The music on this double album and six-song EP package was intended as a companion to a planned television special from Paul McCartney & Wings in 1974. Although the film was eventually released as part of the Archive series of Band On the Run in 2010 and some of these tracks have appeared on various releases, this is the first time the music has been released in full on any audio format.
The recordings took place over four days at Abbey Road studios in August of 1974, when Band On The Run was riding high on the charts. The lineup for Wings at that time included McCartney, his wife Linda and Denny Laine, who would make up the core of the band for its entire run. The other core band musicians for this lineup were Jimmy McCulloch on guitar and Geoff Britton on drums. Also included are Howie Casey on saxophone and the Tuxedo Brass Band. Legendary and prolific arranger Del Newman was the orchestral arranger.
The various audio formats for this project were released in June of this year and the film received its theatrical release in August. These live-in-the-studio type releases can be a mixed bag or a hit-or-miss proposition. Sometimes they just sound like lifeless and sterile, undercooked live concerts without the benefit of well-mixed or produced studio recordings and of course a live audience. That is not the case here.
Even though there is no live studio audience, these performances crackle with rock muscle and offer slightly unique renderings of the more stripped-down songs. It’s incredible how some of the performances that benefited from the polish of the studio versions work perfectly here live. It’s so obvious that everyone is having a grand old time and the band is tight and in top form. It’s hard to imagine what it was like being there in the cavernous studio three for those four magical days. McCartney no doubt purposely recorded in studio three to get a big live sound but to also avoid studio two and all of the baggage that came with it at that time, as it was where The Beatles recorded most of their music.
The double-vinyl album set includes 34 performances, although some of the tracks are short snippets of music or heavily truncated versions that sometimes sound more like outtakes or rehearsals, but that doesn’t happen often. There are obviously lots of tracks here from Band On The Run, including “Jet,” “Bluebird,” the title track, “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five,” and “Let Me Roll It.” They all sound great and the rockers are full of energy. “Soily” from side one is another bristling rocker. “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “My Love” from side one sound perfect back-to-back and the iconic guitar solo on “My Love” is spot on.
“Live and Let Die” sounds surprisingly good in this intimate live setting, given what a major production the studio original was and how the sound comes to life so fully with a big live crowd. McCartney teases with two short late-Beatles songs on side three: “Let It Be” and the heartbreaking “The Long and Winding Road.”
Side four rocks hard with “Junior’s Farm” and ends on a high note with “Hi H Hi.” In between there’s a heady “Wild Life” and Denny Laine takes a vocal lead on “Go Now” from when he was in the Moody Blues, although I prefer the Wings Over America version.
There’s also a six-song, 7-inch 45 that includes mostly stripped-down covers and “Blackpool/Blackbird,” which is a welcome bonus. The package also includes a foldout poster of the cover and a five-panel liner notes/photo spread, which are an extra nice touch. The overall, newly-remastered sound is excellent, and the 180-gram vinyl is the perfect way to listen to these live archival recordings. This reissue is further proof that McCartney has stuff that has been sitting in his vaults for decades that’s better than most of the music on the charts today.
While the title is clearly an inside joke taken partly from the clapping in the beginning of the first song of the first album, I would say Standing Ovation would have been a more accurate title.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A
