Back to the Egg

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Back to the Egg
Wings studio album

Publication
(s)

0June 8, 1979 ( UK ) ,
June 11, 1979 ( US )

Label (s)

Format (s)

LP , MC , CD , download

Genre (s)

skirt

running time

42 min 1 s

occupation
  • Steve Holley: drums , percussion, piano

production

Studio (s)

chronology
Wings Greatest
(1978) 		Back to the Egg McCartney II
(Paul McCartney)
(1980)

Japanese Tears (Denny Laine)
(1980)

Back to the Egg ( English , back to basics' [accordingly]) is the seventh and last studio album and ninth album overall the group Wings . At the same time, it is Paul McCartney's twelfth album after the Beatles split up . It was released on June 8, 1979 in the UK and on June 11, 1979 in the US.

Emergence

After the release of the album London Town in March 1978, the wings had to reorient themselves. The contract with Capitol had expired, so Paul McCartney signed a new record deal with Columbia Records . At the same time, replacements had to be found for guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Joe English , who had left the group during the production of London Town . For Jimmy McCulloch came guitarist Laurence Juber , who until then had worked as a studio guitarist for Shirley Bassey , among others . Joe English was replaced by drummer Steve Holly , who said in an interview: “I starved for seven damn years before I got this job with the Wings. I had already drummed for Elton John and Kiki Dee , but for the first time in my life I am fine. ”Both musicians were introduced to the group through Denny Laine.

On May 5 and 6, 1978, the Wings recorded their first song Same Time Next Year for the film Next Year, same time with a new cast . The studio work took place in the RAK Studios and the Abbey Road Studios in London. The producers were Paul McCartney and Chris Thomas. Since the song was not used for the soundtrack, it was released in February 1990 as the B-side of the single Put It There .

For the film Heaven should wait , the Wings performed the song Did We Meet Somewhere Before? recorded, this piece was also not used for the planned soundtrack, but a year later for the film Rock 'n' Roll Highschool with the Ramones as the main actor. The title is not yet legally available and was only published on bootlegs .

The recordings for the album took about a year. From June 29th to July 27th 1978 the Wings recorded the first track To You in the "Spirit of Ranachan" studio in Scotland . Other songs recorded there during this time are: Again and Again and Again , Arrow Through Me , Winter Rose , Spin It On , Old Siam, Sir , Maisie (the song was recorded on Laurence Juber's 1982 album Standard Time in a revised version released) and Love Awake .

In July 1978 demo recordings for a possible soundtrack of the planned animation film Rupert the Bear were recorded. The songs that are currently only available as bootlegs are: Rupert Song , Tippi Tippi Toes , Flying Horses , When the Wind Is Blowing , The Palace of the King of the Birds , Sunshine Sometime , Sea / Cornish Wafer , Storm, Nutwood Scene , Walking in the Meadow , Sea Melody and Rupert Song .

Lympne Castle, where parts of the album were recorded

From September 11 to 29, 1978, the Wings went to the English county of Kent for three weeks , where Paul McCartney had rented Lympne Castle for studio recordings. “To many it may sound inconceivable that the old castle hall has better acoustics than many a recording studio. That's why I really wanted to work here, ”said Paul McCartney. The titles Reception , We're Open Tonight , After the Ball / Million Miles and The Broadcast were created at Lympne Castle . As an advertising gimmick, it was claimed that a castle ghost was in the tower of Lympne Castle during the recording. "We even recorded the creepy noises and used them as the background for some of the songs," says Paul McCartney, even if no such noises can be heard on the record.

From October to December 1978, further recordings were made at Abbey Road Studios in London, where the songs Rockestra Theme , So Glad to See You Here , Getting Closer and Baby's Request were recorded.

From December 1978 to February 1979, further recordings were made in Paul McCartney's Replica Studio , which was essentially a replica of the control room ("mixing room") of Studio 2 of Abbey Road Studios and is located in London's Soho Square. During this time, the two songs of the single Goodnight Tonight / Daytime Nightime Suffering , which were released in March 1979, were recorded. Despite the success of the single (No. 5 in the USA and Great Britain), it was decided not to make the piece a pre-release release of the album. The other recorded song, Cage, was originally intended for album release, but was then replaced by Baby's Request . Cage has only been released on bootlegs so far.

From May 28 to June 6, 1979, the Wings were to music video recordings at Lympne Castle, where they also recorded the songs Weep for Love and Robber's Ball . It is not likely that the two tracks were still planned for the album Back to the Egg (release date: June 8, 1979). Weep for Love was released on Denny Laine's Japanese Tears album in December 1980, while the song Robber's Ball was only released on bootlegs.

Commercially, Back to the Egg was not a success compared to the previous six Wings albums, only Wild Life reached even lower chart positions.

A Picture Disc edition of the album was produced in Great Britain for promotional purposes.

Cover design

The front of the LP cover shows a photo of the five band members in a dimly lit fireplace room. You have rolled back the carpet and look through the floor hatch of a spaceship into space at the globe. Like Wild Life from 1971, the front of the cover neither contains the group name nor the title of the album. The back shows the group name and the title of the album as well as the songs of the two LP sides. Individual shots of the five band members can be seen in the middle.

