessions: first sessions took place in August/September and October 1975, with work resuming in January–February 1976. During the playback of "Must Do Something About It", Paul heard drummer Joe English sing the song and decided to have him take the lead vocal. In "Cook of the House", McCartney handled double-bass, while "Silly Love Songs" was arranged in a disco-style, in a similar fashion to Al Green's "Sha La La".[4]

Release and reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Classic Rock7/10[6]
The Essential Rock Discography4/10[7]
MusicHound Rock2/5[8]
PopMatters[9]
Q[10]
Record Collector[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[12]
The Village VoiceB–[13]

Wings at the Speed of Sound was released in late March 1976 to lukewarm critical reviews. Rolling Stone's reviewer described it as a "Day with the McCartneys" concept album. The introduction, "Let 'Em In" was perceived as an invitation to join the McCartneys on this fantasy day, with explanation of their philosophy ("Silly Love Songs"), a lunch break ("Cook of the House"), and a chance to get to know McCartney's friends (Denny Laine in "The Note You Never Wrote", Jimmy McCulloch in "Wino Junko", etc.).[14]

The album reached number 2 in the United Kingdom (and was the 4th best-selling album of 1976). It became McCartney's most successful American chart album since his days in The Beatles, spending seven nonconsecutive weeks at number 1 throughout the summer (and blocking the new Beatles compilation Rock 'n' Roll Music, which reached number 2). Wings at the Speed of Sound sold 3.5 million copies worldwide.[6]

Much of the album's success can be attributed to its two smash singles. "Silly Love Songs", a response to his critics and one of McCartney's biggest hits, followed the album in April, and became one of 1976's biggest-selling singles. This was followed in July with "Let 'Em In", which also scaled the singles charts. Amid all this, Wings finally went to North America for the Wings Over America Tour, playing McCartney's first shows there in ten years (after The Beatles' last tour in 1966) to euphoric reaction; four selections from Speed of Sound were included in the tour setlist.

Denny Laine covered "Time to Hide" and "The Note You Never Wrote" in 1996 on his album Wings at the Sound of Denny Laine.[15]

Further releases

In 1993, Wings at the Speed of Sound was remastered and reissued on compact disc as part of The Paul McCartney Collection series; "Walking in the Park with Eloise", which had been released under the name the Country Hams, its B-side "Bridge on the River Suite", and the Wings track "Sally G" (the B-side to their single "Junior's Farm") were added as bonus tracks. All were recorded in Nashville in 1974.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Let 'Em In" P. McCartney5:10
2."The Note You Never Wrote" Denny Laine4:21
3."She's My Baby" P. McCartney3:08
4."Beware My Love" P. McCartney and Linda McCartney6:28
5."Wino Junko"McCulloch, AllenJimmy McCulloch5:21
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
6."Silly Love Songs" P. McCartney with L. McCartney and Laine5:54
7."Cook of the House" L. McCartney2:39
8."Time to Hide"LaineLaine4:32
9."Must Do Something About It" Joe English3:43
10."San Ferry Anne" P. McCartney2:07
11."Warm and Beautiful" P. McCartney3:13
Total length:46:36
1987 CD & 1993 The Paul McCartney Collection bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Walking in the Park with Eloise" (recorded at Nashville as 'The Country Hams')James McCartney3:07
13."Bridge on the River Suite" (recorded at Nashville as 'The Country Hams') 3:12
14."Sally G" (B-side of “Junior’s Farm”) 3:37

2014 remaster

On 23 September 2014 the album was re-issued by Hear Music/Concord Music Group as part of the fifth set of releases, alongside Venus and Mars, in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection. It was released in multiple formats:[16]

  • Standard Edition: 2-CD; the original 11-track album on the first disc, plus 7 bonus tracks on the second disc.
  • Deluxe Edition: 2-CD/1-DVD; the original 11-track album, the 7 bonus tracks disc, and a hardback book featuring unpublished photographs, new interviews with Paul, material from Paul's archives and expanded track-by-track information. The deluxe version bonus DVD comprises filmed material from around the time of the album release, some of which has never been seen before. The DVD features rare and previously unseen footage, including the documentaries "Wings over Wembley", "Wings in Venice" and the "Silly Love Songs" music video.
  • Remastered vinyl: The album is available on a special gatefold vinyl edition (the vinyl edition includes a download card).
  • High resolution: Digital album is available as both standard and deluxe versions – including Mastered for iTunes and in high resolution.
Disc two ‐ Bonus Audio
No.TitleLength
1."Silly Love Songs" (demo)2:44
2."She's My Baby" (demo)3:46
3."Message to Joe"0:24
4."Beware My Love" (John Bonham version)5:35
5."Must Do Something About It" (Paul's version)3:37
6."Let 'Em In" (demo)4:18
7."Warm and Beautiful" (instrumental demo)1:27
Disc three ‐ DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Silly Love Songs" (music video)5:45
2."Wings over Wembley"13:22
3."Wings in Venice"3:10

Personnel

Additional musicians

Charts

References
  1. McCartney: Songwriter ISBN 0-491-03325-7 pp. 117–119
  2. Buskin, Richard (July 2005). CLASSIC TRACKS: Supertramp's 'Logical Song', Sound on Sound.
  3. Luca Perasi, Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013), L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-88-909122-1-4
  4. Luca Perasi, Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013), L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-88-909122-1-4, pp. 137–146.
  5. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Wings at the Speed of Sound at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  6. Sexton, Paul (October 2014). "Wings Reissues". Classic Rock. p. 97.
  7. Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh, UK: Canongate. p. 696. ISBN 978-184195-827-9.
  8. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 731. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  9. Bergstrom, John (1 December 2014). "Paul McCartney and Wings: Wings at the Speed of Sound". PopMatters. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  10. Nicol, Jimmy (October 1993). "Re-releases: Paul McCartney The Paul McCartney Collection". Q. p. 119.
  11. Staunton, Terry (October 2014). "Wings Venus and Mars / Wings at the Speed of Sound". Record Collector. p. 99.
  12. "Paul McCartney: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  13. Christgau, Robert (14 June 1976). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  14. Holden, Stephen (20 May 1976). "Wings at the Speed of Sound". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
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  16. http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/wings-reissue-venus-and-mars-and-at-the-speed-of-sound
  17. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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