London Town

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
London Town
Wings studio album

Publication
(s)

March 27, 1978 ( US ) ,
March 31, 1978 ( UK )

Label (s) Parlophone (UK)
Capitol Records (US) / EMI

Format (s)

LP , MC , CD , download

Genre (s)

Rock music

Title (number)

14th

running time

51 min 29 s

occupation
  • Denny Laine : vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, flageolet, percussion
  • Joe English: drums, percussion

production

Paul McCartney

Studio (s)

chronology
Thrillington
(1977)

Holly Days
(Denny Laine with Paul and Linda McCartney)
(1977)

London Town Wings Greatest
(1978)

London Town is the sixth studio album and the seventh album by the group Wings . It is also the tenth album by Paul McCartney after the Beatles split up . It was released on March 31, 1978 in the UK and on March 27, 1978 in the US.

Emergence

After her world tour Wings Over the World , Jimmy McCulloch released the single Call My Name / Too Many Miles in October 1976 . In the summer of 1976 Paul and Linda McCartney went with Denny Laine to Rude Studio in Campbeltown for three weeks to record ten songs by Buddy Holly . Denny Laine took over the lead vocals and so the album was released under the name Holly Days by Denny Laine in May 1977.

On February 6, 1977, the Wings began work on a new album at Abbey Road Studios in London. Another tour was planned, but the planning as well as the work on the album took a back seat when Linda McCartney discovered that she was pregnant. At the end of March 1977, the work in the Abbey Road Studios was initially finished. However, after a vacation by the McCartneys in Jamaica in April, they continued from May 1 to May 31, 1977 off the island of Saint John ( US Virgin Islands ). This is where the members of the Wings lived and worked on four chartered yachts, with Fair Carol serving as a recording studio. The idea of ​​recording the album on a boat came from Denny Laine. The album was given the working title Water Wings .

In June 1977 Paul and Linda McCartney recorded the songs Sugartime and Mr. Sandman sung by Linda McCartney with reggae producer Lee "Scratch" Perry , which were only officially released in October 1998 on the Linda McCartney album Wide Prairie .

Due to Linda McCartney's progressive pregnancy - McCartney's son James was born in September 1977 - the recording of the album was interrupted in late May 1977. In August, the group recorded the song Mull of Kintyre at the Spirit of Ranachan Studio in Campbeltown , but otherwise rarely worked in the studio. From September 1977 the nine songs, seven of which were published on the album, were completed. In the same month Jimmy McCulloch and between September and November Joe English left the wings. Especially Joe English attacked McCartney publicly during this time: “Everything just went according to Paul's plan. He's really an excellent musician, but he can't get out of his direction. That sucks over time ”. He became a member of the group Sea Level , while Jimmy McCulloch became a member of Small Faces , then formed his own band The Dukes and died on September 27, 1979 as a result of his drug use.

From October 25, 1977 to December 1, Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and Denny Laine continued to work on the new album, from December 3 to 14, no longer in Abbey Road Studios, but in George Martin's AIR Studios in London Recordings. The completion of the album London Town took place from 4th to 23rd January 1978 again in the Abbey Road Studios. As a pre-release of the album, the single With a Little Luck (B-side Backwards Traveler / Cuff Link ) was released on March 24, 1978 . The album London Town was finally released on March 31, 1978.

Other songs completed during the recording process included Mull of Kintyre and Girls' School , which were released as single, as was B-Side to Seaside , which was released as the B-side of the single Seaside Woman under the pseudonym Suzy and the Red Stripes was released in May 1977. The pieces of music Find a Way Somehow , composed and sung by Denny Laine, as well as Waterspout remained unpublished. The latter song was reworked in the years to come and was originally supposed to be featured on the compilation album All the Best! In November 1987 . to be published; however, this plan was rejected. Other unpublished songs mentioned in the literature have not yet been published on bootlegs and are therefore not detectable.

Cover design

The album cover shows Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and Denny Laine in the foreground and Tower Bridge in the background . It was created by the three Wings members and with the help of Hipgnosis .

