Nottingham • Lunchtime

Paul brings shock Wings’ debut to P.B.

Paul McCartney’s momentous re-emergence from his five-year exile from live audiences may well have occurred at a different venue from Nottingham — if his daughter’s name had been any other than Heather.

Driving up from London, Paul and his band, “Wings”, only left the motorway by chance at a place called Hatherton, 12 miles from Nottingham. And the only reason they left there, according to inside information gathered by “Gongster”, was that Paul liked the name, due to its resemblance to his step-daughter’s.

This was the sort of crazy logic that brought the band to Nottingham University, where they gave their incredible premiere performance a week ago on Wednesday.

The only idea in the band’s mind when they had left London that day was to give a performance somewhere – where exactly they had no idea. In this way the concert, when it happened, could be regarded as just a rehearsal, a test of the band’s qualities before a live audience. That is why McCartney gave no publicity out to the Press.

There was another factor in Nottingham’s favour: Henry McCullough, “Wings” bass guitarist, played here a year ago with the Greaseband — and liked the place.

Thus it was that, unable to find a hotel near Hatherton, they drove on the extra 12 miles to Nottingham in their hired red van.

Then McCullough remembered about the University – and Paul walked into P.B. on the Tuesday to ask the first two students he saw “How’s about us giving you a concert here tomorrow?”

The rest is now just history and, of course, the performance went ahead at midday on Wednesday to about 600 enormously fortunate students. Afterwards, Paul and his entourage drove off into the sunshine, to disappear to places unknown as quickly as they had emerged from them.

They left, leaving the University with nothing but an afternoon to remember and savour for years to come.

From Gongster – Nottingham University Journal – 21 Feb 1972 – The News Room (nottingham.ac.uk)

McCartney’s Magical Mystery Show

For those of us who grew up in the shadow of the Beatles, it is hard to put into words the feeling of sheer excitement generated by seeing the man who represented the very heart of what they stood for standing on the stage singing “Lucille.”

The excitement had mounted all Wednesday morning. It was hard to grasp the fact that he was actually here, at our university, a legend in his own time. It seemed like some trivial joke until the strains of the band warming up began to drift down the stairs and we all knew, with an indescribable thrill, that this was no joke, that Paul McCartney, ex-Beatle, writer of some of the finest, lasting music of the last decade, was back with his new face on.

McCartney has not performed on stage for five years, and it was plain to see that it felt good to be back from the very first number. Things have certainly changed down Penny Lane these days, and his new band seems to capsulize his new attitude to music. The heart on his pullover might have brought back fleeting memories of softer, more romantic days, but the complexities of “Sergeant Pepper” and “Let it Be” are replaced now by simple, happy music ; music just to feel did, the floor jam-packed with good to, to get up and move to.

As the hall filled with, for the most part, still slightly incredulous people, the band pulled out the stops and we were out on Shakin’ Street, developing the mood set by “Lucille” with “Mess I’m In”, a real bitch of a number, its popularity proved by McCartney’s decision to repeat it during the second set. This must not be made too much of, however, as the entire concert was more or less a public rehearsal, albeit by some of the most respected figures on the rock scene.

The band was warming up now, gaining more confidence with every number (partly due to the rapturous applause which greeted them from a bedraggled audience) and the music began to gel nicely.

New member, Henry McCullough, traded down-home guitar licks gracefully and easily with Denny Laine (who has moved on down the road apiece from the days of “Go Now” and proven himself a fine guitarist in his own right) and played a nice, laid-back solo on the country-influenced “Blue Moon Of Kentucky”.

In introducing “Say Darlin'”, a slow fifties-style number to smooch like an old one but it’s a new one, Paul probably went nearer to describing his new approach than this article can hope to. During this, he showed his command of the audience—he only had to ask and we were all clapping along. Later. during the rock’n’roll encore which ended the concert (a repeat of “Lucille” coupled with “Long Tall Sally”) he exhorted us to dance, just like he used to on those atrocious “Beatles’ Specials,” and we a crowd far exceeding the fire limit. (Ever tried keeping a believer from seeing his Messiah?)

The first set ended with “Wild Life”, Paul’s nod in the direction of political involvement (developed later by the band’s new single). This is the title track from his last album. which was panned by almost every reviewer in the country. Lack of critical acclaim did not seem to be of too much importance to the audience however, and why should it? McCartney has severed all links with his former friends, so why judge him by standards which he himself disowns?

