Wings at the speed of sound

Wings at the speed of sound
Wings studio album
Publication (s)	March 22, 1976 ( US ) , March 26, 1976 ( UK )
Label (s)	Capitol Records / EMI / Universal Music
Format (s)	LP , MC , CD , download
Genre (s)	Rock music
Title (number)	11
running time	46 min 38 s
occupation	Paul McCartney : vocals , acoustic guitar, bass , keyboards Linda McCartney : keyboard, vocals Denny Laine : vocals, piano , acoustic guitar, bass Jimmy McCulloch : acoustic guitar, bass, vocals Joe English : drums , vocals Tony Dorsey : Trumpet Thaddeus Richard : saxophone , clarinet , flute Steve Howard : Trumpet , flugelhorn Howie Casey : Saxophone Sound engineer : Pete Henderson
production	Paul McCartney
Studio (s)	Abbey Road Studios , London
chronology Venus and Mars (1975) Wings at the speed of sound Wings over America (1976)

Wings at the Speed of Sound ( English wing with supersonic speed [literally]) is the fifth studio album by the group Wings . It is also the seventh album by Paul McCartney after the Beatles split up . It was released on March 22, 1976 in the US and on March 26, 1976 in the UK.

Emergence

Following the release of their album Venus and Mars , the Wings went on their world tour Wings over the World from September 1975 . From September 6 to September 23, 1975 the Wings went on tour in Great Britain and gave 14 concerts; followed by an Australian tour from November 1 to November 14, 1975 with nine concerts.

The first recordings for the album took place on August 28, 1975 at Olympic Studios in London , where the Wings recorded the song Beware My Love with John Bonham on drums. This version was not used for the album and was only released in October 2014. On October 14, 1975, the Wings recorded The Note You Never Wrote as the first song for the album in London's Abbey Road Studios .

Subsequently planned performances in Japan could not take place, because McCartney was banned from entering the country due to his drug past from the Beatles' times. The McCartneys went on vacation to Hawaii instead, where Paul McCartney was putting together material for the new album.

Further recordings finally took place from January 5 to February 4, 1976 at Abbey Road Studios, after which the songs were mixed. According to McCartney, the record's recording time was short, “but we could have made it much faster. We didn't really hurry, but let the ideas blossom ”.

Wings at the Speed ​​of Sound is the only Wings album on which all members were also represented as singers, for example Linda McCartney sang on Cook of the House , Joe English on Must Do Something About It and Jimmy McCulloch on Wino Junko . Time to Hide was written and sung by Denny Laine, Laine also sang The Note You Never Wrote .

The song Must Do Something About It was also recorded with the vocals of Paul McCartney, but was not released until October 2014.

After the end of the recordings, the Wings continued their world tour from March 20 to 26, 1976 with five appearances in continental Europe.

Wings at the Speed ​​of Sound became the fifth number one album for Paul McCartney in the United States.

Cover design

The cover shows the title of the album in red letters in front of the yellow advertising facade of the Leicester Square Theater. The cover was designed by George Hardie and Aubrey Powell from the Hipgnosis agency .

Track list

Paul and Linda McCartney composed the songs on the album, with the exception of Wino Junko , which was written by Jimmy McCulloch and Colin Allen , and Time to Hide , which was composed by Denny Laine.

page 1

1. Let 'Em In - 5:10
2. The Note You Never Wrote - 4:19
3. She's My Baby - 3:06
4. Beware My Love - 6:27
5. Wino Junko - 5:19

Page 2

1. Silly Love Songs - 5:53
2. Cook of the House - 2:37
3. Time to Hide - 4:32
4. Must Do Something About It - 3:42
5. San Ferry Anne - 2:06
6. Warm and Beautiful - 3:12

Information on individual songs

• Let 'Em In mentions several existing people in the text, such as' Brother Michael' (McCartney), 'Phil and Don' (Everly as The Everly Brothers ) and 'Brother John' ( Lennon ).
• The text of Silly Love Songs is a message to his (music) critics, who accused him of constantly writing banal love songs.
• The song Wino Junko warns against drugs , the singer and co-composer Jimmy McCulloch died on September 27, 1979 as a result of his drug use.

Re-releases

• On July 10, 1989, the album was first released on CD with three bonus songs. The CD is accompanied by an eight-page illustrated booklet.

1. Walking in the Park with Eloise - 3:07

   Single A-page from October 1974 under the pseudonym The Country Hams

2. Bridge over the River Suite - 3:12

   Single B-side dated October 1974 under the pseudonym The Country Hams

3. Sally G - 3:37

   Single B-side from October 1974

• In April 1993 the CD was released again in a version remastered by Peter Mew with the same three bonus songs. The CD comes with an eight-page illustrated booklet containing information about the album. The CD contains the same three bonus tracks as the 1989 version.
• The album was released in October 1996 remastered by Steve Hoffmann in the DCC Compact Classics Edition as a 24-carat gold-plated CD. The CD is accompanied by an illustrated twelve-page booklet containing information about the album. The CD plastic sleeve is in turn in a cardboard sleeve. The CD contains the same three bonus tracks as the 1989 and 1993 versions.
• In May 2007 the album was released in download format.
• On October 31, 2014 (Standard Edition) and on 7 November 2014 (Deluxe Edition) was Wings at the Speed of Sound , remastered from the music label for the third time Hear Music / Concord Music Group as part of The Paul McCartney Archive Collection released . The remastering took place at Abbey Road Studios. The CD album has a cardboard cover that can be opened and which is accompanied by an 18-page illustrated booklet containing information about the album and the lyrics to the song. The design comes from the company YES.