The actual LP adorns the center of a picture of a fried egg , the A-side shows the fried egg "sunny side up", an egg that is fried on one side only, in which the egg white has coagulated but the yolk is still liquid. The B-side shows the fried egg "over easy", ie an egg fried on both sides. When the CD was released in 1993, the sound carrier was also printed with a picture of a fried egg.

Track list

All tracks were written by Paul McCartney, only Again and Again and Again was composed by Denny Laine.

Page 1: Sunny Side Up

  1. Reception - 1:08
  2. Getting Closer - 3:22
  3. We're Open Tonight - 1:28
  4. Spin It On - 2:12
  5. Again and Again and Again - 3:34
  6. Old Siam, Sir - 4:11
  7. Arrow Through Me - 3:37

Page 2: Over Easy

  1. Rockestra Theme - 2:35
  2. To You - 3:12
  3. After the Ball / Million Miles - 4:00
  4. Winter Rose / Love Awake - 4:58
  5. The Broadcast - 1:30
  6. So Glad to See You Here - 3:20
  7. Baby's Request - 2:49

1989 and 1993 remaster bonus tracks

  • Daytime Nighttime Suffering - 3:23
  • Wonderful Christmastime - 3:49
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae - 1:48

iTunes Bonus Track (2007)

  • Goodnight Tonight (Extended Version) - 7:16

Information on individual songs

At the Winter Rose / Love Awake medley , the wings were musically supported by the Black Dyke Mills Band . Bass was not played by Paul McCartney on Love Awake , but by Laurence Juber. On Old Siam, Sir Denny Laine on bass and Steve Holly on piano could be heard.

Rockestra Theme was recorded with So Glad to See You Here on October 3, 1978 at Abbey Road Studios . Although all members of the Wings were involved in the title and Rockestra Theme appeared on Back to the Egg , numerous well-known musicians were involved in the recording, including David Gilmour , Hank Marvin , Pete Townshend , John Bonham , John Paul Jones , Ronnie Lane , Gary Brooker , Tony Ashton , Ray Cooper , Morris Pert and Howie Casey . Keith Moon , who died shortly before the recording, was replaced by Kenney Jones . Under the name Rockestra , the all-star group later appeared with, among other things, the title. In 1980 Rockestra Theme was awarded a Grammy in the category "Best Rock Instrumental Performance".

Re-releases

  • On July 24, 1989, the album was first released on CD with three bonus songs. The CD is accompanied by an illustrated leaflet that can be folded out twice.
  • In April 1993 the CD was released in a version remastered by Peter Mew with the same three bonus songs. The CD is accompanied by a four-page booklet with illustrations containing information about the album.
  • In May 2007 the album was released in download format.

Single releases

Goodnight Tonight

On March 23, 1979 (USA: March 19, 1979) the single Goodnight Tonight / Daytime Nighttime Suffering was released, which was also released as a 12 "vinyl maxi single with a longer A-side.

The promotional single was published in the USA as follows: on the A-side is the mono version and on the B-side the stereo version of the song of the A-side of the purchase single.

Getting closer

In July 1979 the single Getting Closer / Spin It On was released in Germany (USA: June 4, 1979) .

The promotional single was published in the USA as follows: on the A-side is the mono version and on the B-side the stereo version of the song of the A-side of the purchase single.

Old Siam, sir

In Great Britain, the first single was Old Siam, Sir / Spin It On , it took place on June 1, 1979.

Getting Closer / Baby's Request

In the UK, the double A-side single Getting Closer / Baby's Request was released on August 10, 1979 .

Arrow Through Me

In the US appeared on August 13, 1979 as the second single Arrow Through Me / Old Siam, Sir .

The promotional single Arrow Through Me was first published in stereo on both sides in the USA.

Further single releases

  • In France, the second single Rockestra Theme / Old Siam, Sir was released in August 1979 .
  • In December 1980 in the US, the single was released Goodnight Tonight / Getting Closer by Columbia Records as a re-release.

Music videos

Music videos were turned to the single A sides.

Chart placements

year album Chart placements annotation
DE AT CH UK US
1979 Back to the Egg 15th 12 - 6th 8th
year Single release Chart placements annotation
DE AT CH UK US
1979 Goodnight Tonight
Separate single 		34 - - 5 5
1979 Getting Closer
Back to the Egg 		- - - nv 20th
1979 Old Siam, Sir
Back to the Egg 		nv nv nv 35 nv The single was only released in the UK.
1979 Getting Closer / Baby's Request
Back to the Egg 		nv nv nv 60 nv The double A-side single was only released in the UK.
1979 Arrow Through Me
Back to the Egg 		nv nv nv nv 29 The single was only released in the US.

