Paul McCartney And Wings - Wings At The Speed Of Sound (1976) + Bonus Tracks

 (U.K 1971 - 1981)

Paul McCartney and Wings, often billed simply as Wings, were a British rock band formed in 1971 in London by Paul McCartney, formerly of the Beatles, on vocals and bass, his wife Linda McCartney on keyboards, Denny Laine, formerly of the Moody Blues, on guitar and vocals, and Denny Seiwell on drums. They were noted for their commercial successes, musical eclecticism, and frequent personnel changes. They went through three lead guitarists and four drummers. The core trio of the McCartneys and Laine, however, remained intact throughout the group's existence.

Wings are one of the most successful acts the UK has ever produced, achieving no less than 14 US Top 10 hits and 12 Top 10 hits in the UK. Following 1973’s 'Band on the Run', the mid ’70s were a commercial heyday for Wings. 'Venus and Mars', the band’s fourth studio album was released in May 1975 ahead of the legendary Wings Over the World tour. Preceded by the US Number One single “Listen To What The Man Said,” Venus and Mars hit the Number One spot in the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic and went on to sell over 4 million copies worldwide to date.

Wings in 1976 (L–R): Joe English, Denny Laine, Linda McCartney, Jimmy McCulloch,
                                                             Paul McCartney

 'At the Speed of Sound' was recorded in the midst of the same tour and released in March 1976. In the US, it enjoyed the same chart success as its predecessor. Including the international smash hit single “Silly Love Songs,” the album went on to become Paul’s most successful American chart album spending seven consecutive weeks at Number One. In the UK it charted at Number Two, narrowly missing out on the top spot (and was the 4th best-selling album of 1976). It became McCartney’s most successful American chart album, spending seven nonconsecutive weeks at number 1 throughout the summer (and blocking the Beatles’ then-new compilation Rock ‘n’ Roll Music, which reached number 2). Sales to date exceed 3.5 million worldwide.

The album was recorded at Abbey Road in two different sessions: first sessions took place in August/September and October 1975, with work resuming in January–February 1976. During the playback of “Must Do Something About It”, Paul heard drummer Joe English sing the song and decided to have him take the lead vocal. In “Cook of the House”, McCartney handled double-bass, while “Silly Love Songs” was arranged in a disco-style, in a similar fashion to Al Green’s “Sha La La”

'Wings at the Speed of Sound' was released in late March 1976 and received somewhat lukewarm critical reviews. Rolling Stone’s reviewer saw this record as something of a concept album, describing it as “A Day with the McCartneys”. The introduction, “Let ‘Em In”, is sometimes perceived as an invitation for the listener to join the McCartneys on this fantasy day, with explanation of their philosophy (“Silly Love Songs”), a lunch break (“Cook of the House”), and a chance to get to know McCartney’s friends (Denny Laine in “The Note You Never Wrote”, Jimmy McCulloch in “Wino Junko”, etc.).

Much of the album’s success can be attributed to its two smash singles. “Silly Love Songs”, a response to his critics and one of McCartney’s biggest hits, followed the album in April, and became one of 1976’s biggest-selling singles. This was followed in July with “Let ‘Em In”, which also scaled the singles charts. Amid all this, Wings finally went to North America for the Wings Over America Tour, playing McCartney’s first shows there in ten years (after The Beatles’ last tour in 1966) to euphoric reaction; a few selections from 'Speed of Sound' were included.

The strangest thing about this album, is that despite coming right off the heels of Wingsʼ single most rock-oriented record - Band On The Run - and Wingsʼ single most arena-oriented rock tour, Wings At 'The Speed Of Sound' has a very quiet, almost homely vibe to it — as if they were intentionally (or subconsciously) offering us a musical antidote to the brash loudness of its predecessor. With the exception of ʽBeware My Loveʼ, there is not a single song here that would rock as hard as ʽRock Showʼ, ʽMedicine Jarʼ, or ʽLetting Goʼ.

Silly Love Songs Banner - In Front of Berlin Wall

Youʼd think that for a record that is known for being the most democratically structured Wings record ever, with all members of the band contributing to songwriting and lead singing, it could have been just a wee bit raunchier than this, but no way: even Jimmy McCulloch with his obligatory anti-drug statement is content to provide a quiet pop song rather than a loud rock anthem. 

