Wild Life (Wings album)

Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: 7 December 1971 | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other Template:Category handler Template:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Red Rose Speedway1973studioWild LifeWings, Wild Life (1971).pngWings7 December 197124 July – 2 August 1971EMI, LondonRock37:43Apple Paul McCartneyx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}

Wild Life is the debut studio album by the British-American rock band Wings and the third studio album by Paul McCartney after the breakup of the Beatles. The album was mainly recorded in seven sessions between 24 July and 4 September 1971 (additional overdubs were added during sessions in October 1971<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>), at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) by McCartney, his wife Linda, session drummer Denny Seiwell, whom they had worked with on the McCartneys' previous album Ram, and guitarist Denny Laine, formerly of the English rock band the Moody Blues. It was released by Apple Records on 7 December in the UK and US, to lukewarm critical and commercial reaction.

Recording

In July 1971, with a fresh set of McCartney tunes, the newly formed Wings recorded the album in slightly more than a week with the mindset that it had to be instant and raw in order to capture the freshness and vitality of a live studio recording. It was claimed at the time that five of the eight songs were recorded in one take, but this was later revealed to be untrue; only 'Dear Friend' was tracked in one pass.<ref name="legacy">Template:Cite book</ref> As engineer Tony Clark revealed to author Luca Perasi: "There was some discussion about the orchestra being too overpowering, but with a phasing effect and subtle level on the mix it seemed to work."<ref>Perasi, Luca: Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol.1) 1970-1989 , L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2023, Template:ISBN, p.96.</ref>

Paul McCartney later cited the quick recording schedule of Bob Dylan as an inspiration for this.<ref>Garbarini 1980</ref> The first session was held at Abbey Road Studios on Saturday, 24 July.<ref name="legacy" /> Footage of McCartney playing "Bip Bop" and "Hey Diddle" from around this time was later included in the made-for-TV film Wings Over the World.<ref name=Diary />

The album was rehearsed at McCartney's recording studio in Scotland, dubbed Rude Studio, which Paul and Linda had used to make demos of songs that would be used in the album, and recorded at Abbey Road with Tony Clark and Alan Parsons engineering. Paul had lead vocal parts on all tracks, sharing those duties with Linda on "I Am Your Singer" and "Some People Never Know". "Tomorrow", demoed in the summer of 1970 as a parody of "Yesterday", with the same opening chord sequence (but in a different key),<ref>Perasi, Luca: Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol.1) 1970-1989 , L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2023, Template:ISBN, p.94.</ref> features background vocals from Denny Laine and Linda McCartney.<ref name=RG>Ingham 2009</ref>

After the rehearsals at Rude, the recording moved to Abbey Road Studios, where the album was completed in a few weeks. According to drummer Denny Seiwell, five of the eight recorded tracks were done in one take. One almost definite example of this is "Mumbo", the opener on the album. According to Clark, they were jamming and Clark decided to start recording. McCartney, upon noticing, shouted "Take it, Tony" and started ad-libbing lyrics.<ref>Fricke, D. (2018). "Wild Life" 128-page essay. MPL.</ref>

On the promotional album The Complete Audio Guide to the Alan Parsons Project, Parsons discusses how he created a rough mix of "I Am Your Singer" that Paul liked so much, he used it for the final mix on the album.

Music and lyrics

"Dear Friend", recorded during the Ram sessions,<ref name=Diary>Miles; Badman 2001</ref> was apparently an attempt at reconciliation with John Lennon. It followed Lennon's attack on McCartney in the song "How Do You Sleep?", from the album Imagine,<ref name=Diary/><ref>Perone 2012, p. 143</ref> which had been in retaliation for McCartney's perceived digs at Lennon in "Too Many People" on Ram.<ref name="brown351">Brown; Gaines 2002, p. 351</ref><ref name=AGP148>Perone 2012, p. 148</ref> Music critic Ian MacDonald cited "Dear Friend" as a counter-argument to the caricature of McCartney as an emotional lightweight.<ref name="macdonald2p128">MacDonald 2005, p. 128</ref>

