Now, in the sense that Wings was never a proper group, he's right. They were never more than Paul and his sidemen of the moment, no matter how much he insisted at the time that they were all equals. (Excluding Paul, over the group's decade-long existence, there were nine other members at various times including, most controversially for many, his wife, Linda. All of the musicians were good...Paul wouldn't settle for anything else...but the best of the bunch was probably Henry McCullough, who had gotten his first break as lead guitarist for Joe Cocker's band, where he played at Woodstock, and he also played the guitar on the cast album for Jesus Christ Superstar. His shining moment in Wings was undoubtedly the stunning guitar solo he created on the spot while recording "My Love" in '73. But you probably know Henry best as the guy who says, "I don't know, I was really drunk at the time" at the end of "Money" on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.)
But as a musical unit, they were never "terrible". True, they rose and fell on the strength of the songs which McCartney wrote, but even with some of his lesser efforts, the musicianship was never anything short of impressive. Wings at their worst were better than the entire musical output of a lot of other artists.
And at their best, they were among the very best bands of the '70s. Need proof? Fine, here are five instances in which Paul McCartney and Wings nailed it, and nailed it big.
"Let Me Roll It" (1973)
A highlight from Band on the Run, which is considered by quite a few fans and critics alike to be the best album the band ever did. Many call this Paul's 'John Lennon' song, as both the lyrics and, in particular, the musical style had striking similarities to the kind of music John himself was recording at the time.
"Junior's Farm" (1974)
A non-album single that rocks, which makes the fact that it was written and recorded while the band was staying in Nashville, Tennessee kind of amusing, as there's nothing country about this.
"Beware My Love" (1976)
As a track on Wings at the Speed of Sound, it was a genuine highlight, but it really came alive on stage, with the whole band really sliding into the groove.
"Mull of Kyntyre" (1977)
After back-to-back albums recorded in 1975 and '76, followed by a lengthy world tour, Paul and the band were exhausted, so McCartney limited their work in '77 to this single. It was a huge hit in Britain (for many years to come, the biggest selling song in UK history), but curiously it failed to hit in America. But it's a great pastiche of traditional British folk styles, topped off with a rousing blare of bagpipes.
"With a Little Luck" (1978)
During the band's sabbatical, music on both sides of the Atlantic made huge sea changes. In the U.S., disco emerged as the dominant musical trend, while in England, punk rock was all the rage. Rather than kowtow to either, McCartney plunged ahead with this, a sweet pop love song with, of all things, prog rock undertones. Against all odds, it was a huge hit, and deservedly so.
Honorable Mention: "Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)" (1980)
Paul didn't officially disband Wings until 1981, but the band effectively ended in January of '80, when they traveled to Japan to kick off a tour of Asia, only to have it canceled when McCartney was arrested and deported for marijuana possession. Back home in England that spring, Paul decided to put out a new LP consisting of tracks he had recorded in his home studio over the past year or so. As he played all of the instruments himself, he decided to release it as a solo record, called McCartney II, with no mention of Wings. One of the tracks, a techno pop ditty called "Coming Up", was released as a single; for the b-side, Paul opted to include the same song, albeit a more rocking live version done by Wings on tour the previous fall, when it was still expected by the group that a new studio version of the tune done by Wings proper was likely to happen soon. The song was a huge hit worldwide, but in the U.S. at least, it was the live flip side that got the most airplay, making it the last foray by Wings onto the Top 40 chart.
