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10.46pm
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29 August 2013
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meanmistermustard said
@trcanberra, will you be going back to this or did you read too many reviews of ‘Wild Life ‘ (insert obligatory “i love the album bar ‘Bip Bop’ affirmation) and decide life was too short and head off to the Beach Boys ? I like reading your reviews.
Yes – I will be going back to this after the Beach Boys – and I kind of like Bip Bop 
It’s actually a little ironic; but starting this thread made me realise how much I missed some of my other old favourites – so the first thing I did was buy every ELO album and listen through them chronologically (there is a nice cheap box which has most of their stuff). I then decided to buy Holland, which had been my favourite BB album – but then of course my completion compulsion kicked in. I have gone through 21 of those, 9 to go – then it’s (hopefully) back to Paul and co. At the rate I am going that should only take me a fortnight or so (even with listening to Pet Sounds, Smile and Holland multiple times – fantastic albums). I can see why Paul was such an admirer of the band.
Thanks for the interest.
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3.04am
Reviewers
29 August 2013
Offline Responding to popular demand from my fan(s), I have finally got around to listening to:
Yes, it’s Wild Life by Wings. This 1971 effort had the third variation of the artist’s name that Paul used in as many albums (Paul McCartney , Paul and Linda McCartney, Wings) and only two albums later we would get a fourth (Paul McCartney and Wings) – which points to an artist still finding his way after the breakup of the Beatles. I was not too sure how I felt about this album ‘back in the day’ (sorry for using that term so much) – maybe it suffered from following on from Ram which I REALLY liked. Wild Life was recorded in around 3 days and it shows – if I had owned McCartney at that time I would probably have been a little kinder as it comes across to me as a companion to that album rather than a Ram follow-up; it even has a couple of throwaway instrumentals on the old 2nd side.
So what do I think of the album nowadays? Well, even looking at the track listing I knew I would like it more than I remembered doing – and Paul was even nice enough to give me a shout-out in the first few seconds of the first track. The album has a nice playful feel to it; though I felt back then, and still do now, that a few of the tracks overstay their welcome and could have been trimmed to allow room for a couple of other songs. I am not a fan of the title track or its delivery – this might have been better if John had the vocal. However, Tomorrow is a stand-out and the cover of the old 1956 Mickey and Sylvia track Love Is Strange is nicely done. Mumbo is chaotic fun and I also like the harmonies on I Am Your Singer – in fact Linda does very well vocally on this album and shares the writing and production credits.
The version I have is the 1993 remaster, I had heard some conflicting opinions on the quality of this series of CDs – I must say it sounds fine on my system with nice delineation of the instruments and vocals and nice punch when it needs it. We also get some interesting bonus tracks:
- Give Ireland Back To The Irish. I would dismiss this as simplistic political drivel if its getting banned on BBC radio didn’t demonstrate that it was perhaps called-for. Maybe it would have been a nice track on John’s New York City effort.
- Mary Had A Little Lamb. I’m not sure if this is Paul being sly about what it takes to get airplay in the UK, or an exercise in melody, or the ultimate expression of granny s**t music. Take your pick.
- Little Woman Love is a catchy little rocker that was the flip side of Mary, it was also a bonus on the version of Ram I discussed earlier in this thread.
- Mama’s Little Girl is a nice tuneful 1972 Wings track which would have fitted well on the album if it was around then and if some of the tracks had been trimmed a touch as suggested above.
Okay, unless I am mistaken the next cab off the rank will be The Concert for Bangladesh which made a huge impression on me back in 1972 – both at the cinema and on the turntable. I watched the DVD a few months back and really enjoyed it, so I am looking forward to listening to the CD box to see if it has a similar impact.
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3.56am
Reviewers
29 August 2013
Offline Wow – over 3 months before I got to this ^
I really got sidetracked by Dylan, ELO and the Boys .
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10.00pm
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4 February 2014
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trcanberra said
Responding to popular demand from my fan(s), I have finally got around to listening to:
Yes, it’s Wild Life by Wings.
Woohoo!
I was not too sure how I felt about this album ‘back in the day’ (sorry for using that term so much) – maybe it suffered from following on from Ram which I REALLY liked. Wild Life was recorded in around 3 days and it shows – if I had owned McCartney at that time I would probably have been a little kinder as it comes across to me as a companion to that album rather than a Ram follow-up; it even has a couple of throwaway instrumentals on the old 2nd side.
