Wings Archives - Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

McCartney shakes it in St Louis

By Nancy Carr|2016-08-16T12:02:38-07:00August 16, 2016|concert, Live, Paul McCartney, solo, Wings|

Waiting to sit in the stands of the sports arena. Paul McCartney proved he could still play, sing, and shake it at his show in St Louis last Saturday night. Looking loose and sounding in fine voice, McCartney was clearly having a capital time with the capacity crowd at Busch Stadium. And–almost unbelievably, given the high winds, lightning, and sheets of rain of the preceding night–it didn't even sprinkle. In most respects the 38-song setlist reflected the kind of Beatles-heavy mix McCartney has favored in recent years. It included 23 Beatles songs, 5 Wings songs, and 6 solo songs. But [...]

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Drugs and Differences

By Nancy Carr|2022-09-04T17:56:19-07:00May 16, 2016|1980, Drugs, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Wings|

Given the comments on a recent thread beginning here, we've decided to resurface a great post by Nancy on the topic. Originally posted 3/13/13.--MG On the apparently unstoppable "How Do You Sleep?" thread, Peter Deville commented that "it's interesting to note that the growing differences within the band coincided with a divergence in their individual drugs of choice, having made the collective journey from alcohol to uppers to pot." He adds: "Acid initially created that soon-to-be familiar fissure, with John, George and Ringo on one side and Paul on the other. I'm not suggesting that the drug divergence was responsible for the [...]

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McCartney’s mullet

By Nancy Carr|2015-01-05T19:07:28-08:00January 5, 2015|Fashion, McCartney, Paul McCartney, Photos, Wings|

Sir Business-in-Front-Party-in-Back My latest internet rabbit hole, down which I can spend entirely too much time, is this Tumblr site, which bills itself "Paul McCartney's Mullet Appreciation Blog." The site's owners, Christina and Hannah, are entirely too modest in their description: "This is not a quality blog. All I will do is post photos of Sir Paul. And his mullet. And occasionally his legs." [I've reached out to them via Tumblr; maybe C and H will tell us more about their mission of mercy.--MG] They post lots of great stuff, like this picture of John and Paul: Bangor University, [...]

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“Art of McCartney” tribute album mostly meh

By Nancy Carr|2014-11-25T07:56:03-08:00November 25, 2014|Beatles tributes, Bob Dylan, Covers, Paul McCartney, Uncategorized, Wings|

NANCY CARR * The recently released "Art of McCartney" tribute album could have been--should have been--so much better. Lots of songs and lots of artists, many of them big names. But the album suffers from two major problems: the track list is weighted toward songs that have been covered a lot (often better than here), and too many of the performers stick so close to the original arrangements that at times the effect is Karaoke Night at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For example, both Billy Joel cuts, "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Live and Let Die," are virtual reenactments of [...]

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Interview: McCartney Recording Sessions author Luca Perasi

By Michael Gerber|2014-10-28T13:52:09-07:00October 28, 2014|books, Interviews, Paul McCartney, Wings|

"Groundbreaking and definitive" Here's a welcome sign that Paul McCartney's solo work is being looked at with new and appreciative eyes: Luca Perasi's Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013) catalogs all Paul's solo recording sessions in detail. Well, the first 44 years of his post-Beatles career, anyway. Among the book's revelations is just how often McCartney recorded songs he didn't release for years, or in some cases didn't release at all. In the course of his researches, Perasi interviewed over seventy people who have worked with Paul over the years, and the perspectives they give on the man and his work are invaluable. Better still, Perasi doesn't let his obvious affection for McCartney's [...]

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McCartney in Dallas: A World-Class Balancing Act

By Nancy Carr|2014-10-16T14:02:28-07:00October 16, 2014|"New" album, Live, Paul McCartney, solo, Wings|

NANCY CARR • My favorite moment of Paul McCartney's October 13 show in Dallas was a visual grace note. At the end of a song, as a stagehand came forward to take McCartney's Hofner bass and give him a guitar, McCartney held the vintage instrument up and balanced it one-handed, headstock down, body up. He looked at it, and the audience, teasingly, as if he might really let it fall. Seeing him let that elegantly long-necked bass—the same one he was playing 50 years ago in A Hard Day's Night—sway in the air was an astonishment. After a breathless second, the Hofner [...]

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McCartney at Candlestick Park

By Nancy Carr|2014-08-22T15:21:12-07:00August 19, 2014|concert, Paul McCartney, solo, Wings|

NANCY CARR • Who can open a sold-out arena show with two songs he worked on that were released nearly 50 years apart? That would be Paul McCartney, who started his August 14 Candlestick Park concert with “Eight Days A Week” (1964) and “Save Us” (2013). McCartney closed down Candlestick in a rain of firework sparks and confetti, after playing 40 songs that often had the crowd singing, clapping, and dancing along. At this point it can be easy to take his shows for granted: you know certain songs will be played, that Roman candles will be set off during “Live and Let [...]

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Wings Over an Alternate Universe

By Nancy Carr|2014-07-23T11:56:58-07:00June 13, 2013|bootlegs, Paul McCartney, Wings|

The first sign that this bootleg is a bit weirder than usual is the cover—not the straightforward band photo used on many bootlegs of this show, which features Paul in a remarkably hideous pink shirt. That whoever put together this cover thought it would be cool to paste a square-shaped snapshot of Linda's head over that of a painted angel who is facing a different direction is a signal, friends, of more weirdness ahead. The back cover may lull you into a false sense of security. Here, at least, is the standard tracklist for bootlegs of this show. And the bus photo [...]

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McCartney’s Musical Aviary

By Nancy Carr|2016-02-11T14:00:18-08:00May 9, 2013|Paul McCartney, Wings|

Late at night when the wind is stillI'll come flying through your door… {Another in what is becoming a series of meditations on themes in McCartney's music. Let me know if I've missed any bird references! --Nancy} Birds and wings show up again and again in Paul McCartney's music–but only in his better music. I'll go out on a critical limb and declare that whenever McCartney writes about birds or flying– even in passing–he’s revealing a great deal about himself. When he writes about birds McCartney is working to transmute his feelings into music, and even his bird-featuring songs that [...]

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Getting (a bit) better — and a Minus 5 cover

By Nancy Carr|2013-08-01T04:32:35-07:00March 31, 2013|John and Paul, Wings|

The past few weeks have found us spending time and (virtual) ink on some pretty dark themes -- the Lennon/McCartney musical feud of the early 70s and Albert Goldman's resolutely dirt-seeking biography of Lennon. But hey, it's spring! Here in Chicago it's finally stopped being 30 degrees, the sun is out, some (admittedly small) green shoots are emerging from the ground . . . . it's a time of at least some hopefulness.So, in that spirit, I invite you to listen to the Minus 5's cover of "Dear Friend," the song on Wings' debut album in which Paul responds to John's "How [...]

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