Wings over America Rare 1976 Capitol Records 3x Vinyl LP w/Inserts & Poster

$

50

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Wings over America Live album by  Wings Released 10 December 1976 Recorded 7 May – 23 June 1976; October–November 1976 (studio overdubs) Studio Abbey Road, London (overdubs) Genre Rock Length 115:33 Label Capitol Producer Paul McCartney Wings chronology Wings at the Speed of Sound
(1976) Wings over America
(1976) London Town
(1978) Singles from Wings over America

1. "Maybe I'm Amazed"
   Released: 4 February 1977

Wings over America is a triple live album by the British–American rock band Wings, released in December 1976. The album was recorded during the American leg of the band's 1975–76 Wings Over the World tour. It peaked at number 8 on the UK Albums Chart and reached number 1 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart.

In addition to including several of McCartney's hits with Wings, the album features performances of five of his Beatles songs: "Yesterday", "Lady Madonna", "I've Just Seen a Face", "Blackbird" and "The Long and Winding Road". The album cover was designed by Hipgnosis – who were nominated in 1978, together with McCartney's production company MPL, for a Grammy Award for Best Album Package for this album – and depicts an airliner about to open its cabin door. Wings over America was remastered and reissued in May 2013.

Recording

Originally, Wings over America was to be a two-record set of highlight performances but this was rethought due to the success of a bootleg called Wings from the Wings, which was released as a triple record set on red, white, and blue vinyl, and contained the entire 23 June 1976 concert recorded at The Forum in Los Angeles. This caused McCartney to release the album as a three-record set, compiled from various shows from the band's North American tour during May–June 1976. McCartney's sound engineer listened to 800 hours of tape and selected the five best performances of each song from the 30-song set list. McCartney chose and mixed the final set of recordings, mostly taken from the 23 June show. "Soily" was recorded on 7 June 1976 at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver. The live recordings then received studio overdubs during October–November 1976. According to Wings' drummer Joe English, "it took forever to get those 'Wings over America' tapes ready for the live album. We had to go into the studio and overdub most of the backing vocals."

Release and reception

Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating AllMusic American Songwriter Consequence of Sound B The Essential Rock Discography 6/10 MusicHound 2/5 PopMatters Rolling Stone (favorable) The Rolling Stone Album Guide Ultimate Classic Rock 7/10 Uncut 7/10

Wings over America was issued six months after the end of the band's US tour. It was another commercial success for Wings, reaching number 1 in the US in early 1977 (the last in a five-album stretch of consecutive chart-topping albums for the band) and number 8 in the UK. For the five Beatles songs included, McCartney reversed the songwriting credit to McCartney–Lennon. Years later John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono complained about the same songwriting credit on McCartney's Back in the U.S. album but neither Lennon or Ono publicly voiced any disapproval about the change made in 1976.

Wings over America was the first triple set by a group to reach number 1 in the US, and was a critical success. "Maybe I'm Amazed" was released as a single on 4 February 1977, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, and at number 28 on the UK chart.

In a retrospective review, AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine explained the wild success of the triple album: "The Beatles mystique was still very much attached to record and artist alike – at the time, John Lennon had seemingly burnt out a major chunk of his talent, George Harrison was losing his popular edge and had done a disastrous 1974 American tour, and no one was expecting great things from Ringo Starr – and it seemed like McCartney represented the part of the group's legacy that came closest to living up to fans' expectations. Thus the album ended up selling in numbers, rivaling the likes of Frampton Comes Alive! and other mega-hits of the period."

Two related releases followed the album: the TV documentary Wings Over the World and a film titled Rockshow, purporting to contain a complete show from Seattle. Although publicity material presented Rockshow as a document of this Seattle concert, it contains only five songs that were filmed at Seattle's Kingdome; the remainder of the film's 30 songs come from the band's New York and Los Angeles shows. Limiting their relevance, however, these additional releases appeared three and four years, respectively, after the 1976 live album.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney, except where noted.

Side one No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Venus and Mars/Rock Show/Jet"   9:56 2. "Let Me Roll It"   3:51 3. "Spirits of Ancient Egypt"   4:04 4. "Medicine Jar" McCulloch, Allen 4:02 Side two No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Maybe I’m Amazed" P. McCartney 5:10 2. "Call Me Back Again"   5:04 3. "Lady Madonna" McCartney–Lennon 2:19 4. "The Long and Winding Road" McCartney–Lennon 4:13 5. "Live and Let Die"   3:07 Side three No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me)"   1:55 2. "Richard Cory" Paul Simon 2:50 3. "Bluebird"   3:37 4. "I’ve Just Seen a Face" McCartney–Lennon 1:49 5. "Blackbird" McCartney–Lennon 2:23 6. "Yesterday" McCartney–Lennon 1:43 Side four No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "You Gave Me the Answer"   1:47 2. "Magneto and Titanium Man"   3:11 3. "Go Now" Banks, Bennett 3:27 4. "My Love"   4:07 5. "Listen to What the Man Said"   3:18 Side five No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Let 'Em In"   4:02 2. "Time to Hide" Laine 4:46 3. "Silly Love Songs"   5:46 4. "Beware My Love"   4:49 Side six No. Title Length 1. "Letting Go" 4:25 2. "Band on the Run" 5:03 3. "Hi, Hi, Hi" 2:57 4. "Soily" 5:10 Total length: 115:33