portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Saturday, December 08, 2018

Pretty sure I have posted this anniversary before but it is also quite possibly my very favourite Wings album as it was the first and we bought it as soon as. My wife and I loved this album and I still do! the new release from Paul of the four disc re-issue while a bit steep at £130 I would buy if I could afford it (which I can't!) Hey ho! Down in the jungle, living in a tent. You don't use money, you don't pay rent. You don't even know the time
But you don't mind . . . . .  


On this day in music history: December 7, 1971 - “Wild Life”, the debut album by Wings is released. Produced by Paul McCartney, it is recorded at Rude Studio at High Park in Campbeltown, Kintyre, Scotland and Abbey Road Studios in London in August 1971. Coming very closely on the heels of “Ram”, released barely seven months before, Paul McCartney is joined by wife Linda and band members Denny Laine and Denny Seiwell, making up the first line up of the band Wings. Their first album is completed in under a weeks’ worth of studio time. McCartney records it wanting it to sound spontaneous like a live recording. Five of the albums eight songs are recorded in a single take. On the albums’ release day, it is launched with a party in London to both herald the new release and introduce the band. It takes a verbal pounding from critics upon its release, but still performs decently on the charts. The album is reissued on CD in 1993 with four additional bonus tracks, including the previously released stand alone singles “Give Ireland Back To The Irish” “Mary Had A Little Lamb” and “Little Woman Love”. On December 7, 2018, the 47th anniversary of its original release date, album is reissued as a remastered as part of McCartney’s Archive Collection series. “Wild Life” is released as a two CD, two LP or three CD + DVD deluxe box set. The lavish boxed edition contains twenty five bonus tracks of previously unreleased rough mixes, single edits, non-LP B-sides and other rare material. The DVD contains home videos, rehearsal footage, and other previously unreleased film. The box als contains a one hundred twenty eight page book, annotated by Rolling Stone Magazine journalist David Fricke, and new interviews with Paul McCartney and the other band members. “Wild Life” peaks at number eleven on the UK album chart, number ten on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

Macca says:

The four-disc (3CD + 1DVD) limited deluxe edition of Wild Life, the debut album from Wings, originally released December 1971. Written by Paul and Linda McCartney (with the exception of a cover of Mickey & Sylvia's ‘Love Is Strange’), Wild Life is beloved by fans for its raw and direct vibe - having been recorded in just over a week with the majority of tracks laid down in a single take. Wild Life's limited deluxe edition treatment features the full album remastered at Abbey Road Studios plus 25 bonus audio tracks including rough mixes of the album, original single edits, B-sides, home recordings and other previously unreleased material across three CDs. The set’s DVD features rare footage of acoustic home videos, rehearsals and more. The Wild Life deluxe package includes a 128-page book written by David Fricke telling the story behind the album – including track-by-track information and new interviews with Paul and key album personnel, a 48-page scrapbook of tour diaries, lyrics and set lists, unpublished Polaroids, lyrics, notes and memorabilia from the MPL archives. 

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