Wild Life also included a reggae remake of Mickey & Sylvia's 1957 top 40 hit "Love Is Strange".<ref name=RG/> A promotional single was distributed in the UK by Apple in December 1971 with catalogue No. R5932, but the commercial release was cancelled due to poor album sales.<ref name=Diary/>

Release and reception

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After announcing to the media the band's formation on 2 August 1971, the group were named "Wings" on 9 October.<ref name=Diary /> On 8 November, the group held a press party in London to announce both the group and Wild Life, which was released on 3 December in the UK and 6 December in the US,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> to lukewarm critical and commercial reaction. The album reached number 11 in the UK and number 10 in the US, where it went gold. At the same press party, in an interview with Melody Maker, McCartney said that the group should soon be performing live.<ref name=Diary /> John Mendelsohn wrote in Rolling Stone that he wondered whether the album may have been "deliberately second-rate".<ref>Mendelsohn, John (20 January 1972). Template:Cite magazine, Rolling Stone.</ref> In The Beatles: An Illustrated Record, Roy Carr and Tony Tyler called the album "rushed, defensive, badly timed, and over-publicized" and wrote that it showed McCartney's songwriting "at an absolute nadir just when he needed a little respect".<ref>Carr; Tyler 1975</ref> The liner notes for Wild Life (and on the Thrillington album) were credited to Clint Harrigan, a nom de plume of McCartney.Template:Citation needed Lennon claimed to know the identity of Harrigan during their Melody Maker feud in 1972.Template:Citation needed

In December 1971, a Ram outtake "Breakfast Blues" was mixed by Paul and Linda at A&R Studios.<ref name=Diary /> "Breakfast Blues" was played on WCBS-FM, where McCartney promoted Wings and Wild Life, on 15 December.<ref name=Diary /> The track was later released as "Great Cock and Seagull Race" on the 2012 special edition of Ram.

The album was first released on CD by EMI's budget Fame label, on 5 October 1987.<ref group="nb">UK Fame CD-FA 3101/CDM 7 52017 2</ref> In addition to naming the previously hidden tracks ("Bip Bop Link" and "Mumbo Link"), this edition added "Oh Woman, Oh Why" (the B-side of "Another Day"), "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Little Woman Love" as bonus tracks. In 1993, Wild Life was remastered and reissued on CD as part of 'The Paul McCartney Collection' series with singles "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" as well as B-sides "Little Woman Love" and "Mama's Little Girl"—all recorded in 1972 except for "Little Woman Love", which was a Ram outtake ("Oh Woman, Oh Why" appeared separately as a bonus track on the 1993 reissue of Ram). A version recorded in the garden of Paul's Scotland home circa June 1971 of the bluegrass-styled "Bip Bop" featured Paul and Linda's daughter Mary giggling in the background, and segued into a riff called "Hey Diddle". This surfaced in 2001 on the compilation Wingspan: Hits and History.

In 2007, Paul McCartney's catalogue was released on iTunes. Wild Life received an instrumental version of "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" (originally released as b-side of the single) as a bonus track.

In 2018, Wild Life was reissued as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The deluxe package included a 128-page book written by David Fricke telling the story behind the album, a 48-page scrapbook, previously unpublished Polaroids, lyrics, notes and memorabilia from the MPL archives.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The bonus tracks included the single "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" and its instrumental b-side, promo single edit of "Love Is Strange" and a number of home demos and studio outtakes, including unedited home performances of "Bip Bop" and "Hey Diddle", previously released on Wingspan: Hits and History.

Track listing

All tracks written by Paul and Linda McCartney, except "Love is Strange" written by Mickey Baker, Sylvia Vanderpool, and Ethel Smith, later revealed to be Bo Diddley.

