« Back to Top Level | Wings

Wings - Got Any Toothpicks (1972)

Track listing:
  1. Best Friend 4:12
  2. Soily 4:12
  3. I Am Your Singer 3:24
  4. Seaside Woman 4:07
  5. Say You Don't Mind 3:23
  6. Henry's Blues 6:35
  7. Give Ireland Back 3:32
  8. Cottonfields 3:25
  9. My Love 4:42
  10. Henry's Blues 6:51
  11. 1882 6:27
  12. Wild Life 2:22
  13. Hi Hi Hi 2:28
  14. Complain To The Queen 1:23

Notes

"Wings Over Europe" hit the road in early July 1972, playing twenty-plus shows by the time the tour wrapped up at the end of August. The set list consisted of a mix of previously released McCartney/Wings tunes as well as providing a showcase for new material scheduled to be included on the group's forthcoming LP. Unfortunately, by the time 'Red Rose Speedway' hit the racks, it had been trimmed to a single disc of studio material, leaving the live recordings and a handful of outtakes by the wayside. All of the recordings assembled here come from the last few dates on the tour, when the tapes were rolling...

This collection of highlights from the first "official" tour, opens with a portion of Wings'show at the Cine Roma in Antwerp, Belgium on August 22, 1972. The tape picks up with the last number of the first set, 'Best Friend'. It was this performance that has served as the basic track for all the different versions prepared for the never issued 'Cold Cuts' collection. The majority of the second set is also included with an added bonus. For the only time on the tour, Paul and Co. performed the Leadbelly standard 'Cottonfields', a huge European hit for the Beach Boys in 1970.

'Hi, Hi, Hi' and 'Wild Life' both come from the soundtrack of the uncompleted MPL film project, The Bruce McMouse Show. These performances were captured at the Congresgebouw in The Hague on August 21, 1972. Also originating from this concert is Wings' performance of '1882', an unreleased track originally slated to be included on 'Red Rose Speedway'. The version appearing here consists of the live recording after being subjected to additional studio overdubs, most noticeably additional vocals from Paul. On a side note, the commercially released live recording of 'The Mess' was also recorded at this performance.

As Wings was a "real band" opposed to just being Paul's backing group, each member was afforded a solo spot during the show. 'Henry's Blue', a lengthy, droning 12-bar, complete with unintelligible lyrics served as lead guitarist Henry McCullough's contribution. The second version on this collection comes from Wings' appearance at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on August 20, 1972. Also recorded this day was an interview for the Dutch radio program, 'Popsmuk'. To close the broadcast, Paul, Linda and Denny Laine huddled around Henry at the piano and offered an improvised performance entitled "Complain To The Queen".

As previously noted, these recordings represent Paul in a rare democratic 'group' setting, certainly the only time this situation has existed outside of the Beatles. Not surprisingly, this period was also Wings' least successful in a commercial sense, forcing Paul to the fore on the 'Red Rose Speedway' LP, evidenced by the 'Paul McCartney and Wings' moniker on the cover. This disc contains several of the surviving documents of that era.