Flashback: Paul McCartney launches tour
It was on this date 31 years ago (May 3rd, 1976) that Paul McCartney kicked off his first U.S. solo tour with Wings, dubbed the Wings Over America, in Fort Worth, Texas. Since 1972, McCartney and Wings had recorded and toured extensively throughout the U.K., Europe, and Australia with various lineups of the group, which included wife Linda on keyboards and Moody Blues co-founder and multi-instrumentalist Denny Laine. It took the worldwide success of Wings' Number One albums Red Rose Speedway, Band On The Run, and Venus And Mars -- along with nine Top Ten hits, including the soon-to-be Number One "Silly Love Songs" -- to bring the act to America.
By the time Wings hit the U.S., the group included drummer Joe English and 22-year-old guitar virtuoso Jimmy McCulloch., as well as a four-piece horn section. Throughout the two-and-a-half hour show, McCartney moved around the stage between playing bass, acoustic guitar, and both grand and electric pianos.
The 21-city tour opened on May 3rd in Fort Worth at the Tarrant County Convention Center, and continued for 31 shows across the country, closing on June 23rd at The Forum in Los Angeles. McCartney included only five Beatles songs in his 30-song setlist, performing "Lady Madonna," "The Long And Winding Road," "I've Just Seen A Face," "Blackbird," and "Yesterday."
Reviews for the tour, which featured state-of-the-art sound and a cutting-edge laser light show, were glowing, with The Dallas Morning News declaring after the tour's opening night that, "It was a far superior concert to any show the Beatles ever did and so much better than any previous concert by (George) Harrison, (Ringo) Starr, and (John) Lennon, (that) they should not even be in the same category."
Denny Laine says that both he and McCartney took pride in the fact that Wings had finally progressed to the arena circuit: "It is that thing of having put together and rehearsed something within a small circle of people and getting it right. And getting all the lights and all the sound and all that together. And then, actually performing in a big arena. You are as much a part of it as the audience is, because it's all new."
Beatlefan magazine correspondent Tom Frangione explained that unlike today, when fans can expect to hear at least 20 Beatles hits in the setlist, Wings' shows focused on McCartney's latest material: "The difference between Paul McCartney on the road in 2005 and Wings Over America is, Wings was really a band at that point. He was doing current material. He dipped into primarily his three most recent albums to that point, and that's what made up the core of the setlist."
Among the Wings hits performed were "Jet," "Live And Let Die," "My Love," "Listen To What The Man Said," "Let 'Em In," "Silly Love Songs," "Band On The Run," and "Hi, Hi, Hi." The group also dug into their catalogue, playing album tracks such as "Let Me Roll It," "Picasso's Last Words," "Time To Hide," and "Letting Go."
Among the celebrities catching the tour on various stops were Ringo Starr, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Diana Ross, the Band's Robbie Robertson, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Peter Frampton, Elton John, Cher, Harry Nilsson, and the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson.
McCartney was featured on the cover of the May 31st issue of Time in a specially commissioned Peter Max illustration, with the headline "McCartney Comes Back."
One fan who left the concert unsatisfied was Eric Carmen, who attended McCartney's May 10th concert in Cleveland, and says that he was unimpressed with the setlist, as well as hearing the other band members taking vocal turns: "It was so awful and such a letdown that I was literally stunned. I mean, I sat in the audience wanting to just be blown away. And he can do whatever he wants up there! But I mean, he did things that all I can think of is, 'It must have been so long since Paul actually played and there was an audience listening as opposed to screaming.'"
Denny Laine says that by the end of the tour, the group was used to the arenas and unanimous praise: "As the tour went on, we were used to it then. But the very first night was an amazing experience."
McCartney edited the tapes from the U.S. shows later that fall, and in December released a three-record live set titled Wings Over America, which eventually peaked at Number One. The live version of McCartney's 1970 track "Maybe I'm Amazed," taken from Wings Over America, made it to Number 10 in early 1977.
It was over a decade before McCartney returned to the stage in the U.S.
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By the time Wings hit the U.S., the group included drummer Joe English and 22-year-old guitar virtuoso Jimmy McCulloch., as well as a four-piece horn section. Throughout the two-and-a-half hour show, McCartney moved around the stage between playing bass, acoustic guitar, and both grand and electric pianos.
The 21-city tour opened on May 3rd in Fort Worth at the Tarrant County Convention Center, and continued for 31 shows across the country, closing on June 23rd at The Forum in Los Angeles. McCartney included only five Beatles songs in his 30-song setlist, performing "Lady Madonna," "The Long And Winding Road," "I've Just Seen A Face," "Blackbird," and "Yesterday."
Reviews for the tour, which featured state-of-the-art sound and a cutting-edge laser light show, were glowing, with The Dallas Morning News declaring after the tour's opening night that, "It was a far superior concert to any show the Beatles ever did and so much better than any previous concert by (George) Harrison, (Ringo) Starr, and (John) Lennon, (that) they should not even be in the same category."
Denny Laine says that both he and McCartney took pride in the fact that Wings had finally progressed to the arena circuit: "It is that thing of having put together and rehearsed something within a small circle of people and getting it right. And getting all the lights and all the sound and all that together. And then, actually performing in a big arena. You are as much a part of it as the audience is, because it's all new."
Beatlefan magazine correspondent Tom Frangione explained that unlike today, when fans can expect to hear at least 20 Beatles hits in the setlist, Wings' shows focused on McCartney's latest material: "The difference between Paul McCartney on the road in 2005 and Wings Over America is, Wings was really a band at that point. He was doing current material. He dipped into primarily his three most recent albums to that point, and that's what made up the core of the setlist."
Among the Wings hits performed were "Jet," "Live And Let Die," "My Love," "Listen To What The Man Said," "Let 'Em In," "Silly Love Songs," "Band On The Run," and "Hi, Hi, Hi." The group also dug into their catalogue, playing album tracks such as "Let Me Roll It," "Picasso's Last Words," "Time To Hide," and "Letting Go."
Among the celebrities catching the tour on various stops were Ringo Starr, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Diana Ross, the Band's Robbie Robertson, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Peter Frampton, Elton John, Cher, Harry Nilsson, and the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson.
McCartney was featured on the cover of the May 31st issue of Time in a specially commissioned Peter Max illustration, with the headline "McCartney Comes Back."
One fan who left the concert unsatisfied was Eric Carmen, who attended McCartney's May 10th concert in Cleveland, and says that he was unimpressed with the setlist, as well as hearing the other band members taking vocal turns: "It was so awful and such a letdown that I was literally stunned. I mean, I sat in the audience wanting to just be blown away. And he can do whatever he wants up there! But I mean, he did things that all I can think of is, 'It must have been so long since Paul actually played and there was an audience listening as opposed to screaming.'"
Denny Laine says that by the end of the tour, the group was used to the arenas and unanimous praise: "As the tour went on, we were used to it then. But the very first night was an amazing experience."
McCartney edited the tapes from the U.S. shows later that fall, and in December released a three-record live set titled Wings Over America, which eventually peaked at Number One. The live version of McCartney's 1970 track "Maybe I'm Amazed," taken from Wings Over America, made it to Number 10 in early 1977.
It was over a decade before McCartney returned to the stage in the U.S.
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