The album was released in different formats:

• Standard Edition
  The original 11-track album with a bonus CD containing the following songs:

1. Silly Love Songs (Demo) - 2:46
2. She's My Baby (demo) - 3:47
3. Message To Joe - 0:24
4. Beware My Love ( John Bonham Version) - 5:35

   in this version, John Bonham plays drums instead of Joe English

5. Must Do Something About It (Paul's Version) - 3:38

   in this version Paul McCartney sings instead of Joe English

6. Let 'Em In (demo) - 4:18
7. Warm And Beautiful (Instrumental Demo) - 1:30

The album was also released as a vinyl version as a double LP (newly remastered) including the seven bonus tracks.

• Deluxe Edition
  The original 11-track album with the bonus CD mentioned above, a 112-page bound book with additional supplements and a DVD with the following content:

1. Silly Love Songs Music Video - 5:45
2. Wings Over Wembley - 13:23
3. Wings In Venice - 3:10

• On November 17th, 2017, the Capitol Records vinyl album , pressed on 180 grams of orange vinyl, was released.

Single releases

Silly Love Songs

On April 30, 1976 (USA: April 1, 1976) the single Silly Love Songs / Cook of the House was released and became the fifth number one hit for Paul McCartney in the USA.

The promotional single was released in the USA as follows: on the A side there is a shortened version and on the B side the album / single version of the song.

Let 'em in

The second single Let 'Em In / Beware My Love took place on July 23, 1976 (USA: June 28, 1976). In France a 12 ″ vinyl maxi single was released for the first time by the Wings / Paul McCartney, but it does not contain any remixed or longer versions of the songs.

The promotional single was released in the USA as follows: on the A side there is a shortened version and on the B side the album / single version of the song.

Music video

A music video was shot for the single A-side Silly Love Songs .

Chart placements

year	album	Chart placements					annotation
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1976	Wings at the speed of sound	32	-	-	2	1	The album also reached number 3 in the Dutch charts, number 7 in the Swedish charts and number 2 in the Norwegian and New Zealand charts.
2014	Wings at the Speed ​​of Sound (Re-release)	-	-	-	64	45
year	Single release	Chart placements					annotation
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1976	Silly Love Songs Wings at the Speed ​​of Sound	14th	-	-	2	1	The title was the most successful single in the United States in 1976. It also reached number 11 in the Dutch charts, number 9 in the Norwegian charts and number 8 in the New Zealand charts.
1976	Let 'Em In Wings at the Speed ​​of Sound	29	-	-	2	3	The title also reached number 25 in the Dutch charts and number 13 in the New Zealand charts.

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
France (SNEP)	gold	100,000
United States (RIAA)	platinum	1,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	gold	100,000
All in all	2 × gold 1 × platinum	1,200,000

criticism

The criticism took Wings at the Speed of Sound on ambiguous. For some it was “a good one, if not one of the best albums in the band. In a sense, an improved McCartney album. ”Above all, the“ relaxed private atmosphere ”of the album is what makes Wings at the Speed ​​of Sound so charming. The Rolling Stone called the album a "puzzling, something defensive curiosity of a great pop producer who was once a great pop song-writer was". The album is excellently arranged and recorded, technically perfect, but the musical brilliance of the melodies and the energy that previous albums had been missing. Allmusic found that McCartney was resting on his laurels with this album. The attempt to achieve a greater cohesion of the album through the joint work of all Wings members had failed.

literature

• Chip Madinger and Mark Easter: Eight Arms to Hold You - The Solo Compendium . 44.1 Productions 2000, ISBN 0-615-11724-4 , pp. 214-217.
• Wings at the Speed ​​of Sound - Wings Deluxe Edition Book, HRM-35673-00 (2014).

Web links

• More information about the album
• More information about the 2014 re-release
• Official homepage: Wings at the Speed ​​of Sound
• Recordings by Paul McCartney from 1976
• Paul McCartney's singles from 1974 to 1979

Individual evidence

1. ^ Jochen Malms: Paul McCartney & Wings. The new successes of the ex-Beatle . Heyne, Munich 1981, p. 95.
2. ↑ Quoted from Jochen Malms: Paul McCartney & Wings. The new successes of the ex-Beatle . Heyne, Munich 1981, p. 96.
3. ↑ See Wings at the Speed ​​of Sound on beatlesbible.com
4. ^ 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. 70.
5. ↑ Single: Silly Love Songs
6. ↑ Promotional single : Silly Love Songs
7. ↑ Single: Let 'Em In
8. ↑ French maxi single: Let 'Em In
9. ↑ Promotional single : Let 'Em In
10. ↑ Chart sources: everyhit.com , hitparade.ch , allmusic.com
11. ↑ See overview on hitparade.ch
12. ↑ Chart sources: everyhit.com , musicline.de ( Memento of the original from December 6, 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. 
13. ^ 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. 72.
14. ↑ See overview on hitparade.ch
15. ↑ See overview on hitparade.ch
16. ^ Jochen Malms: Paul McCartney & Wings. The new successes of the ex-Beatle . Heyne, Munich 1981, p. 97.
17. ↑ "As a whole, At the Speed ​​of Sound seems like a mysterious, somewhat defensive oddity by a great pop producer who used to be a great pop writer." Cf. Stephen Holden: Paul McCartney. Wings at the speed of sound . In: Rolling Stone , May 20, 1976 ( online ).
18. ↑ See review of Wings at the Speed ​​of Sound on allmusic.com.