Wings at the Speed of Sound

Wings at the Speed of Sound
Studio album by Wings
Released 25 March 1976
Recorded September 1975, 5 January – 4 February 1976
Studio Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre Pop rock
Length 46:36
Label Capitol
Producer Paul McCartney
Wings chronology
Venus and Mars
(1975)Venus and Mars1975		 Wings at the Speed of Sound
(1976)		 Wings over America
(1976)Wings over America1976
Singles from Wings at the Speed of Sound
  1. "Silly Love Songs"
    Released: 1 April 1976
  2. "Let 'Em In"
    Released: 28 June 1976

Wings at the Speed of Sound is the fifth studio album by Wings, released on 25 March 1976 as a follow-up to their previous album Venus and Mars. Issued at the height of the band's popularity, it reached the top spot on the US album chart and peaked at number 2 on the UK album chart. Both singles from the album also reached the top 5 of the UK and US singles charts, with 'Silly Love Songs' reaching number 1 in the US.

The album was recorded and released in the midst of Wings' highly successful Wings Over the World tour, with songs from the album performed on the tour after its release. Subsequently, performances of 'Let 'Em In', 'Silly Love Songs' and 'Beware My Love' were included on the live album Wings over America, released in December 1976.

As a reaction to critics who believed Wings was merely a vehicle for Paul McCartney, the album featured every member of the band taking lead vocals on at least one song, and two songs from the album are written or co-written by band members other than the McCartneys.

History

After a series of concerts in Australia in November 1975, Wings took a break from the tour to spend the holidays with their families and in January 1976 booked time at Abbey Road Studios in London to record Wings at the Speed of Sound. It was the first time McCartney had fully recorded an album in England since Red Rose Speedway. Because of the tour commitments, Wings were not afforded the opportunity to record in another locale. By the end of February, the album was complete, and Wings went back on the road.

Around the time of the studio sessions for Wings at the Speed of Sound, McCartney was facing criticism for Wings simply being a vehicle for himself. He encouraged each of the band members to contribute a song during the sessions, though this would become one of the reasons for the criticism of the album. McCartney had previously attempted to create a democratic album in Red Rose Speedway, though it would be rejected by his record label.[1]

Engineer Peter Henderson later commented, "I remember one of my first engineering jobs, working with Paul McCartney on Wings at the Speed of Sound — he'd do two vocal takes and ask, 'Which is the better one?' And when he played guitar, he'd really lean into it and give it everything he got."[2] Two tracks ("The Note You Never Wrote" and "Warm and Beautiful") were arranged by Fiachra Trench.[3]

Recording

The album was recorded at Abbey Road in two different sessions: first sessions took place in August/September and October 1975, with work resuming in January–February 1976. During the playback of "Must Do Something About It", Paul heard drummer Joe English sing the song and decided to have him take the lead vocal. In "Cook of the House", McCartney handled double-bass, while "Silly Love Songs" was arranged in a disco-style, in a similar fashion to Al Green's "Sha La La".[4]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Robert ChristgauB–[6]
Classic Rock7/10[7]
The Essential Rock Discography4/10[8]
MusicHound2/5[9]
PopMatters[10]
Q[11]
Record Collector[12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[13]

Wings at the Speed of Sound was released in late March 1976 and received somewhat lukewarm critical reviews. Rolling Stone's reviewer saw this record as something of a concept album, describing it as "A Day with the McCartneys". The introduction, "Let 'Em In", is sometimes perceived as an invitation for the listener to join the McCartneys on this fantasy day, with explanation of their philosophy ("Silly Love Songs"), a lunch break ("Cook of the House"), and a chance to get to know McCartney's friends (Denny Laine in "The Note You Never Wrote", Jimmy McCulloch in "Wino Junko", etc.).[14]

The album went to number 2 in the United Kingdom (and was the 4th best-selling album of 1976). It became McCartney's most successful American chart album, spending seven unconsecutive weeks at number 1 throughout the summer (and blocking the Beatles' then-new compilation Rock 'n' Roll Music, which reached number 2). Wings at the Speed of Sound sold 3.5 million copies worldwide.[7]

Much of the album's success can be attributed to its two smash singles. "Silly Love Songs", a response to his critics and one of McCartney's biggest hits, followed the album in April, and became one of 1976's biggest-selling singles. This was followed in July with "Let 'Em In", which also scaled the singles charts. Amid all this, Wings finally went to North America for the Wings Over America Tour, playing McCartney's first shows there in ten years (after The Beatles' last tour in 1966) to euphoric reaction; a few selections from Speed of Sound were included.

Wings band member Denny Laine covered "Time to Hide" and "The Note You Never Wrote" in 1996 on his album Wings at the Sound of Denny Laine.[15]

Further releases

In 1993, Wings at the Speed of Sound was remastered and reissued on compact disc as part of The Paul McCartney Collection series; added as bonus tracks were "Walking in the Park with Eloise" by the Country Hams, its B-side "Bridge on the River Suite", and the Wings track "Sally G" (the B-side to their single "Junior's Farm"). All were recorded in Nashville in 1974.

