This month has seen the release of Paul McCartney and Wings 'Rockshow'. As Dangerous Minds' Richard Metzger said "it rocks like a motherfucker." He's right.
Thing is it's pretty common these days for McCartney to have his fare share of critics and gawd help us there's barely a year goes by when some monster event doesn't have the presence of the 20th century's most prolific and successful songwriter. 'Rockshow' is different though. It comes at a time in his life when after having been in the most successful band of all time he then has to start all over again. No reform The Beatles scenario from now on. This is a highly successful pop musician who needs to keep working. He's still a relatively young man when he has to claw his way out of The Beatles ever present shadow and begin to build a new band with new musicians.
Few ever manage it and most perpetuate a future playing on a merry go round of a back catalogue.
By the time 'Rockshow' is performed in 1976 Wings have become a force of their own. The singles and albums have been sold and the band has toured continuously since 71. In what has been described as at their zenith 'Rockshow' catches a moment in their world. At a time when arena rock was in it's infancy, it was pre MTV production, no high definition camera's but you do get the chance to see a rock show of the highest caliber. Some have said they saw all the hot tickets of the day, Zeppelin, Who etc etc and the Wings performances outstripped them all.
Rockshow came out on Betamax and laserdisc in the early 1980s, but it has not been available (legally) for over 30 years. The clip below is the encore of the performance. A band that is in a close stage setting despite them being on an arena stage, knows exactly how to work the song, playing at their peak with one of the best rock vocalists there's ever been. It is more than a rock video. It is history.
And then McCartney aside, this is what became of all that band.
Denny Laine
Denny has faded away from the music business since the mid-80's. It's currently said he is working on an autobiography but no news on publishing. His web site is a strange place of a few chosen song lyrics and accompanying videos, but most surprising of all and somewhat telling is his website store where you would expect the albums and merch to be housed, instead there is the singular sale of his late 1950's Gretsch guitar he played with Wings (it was also once owned by Pete Townshend). You could hardly expect the man who wrote one of the most mesmerising songs of the 1960's Moody Blues 'Go Now' and some might say guilty of co-writing McCartney's 'Mull Of Kintyre' along with many other songs in the era, to actually need the finance. So not the sort of thing you'd pass on without a very good reason, but even so Denny... don't do it!
Jimmy McCulloch
He'd been a prodigy of The Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin at the age of 11 and rose to fame in the 1960's with Thunderclap Newman, and into the 70's with Stone the Crows and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers before joining Wings.
Like others gone before a prolific talent in youth becomes a burden. Jimmy became a tortured soul by the age of 26. In 1979 he died of heart failure caused by a heroin overdose at his flat in Maida Vale, North West London.
McCartney's telling quote at the time of leaving the band - "Jimmy has been playing some great guitar recently and it's a pity he is leaving, but problems have been building up for quite a while..."
Joe English
"Like an animal behind a kit" someone once described the New Yorker. You watch him through Rockshow and there's no doubt he was one of the finest with backing vocals to match. He gave the band up at the same time Jimmy McCulloch left but for an entirely different reason. He was just plain homesick.
Joe has been unable to play drums professionally since the late 1990s, due to chronic ankle health issues.
What a loss.
Linda McCartney
Anyone who married a Beatle was in for a very rough ride once they took part in the music making. Just ask Yoko. For Linda it was no different, she never stood a chance with many fans and critics. When you see earlier videos of her with the band there's a self conscious movement, looks and glances to the camera that can only come from someone completely out of their comfort zone and probably feels an imposter amongst these highly talented and experienced musicians. Who the hell wouldn't with no musical experience prior to Wings. To her credit after several albums and touring by the time they come to Rockshow you can see a change that comes from practice and experience. The vocal backing and keyboard is tight and well organised. After the band she eventually found her cause. It would just be mean to criticise the effort she made in contributing alongside her husband. She died of cancer in 1998.
Here is the encore and the lesser known McCartney song 'Soily'