The album was infact critically reviewed in RAM magazine (Edition #33) in 1976 by Steve Clarke for its democratic struture, and even went as far as to title the article 'Two Hoots For Macca's Democracy'. A transcript of the review is provided below:

Two Hoots For Macca's Democracy

WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND

Since The Beatles break-up only two McCartney/Wings albums have entirely impressed me - 'Band On The Run' and 'McCartney' itself, his first post-Beatles album.

McCartney was made entirely on his ownsome and, given the limitations he imposed on himself, it worked perfectly, even including one classic McCartney song in "Maybe I'm Amazed", while cuts like "Every Night" and "Junk" would stand out like the proverbial sore thumb if included on this LP.

Yes everybody, McCartney has made another duff album, although as Wings At The Speed Of Sound's rapid acceleration up the charts demonstrates, not too many people seem aware of this.

That old saying, 'If it's McCartney, it's Gotta Be Good', still stands firm. And Macca probably sells more records than the rest of the ex-Beatles put together, although the recent competition has not been all that high. Wings At The Speed Of Sound is the first democratic Wings album - it's no longer Paul McCartney and Wings, just plain Wings, and everybody in the group gets to sing a song, guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and Denny Laine each having one of their own numbers on it.

Now that's a bad move for a start. lt's easy to criticise McCartney's songs and arrangements on this album, but his singing and bass playing is as peerless as ever.

In fact, vocally he's at the top of his form, using the different shadings of his voice to best possible advantage.

So, Democracy aside, it's crazy to have other people sing your songs when you can sing them so much better yourself. It's just about understandable letting the wife sing a track (and the less said about Linda's track on this LP the better), cause he's so much in love with her, but to have McCulloch, drummer Joe English and Laine have a go is simply not on when they're so obviously inferior singers to Paul himself - especially McCulloch and English.

Two songs stand out as being better than the rest. "Beware My Love" and "Silly Love Songs". The former is by far the best out of the two. It's a juxtaposition of one or two separate ideas, and doesn't have that much sense of completeness as a song, starting out from just a harmonium phrase over which is added acoustic strumming. The two McCartneys sing the first verse, before Paul is let loose to scream rock 'n' roll style.

The band play well and the sound is perfectly clear and uncluttered. Yet often, on this album McCartney will add brass or strings, sometimes both, which are completely unnecessary.

The lyrics to "Beware My Love" are inaudible. If they're anything like the ones that aren't, that's probably just as well.

Over to "Silly Love Songs", which isn't half as bad as the title implies. He sings it beautifully, high pitched and pure. It's uptempo with a rather slight melody.

Too frequently the songs sound like filters, and this isn't the old days when McCartney's fillers were better than most of the music being produced at the time.

The opening "Let 'Em In" lacks any real development as a song and once again in my opinion the orchestral woodwind is right out of context. "The Note You Never Wrote" is the McCartney song which Laine sings. lt's a soft stop-start ballad. MOR-ish, but bctter arranged. McCulloch playing a decent upper register blues-rock solo.

The following "She's My Baby" lacks form as a song. It's as if McCartney should have taken more time to refine his initial idea. And I could go on.

I've a theory that McCartney has a faulty perspective of his own talent. He doesn't always know the difference between a good idea and a bad one. And when he's got a good one, he doesn't always know what to do with it.

Like so many other Major Artists, he must find it difficult to get an honest opinion from his camp-followers. It must be a real buzz for the musicians who're playing with Wings to be playing with an ex-Beatle and I can't imagine any of them having it in them to criticise him. [by Steve Clarke]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from CD (1993 Edition) and includes full album artwork for both vinyl and CD media.  This particular release comes with 3 additional tracks that were not on the LP, but were released as singles in 1974.  Namely, the rare singles "Walking in the Park with Eloise" / "Bridge On The River Suite" released under the pseudonym 'The Country Hams' and another, "Sally G" (the B-Side to their non-album single Junior's Farm).

I've always enjoyed listening to this album, especially the powerful ballad "Beware My Love", and enjoyed the diversity that the other songs and band members brought to the table. It's a Fun album (almost tongue in cheek at times), so I say 'losen up critics' and accept the album for what it is, just good plain fun.

