Mary Had A Little Lamb

This was a Single released by Wings in May of 1972. It's the nursery rhyme put to music. Paul claims he did the song because his baby daughter Mary enjoyed hearing her name being sung.

The Beatles had reached such lofty heights that people would often kid with them, saying they could release anything on record: nursery rhymes, chants, etc.....and it would sell. I wonder if Paul was putting that to the test with this one. Paul and Linda when asked about the song after it's release said"it's a song for spring to make people happy." In another interview Paul said: " it was written for one of our kids, whose name is Mary, and I just realised if I'd sang that, she'd understand. That's it with us, that's what you might expect from us-just anything."

The flip side of Mary Had a Little Lamb was a decidedly adult song called Little Woman Love.

Little Woman Love is a great little piano rocker and it's definitely a lesser known gem in the McCartney catalogue.

The single made it to the number 9 spot on the British charts, Number 28 in the US, 41 in Canada, number 13 in New Zealand and 17 in Australia. Respectable for a nursery rhyme set to music.

Give Ireland Back to The Irish

Give Ireland back to the Irish was Paul McCartney's 5th single as an ex-Beatle. It was his first single with his new group Wings. The single was released February 25, 1972. This Single was written by the McCartney's and performed by Wings, which had increased by one. Lead Guitarist Henry McCullough (far right) was added to the group, which was now a five piece band.

The song was written as a reaction to the "Bloody Sunday" massacre in Northern Ireland on January 30th, 1972. The BBC banned the song almost immediately, which actually helped sales of the single (people were curious). BBC press officer Rodney Collins said the "song was banned because it made a political point rather than telling listeners that there was suffering and sadness resulting from the political situation. "

Henry McCullough was Irish. His brother, who lived in Ireland at the time, was actually beaten up because of the song.

Denny Laine, in an interview in the late 80's, said that he thought that "Paul was a bit naive" about the whole thing. Laine said none of them knew enough about the situation to comment publicly or to take a political stand.

Give Ireland back to the Irish reached number 16 on the British Charts, number 21 was the high point on the charts in the U.S., It made it to number 1 in both Ireland and Spain.

The B-side was an instrumental version of the A-side. (John Lennon also wrote a song about the massacre called Sunday Bloody Sunday.

Wild Life

Wild Life is the first album issued by Paul's newly formed group Wings. The album was issued in December of 1971. It rose to a high point of 11 on the British charts and number 10 on the US charts. The album sold well enough to receive a gold record award.

When the album was released it contained 10 tracks: Mumbo, Bip Bop, Love is Strange, Wild Life, Some People Never Know, I Am Your Singer, Bip Bop Link, Tomorrow, Dear Friend and Mumbo Link.

The CD release contained the bonus tracks: Oh Woman, Oh Why?, Mary Had A Little Lamb and Little Woman Love. Later CD issues would contain different bonus tracks)

Paul and Linda McCartney wrote the songs for this album and then decided it would be good to have a group to record and tour with. Paul asked Denny Seiwell, who had drummed on McCartney's Ram album, to be the drummer. Then he called Denny Laine, an original member of the Moody Blues. Laine had sung the Moodies big early sixties hit Go Now. Both Denny's accepted and Wings was born.

WINGS Left to Right:

Paul, Linda, Denny Seiwell and Denny Laine.

Paul: Bass, Guitar, Piano, Vocals

Linda: Keyboards, Percussion, backing vocals

Denny Laine: Guitars, Bass, backing vocals

Denny Seiwell: Drums and percussion.

The new group met at Paul's house in Scotland and began rehearsals and played a few live gigs at different Universities around England. They would show up unannounced at the universities and ask if they would like Paul McCartney to play a show. Most were skeptical until they went out to the van to see Paul and then gladly accepted.

After Playing together for a short time they headed for the studio to record their first album, Wild Life. McCartney had read that Bob Dylan had recorded an album in three days and thought that was a great idea. The album would be full of spontaneity and excitement if they didn't over think things.

It was a disaster. When the critics got a hold of this album they let Paul have it. It was the worst criticism he had ever received. Wings recorded the album in three days and then did overdubs and mixing. It took a total of three weeks.

Nicholas Schaffner a rock writer and critic, and Beatles expert said about Wildlife:

"Unfortunately, what might pass for "rough-hewn" with Dylan translated into "half-assed" in the case of Wild Life, released in the last weeks of 1971, and from which McCartney's customary musical craftsmanship was totally missing. The entire record was sloppily performed, musically listless, and lyrically excruciating. The opening track, "Mumbo," was made up on the spot while the tapes rolled -- and sounded like it. Another song consisted mainly of the lyric "bip bop bip bom bop bip bop bip bom bam" repeated endlessly to a lobotomized three-note melody. This was the one George said he found hard "to relate to." C'mon Paul, we know ya can do better than that! Even the one or two half-decent tunes, like "Tomorrow," were suffocated by Linda's gloppy oohs and aahs unaccountably mixed as high as the lead vocal.

And the liner notes were just as cutesy-pie as the music: "Inside this wrapper is the music they made. Can you dig it?"

The rock critics not only couldn't "dig" Wild Life, they gored it with a vengeance. Most of them were already inclined to take Lennon's side in the Beatles' civil war; Paul was viewed as a traitor to the counterculture, who had split up the Beatles and sold his soul to bubblegum. In its end-of-1971 awards, Crawdaddy wished Wings a "crash landing." Bootleg Beatle albums appeared with covers caricaturing Paul as a bloated pig, while A. J. Weberman staged demonstrations outside the Eastmans' Park Avenue pad. The anti-McCartney hysteria got pretty silly, but Wild Life certainly didn't help Paul's case any."

