Reviews

Wings- “Wings Over America” (1976)

By Tatum ⋅ May 11, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

This is one of those records that you can find in most any shop. It probably sold a bazillion during it’s day (#1 in American, #7 in the U.K.), and it feels like one of those records from the mid-70’s that every teenager looking to get high and hang in their room with headphones had to have right next to Frampton Comes Alive and Kiss Alive II. For years I seriously thought “Double Live Album” was code for excessive stonerness and record company laziness.

But who am I to look a $3 live album over twice without tucking it under the arm. Mint condition vinyl and cover with poster. It wasn’t a slow day either, as I picked up more reasonable choices like Joe South’s “Games People Play” (VG+) and original issue Big Star “Radio City” (F) to excited about. And the record literally sat there untouched for about three months. Then a few other McCartney solo albums started creeping into rotation, and I threw this one on to check it out. It stayed near the top f the stack for a few weeks, then something clicked a bit on it and I started to realize that it was a good record. Not a great record mind you, but a seriously good record. Literally it’s the sound of a band hitting on all cylinders and McCartney really is in great voice.

But I think the real charm is Denny Laine. Specifically, you’ve got to check out he’s Moody Blues’ era “Go Now” contribution, which I found out later they only played at the Forum in L.A. on this tour from Wikipedia. I hate to say it, but once again, this is one of those albums I wanted to hate but I can see me going back to more regularly than I would have ever imagined.

And I think this is the point of this site a bit.

MP3: “Go Now”

Tags: Denny Laine, Paul McCartney, Wings