Track List:

01 Let 'Em In 5:10

02 The Note You Never Wrote   4:22

03 She's My Baby 3:06

04 Beware My Love   6:28

05 Wino Junko   5:19

06 Silly Love Songs   5:53

07 Cook Of The House  2:38

08 Time To Hide 4:34

09 Must Do Something About It   3:39

10 San Ferry Anne 2:06

11 Warm And Beautiful 3:13

12 Walking In The Park With Eloise (Bonus Track) 3:08

13 Bridge Over The River Suite (Bonus Track)  3:08

14 Sally G (Bonus Track) 3:40 

Wings were:

Paul McCartney - vocals, bass

Denny Laine – vocals, acoustic/electric/bass guitars, piano, harmonica

Jimmy McCulloch – vocals, acoustic/electric/bass guitars

Joe English – vocals, drums, percussion

Linda McCartney - Keyboards, Vocals

Additional musicians:

Tony Dorsey – trombone

Thaddeus Richard – saxophone, clarinet, flute

Steve Howard – trumpet, flugelhorn

Howie Casey – saxophone

George Tidwell – trumpet

Wings Link (332Mb)

REPOST: Jeff St John - Live (1974)

(Australian 1965-76).

.

Soul-styled rock singer Jeff St John (born Jeffrey Newton in Sydney, 1946) fronted a number of first class bands during the 60s and 70s, including The Id and Copperwine. His performances were memorable not only for his strong, soulful vocals but for the wheelstands and spins he would execute with his wheelchair (Jeff being paralysed from birth by spina bifida).

1965-1971 Lead Vocalist Member of the bands The Id, Yama, and Copperwine with The Id and Copperwine achieving national success, both live and with Top Ten hit singles. ("Big Time Operator" - The Id), ("Teach Me How To Fly" - Copperwine). In May 1970, Wendy Saddington joined musician Jeff St. John's highly acclaimed and well-established group, 'Copperwine', as co-vocalist just after the release of the group's Joint Effort album.

Copperwine's line-up consisted of the following musicians: Wendy Saddington (lead vocals), Jeff St John (lead vocals), Harry Brus (bass), Ross East (guitar, vocals), Peter Figures (drums), and Barry Kelly (keyboards, vocals). With St. John temporarily away from the band, Wendy fronted Copperwine for their acclaimed performance at the Wallacia Festival on the central-coast of New South Wales. A live recording of the event, Wendy Saddington and The Copperwine Live was released on Festival's new progressive subsidiary Infinity during '71, which showcased Copperwine's sympathetic backing sensibilities for Wendy's distinctive vocals. Wendy left Copperwine around February 1971.

By mid-1973, beset by personal upheavals, disillusionment and continuing health problems, Jeff decided to throw in the towel and head off to the UK. His farewell concert was a gala event staged at the Sydney Opera House, with the St John Band augmented by friends including Vince Melouney, John A. Bird and Ace Follington.

In May 1974, Infinity issued an album of the concert, Jeff St John Live (included here), while Jeff was playing a handful of low-key gigs in London. He returned to Australia in August that year, to plan his next move. On his return, Jeff formed a new backing band, Red Cloud, and his new single "Mr Jones" / "Acapulco Lady" was released in May 1975. Produced by Martin Erdman and arranged by ex-Blackfeather-guitar-wiz John Robinson, the single was a minor sales success. It was followed up in October by another 45, utilising the same production/arranging team, "Blood Brother" (b/w "Reach Out And Touch Me"). Jeff and Red Cloud maintained a heavy touring schedule during 1975-76, and the singer continued as a popular live draw.

Jeff was the first Oz artist to sign with US imprint Asylum (whose listing included The Eagles, Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt) and he released a clutch of impressive singles for the label, capped by his welcome return to the national Top 10 during early 1977 with his scorching version of the Frankie Miller-Andy Fraser track "Fool In Love", a recording which must surely rate as one of the greatest soul records made anywhere, anytime, and must surely rank as one of Jeff's very finest vocal performances. A fresh (and typically thorough) Glenn A. Baker retrospective compilation, Survivor 1965-1975 was released in late 1977.

Jeff continued to record and perform live through the late 70s and into the early 80s, producing some quality rock performances, but in 1983, at the age of 37, he announced his retirement.

From 1983 until now has done a lot of things including collaboration with Universities on various programs for the disabled, lecture tours on the same, and designing plus building a beautiful Harley Davidson trike (the Dinosaur)plus of course fronting Jeffrey St John and The Embers.

Jeff was recently made PATRON for the MOSAIC FAMILY & COMMUNITY SERVICES Organisation. This recently formed organisation provides support for disabled people in many areas, including rehabilitation programs for disabled people unfairly penalised by the legal system. (Extracts from Milesago and Jeff's Website which is no longer active)

This rip was taken from Vinyl in FLAC format and includes album artwork. I've also included label scans of my album for your interest. Enjoy!

                          New Improved Rip!

