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November 1979

Wings UK Tour 1979 rehearsals

For Wings

From Club Sandwich, N°17, 1980:

Eastbourne, on a cold, windy November day doesn’t seem the right setting to find the most successful modern musician in the world. Somehow Paul McCartney’s sensational success story should be permanently set in sunny climes, with palm trees, sunglasses, poolside cocktails and bronzed bodies. The reality couldn’t be more different.

The Sussex seaside resort has been chosen by Paul for a three-week rehearsal stint because it is close to the rambling farm where he and Linda and the kids spend most of their time. And their day starts like any other farmer’s would.

Breakfast, cooked by Linda, who then drives the kids to school, while Paul sets to mucking out the stables where his nine horses are kept. Linda returns to feed her hand-raised Mallard ducks. Still in their wellies and with Paul wearing a schoolboy scarf the superstar duo head for Eastbourne.

Meanwhile Denny, Laurence and Steve have left their Eastbourne hotel for a nearby pub where the competition on the pool table and dartboard has become intense of the past couple of weeks.

Paul and Linda arrive, the game stops, the halves of bitter are knocked back and the group leave for The Hippodrome, empty except for the band’s equipment. They still look like a bunch of friends on a day trip as they stroll along the front, but once on stage Paul takes charge and they launch into their opening number. ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ echoes around the deserted theatre and all of a sudden they are Wings, the band Britain is bursting to see and hear.

The passing pensioners catch the sound outside, pause for a moment then casually stroll on.


Unfortunately, no songs are listed for this session. Help us complete the track list by leaving a comment!


Going further

Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989

With 25 albums of pop music, 5 of classical – a total of around 500 songs – released over the course of more than half a century, Paul McCartney's career, on his own and with Wings, boasts an incredible catalogue that's always striving to free itself from the shadow of The Beatles. The stories behind the songs, demos and studio recordings, unreleased tracks, recording dates, musicians, live performances and tours, covers, events: Music Is Ideas Volume 1 traces McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1970 to 1989 in the form of 346 song sheets, filled with details of the recordings and stories behind the sessions. Accompanied by photos, and drawing on interviews and contemporary reviews, this reference book draws the portrait of a musical craftsman who has elevated popular song to an art-form.

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Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium

We owe a lot to Chip Madinger and Mark Easter for the creation of those session pages, but you really have to buy this book to get all the details!

Eight Arms To Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium is the ultimate look at the careers of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr beyond the Beatles. Every aspect of their professional careers as solo artists is explored, from recording sessions, record releases and tours, to television, film and music videos, including everything in between. From their early film soundtrack work to the officially released retrospectives, all solo efforts by the four men are exhaustively examined.

As the paperback version is out of print, you can buy a PDF version on the authors' website

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