I actually heard the albums in that order, (McCartney->Wild Life ->Ram ) and enjoyed them all individually. If I heard Ram first it probably would’ve been a bit of a let down going to Wild Life .
The album has a nice playful feel to it; though I felt back then, and still do now, that a few of the tracks overstay their welcome and could have been trimmed to allow room for a couple of other songs.
I felt the same way when I heard it first, they do drag on a bit.
Can’t wait for your next review! Haven’t heard the Concert for Bangladesh yet, but found it at the library and it’s on my iPod awaiting me.
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trcanberra12.36am
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1 May 2011
Offline I think my tastes are daft as I find many of the ‘Ram ‘ tracks go on for far too long yet don’t with the ‘Wild Life ‘ song. I really do enjoy them and don’t find myself ever wanting to hurry them along. Maybe it depends on the order of what album you hear first, for me it was ‘Wild Life ‘ -> ‘McCartney’ -> ‘Ram ‘.
I’ve always loved the title track, ‘Mumbo’ is, as @trcanberra says fun – if you dont listen to it often, and i totally agree that that Linda is great vocally – ‘I Am Your Singer’ is such a gorgeous duet between her and Paul (their only one). As said many times previously i adore all of the album bar ‘Bip Bop’ and i could have liked that if it didn’t meander on for over 4 pain inducing minutes; there are only so many repeats of ‘Bip bop, bip bop bop, Bip bop, bip bop band” before you are looking for the door to slam your fingers in.
And i agree totally with trcanberra about the four 1993 bonus tracks.
Delighted that these posts are back, may the next not be over 3 months away.
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Mr. Kite, trcanberra"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
4.41am
Reviewers
29 August 2013
Offline To quote Neil:
“Funny how some things that start spontaneously end that way. Eat a peach”
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11.18pm
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29 August 2013
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“Delighted that these posts are back, may the next not be over 3 months away.”
With apologies to @meanmistermustard it looks like it has been 6 months; but just as Neil left Stephen but came back to CSNY, I have finally returned to this series of reminisces and new discoveries. Our next album is:
which in my opinion looked much better when it had this cover:
Luckily that iconic image is included as the cover on the two included CDs (the LP release was on 3LPs). The superb booklet from the LP release has unfortunately been replaced with a skimpy affair which shares most of its content with the booklet in the DVD release.
As most will know the album and film of these amazing concerts (I believe there were 2 shows) at Madison Square Gardens were prompted by Ravi Shankar asking George to help him find funds to assist refugees in war-torn Bangladesh. George did more than assist – he arranged the concerts which eventually (after the record companies tried to get a share) provided much-needed funds for the region.
The 3LP set cost a LOT of money back in the day. It was one of my first albums and I was lucky to get hold of it. I may have mentioned elsewhere that I received it as a birthday gift from a gentleman who was trying to impress my mother’s best friend with his largesse 🙂
The CDs themselves sound superb and have a great range of music; from some of George’s best early solo songs (Beware Of Darkness , Awaiting On You All , My Sweet Lord ) to some of his Beatles songs (a great performance of Here Comes The Sun among them) by way of Ringo forgetting the words on It Don’t Come Easy and nice sets from Billy Preston and (especially) Leon Russell. Unfortunately Badfinger only play as backup musicians and don’t perform any of their songs, the same goes for Eric Clapton.
I know we have some Dylan fans here and this album set is almost worth it for his performances alone. After a period away from the public eye he came back to deliver an astonishing set, including iconic tracks such as Blowin’ In The Wind and Just Like A Woman . As a bonus the album also includes Mr. Tambourine Man which is missing from the film (I believe due to a camera malfunction); it also includes Love Minus Zero/No Limit which was not on the original LP release.
In my opinion this album is essential listening to anyone interested in the Beatles or the music of the times, I enjoyed it just as much recently as when I first owned it, I only wish the booklet included all the photos from the original.
Next up is Sometime In New York City. As homework you can listen to Back Off Boogaloo, another catchy song released between the two which gave Ringo yet another ‘surprise’ hit. Paul also released Give Ireland Back To The Irish and Mary Had A Little Lamb in the interim but I have already discussed those above.
[EDIT] George also performs Bangladesh on this album which had been released earlier as a single; the performance is a little tepid in my book. You can find the studio version on one of his early ‘Greatest Hits’ CDs or as a bonus track on the recent reissue of Living In The Material World (but surprisingly not on the 2006 remaster which only includes it’s B-side; but we’ll get to that in due course).
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