Side one

"Mumbo" – 3:54
"Bip Bop" – 4:14
"Love Is Strange" – 4:50
"Wild Life" – 6:48

Side two

"Some People Never Know" – 6:35
"I Am Your Singer" – 2:15
"Bip Bop (Link)" – 0:52
"Tomorrow" – 3:28
"Dear Friend" – 5:53
"Mumbo (Link)" – 0:46

Additional tracks on the 1993 CD reissue

Notes: "Bip Bop (Link)" and "Mumbo (Link)" are unlisted on pressings of the album released before 1987. Track two, "Bip Bop", is a monaural recording. It was first released in stereo on the "Rough Mixes" CD, inside the Archive Collection edition of Wild Life.

Archive Collection reissue

Wild Life was remastered and released as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection on 7 December 2018. Several editions of the remastered album were released. The following track list represents the deluxe edition with three CDs and a DVD. The special edition and double LP versions compiled the remastered album (CD1) and bonus tracks (CD3).

Track listing

All tracks written by Paul and Linda McCartney, except "Love Is Strange" written by Mickey Baker, Sylvia Vanderpool, and Ethel Smith, and "Good Rockin' Tonight" written by Roy Brown.

Disc one – remastered album

"Mumbo" – 3:58
"Bip Bop" – 4:10
"Love Is Strange" – 4:52
"Wild Life" – 6:41
"Some People Never Know" – 6:37
"I Am Your Singer" – 2:19
"Bip Bop (Link)" – 0:52
"Tomorrow" – 3:28
"Dear Friend" – 6:00
"Mumbo (Link)" – 0:46

Disc two – rough mixes

"Mumbo" – 3:58
"Bip Bop" – 4:22
- First time released in stereo
"Love Is Strange" – 4:27
"Wild Life" – 6:41
"Some People Never Know" – 6:44
"I Am Your Singer" – 2:18
"Tomorrow" – 3:36
"Dear Friend" – 5:53

Disc three – bonus tracks

"Good Rockin' Tonight" (home recording) – 0:58
"Bip Bop" (home recording) – 3:17
"Hey Diddle" (home recording) – 2:33
"She Got It Good" (home recording) – 0:44
"I Am Your Singer" (home recording) – 2:53
"Outtake I" – 0:29
"Dear Friend" (home recording I) – 4:49
"Dear Friend" (home recording II) – 2:02
"Outtake II" – 0:13
"Indeed I Do" – 1:14
"When the Wind Is Blowing" – 3:51
"The Great Cock and Seagull Race" (rough mix) – 4:02
"Outtake III" – 0:10
"Give Ireland Back to the Irish" – 3:44
"Give Ireland Back to the Irish" (version) – 3:46
"Love Is Strange" (single edit) – 4:14
"African Yeah Yeah" – 2:44

Bonus DVD

"Scotland, 1971"
"The Ball"
"ICA Rehearsals"
"Give Ireland Back to the Irish Rehearsal"

PaulMcCartney.com free download<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

"Dear Friend" (orchestra up) – 5:59

Personnel

Paul McCartney – lead vocals, bass guitar, electric guitar, piano, keyboards, recorder, percussion
Linda McCartney – co-lead vocals Template:Small, keyboards, piano, percussion, backing vocals
Denny Laine – guitars, bass guitar, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals
Denny Seiwell – drums, percussion
Nicky Hopkins – piano (on "Bip Bop")
Alan Parsons and Tony Clark – engineering

Charts and certifications

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Weekly charts

Chart (1971–72)	Peak position
Australian Kent Music Report<ref name="auchart">Template:Cite book</ref>	3
Canadian RPM Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	5
Dutch Mega Albums Chart<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	6
Japanese Oricon LPs Chart<ref name="jachart">Template:Cite book</ref>	15
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	4
Spanish Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	2
Swedish Kvällstoppen Albums Chart<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }} Note: Kvällstoppen combined sales for albums and singles in the one chart. Wild Life peaked at the number-five on the hit parade on 11 January 1972.</ref>	3
UK Albums Chart<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	11
US Billboard Top LPs & Tape<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	10
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums<ref name=Band233>Template:Cite book</ref>	6
US Record World 100 Top LP's<ref name=Band233/>	9
West German Media Control Albums Chart<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	47