ALBUM REVIEW: Wings - Red Rose Speedway

    Paul had formed his own backing group with Wings towards the end of 1971, and inaugurated the group with the certifiably lukewarm Wild Life album, which had about as many strong hooks and tunes as it did needless moments and overly long songs. Safe to say that the new group was not off to the best start there, and the relative panning of their debut single in the politically-charged "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" probably didn't help. So, in 1972, Paul got the group into high gear with plenty of sessions for a new release, initially planned as a 2-disc affair and recorded over 8 months. Well, EMI got in the way and, after the indifference to Wild Life, believed that it would be beneficial to cut the material down to a single disc for record buyers to gawk over, leaving many Wings tracks to slowly trickle out as B-sides to various singles. Still, even with a compromised vision, Red Rose Speedway showcases a varied Wings, and one that's far more dynamic than the almost homemade atmosphere of Wild Life. McCartney's writing is back in tip-top shape, and with a new addition in guitarist Henry McCullough, Wings is finally sounding like a proper group. The album's sometimes rough around the edges nature only adds to its charm, and the result is a very strong sophomore effort that would kick off a golden year for Beatles material.

    In comparison to the overly drawn own and repetitive nature of their debut, Red Rose Speedway shows the kind of musical variety that one would expect from a McCartney-headed project. Paul's typical range of writing has its time to shine here, from more folkier arrangements to schmaltzy ballads to blues-leaning rockers to a full on 10+ minute song medley. McCartney wears plenty of these sounds proudly, and they all sound at home on the album; the result is a very decorated smorgasbord of ideas and genres, from the pure rock of "Get on the Right Thing" to the sweet piano ballad with "Single Pigeon". These shapes are made all the more full with a temporarily solidified Wings, with Henry McCullough as an additional guitarist along with Danny Seiwell keeping tempo. The resulting group can easily keep up with Paul's continuously changing musical ideas, whether they're bringing down the house or keeping some reservation on a song like "My Love", which would also prove to be a major hit for Paul in spite of its debatable corniness - it's a sweet corniness, though! There are plenty of moments that display the new Wings' prowess in the studio, but for my money you'll find the best example with the spacey jam on "Loup (1st Indian on the Moon)" with its mysterious feeling and segmented jamming. It's a surprisingly cool track from Paul, and one that wasn't fully expected on my initial listening long ago.

    Of course, this brings us to the major leg this album has on Wild Life, and it's one simple fact: the material is significantly better. Sometime in between the end of '71 and '72, McCartney got his groove almost back up to Ram levels (albeit with the help of some leftovers from said album), and the resulting songs on here are sometimes just as strong. There's the previously mention schmaltzy hit with "My Love" which, in spite of some over-sentimentality, is a more than enjoyable McCartney love romp, albeit one that doesn't quite compare to previous songs like "Maybe I'm Amazed" or "Long Haired Lady". "Get on the Right Thing" is a fantastic McCartney rocker that really picks the album up in pace, although the almost as roaring bluesy opening with "Big Barn Bed" gets the album off on the right thing before hand. "Little Lamb Dragonfly" is a Ram leftover, but a damn good one with its memorable melodies and pseudo-medley structure. "Single Pigeon" is a melancholic number with some big sounding horns to kick off the second half - maybe a bit of odd placement sequencing-wise, especially in the digital age when nobody needs to flip a disc anymore, but it works well enough. Of course, this is all just lead-up to one of McCartney's most towering moments with the 11-minute medley: a consortium of four little tunes that sequence together rather nicely from the interesting descending melody of "Hold Me Tight" to the sweet acoustic number "Hands of Love" (which could have made a killer single on its own) to the climactic ending with "Power Cut", which reuses all the previous melodies from earlier. It's a very McCartney way to end the album, and one of my favorite moments from the Wings catalog.

    Unfortunately, it was all kind of for naught - Red Rose Speedway got mixed reviews when it came out, and continues to get a bit of lukewarm reception to this day, which I think is unfortunate given the fun atmosphere of the whole thing. Still, in recent time it's gotten some defense, and has also been bolstered by a release of the original 2-LP set as part of McCartney's massive Archive Collection project; I think it's a fun 2-disc set, but the sequencing is actually a little worse in my book, even with some standout moments like "Mama's Little Girl" or the live cut "The Mess". Tangent aside, Red Rose is still kinda seen as an oddity, and not long after this album Seiwell and McCullough would close their wings just before recording started for their third album, which would release toward the end of '73; you're probably very aware of that album! Still, I see little reason to drive past Red Rose Speedway on the long road of McCartney's catalog, especially when so much of it is as light-hearted and enjoyable as it is.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Red Rose Speedway.