Previous album Mar 31, 1978 • "London Town" by Wings released in the US
Session October 3-4, 1978 • "Rockestra" session
Session October 16-17, 1978 • Recording "Getting Closer", "Baby's Request"
Album Nov 02, 1978 • "Wings Greatest" by Wings released in the UK
Album Nov 13, 1978 • "Wings Greatest" by Wings released in the US
This album was recorded during the following studio sessions:
Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney
3:45 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Backing vocals, Bass, Electric guitar, Percussion (?), Producer, Tambourine (?), Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals Denny Seiwell : Drums, Percussion David Spinozza : Acoustic guitar (?), Electric guitar Tim Geelan : Recording engineer Ted Brosnan : Assistant recording engineer Dixon Van Winkle : Mixing engineer
Session Recording: Oct 12, 1970 • Studio CBS Studios, New York City
Session Overdubs: January 1971 • Studio A&R Studios, New York City
Session Mixing: Feb 08, 1971 • Studio A&R Studios, New York City
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney
5:55 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Bass, Mellotron (?), Percussion (?), Piano (?), Producer, String conductor, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals, Tambourine (?) Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Piano (?) Jimmy McCulloch : Electric guitar (?) Howie Casey : Horns Joe English : Drums, Percussion (?) Thaddeus Richard : Horns Mark Vigars : Assistant mixing engineer, Assistant recording engineer Pete Henderson : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer Steve Howard : Horns Tony Dorsey : Horns, String arrangements
Session Recording: Jan 16, 1976 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Overdubs: January - March 1976 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Mixing: January - March 1976 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney
3:14 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Bass (?), Electric guitar (?), Percussion (?), Piano, Producer, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Bass (?), Electric guitar (?) George Martin : Producer Henry McCullough : Electric guitar Denny Seiwell : Drums, Percussion (?) Ray Cooper : Duck-call, Percussion (?), Tympani Bill Price : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Session Recording: Oct 19, 1972 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Session Overdubs: Oct 20, 1972 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Session Mixing: Oct 21, 1972 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney
4:23 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Bass, Producer, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals, Keyboards Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Electric guitar Jimmy McCulloch : Backing vocals, Electric guitar Geoff Britton : Drums Alan O'Duffy : Mixing engineer Ernie Winfrey : Recording engineer
Session Recording: July 16-18, 1974 • Studio Soundshop Recording Studios, Nashville, USA
Session Mixing: Oct 07, 1974 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Written by Paul McCartney
5:46 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Bass, Drums (?), Electric piano, Producer, Synthesizer, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals, Keyboards (?) Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Synthesizer (?) Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Joe English : Drums (?) Mark Vigars : Assistant engineer Pete Henderson : Assistant engineer Steve Churchyard : Assistant engineer
Session Recording: May 10 and 12, 1977 • Studio Record Plant Mobile Studio, Fair Carol Yacht, US Virgin Islands
Session Overdubs: November 1977 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney
5:14 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Backing vocals, Bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Electric piano, Producer, Synthesizers, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals, Moog Denny Laine : Acoustic guitar, Backing vocals, Electric guitar Tony Visconti : Orchestration Geoff Emerick : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer Monday : Assistant engineer Pete Swettenham : Assistant engineer Beaux Arts Orchestra : Horns, Strings
Session Recording: September 1-23, 1973 • Studio EMI Studios, Lagos, Nigeria
Session Overdubs: October 1973 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Session Mixing: Late October / Early November 1973 • Studio Kingsway Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney
4:42 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Backing vocals, Bass, Electric guitar, Piano, Producer, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals, Producer George Martin : Orchestration Denny Seiwell : Drums Hugh McCracken : Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar Eirik Wangberg : Mix engineer Phil Ramone : Recording engineer Marvin Stamm : Brass Mel Davis : Brass Ray Crisara : Brass Snooky Young : Brass David Nadien : Violin The New York Philharmonic Orchestra : Strings Paul Beaver : Synthesizer Jim Guercio : Recording engineer Tim Geelan : Recording engineer Ted Brosnan : Assistant recording engineer Dixon Van Winkle : Assistant recording engineer Armin Steiner : Recording engineer
Session Recording: Nov 06, 1970 • Studio CBS Studios, New York City
Session Overdubs: Jan 03 & 11, 1971 • Studio A&R Studios, New York City
Session Overdubs: Mar 01, 09, 10, 12 & Apr 07, 1971 • Studio Sunset Sound Recorders Studio, Los Angeles, USA
Session Mixing: April 1971 • Studio Sunset Sound Recorders Studio, Los Angeles, USA
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney
3:09 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Bass, Electric guitar, Producer, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals, Organ Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Electric guitar Henry McCullough : Electric guitar Denny Seiwell : Cow-bell, Drums Mark Vigars : Assistant mixing engineer, Assistant recording engineer Alan Parsons : Mixing engineer John Leckie : Recording engineer
Session Recording: Sep 20, 1972 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Mixing: Nov 06, 1972 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney
5:11 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Piano, Producer, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Military drum (?) Jimmy McCulloch : Bass Howie Casey : Flutes, Horns Joe English : Drums Thaddeus Richard : Flutes, Horns Mark Vigars : Assistant mixing engineer, Assistant recording engineer Pete Henderson : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer Steve Howard : Flutes, Horns Tony Dorsey : Flutes, Horns
Session Recording: Feb 03, 1976 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Overdubs: January - March 1976 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Mixing: January - March 1976 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney
4:10 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Electric piano, Producer, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Bass Henry McCullough : Electric guitar Denny Seiwell : Drums Richard Hewson : Orchestra arrangement Mark Vigars : Assistant recording engineer Richard Lush : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Session Recording: Jan 25, 1973 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Recording: Jan 26, 1973 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Overdubs & mixing: Jan 27, 1973 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney
4:11 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Moog (?), Piano (?), Producer, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals, Keyboards, Moog (?) Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Piano (?) Tony Visconti : Orchestration Howie Casey : Sax Geoff Emerick : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer Pete Swettenham : Assistant engineer Beaux Arts Orchestra : Strings
Session Recording: October 1973 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Session Mixing: Late October / Early November 1973 • Studio Kingsway Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Written by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine
4:44 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic bass guitar, Acoustic guitar, Backing vocals, Lead vocal, Producer Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals Denny Laine : Acoustic guitar, Backing vocals, Vocals Geoff Emerick : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer Joe English : Drums Campbell Maloney : Drums Campbeltown Pipe Band : Bagpipes Ian Bairson : Backing vocals Dave Paton : Backing vocals Tony Wilson : Bagpipe Ian McKerral : Bagpipe David McIvor : Bagpipe John Lang Brown : Bagpipe Archie Coffield : Bagpipe John McGeachy : Bagpipe Dougie Lang : Bagpipe Jimmy McGeachy : Drums David Hastie : Drums Ian Campbell : Drums Tommy Blue : Drums John MacCallum : Drums Ian MacKenzie : Drums Tim Summerhays : Assistant recording engineer
Session Recording: August 9, 1977 • Studio Spirit Of Ranachan Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland
Session Overdubs: October 1977 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
From paulmccartney.com:
For the ultimate throwback… watch the original 1978 TV advertisement for Wings Greatest – a compilation album by Wings.
Shot in various locations in and around London, the ad features people going about their daily lives at work, driving – even bathing! Look out for ‘unexpected’ cameo appearances from Paul, Linda and Denny!
From jpgr.co.uk:
[…] The album fared fairly well, but only managed to reach number 5 in the chart, although it was listed for over seven months ! It was even promoted by T.V. advertising for two weeks before Christmas, but even this didn’t help it’s push to the top. The advert was quite memorable though, being several members of the public singing Wings tunes in public places, ending with a dustman parked in his lorry in Abbey Road singing (wildly out of tune) “Band On The Run”, at which point Paul, Linda and Denny pull up alongside and Paul shouts out the window, “You’re a bit flat mate !”. The driver leans out his window and says “Funny, I only checked them this morning”.
The sleeve design was by Paul and Linda with assistance from Aubrey Powell and George Hardie of Hipgnosis, and photography by Angus Forbes. Linda had bought the model of a flying lady, and had it flown to the Alps on 14th October 1978 for the photographs. A snowdrift was created and the photography was done from a helicopter (and EMI complained of the cost of the Sgt.Pepper cover !!).
The inner sleeve is plain black with a very small picture of the front cover statuette taken from front and back on each side of the sleeve. The statuette also appears on the labels. Free within is a 30″ by 20″ poster, with a colour scene on one side, and a black and white picture of the trio taken by Clive Arrowsmith on the reverse.
From Hipgnosis: the rock stars of album cover design (telegraph.co.uk), July 13, 2023:
“Paul McCartney had an idea. For the cover art of his next album, 1978 compilation Wings Greatest, he was keen to use a statue of Semiramis, Queen of Babylon, that he’d spotted at Christie’s. But he wanted the chryselephantine piece, by Art Deco sculptor Demétre Chiparus, to be photographed “somewhere really special”. Specifically: Everest.
