Wings (band)
Wings was a pop-rock band led by Paul McCartney, formed after the dissolution of the Beatles.McCartney's first post-Beatles albums, McCartney (1970) and Ram (1971) were essentially solo projects recorded by Paul and wife Linda McCartney. Later in 1971, McCartney hired several studio musicians for his third solo project (Notably ex-Moody Blues guitarist and singer Denny Laine. The result was Wild Life, the first McCartney project to use the "Wings" name. (The band name is said to have come to McCartney as he was praying in the hospital while Linda was giving birth.) In early 1973 McCartney repeated this pattern, adding ex-Spooky Tooth guitarist Henry McCullough and re-christened the band "Paul McCartney and Wings" for the album Red Rose Speedway which yielded the first Wings hit, the romantic ballad "My Love".
Wings was ostensibly a true band, and in fact several members beyond McCartney contributed songs and occasional vocals, but McCartney was clearly the group's leader and star. Following the release of Speedway McCartney brought the band to Ginger Baker's recording studio in Nigeria to record what turned out to be their breakthrough album, Band on the Run. Band went to number 1 and spawned a half-dozen hit singles including the title track, a suite of movements recalling late Beatles albums, the rockers "Jet" and "Helen Wheels", and the acoustic ballad "Bluebird".
Band on the Run was followed by similarly successful albums Venus and Mars (1975), which was recorded in New Orleans and Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976), recorded in Nashville, TN, both of which also took top chart positions. Also during this period Wings embarked on a hugely successful and theatrical world tour, documented in the triple-live LP set Wings Over America. It would be noted that this was one of McCartney's most successful and highest grossing tour yet.In addition to this, Paul's brief stop over to New York City for two sold out shows at 'the Garden' included his well known meetting with ex Beatle band mate John Lennon at the Dakota. John later recalled in a 1980 interview that Paul showed up at the door with a guitar only to be turned away. Little did McCartney know this would be the last time he ever saw John.
After a year's break from recording (with the exception of the odd, unpromoted release of Thrillington, an orchestral re-make of Paul and Linda's Ram album), McCartney released the album London Town in 1978. During the recording of the album in May, 1977, both Joe English and Jimmy McCullough parted ways with Wings (Jimmy was found dead of a drug overdose in 1979) Though still released as a Wings album, the band now reduced to Paul, Linda, and long-time member Laine along with a host of studio players. The album was a commercial success, reaching number 2 on the Pop Albums chart, but featured a markedly softer-rock, synth-based sound and yielded only minor singles hits in "With a Little Luck" and "Girlfriend". The follow-up album, Back to the Egg, was a critical and commercial failure and was the last McCartney project released under the Wings moniker, as McCartney would return to solo billing on future recordings. November/December of 1979 saw Wings proform a brief tour of great Britain, with jazz guitarist Lawrence Juber, and drummer Steve Holly (they had joined the group in 1978).
During its heyday, Wings featured numerous personnel changes. In addition to core members Paul, Linda, and Denny Laine, the band included at one time or another Joe English(1974 -1977), Jimmy McCulloch (formerly of Stone the Crows)(1974 -1977), Henry McCullough(1972 -1973), Denny Seiwell (1971 -1973), and Geoff Britton(1974 -1975).