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| - Wings (also known as Paul McCartney & Wings) were a rock group formed in 1971 by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney that remained active until 1981. Wings had 12 top-10 singles (including one #1) in the United Kingdom and 14 top-10 singles (including six #1's) in the United States. All 23 singles credited to Wings reached the US Top 40, and one double-sided single, "Junior's Farm"/"Sally G", reached the Top 40 with each side. Of the nine albums credited to Wings during the group's life, all went top 10 in either the UK or the US, with five consecutive albums topping the US charts.
- Wings is the first band Paul McCartney was in after he left The Beatles. It was active from 1971 to (very) early 1980. Announcements of its disbandment were released in 1981. The band was created because, at the time, Paul didn't feel like a real musician unless he was playing with a band that he could also tour with. Paul McCartney sang lead vocals (usually) and played bass. He also played drums when the band was reduced to three members. (This happened twice.) Denny Laine was the third member, the continuity link, and the rhythm guitarist. Lead guitar was the other floating position.
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| abstract
| - Wings is the first band Paul McCartney was in after he left The Beatles. It was active from 1971 to (very) early 1980. Announcements of its disbandment were released in 1981. The band was created because, at the time, Paul didn't feel like a real musician unless he was playing with a band that he could also tour with. Wings is now considered I Am the Band for Paul McCartney, though he was in denial about it at the time -- enough that many supporting band members did get the occasional song. The core members were Paul McCartney, his wife Linda McCartney, and Denny Laine (best known for this and for leaving The Moody Blues just before they really made it big). Other members came and went. Wings was very popular in its time, in good part because Paul McCartney was in it. The most successful Wings studio albums are credited to "Paul McCartney and Wings." Wings Over America -- the only complete Wings tour album -- was also a hot seller. It was also a successful touring band despite technical difficulties (notably Linda's singing) and Paul's reluctance to sing Beatles songs. The first Wings tour had no Beatles songs at all, even though that meant there wasn't much material to work with. By Wings Over America, there was about one record-side worth -- still considered avoiding Beatles songs at the time, and much fewer than he does now, but objectively respectable when you consider how many hits Wings had between 1972 and 1976... Paul McCartney sang lead vocals (usually) and played bass. He also played drums when the band was reduced to three members. (This happened twice.) Linda McCartney was in Wings because Paul wanted her there. She sang back-up vocals (everyone did) and played keyboards. In the beginning, she was no good at all -- which was unfortunate because, even when touring random colleges in the beginning, Wings hit the spotlight. Eventually, her singing became more tolerable -- at the band's peak, she was very good at Moog synthesizer. This may seem silly, but Wings used a lot of synthesizer. And the band usually used it well. Plus using a synth back then was no breeze. They were all analog, so no presets and often just getting sound was enough of a challenge. Denny Laine was the third member, the continuity link, and the rhythm guitarist. Lead guitar was the other floating position. The band dissolved quietly but violently in 1980. This is partly because of a drug bust in Japan that sent Paul to prison for nine days (he got off easy) and ended Wings's touring days right then, and partly because of personal problems between the McCartneys and Laine. Wings had many hit singles, hitting the top of the US charts a total of five times between 1973 and 1978. Surprisingly, they reached the top spot in Paul's native Britain just once- with "Mull of Kintyre", the best selling non-charity single in UK history. Album Discography:
* Wild Life, 1971
* Red Rose Speedway, 1973 (there were three singles between those two albums)
* Band on the Run, late 1973. Their most popular and well-known album.
* Venus and Mars, 1975
* Wings at the Speed of Sound, 1976
* Wings Over America, 1976. This was a triple Live Album.
* London Town, 1978
* Wings Greatest, 1979. This also contains Paulian solo work predating Wings.
* Back to The Egg, 1979.
* Concert for Kampuchea, 1979 (though Paul didn't realize it until it was released).
* Wingspan, 2001. This also contains solo material both pre-dating and post-dating Wings -- which is not quite as silly as it looks, since Denny Laine helped with Tug of War and Pipes of Peace. Denny Laine has also toured with a band called Wings. This is not considered the same band. The history of Wings has been recorded in Documentary form in the special Wingspan, released the same time as the double album of that name. Unfortunately, it was released too late to contain much input from Linda. This was the last major project Paul completed before he (temporarily) became an item with Heather Mills.
- Wings (also known as Paul McCartney & Wings) were a rock group formed in 1971 by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney that remained active until 1981. Wings had 12 top-10 singles (including one #1) in the United Kingdom and 14 top-10 singles (including six #1's) in the United States. All 23 singles credited to Wings reached the US Top 40, and one double-sided single, "Junior's Farm"/"Sally G", reached the Top 40 with each side. Of the nine albums credited to Wings during the group's life, all went top 10 in either the UK or the US, with five consecutive albums topping the US charts. Wings were noted for frequent personnel changes as well as success. The only three members of Wings to remain from beginning to end were McCartney, his wife Linda, and ex-Moody Blues guitarist and singer Denny Laine. In less than a decade, Wings had three different lead guitarists and four different drummers.
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