.

Track Listing

01 - St John's Chariot

02 - (I Wanna Be A) Survivor

03 - Teach Me How To Fly

04 - Levon

05 - Jailhouse Rock

06 - Children Of The Storm

.

Band Members:

Jeff St John (Vocals)

Ron Barry (Guitar, Vocals)

Tony Ansell (Piano)

Peter Figures (Drums)

B.J (Bass)

.

Jeff St John Link (237Mb) 

New Link 11/02/2026

..

Andy Bown - Gone To My Head (1972) + bonus live track

(UK 1966 - Present)

Andy Bown (born 27 March 1946, The City, London, England, UK) is an English musician, who has specialized in keyboards and bass guitar. He is currently a member of the rock band Status Quo.

Bown's first major band was The Herd, along with Peter Frampton. After The Herd dissolved he spent two years with Judas Jump who were the opening act of the Isle Of Wight Festival 1970.

He played [keyboards at first] for Frampton in the 1970s then switching to bass briefly when Rick Wills departed the Peter Frampton band in early 1975. Bown himself left the Frampton entourage less than a year later, just as Frampton was on the verge of becoming a world-wide Rock sensation.

He went back to England where he first dabbled with a solo career, releasing this debut album "Gone To My Head" in 1972 (with assistance from Frampton on guitar), then resumed work with Status Quo whom he started playing keyboards for in 1973 as a session musician, first appearing on their Hello! album in the same year. He joined Status Quo as a full member in 1976, recording "Rockin' All Over The World" with the band in 1977. His live piano intro to Quo's performance of "Rockin' All Over The World" was the first music heard at the beginning of the original Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in 1985, which was broadcasted to approx 1.5 billion people worldwide.

Andy was the surrogate Roger Waters during Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' tour of 1980 and 81 and he also played keyboards on Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" album and Roger Waters' subsequent release Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking".

Status Quo (featuring Andy Bown)

He plays keyboards, guitar and harmonica with Status Quo to this day and is an integral part of the band, having co-written many well known Quo songs, most prominently the group's hits "Whatever You Want", "Again and Again" and the 1988 hit "Burning Bridges" which, re-recorded, went on to reach No.1 in the charts as Manchester United Football Club's anthem.

Andy Bown 2016

The Album

'Gone To My Head' was the 1972 debut solo studio album by English musician Andy Bown, known for his work with The Herd, Peter Frampton, and Status Quo. The album is considered a lost treasure of British singer-songwriter and pop rock music. Released on Mercury Records (catalog number SRM 1-625), the album features a blend of folk rock, with Bown contributing vocals, piano, and guitar and Peter Frampton is also featured playing Electric and Acoustic Guitar. The album was remastered and reissued on CD in 2016 by Big Pink. 

Designed by John Youssi, the cover Illustration was created by Doug Taylor and art direction by Des Strobel. The artist’s name is in a film typeface named 'Horse Tank'. The lowercase-only bold oblique face with tiny counters and thin stems here appears with an outlined drop shadow. The album title shows lettering based on 'Mistral'. 

The hammer and nail caractures on the front cover of the album remind me of those used in Pink Floyd's The Wall video and one might wonder whether there was some connection between the two with Bown's involvement with The Wall tour while playing with Pink Floyd.

In an article (published July 21st, 1973- Sounds Magazine), Gerry Gilbert writes:

A series of failures after the demise of the Herd had left Andy overly cynical about the entire music business. [His next bands].... Judas Jump and Storyteller both left their scars and when he finally resurfaced with the solo album "Gone To My Head" it seemed as though he had finally broken through. For the album, far from being a vehicle to excuse or escape his pop past, was a delightful cameo of reflaction upon mistakes, seeking absolution and searching for new paths. It was an album that worked in preciselyt the way Cat Stevens' "Mona Bone Jakon" had done, combining the essential elements of simplicity, clarity and honesty.

"But it was all a complete balls up",  Andy reflected when I met him for lunch last week. "No-one knew it was coming out because it was so far behind schedule and it got buried straight away. In fact, I don't think it even got to the shops".

Gerry later writes about up and coming gigs for Andy at the time:

"There are a whole bunch of good gigs lined up for Andy including a possible Status Quo tour and an appearance at the Reading Festival - and I urge you to try and catch the band in action.

