UK album release: Wild Life by Wings

Wings’ first album, Wild Life, was released in the United Kingdom on 15 November 1971.

Wild Life was Paul McCartney’s third post-Beatles album, following McCartney and Ram.

Wild Life was originally to have been titled Wings. Its release was delayed several times, but it finally came out in the UK in November 1971, and on 6 December 1971 in America. Part of the delay was due to the birth of the McCartneys’ daughter Stella on 13 September 1971.

The album peaked at number 11 on the UK album chart, spending a total of nine weeks on the countdown.

In the United States it fared slightly better, peaking at number 10 and being certified gold.

Critics didn’t like Wild Life when it came out so I started thinking like them, that it was rubbish. Then, when I heard it a couple of years later, I really liked it and found it interesting. OK, it didn’t make me the biggest blockbuster around but I don’t think you need them all the time. I like to have a couple of albums like that because it adds to the whole thing, really. But what made Wild Life OK for me was when I saw this fella heading for the hills in California holding a copy of Wild Life. So someone liked it.

No singles were taken from Wild Life. An edit of ‘Love Is Strange’ with ‘I Am Your Singer’ on the b-side was scheduled in the UK, but it was pulled after white label copies were pressed.