WINGS: WINGS OVER AMERICA (Classic Live Albums)

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WINGS OVER AMERICA WINGS Released: December 10th 1976 on Capitol Records/MPL Recorded: Cincinnatti, Seattle, Landover, Kansas City, Detroit, Boston, Los Angeles, Toronto, San Francisco, New York & Denver in May-June 1976. Producer: Paul McCartney

by Mark Cunningham

N

ineteen seventy-six was

opportunity to demonstrate

a bumper year for the

to the world that they weren’t

live album. While Peter

just a great pop band… they

Frampton, Led Zeppelin,

could also rock with the best.

Rush, Bob Dylan and Dr Feelgood

A lavish triple set, Wings

each took their turn to deliver seminal

Over America and its

products from recent tours, the year

companion concert film, ‘Rockshow’,

Howie Casey, Tony Dorsey, Thaddeus

also gave Paul McCartney and

chronicle McCartney at his peak as a

Richard and Steve Howard, to create

his post-Beatles outfit Wings the

live performer during Wings’ legendary

the perfect chemistry with which to take

31-date North American tour in May-June 1976 – his first shows

America by storm.

The excitable media reaction that

on American soil in 10 years and

followed was in no small part due to

the high point of the Wings Over

McCartney publicly embracing his

The World tour that kicked off in

Sixties legacy for the first time since

Southampton in September ’75.

splitting with Lennon, Harrison and

With Denny Laine and wife

Starr. In a year that also witnessed

Linda at the core of the band since

EMI’s reissue of the Fabs’ entire singles

its beginning, it took the addition

catalogue, no less than five Beatles

of gifted guitarist Jimmy McCulloch

numbers featured amongst Wings’ 28-

and powerhouse drummer Joe

song live set and bogus rumours of a

English, along with horn players

reunion only served to turn up the heat.

“it had to be a triple in the end, because we were doing two-hour shows and there was no other way OF GETTING two hours of music on to vinyl.” Mccartney 11.2016

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85 CLASSIC LIVE ALBUMS

to this tour – they knew it was special. Before every show, Paul spent time with [FOH engineer] Jack Maxson to cast his ear over the house mix, because he wanted to supervise the process out front himself as well as on stage with A year before the tour, McCartney had seen Led Zeppelin perform at Earls Court and been impressed by the

[monitor engineer] Morris Lyda.”

On the road, Wings’ own road crew – Trevor Jones,

sound, lighting and laser effects provided by Dallas, Texas

John Hammel, Peter ‘Rocky’ Morley, lighting/set designer

production giant Showco. This company, he decided, had

Ian ‘Iggy’ Knight and Ted Sellen – formed part of an overall

to be the choice for Wings’ American tour and plans were

entourage of around 100. The Showco element included

made for a custom-designed, 15,000 watt PA system to be

advance man Allen Branton, lighting crew Kirby Wyatt,

flown from the roof at each venue.

An omnipresent approach today, this was still far from being the standard in 1976.

TEXAN POWER Showco co-founder Jack Calmes, who sadly died last year, once described to me his pleasure in receiving McCartney as a

Ted Tittle and Warren Cunningham, and sound techs Rusty

guest at the company’s workshops during the system build.

Brutsché, Roy Snyder and Tom Walsh among several others.

“Paul’s always been a perfectionist but back then it was

In addition to Showco’s provision of sound, lighting,

almost unheard of for an artist to become so personally

staging, pyro – unforgettable on ‘Live And Let Die’ – and the

interested in this side of the business,” he said. “It boosted

lasers that drove audiences wild on the finale song, ‘Soily’,

our team’s sense of pride in their work. They gave their all

the Texans also presided over the recording of nearly every show on the tour, with a stage feed running to a Studer 24-track machine backstage.

The original idea was to release a double album of highlights but after a three-disc, full show bootleg began to gain sales momentum, McCartney

11.2016

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86 CLASSIC LIVE ALBUMS

Above, L-R: The tour set list; mixing the album; tour programme; UK album advertising.

Right: Jack Maxson and McCartney at front of house.

Far right: Recording in progress.

chose the triple set option. “I liked the idea of the listener being able to experience our show in its entirety,” he commented. “So it had to be a triple in the end, because we were doing two hour shows and there was no other way of getting two hours of music on to vinyl.”

“After Paul had chosen the best performance of each song, he identified a few parts here and there that he

BACK HOME:

felt should be patched up,” said McDonald. “We took a

THE ALBUM TAKES SHAPE

break while Wings played a handful of European shows

Almost as soon as the band returned to England,

[ending with three concerts at Wembley Empire Pool] and

McCartney, with studio engineer Phil McDonald, began the

then booked into De Lane Lea in Wembley to record some

arduous process of listening to – and selecting from – over

overdubs.

90 hours of material, working up to 14 hours a day for six weeks at Abbey Road Studios.

11.2016

“Generally, it was just a few backing vocal tracks [and, according to Denny Laine, some reinforced guitar parts]

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87 CLASSIC LIVE ALBUMS

that were re-done – the rest sounded fantastic. We then took the tapes back to Abbey Road to begin two weeks of very intense mixing.”

ARTWORK Due to the sheer amount of work involved in bringing the project to fruition, Wings Over America was released around a month later than

While Richard Evans designed the graphics and Geoff

planned, but when it finally hit the shelves its distinctive

Halpin handled the typography, MPL commissioned Jeff

presence had a tremendous impact. A luxurious and

Cummins to create the inner gatefold painting (above),

unprecedented package, costing £6.80 on release, the

giving him a punishing 10-day deadline.

triple set was issued in a gatefold jacket that opened out

For Cummins, it was the project that broke him in the business. He said: “I suddenly became unemployed that

Exploring the package’s delicious artefacts for the first time

year and I chose that moment to pursue a freelance design

was a teenage event I remember with great affection –

career, checking out record labels in London for any work.

the custom labels representing different aeroplane control

My first break came when I met Paul McCartney’s manager,

panel instruments, the enigmatic inner sleeves and the large

Brian Brolly, at MPL’s offices in Soho, and this resulted in

20” x 30” dual sided poster featuring images by official

my first commission to design an album sleeve – for Paul’s

photographer Robert Ellis.

Thrillington album – with art direction from Storm Thorgerson,

The aeroplane theme is at the core of the album design which was directed by the famed Hipgnosis in partnership

Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell and Pete Christopherson at Hipgnosis.

“I was working on another Hipgnosis project when MPL

with MPL. McCartney’s only brief was to avoid a clichéd

commissioned the painting Wings Over America. The idea

live performance shot on the front cover. Instead, the image

was to capture the excitement of Wings’ live shows as soon

that extends from the back was painted by Richard Manning

as you opened out the sleeve. Paul and Linda loved it. My

– the light emerging from the opening hatch is intended to

career really took off after that.”

represent the band’s arrival in America. This theme continues

The impressive 2013 ‘super deluxe’ reissue of the album

over the six sides of the inner sleeves as the shard of light

won the ‘Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package’

from the hatch gradually becomes wider.

award at the 56th annual Grammy Awards.

11.2016

Photography by Robert Ellis & Aubrey Powell © MPL Communications Ltd. Thanks to Dawbell & Eagle Rock

to reveal a sumptuous painting of the band in action.

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