Track list

page 1
  1. London Town - 4:10
  2. Cafe on the Left Bank - 3:25 am
  3. I'm Carrying - 2:44
  4. Backwards Traveler - 1:09
  5. Cuff Link - 1:59
  6. Children Children - 2:22
  7. Girlfriend - 4:39
  8. I've Had Enough - 3:02
Page 2
  2. With a Little Luck - 5:45
  3. Famous Groupies - 3:36
  4. Deliver Your Children - 4:17
  5. Name and Address - 3:07
  6. Don't Let It Bring You Down - 4:34
  7. Morse Moose and the Gray Goose - 6:25
1993 remaster bonus tracks
  2. Girls' School - 4:38
  3. Mull of Kintyre - 4:42

Information on individual songs

Paul McCartney wrote most of the songs on the album, with London Town , Children Children , Deliver Your Children , Don't Let It Bring You Down and Morse Moose and the Gray Goose being collaborated with Denny Laine. Laine also sang Children Children and Deliver Your Children . Deliver Your Children was written by Laine and McCartney in the spring of 1975 while they were working on the album Venus and Mars .

Re-releases

  • On August 28, 1989, the album was first released on CD with the bonus song Girls' School . The CD is accompanied by a twelve-page booklet with illustrations containing the lyrics. On the CD and in the booklet it is stated that the album was digitally remastered.
  • In April 1993 the CD was released in a version remastered by Peter Mew with two bonus songs. The CD comes with a twelve-page illustrated booklet containing information on the album and the lyrics to the song.
  • In May 2007 the album was released in download format.

Single releases

Mull of Kintyre

On November 11, 1977, the single Mull of Kintyre / Girls' School was released, which became the first number one hit for Paul McCartney in Great Britain. In the US, Girls' School was advertised as an A-side. An abridged version of Girls' School was also released there as a promotional single; this version was used on August 28, 1989 for the CD version in Europe.

The British promotional single contains an abridged version of Mull of Kintyre and Girls' School .

In Israel , the single was released on red, yellow and blue vinyl.

In the GDR , the single Mull of Kintyre was distributed in 1980 with a different cover design. It was the only single from the Wings / Paul McCartney that was released in the GDR.

With a little luck

On March 24, 1978 (USA: March 20, 1978) the single With a Little Luck / Backwards Traveler - Cuff Link was released and became the sixth number one hit for Paul McCartney in the USA.

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

I've had enough

The second single I've Had Enough / Deliver Your Children took place on June 16, 1978 (USA: June 5, 1978).

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

London Town

On August 11, 1978 (USA: August 14, 1978) the third single London Town / I'm Carrying was released .

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

Music videos

Music videos were turned to the single A sides. Two music videos were made for the song Mull of Kintyre .

  • Note: Michael Jackson covered the song Girlfriend, which appeared on his LP Off the Wall in 1979 and was also released as a single in 1980.

Chart placements

year album Chart placements annotation
DE AT CH UK US
1978 London Town 3 4th - 4th 2 The album also reached number 1 in the Dutch charts, number 4 in the Swedish charts, number 2 in the Norwegian charts and number 4 in the New Zealand charts.
year Single release Chart placements annotation
DE AT CH UK US
1977 Mull of Kintyre
Separate single 		1 1 1 1 33 The title also reached number 1 in the New Zealand and Australian charts.
1978 With a Little Luck
London Town 		17th 19th 11 5 1 The title also reached number 11 in the Dutch charts, number 21 in the Belgian charts (Flemish), number 6 in the Norwegian charts and number 14 in the New Zealand charts.
1978 I've Had Enough
London Town 		- - - 42 25th
1978 London Town
London Town 		- - - 60 39 It also reached number 11 in the Dutch charts, number 9 in the Norwegian charts and number 8 in the New Zealand charts.