When he realised that might be impractical, McCartney lowered his expectations. The Swiss Alps would do. “So we took a helicopter up, which could only land on the edge,” remembers Aubrey “Po” Powell in Squaring the Circle, a new documentary about Hipgnosis, the legendary graphic design company he co-founded in 1967 alongside Storm Thorgerson.
“We had to jump off,” the designer continues in the film, “tak[ing] this 70lb statue. And there I am, stuck on an area about the size of an average person’s sitting room, with a 10,000 foot drop all around me… And I completely have a phobia about heights.” Still, Powell, true to reputation, was nothing if not rigorous. “I was stuck up there for about six hours.”
Back on terra firma, McCartney pronounced himself pleased with the image that adorned the cover of his first post-Beatles compilation. “We loved it, it looked great,” he says in the film, directed by Anton Corbijn and including contributions from a roll-call of Seventies titans, from McCartney to Jimmy Page and Dave Gilmour. “But then someone said: ‘Well, you could have just gone in a studio, in London, got a big pile of salt and stuck the statue on top of it.’ But, you know,” the musician laughs, “that’s just too easy!” And as he points out, this was the late Seventies and “there was a lot of that in those days” – “that” being visionary ambition, indulgence and folly. […] Regardless of the reintroduction of vinyl, it’ll never be the same.”
From Wings Greatest | Wings | Paul McCartney | Yves Baer on Paul McCartney | VzfB McCartney Dossier:
Lizzy is a 47-centimeter-tall and 5-kilogram Art Deco statue made of imitation marble and bronze by the Romanian artist Demetre H. Chiparus (1886–1947). Showing a dancer, she embodies the legendary Semiramis, of which Herodotus and the Bible report, the name she received from the photo crew. Paul had bought the statue from an antique shop in Edinburgh. […]
Paul and Linda McCartney entrusted Aubrey “Po” Powell of Hipgnosis with the cover design. Po was born in Sussex in 1946, and his most important works include work for McCartney, The Who and Monthy Python’s Flying Circus. In 1994 he was nominated for a Golden Rose in Montreux for the stage design of Paul’s “New World Tour”.
Paul claimed to have photographed the statue free-standing in the snow. As an Englishman, Po thought of Scandinavia when he saw the eternal snow. However, since he could not find a suitable glacier in Norway, he flew from Manchester to Geneva on 14 October 1978 with a team of four. Because the flight had been delayed by an hour due to fog, Geneva missed the connection. A special permit was obtained – Air Zermatt actually did not operate any flights after 17:00. The three of them boarded the helicopter, only assistant Ian, with a fear of flying, drove Lizzy and the photo equipment by taxi to Zermatt. Pilot Bernd flew over Lake Geneva and took his passengers on a scenic flight around the Matterhorn and over the glaciers red from the alpenglow. Since Zermatt has been car-free since 1931, the crew was driven to the Hotel Polux by horse-drawn carriage for the equivalent of 7 pounds. “Switzerland is the most expensive country in the world!” project manager Alex Henderson was quoted as saying in Paul’s fan club magazine “Club Sandwich” in 1978.
The next day, Viktor, an experienced mountain guide, joined the team. In the morning, in beautiful autumn weather, Bernd’s helicopter explored the Zermatt region for a suitable location. Two were found on the Rothorn, the first above the glacier, the other on the summit. The glacier images were taken in the afternoon, Bernd flew the crew and material to the site. But how should you position Lizzy without leaving footprints in the snow? After several unsuccessful attempts, Viktor, secured with ropes to his belt and shoulder, set down the statue hanging from the helicopter. Although the mountain guide had noticed the crevasse hidden by the snow in time, photographer Angus Forbes had almost disappeared into it.
After three hours, they returned to Zermatt and arranged to meet at 5.30 a.m. the following morning to take pictures at sunrise on the summit. Locked hotel doors forced the crew to jump out of a window from a height of three meters. A similar scene was repeated on the Rothorn summit, where there was not enough space for a helicopter landing. An hour after sunrise, Bernd flew the team down to the glacier, where more shots were taken in the afternoon. The weather changed overnight, and on October 17, due to heavy snowfall, there was no question of flying or taking pictures. After a day at the hotel bar, the team drove down into the valley the next day in a VW bus with snow chains and then on to Geneva.
Footage from 11:45 a.m. from the second day on the glacier was used for the cover. The geographical location of the shoot can be seen on the back cover, with the cloud-shrouded Matterhorn emblazoned next to “Silly Love Songs” and “Live And Let Die”. The costs for the four days in Zermatt amounted to around 30,000 Swiss francs. Lizzy was honoured again in 1979 on the cover of “Back To The Egg”, also designed by Hipgnosis. This cover was used as an eye-catcher in “High Fidelity” on the record shelf behind Jack Black. […]
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