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region Award Sales
Awards for music sales
(country / region, Award, Sales)
Canada (MC) Canada (MC) Platinum record icon.svg 2 × platinum 200,000
United States (RIAA) United States (RIAA) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 1,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI) United Kingdom (BPI) Gold record icon.svg gold 100,000
All in all Gold record icon.svg1 × gold
Platinum record icon.svg3 × platinum
 1,300,000

criticism

The leisure magazine praised Back to the Egg . The tracks are “in the typical Wings sound, musically full of unusual ideas and played groovy.” Bravo emphasized that the record was not based on the single Goodnight Tonight : “No disco, no lard - Paul goes completely new, unusual for him Ways. He rocks like a 20-year-old, with a power as if he wanted to show the world what the hour was about. And all with the quality you are used to. "

Other critics panned Back to the Egg : “The low point was reached in 1979. The Back to the Egg -LP , published in July, disappointed again despite the participation of some rock greats. Paul seemed lulled into his own world, and soon you could only be amazed at his carelessness. ”At the beginning of the Japan tour for the album in 1980 , McCartney was arrested for drug possession and spent ten days in custody.

Allmusic rated Back to the Egg two out of five stars and especially criticized the titles, which lacked that certain something in every respect.

Video recordings

From May 28 to June 6, 1979, Keith McMillan directed music videos of the songs Goodnight Tonight , Getting Closer , Spin It On , Again and Again and Again , Old Siam , Sir , Arrow Through Me , Winter Rose in Lympne Castle / Love Awake and Baby's Request filmed. Furthermore, a documentary film entitled Rockestra was recorded, which is about the recordings for the title Rockestra Theme on October 3, 1978, the film length is about 43 minutes.

Concerts for the People of Kampuchea / Last Tour of the Wings

From November 23 to December 17, 1979 the Wings went on tour through Great Britain with 19 concerts. It was to be the Wings' last tour.

From the concert in Glasgow on December 17, 1979, the song Coming Up was released as the B-side of the Paul McCartney single Coming Up (studio version) in April 1980. Since in the USA mostly the B-side was played on the radio, Coming Up is the last Wings single and also their last number one hit.

From December 26-29, 1979, Paul McCartney and Kurt Waldheim , Secretary General of the United Nations , hosted four charity concerts for the people of Cambodia at Hammersmith Odeon . As part of this concert series, the Wings gave their last concert on December 29, 1979.

Parts of the concerts appeared in March 1981 on the double vinyl LP Concert for the People of Kampuchea , on page four of the double album the following three Wings titles and three Rockestra titles were published:

  1. Got to Get You into My Life ( Lennon / McCartney ) - 2:57
  2. Every Night (McCartney) - 4:17
  3. Coming Up (McCartney) - 4:08

At the end of the Wings concert, the assembled group Rockestra, consisting of the Wings and the following musicians: John Paul Jones , John Bonham , Robert Plant , the group Rockpile , James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Townshend played the songs:

  1. Lucille (Collins / Penniman ) - 3:03
  2. Let It Be (Lennon / McCartney) - 4:12
  3. Rockestra Theme (McCartney) - 2:30

A musical film about the concerts was broadcast in Great Britain on January 4, 1981, which also contains the songs Getting Closer and Arrow Through Me .

literature

  • Chip Madinger and Mark Easter: Eight Arms To Hold You - The Solo Compendium . 44.1 Productions 2000, ISBN 0-615-11724-4 (pp. 240-248).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The two new ones from the Wings: Paul plucks a wrong note too . In: The Leisure Magazine for Young People , No. 36, September 3, 1979, p. 2.
  2. ↑ Patrick Wolff: Wings: In the beginning there was the egg! In: Rocky, July 1979, p. 5.
  3. ↑ a b c Paul strikes again . In: Freizeit-Magazin, No. 30, July 23, 1979, p. 23.
  4. ↑ See Paul McCartney sessionography. ( Memento from June 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Margit Rietti: Paul McCartney with lard hairstyle . In: Bravo , No. 25, June 13, 1979, p. 29.
  6. ↑ Cf. rollingstone.com : "Back to the Egg failed to yield a hit and sold unspectacularly."
  7. ↑ Back to the Egg Picture Disc ( Memento from January 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Single: Goodnight Tonight
  9. ↑ Maxi single: Goodnight Tonight
  10. ↑ Promotional single : Goodnight Tonight
  11. ↑ Single: Getting Closer
  12. ↑ Promotion single : Getting Closer
  13. ↑ Single: Old Siam, Sir
  14. ↑ Single: Getting Closer / Baby's Request
  15. ↑ Single: Arrow Through Me
  16. ↑ Promotional single : Arrow Through Me
  17. ↑ French single: Rockestra Theme
  18. ↑ Single: Goodnight Tonight / Getting Closer
  19. ↑ a b Chart sources: everyhit.com , austriancharts.at
  20. ↑ Paul, Feelgood, Paradise. Wings: Back to the Egg . In: Bravo , June 28, 1979.
  21. ^ Tomas F. Lansky: Paul McCartney . Moewig, Rastatt 1988, p. 91.
  22. ↑ "... the true problem is the songs, which have no spark whatsoever." Cf. allmusic.com