Here was a damn fine little band who by any other standards would be very highly rated. They left the stage for a break and we settled in, still barely believing, for the second set. The second set was, if anything, an improvement on the first, with the exception of the opening number, “Bip-Bop”, from “Wild Life”, which was just a little too trite, a little too middle-of-the-road.

“Give Ireland Back to the Irish”, Wings’ new single, also grated a little with its harsh, sing-along chorus, which immediately conjured up visions street, bellowing it at the top of his voice. But the rest of the set more than compensated.

McCullough and Laine both played superb, authoritative solos on a shuffle blues, and “Mess I’m In” kept things cooking nicely, showing that Paul is as at home on hard rockers as on slower things like “My Love”, which followed. At once this number aroused reminiscences of his better-known material (“Let It Be” springs to mind).

Seated at the piano. Paul was back in the days of “Hey Jude”, his love simply and without frills. If there were any faults in the performance, they were quickly forgotten when Paul put on his blue suede shoes to lead the band into a house-shakin’ rock’n’roll finale.

He was back in the Cavern now, playing the blues, rock’n’roll, and repeating numbers; every person in the place dancing, stomping and clapping. And then with a brief “see you next time”, they were gone, and everyone was left dazed by the piece of history they had just witnessed.

In places the band was less than musically brilliant. Paul’s bass-playing was sometimes mundane, and his good lady wife, looking very Carole-Kingish at the piano, but lacking the artiste’s vocal flair, consistently some pretty dull notes.

But who could complain about seeing one of the most important influences ever on rock music, backed as he was by, for the most part, a tremendously tight, exciting band, and really enjoying every minute of it.

As the audience left, people were already dissecting the performance, analysing it unnecessarily. Jude may be dead, as the guy who shouted for “Get Back” found out, but Paul McCartney is most certainly not.

Disregard the critics. On Wednesday afternoon he showed his paces to an audience packed like sardines for almost two hours in a cramped ballroom — I for one will never forget it.

From Gongster – Nottingham University Journal – 21 Feb 1972 – The News Room (nottingham.ac.uk)

Wings made their surprise live debut last Wednesday at Nottingham University – in the style in which Paul McCartney wanted the Beatles to make a late return to live performances.

The group played the show completely unannounced – but the MM was there to record the event with this exclusive picture of McCartney’s first live appearance since the Beatles’ last live performance in Candlestick Park, San Francisco on August 29, 1966.

Before a delighted crowd Wings played many new songs, blues jams, which featured Henry McCulloch (picture here with Paul), some tracks from “Wild Life” and the new single “Give Ireland Back To The Irish”. They finished with a rock medley, featuring McCartney singing “Long Tall Sally” – the song with which the Beatles frequently closed their stage act.

On Thursday, Wings played a similar concert at York University. McCartney’s assistant, Shelley Turner, told the MM, “They are on the road at the moment and have taken a lot of sandwiches with them. They could turn up anywhere and play this week. I don’t know exactly where they are”.

From Melody Maker, February 19, 1972

The students, jealously guarding the secret arrangements, kept what few press cameras there were well away. If there was going to be a flop, better here where hardly a ripple would leak out. But flop it certainly was not. A nervous McCartney and his band started up before most of the mildly incredulous students realized what was happening. As the first people in the hall crowded round the stage clutching their 40p tickets, the band opened up with Lucille. Four bars of this rocker and success was assured. There was a short discussion as Wings tried to think of another song they could play. ‘We haven’t got too many numbers yet We’re just checking things out,’ explained McCartney ‘That’s OK’ stulted the students. To say the band was short on material was an understatement. They had no more than four rehearsed numbers and filled in with blues and rockers. Album tracks like “Wild Life” and “Does It Good” [My Love], came over well but in a much simpler form than the recorded versions. Denny Laine is playing one of the sharpest, dearest lead guitars to be heard in a long time and his work on “The Mess I’m In” really showed his ability. Linda was helping out on organ and vocals while the McCartney kids made it a family affair jumping about at the stage-side. Musically the new Wings single “Give Ireland Back To The Irish” didn’t impress, although McCartney revealed that his lungs have lost none of the old screaming power they had. Paul was reluctant to say much about the group’s performance but he was obviously relieved by the tremendous response. ‘It was very good for us. We will go on touring the country for a while, playing more of these concerts when we feel like it, ‘ he said. […]

From Melody Maker, February 19, 1972