Track listing

All tracks written by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, except where noted..

Side one
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Let ’Em In"P. McCartney5:10
2."The Note You Never Wrote"Denny Laine4:21
3."She’s My Baby"P. McCartney3:08
4."Beware My Love"P. McCartney, Linda McCartney6:28
5."Wino Junko" (Jimmy McCulloch, Colin Allen)Jimmy McCulloch5:21
Side two
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
6."Silly Love Songs"P. McCartney, L. McCartney, Denny Laine5:54
7."Cook of the House"L. McCartney2:39
8."Time to Hide" (Denny Laine)D. Laine4:32
9."Must Do Something About It"Joe English3:43
10."San Ferry Anne"P. McCartney2:07
11."Warm and Beautiful"P. McCartney3:13
Total length:46:36

2014 remaster

In November 2014 the album was re-issued by Hear Music/Concord Music Group as part of the fifth set of releases, alongside Venus and Mars, in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection. It was released in multiple formats:[16]

Features

  • Standard Edition: 2-CD; the original 11-track album on the first disc, plus 7 bonus tracks on the second disc.
  • Deluxe Edition: 2-CD/1-DVD; the original 11-track album, the 7 bonus tracks disc, and a hardback book featuring unpublished photographs, new interviews with Paul, material from Paul's archives and expanded track-by-track information. The deluxe version bonus DVD comprises filmed material from around the time of the album release, some of which has never been seen before. The DVD features rare and previously unseen footage, including the documentaries “Wings over Wembley”, “Wings in Venice” and the “Silly Love Songs” music video.
  • Remastered vinyl: The album is available on a special gatefold vinyl edition (the vinyl edition includes a download card).
  • High resolution: Digital album is available as both standard and deluxe versions – including Mastered for iTunes and in high resolution.

Personnel

Additional musicians

Charts

References

  1. ↑ McCartney: Songwriter ISBN 0-491-03325-7 pp. 117-119
  2. ↑ Buskin, Richard (July 2005). CLASSIC TRACKS: Supertramp's 'Logical Song', Sound on Sound.
  3. ↑ Luca Perasi, Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013), L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-88-909122-1-4
  4. ↑ Luca Perasi, Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013), L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-88-909122-1-4, pp.137-146.
  5. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Wings at the Speed of Sound at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  6. ↑ Christgau, Robert (14 June 1976). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  7. 1 2 Sexton, Paul (October 2014). "Wings Reissues". Classic Rock. p. 97. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh, UK: Canongate. p. 696. ISBN 978-184195-827-9.
  9. ↑ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 731. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  10. ↑ Bergstrom, John (1 December 2014). "Paul McCartney and Wings: Wings at the Speed of Sound". PopMatters. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  11. ↑ Nicol, Jimmy (October 1993). "Re-releases: Paul McCartney The Paul McCartney Collection". Q. p. 119.
  12. ↑ Staunton, Terry (October 2014). "Wings Venus and Mars / Wings at the Speed of Sound". Record Collector. p. 99.
  13. ↑ "Paul McCartney: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  14. ↑ Holden, Stephen (20 May 1976). "Wings at the Speed of Sound". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  15. ↑ "Performs the Hits of Wings". Allmusic. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  16. ↑ http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/wings-reissue-venus-and-mars-and-at-the-speed-of-sound
  17. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  18. ↑ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 25, No. 9" (PHP). RPM. 29 May 1976. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  19. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl Wings - At The Speed Of Sound". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  20. ↑ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : Wings" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2012. Note: user must select 'Wings' from drop-down.
  21. 1 2 "Hit Parade Italia - Gli album più venduti del 1976" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  22. 1 2 Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  23. ↑ "charts.org.nz - Wings - At The Speed Of Sound". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  24. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com Wings - At The Speed Of Sound". Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  25. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  26. ↑ "swedishcharts.com Wings - At The Speed Of Sound" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  27. ↑ "Artist: Paul McCartney". Official Chart Company. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  28. ↑ "Allmusic: Wings at the Speed of Sound: Charts & Awards: Billboard Albums". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  29. ↑ "Album Search: Wings - At The Speed Of Sound" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  30. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1976". RPM. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  31. ↑ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1976" (ASP) (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  32. ↑ "Les Albums (CD) de 1976 par InfoDisc" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  33. ↑ 年間アルバムヒットチャート 1976年（昭和51年） [Japanese Year-End Albums Chart 1976] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  34. ↑ "The Official UK Charts Company : ALBUM CHART HISTORY". Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
  35. ↑ "Billboard.com - Year End Charts - Year-end Albums - The Billboard 200". Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
  36. ↑ "French album certifications – Wings – Wings at the Speed of Sound" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  37. ↑ "Les Albums Or". infodisc.fr. SNEP. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  38. ↑ "British album certifications – Wings – Wings at the Speed of Sound". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Wings at the Speed of Sound in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  39. ↑ "American album certifications – Wings – Wings at the Speed of Sound". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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