There are a few bright moments on the album, but they are not enough to save this album. Fortunately Paul took the next album more seriously, but not before stubbing his toe on the next two singles.

(Dear Friend was an open letter to John Lennon trying to move past the arguing and bitterness)

Eat At Home

This was another single taken from Paul's second solo album Ram. It had a limited release. It was not issued as a single in the UK or the US. It was released in August of 1971 in Germany, New Zealand and Australia. In New Zealand the single climbed to the number 7 spot, while in Autralia it only made it as high as 21 on the charts.

The B-side of this single was Smile Away another song taken from the Ram album. Later when Paul formed his group Wings they would often play the song Eat at Home during their shows.

When a reporter asked him about the song in 1975 Paul said "it was a plea for homecooking-it's obscene."

Ram

Ram: Was released by Apple Records in 1971

Ram was a Paul and Linda McCartney album. They shared equal billing and production credit. The couple also designed the album cover together. Ram was Paul's first album recorded outside of England. All of the tracks for this album were recorded in a studio in New York City. Unlike Paul's first solo album, where he played all the instruments himself, he brought in studio musicians to play on this album. Drummer Denny Seiwell was recruited and guitarist Dave Spinozza. Hugh McCracken had been Paul's first choice for guitar, but he was busy working on another album at the time. Later, when Paul and Dave Spinozza were not seeing eye to eye Dave left and Linda called Hugh again and this time he cancelled his other plans to work with Paul.

There were twelve tracks included on the Ram album. They were:

1. Too Many People

2. 3 Legs

3. Ram On

4. Dear Boy

5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey

6. Smile Away

7. Heart of the Country

8. Monkberry Moon Delight

9. Eat at Home

10. Long Haired Lady

11. Ram On (Reprise)

12. Back Seat of My Car

John and Yoko believed the song Too Many People was about them and when listening to the song it's hard to argue with them. Also, the other three Beatles believed the song 3 Legs was somehow a shot at them.

Paul is seen grabbing the horns of a Ram on the cover and inside the cover of this album. John Lennon would later make fun of this by having a photograph of himself, grabbing the ears of a pig, put inside his album Imagine.

On the back cover of the album sleeve there was a picture of two beetles copulating. Many interpret this as Paul's way of saying he was being screwed by the other Beatles in their business dealings.

George Harrison has said he liked the song Eat at Home on this album. Ram made it to number 2 on the U.S. charts in 1971, and to the number 1 position on the charts in the U.K., New Zealand and Norway. The album was certified Platinum.

McCartney

In 1970, amidst all sorts of Beatle squabbling, Paul McCartney borrowed some recording equipment from EMI and headed for his home in Scotland. While there he recorded material that would ultimately be released as his first solo album. He and his family decided to spend some time alone, out of the public eye, which led to the "Paul is dead rumor" (which is a story for another time).

On this, his first solo album, Paul included 14 tracks:

1. The Lovely Linda

2. That Would Be Something

3. Valentine Day

4. Every Night

5. Hot As Sun

6. Glasses

7. Junk

8. Man We Was Lonely

9. Oo You

10. Momma Miss America

11. Teddy Boy

12. Singalong Junk

13. Maybe I'm Amazed

14. Kreen-Akrore

About half the songs were instrumentals. A few were Beatle leftovers. Paul wrote all the songs, played all the instruments and sang all the vocals except for a few backing vocals that were added by his wife, Linda. The album has a "homey" feel. He recorded the songs in the living room of his Scottish house. You can hear the kids in the background and Linda cooking, all of this background noise was left in on purpose. Many critics are torn on how to rate this album. On the one hand you have some sincere, from the heart music which although not polished certainly sounds good. On the other hand you have a number of tracks that sound half finished or like demos of songs.

Whether you find this album charming or unfinished nonsense, most people agree that the song Maybe I'm Amazed is McCartney's first major song on his own. It is written for his wife Linda and it shows how he was feeling as the world he knew (The Beatles) was crumbling around him.

This is still one of my favorite McCartney songs. It's a great piano number with an outstanding guitar solo. Many people like Jimmy McCulloch's Wings version of the solo, but I prefer Paul's more raw original. The solo the way Paul played it has emotion and power.

Maybe I'm Amazed by Paul McCartney

baby, i'm amazed at the way you love me all the time,

and maybe i'm afraid of the way i leave you.

maybe i'm amazed at the way you pulled me out of time,

you hung me on the line.

maybe i'm amazed at the way i really need you.

baby, i'm a man, maybe i'm a lonely man who's in the middle of something

that he doesn't really understand.

baby, i'm a man,

and maybe you're the only woman who could ever help me.

baby, won't you help me to understand?

ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.

oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,oh, oh, oh,oh, oh, oh, oh,oh.

baby, i'm a man, maybe i'm a lonely manwho's in the middle of something

that he doesn't really understand.

baby, i'm a man,and maybe you're the only woman who could ever help me.

baby, won't you help me to understand?

ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.

maybe i'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time,

maybe i'm afraid of the way leave you.

maybe i'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song,

right me when i'm wrong-maybe i'm amazed at the way i really need you.

Maybe I'm Amazed Video