Tag: Paul McCartney and Wings

Paul McCartney – Mull of Kintyre …Denny Laine

This song was a monster hit in the UK but did hardly anything in America. The reason I’m posting this today is because of Denny Laine. Laine, who co-wrote this song with Paul… passed away at the age of 79 on December 5th.

When you think about huge-selling singles of the 1970s…this one doesn’t come to mind unless you live in the UK.  It was the highest-selling single in the UK over the entire course of the ’70s.

When they were a beat group, Denny Laine was the original singer for the Moody Blues. Their first big hit had Laine on vocals with Go Now.

The song is a tribute to the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland where Paul and his wife Linda had a farm. McCartney initially thought the song had no chance of becoming a hit. The duo wrote the song one afternoon as they looked at the beauty of the mull while drinking a bottle of Whiskey and letting the scenery write the song.

Wings then enlisted the local Campbelltown Pipe Band who added a sprinkling of Scottish sound to the track and suddenly Wings had their unconventional Christmas song. ‘Mull of Kintyre’ would remain the highest-selling UK single until 1984 when Band-Aid would knock it off the top spot.

The farm he had (and still does) gave Paul a lot of comfort after The Beatles ended. The citizens of Campbelltown were great to him and Linda as well. There was a huge spike in visitors to Kintyre in the wake of the songs’ release which not only boosted the local economy but filled the local residents with pride in their area. After the tranquillity Kintyre provided McCartney at his lowest point, this song allowed him to finally repay the area for helping him.

The song peaked at #1 in the UK, #33 on the Billboard 100, #1 in New Zealand, and #44 in Canada. It sold over 2 million in the UK which was a record at the time beating The Beatles She Loves You over a decade before. The B-side “Girls School” did better in America and Canada than the A-side.

Paul McCartney: “I am very saddened to hear that my ex-bandmate, Denny Laine, has died, “I have many fond memories of my time with Denny: from the early days when the Beatles toured with the Moody Blues. Our two bands had a lot of respect for each other and a lot of fun together. Denny joined Wings at the outset. He was an outstanding vocalist and guitar player. His most famous performance is probably ‘Go Now,’ an old Bessie Banks song which he would sing brilliantly. He and I wrote some songs together, the most successful being ‘Mull of Kintyre’ which was a big hit in the Seventies. We had drifted apart but in recent years managed to reestablish our friendship and share memories of our times together.”

Paul McCartney: “When we finished it, all the pipers said, ‘Aye, it’s got to be a single, that.’ It was up to them, really, to do it. I thought it was a little too specialized to bring out as a single, you would have to bring out something that has something with more mass appeal…but they kept saying, ‘Oh, the exiled Scots all over the world. It’ll be a big single for them.’ Yet I still thought, ‘Yeah, well, but there’s maybe not enough exiled Scots,’ but they kept telling me, after a few drinks.”

Mull of Kintyre

Mull of Kintyre, oh mist rolling in from the sea
My desire is always to be here
Oh Mull of Kintyre

Far have I traveled and much have I seen
Darkest of mountains with valleys of green
Past painted deserts the sun sets on fire
As he carries me home to the Mull of Kintyre

Mull of Kintyre, oh mist rolling in from the sea
My desire is always to be here
Oh Mull of Kintyre

Sweep through the heather like deer in the glen
Carry me back to the days I knew then
Nights when we sang like a heavenly choir
Of the life and the times of the Mull of Kintyre

Mull of Kintyre, oh mist rolling in from the sea
My desire is always to be here
Oh Mull of Kintyre

Smiles in the sunshine and tears in the rain
Still take me back where my memories remain
Flickering embers go higher and higher
As they carry me back to the Mull of Kintyre

Mull of Kintyre, oh mist rolling in from the sea
My desire is always to be here
Oh Mull of Kintyre

Mull of Kintyre, oh mist rolling in from the sea
My desire is always to be here
Oh Mull of Kintyre

Paul McCartney – Let ‘Em In

This is a song I remember riding in my sister’s Vega. Not my favorite by Paul but a cool song all the same. A lot of references in this song to famous and non famous people.