Too late you cry? Well, the good news is that I have Phillip's '73 Reading Festival' release which features a track from Bown's performance called "Long Legged Linda" and is included in this post as a bonus track [It was this track that first brought my attention to the talents of Andy Bown, and his later involvement with Status Quo]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my vinyl which I recently found in a bargin bin at a 2nd hand record seller.  I suspect the seller was unaware of the album's significance as a collector item and happily parted with my $5 for the near mint copy. Full album artwork and label scans are included, along with select photos of Andy (sourced from Andy's Facebook pages).

As mentioned, Andy Bown first appeared on my radar when I heard him play "Long Legged Linda" on Phillip Record's release of  the 1973 Reading Festival.  One anomaly that made it difficult to trace Andy's musical career at that point in time was the mispelling of his surname on the album cover (Andy Brown), although the record label itself had it spelt Bown. Remember, there was no Google back in those days to help sort out annomalies like this.  Anyhow, I have chosen to add "Long Legged Linda" as a Bonus track for your pleasure.

Note: Because the first 2 tracks run into one another (with no distinct separation), I have recorded them as one track.

Tracklist:

01 Pale Shadow (Of His Former Self)  2:12

02 Gone To My Head 3:02

03 And If My Love Wants To Know  0:54

04 P.S. Get Lost 3:19

05 The Mourning Leaves  3:37

06 Open Your Eyes 4:39

07 Oh, James 2:36

08 Eventually 5:17

09 Etcetera, Etcetera  4:45

10 If It's All The Same To You  2:00

11 lease Remember Me 3:20

12 Long Legged Linda (Bonus Live)  3:48

Band members:

Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Organ, Piano – Andy Bown

Backing Vocals – Caroline Attard, Lesley Duncan, Liza & Kay

Bass Guitar – Chris Belshaw

Drums – Micky Waller

Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Peter Frampton

Andy Bown Link (205Mb)

REPOST: Daniel - Last Night In The City (1978) + Bonus Tracks

(Australian 1976-79)
.
Originating in Newcastle (NSW) under the name 'Delta', the band moved to Sydney, then on to the Melbourne circuit as Daniel. A clean blend of R'n'B with country overtones and featuring three part harmonies, the band came to the attention of Mike Rudd (Spectrum and Ariel) who then produced this, their only album.
For me, Daniel sounded a lot like Stars (both vocally and instrumentally) but still retained their own distinct sound. Roger Pyke's voice is very similar to that of Mick Pealing, particularly in "Creep" and "Loves Loser", while Paul Trimble's guitar work (particularly his Steel Guitar licks) are reminiscent of the legendary Andy Durant.

I remember seeing Daniel at the Nightmoves Concerts in the late 70's, held at the St Kilda Palace and thinking how much they reminded me of the Stars who were big at the time.
.
.
Their album was not released at this time but they did have a flexi-disk single give-away in a current edition of RAM Magazine, which featured their hit single "Last Night In The City" and a promotional B-side for Yamaha with Mike Rudd talking with the band about their sound and Yamaha equipment. 
.
During their three year career, they only released three singles and their debut album. As mentioned, their hit single was also captured live on a second Nighmoves Concert release, and "Two Wrongs" appeared later on the Nightmoves DVD release.
The album is easy to listen to and it is obvious that all band members were very talented musicians. It is a shame that they didn't stay together to record more material and were probably lacking the power of a Michael Gudisnski to promote them better.
.
Thanks to Sunshine at Ausrock for the FLAC album rip and artwork. The bonus live tracks and debut single were taken from my record collection and also ripped to FLAC.

The Promo Flexi disk A & B Sides were ripped from my copy in FLAC format. I have also included scans of the Flexi Disk and cover - my copy is yellow but I believe it was also released on blue flex. 
.
     New Improved Rip !

Track Listing
01 - Waiter Waiter
02 - Creep
03 - Go Underground
04 - Do The Whiteman
05 - Sad Sad Day
06 - Last Night In The City
07 - Moon-Go-Round
08 - Loves Loser
09 - Bon Voyage Australia
10 - The Wind
[Bonus Tracks]
11 - Are You Listening (Single-A)
12 - High Spot (Single-B)
13 - Last Night In The City (Live Nightmoves)
14 - Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right (Live Nightmoves)
15 - Flexi Promo-Last Night In The City (Single A)
16 - Flexi Promo-For Yamaha (Single B)
.
Band Members:
Roger Pyke (Vocals, Guitar)
David Stewart (Drums, Vocals)
James Neal (Bass, Vocals)
Paul Trimble (Guitar)
Jose McLaughlin (Keyboards)
.
Daniel Link (423Mb) New Link 02/02/2026