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region Award Sales
Awards for music sales
(country / region, Award, Sales)
Germany (BVMI) Germany (BVMI) Gold record icon.svg gold 250,000
France (SNEP) France (SNEP) Gold record icon.svg gold 100,000
Netherlands (NVPI) Netherlands (NVPI) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 100,000
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.svg3 × gold,
Platinum record icon.svg2 × platinum
 1,550,000

criticism

The criticism was largely positive in London Town . The album was "like a single piece: technically brilliant, musically excellent." London Town sounds like the "ideal accompaniment to a relaxed Sunday afternoon sailing trip" and contains a slow, dreamy mood. The Rolling Stone called the album lighthearted and in parts half-hearted; the three Wings members "fly carefree from fairy tale to fairy tale and do not notice that there is a real world out there, and certainly not a real audience". For allmusic , London Town was one of McCartney's strongest albums to date: The album was "a relaxed, almost effortless collection of professional pop songs". These are light and melodic, seem like they were created off the cuff and have a "domestic charm and uncompromising loveliness".

Other critics found that the Wings had passed their musical zenith with London Town , especially since McCartney saw the end of the Wings at this time. The album is "an extremely tamed affair with no rough edges" and the majority of the songs sounded "poorly thought out, unfinished or both," said McCartney biographer Peter Ames Carlin.

literature

  • Chip Madinger and Mark Easter: Eight Arms To Hold You - The Solo Compendium . 44.1 Productions 2000, ISBN 0-615-11724-4 (pp. 224-235).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Album: Holly Days
  2. ^ Garry McGee: Band on the Run: A History of Paul McCartney and Wings . Taylor Trade, New York 2003, p. 109.
  3. ↑ a b Judith Philipp, Ralf Simon: Listen to What the Man Said. Paul McCartney and his songs. A complete retrospective of the records, videos & films . Pendragon, Bielefeld 1991, p. 81.
  4. ^ Garry McGee: Band on the Run: A History of Paul McCartney and Wings . Taylor Trade, New York 2003, pp. 109-110
  5. ^ Jochen Malms: Paul McCartney & Wings. The new successes of the ex-Beatle . Heyne, Munich 1981, p. 106.
  6. ↑ Suzy and the Red Stripes Single: Seaside Woman
  7. ^ Judith Philipp, Ralf Simon: Listen to What the Man Said. Paul McCartney and his songs. A complete retrospective of the records, videos & films . Pendragon, Bielefeld 1991, p. 83.
  8. ^ Judith Philipp, Ralf Simon: Listen to What the Man Said. Paul McCartney and his songs. A complete retrospective of the records, videos & films . Pendragon, Bielefeld 1991, p. 84.
  9. ↑ Single: Mull of Kintyre
  10. ↑ British promotional single: Mull of Kintyre
  11. ↑ Israeli single (red vinyl): Mull of Kintyre
  12. ↑ Israeli single (yellow vinyl): Mull of Kintyre
  13. ↑ Israeli single (blue vinyl): Mull of Kintyre
  14. ^ GDR single Mull of Kintyre
  15. ^ GDR publication of the Beatles / Solo
  16. ↑ Single: With a Little Luck
  17. ↑ Promotional single : With a Little Luck
  18. ↑ Single: I've Had Enough
  19. ↑ Promotional single : I've Had Enough
  20. ↑ Single: London Town
  21. ↑ Promotional single : London Town
  22. ↑ Chart sources: hitparade.ch , allmusic.com
  23. ↑ See overview on hitparade.ch
  24. ↑ Chart sources: allmusic.com , musicline.de ( Memento of the original from December 6th, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musicline.de
  25. ↑ See overview on hitparade.ch
  26. ↑ See overview on hitparade.ch
  27. ↑ a b Jochen Malms: Paul McCartney & Wings. The new successes of the ex-Beatle . Heyne, Munich 1981, p. 110.
  28. ↑ "flit blithely from fairy tale to fairy tale, with virtually no notion that there's a real world out there, let alone a real audience." Janet Maslin: Paul McCartney. London Town . In: Rolling Stone , June 15, 1978 ( online ).
  29. ↑ “… skillfully crafting engagingly light, tuneful songs that charm with their offhanded craft, domesticity, and unapologetic sweetness. […] It's a laid-back, almost effortless collection of professional pop and, as such, it's one of his strongest albums. "Cf. Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Paul McCartney / Wings: London Town . allmusic.com.
  30. ^ Vincent Perez Benitez: The Words and Music of Paul McCartney: The Solo Years . Praeger, New York 2010, p. 79.
  31. ↑ Peter Ames Carlin: Paul McCartney. The biography . Hannibal, Höfen 2010, p. 331.