Sister Suzie was his his wife, Linda, who had recorded the song “Seaside Woman” with Wings under the moniker “Suzie & The Red Stripes”. Martin Luther was of course Martin Luther King.  Phil and Don were the Everly Brothers, who were a big influence on the Beatles. Paul would later write their 1984 reunion single, “On The Wings Of A Nightingale”.

Brother Michael was Paul’s brother Peter Michael McGear. Auntie Gin was Paul’s father’s sister was named Gin.When Paul first wrote “I’ve Just Seen A Face”, he called it “Auntie Gin’s Theme”, and George Martin recorded an instrumental under that title.

Uncle Ian—Ian Harris, Paul’s cousin, and Auntie Gin’s son. Apparently Paul’s children called him “Uncle Ian”, although he was technically their cousin.

Brother John was thought to be no other than John Lennon.

Uncle Ernie seems to be a reference to either Keith Moon who played the character Ernie in The Who’s rock opera, Tommy movie or Ringo Starr who sang as Uncle Ernie in the London Symphony Orchestra’s verison of Tommy.

Paul McCartney: “When we went to Jamaica on holiday, a lot of the local guys used to call Linda ‘Susie’ for some reason. And we kind of liked that. Then ‘brother John’ – I would be thinking either of John Lennon, or Linda’s brother, John. But the weirdest thing is, my wife now, Nancy, has a sister Susie and a brother John.” 

Along with Silly Love Songs,” this was one of two singles released from the Wings At The Speed Of Sound album. The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, Canada, #2 in the UK, and #13 in New Zealand. 

Let ‘Em In

Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let ’em in

Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah, let ’em in

Sister Suzie, brother John
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Brother Michael, auntie Gin
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah

Sister Suzie, brother John
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Uncle Ernie, auntie Gin
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah

Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let ’em in, ooh yeah, let ’em in

Sister Suzie, brother John
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Uncle Earnie, uncle Lin
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah

Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

 

…

Paul McCartney & Wings – Medicine Jar

This was the first song recorded by Paul McCartney’s group Wings to feature another member on all lead vocals. It is an anti-drug song sung by lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (ex-Thunderclap Newman). Colin Allen, who was the drummer in the band Stone The Crows with McCulloch, wrote the lyrics, and McCulloch wrote the music.

Jimmy McCulloch was a guitar prodigy… He was playing in a band called The Jaygars when he was 11. He was in the band One In A Million supporting The Who when he was 14 and in the band Thunderclap Newman in 1969 when he was 16. He went on to play with John Mayall (Mayall knew how to pick guitar players) and Stone the Crows… He then went to play with Paul McCartney and Wings in 1974. He gave Paul’s songs an edge and I wish he would have stayed in Wings longer.

He left Wings to play with the reformed Small Faces in 1977.  In 1979 he sadly died of heart failure due to morphine and alcohol poisoning. You have to wonder how much more Jimmy could have achieved if he would have lived.

The version I’m most familiar with is the live version from Wings Over America. The song was originally on the Venus and Mars album. Venus and Mars peaked at #1 in 1975 in the Billboard Album Charts and Wings Over America peaked at #1 in 1977.

 

Medicine Jar

What’s wrong with you?
I wish, I knew
You say, time will tell
I hope that’s true

There’s more to life than blues and reds
I say, I know how you feel
Now your friends are dead

Dead on your feet, you won’t get far
If you keep on sticking your hand
In the medicine jar

Now don’t give up
Whatever you do
You say, time will tell
I hope that’s true

If you go down and lose your head
I say, I know how you feel
Now your friends are dead

Dead on your feet, you won’t get far
If you keep on sticking your hand
In the medicine jar

I said, “Dead on your feet, you won’t get far
If you keep on sticking your hand
In the medicine jar”

Check it

What can I do?
I can’t let go
You say, time will heal
But very slow

So don’t forget the things you said
I say, I know how you feel
Now your friends are dead

Dead on your feet, you won’t get far
If you keep on sticking your hand
In the medicine jar

Dead on your feet, you won’t get far
If you keep on sticking your hand
In the medicine jar

Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar

Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar