Album Review: Paul McCartney and Wings Red Rose Speedway (1973)

Album cover for Red Rose Speedway by Paul McCartney and Wings, 1973.

Paul McCartney rocking the coolest sweater ever.

When the Beatles were tossing around ideas for the film and album that eventually became Let It Be, Paul McCartney put forth the suggestion that they should play some unannounced live gigs at small venues. None of the other Beatles were that enthusiastic about Paul’s suggestion, and eventually the recording sessions culminated with the famous “rooftop concert” on January 30, 1969. It was still a great ending to the sessions, but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened had the Beatles taken up Paul’s suggestion and hit the road for some gigs. It certainly would have provided the group with fantastic publicity—not that they were ever lacking for publicity. 

McCartney formed his band Wings in 1971, and the following year he did exactly what he had wanted the Beatles to do, packing the group up in a van and showing up unannounced at colleges and universities. Wings played 11 concerts in February of 1972, with nary a Beatles song to be heard. Although Paul did sing “Long Tall Sally,” which was a staple of the Beatles’ live repertoire, and was the last song they sang at Candlestick Park in 1966. Paul’s reluctance to play any Beatles songs shows that he wanted to establish his own identity outside of his former band. I suspect that if McCartney had played lots of Beatles songs in concert with Wings, it would have seemed to him to be a tacit admission that his best work was already behind him. 

Paul’s decision to not play any Beatles songs wasn’t unusual for solo performances by the former Beatles during the 1970’s. John Lennon only gave two full concerts during his lifetime, and the only Beatles song that he sang at those 1972 shows was “Come Together.” George Harrison sang four Beatles songs during his 1974 US tour, and one of those, “In My Life,” was a Lennon/McCartney song. (George got a lot of criticism for changing the lyrics of the song to “I love God more.”) 

Wings released three singles during 1972, but no albums. First was the political “Give Ireland Back to the Irish,” which is included as a bonus track on the 2018 reissue of Wild Life. This was followed by “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Yep, that “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” While the single peaked at number 9 in the UK, it did nothing to assuage the growing critical consensus that McCartney’s music was trite and inconsequential. Much better was the third single of the year, the rocking “Hi Hi Hi” and the languid “C Moon.” “Hi Hi Hi” was predictably banned by the BBC for drug references and also for the lyric that the BBC heard as “get you ready for my body gun.” As McCartney has said, the actual lyric is “get you ready for my polygon.” So, there you go. 

Red Rose Speedway, released on April 30, 1973 in the US and on May 4^th in the UK, was more commercially successful than Wild Life, peaking at number 5 in the UK and topping the charts in the US. Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway were both reissued in December of 2018 as part of the ongoing Paul McCartney Archive Collection series. I’ll be reviewing the two-disc version of Red Rose Speedway.

I think Red Rose Speedway is a stronger record overall than Wild Life. The first track, “Big Barn Bed” is a slight song, but it has the polish that the songs on Wild Life lacked. The big hit single from Red Rose Speedway was Paul’s gushy ballad “My Love,” which topped the charts in the US. It’s a catchy song that sticks in your head, but for McCartney’s detractors it was the kind of big ballad that screamed “middle of the road” rather than “rock star.” “Get on the Right Thing” has a good groove and some excellent vocals from Paul. “One More Kiss” is a nice tune with a country feel. “Little Lamb Dragonfly” is an interesting song, although I’m not really sure what it’s about. Some people think it’s about Paul’s decision to become a vegetarian, and some people think it’s a message to John Lennon. I quite like “Single Pigeon,” even though it’s a silly title for a song. “When the Night” is one of my favorites from the album. Paul’s singing on it is great, and it has a New Orleans/Fats Domino vibe to it. Parts of the melody sound a bit like “Tomorrow,” from Wild Life. 

Like all of McCartney’s solo albums to this point, Red Rose Speedway still has some moments of weird idiosyncrasies, like “Loup (1st Indian on the Moon)” a four-minute long tune that mainly consists of chanting and some odd synths. 

An eleven-minute long medley of four songs closes the album, inviting the inevitable comparisons to Abbey Road. The first song is called “Hold Me Tight,” but it bears no resemblance to the 1963 song of the same name that Paul sang on With the Beatles. The song finds Paul imploring someone to “hug-a me right,” which doesn’t exactly bring confidence in the lyrical content to follow. “Lazy Dynamite” isn’t much better. “Hands of Love” is at least a catchier song. “Power Cut” is fine, if unmemorable. There’s really no reason for these four songs to be strung together as a medley, and the segues between them aren’t that interesting. 

Red Rose Speedway is a more polished album than Wild Life, and I just enjoy listening to Red Rose Speedway more than Wild Life. The difference between the albums is highlighted in the CD packaging for the 2018 reissues, as Red Rose Speedway has a slick, glossy texture, whereas Wild Life has a low-key matte finish. The artwork in the booklet of Red Rose Speedway is very reminiscent of Pop Art, with Marilyn Monroe, missiles, and pin-ups vying for our attention—it looks like it could have come from a Roxy Music album. The back cover of the CD even reproduces the original LP’s Braille message of “We love ya baby,” apparently a message for Stevie Wonder. 

Red Rose Speedway was originally meant to be a double album, and many of those songs that didn’t make the cut are found on disc two. We also get the other 1972 singles, so you can hear “Mary Had a Little Lamb” for yourself. And then you can groove to “Hi Hi Hi” and “C Moon” and wonder how the same man who did a version of the simplest nursery rhyme could go from that to picking up a girl at the station with a bootleg in her hand. Also included is “Live and Let Die,” released just a month after Red Rose Speedway. There’s also a very cool alternate take of “Live and Let Die,” which is fun to hear. Another song of note is “I Lie Around” the B-side of “Live and Let Die,” which marks Denny Laine’s first lead vocal on a Wings recording. We also get to hear Linda McCartney sing on “Seaside Woman,” a song that was recorded during the sessions for Red Rose Speedway but not released until 1977, when it was released as a single credited to “Suzy and the Red Stripes.” Unlikely as it might seem, the song actually made it to number 59 in the US charts. “Mama’s Little Girl” is one of the better songs that was cut from the album. There’s also a cover version of a 1950’s song, “Tragedy,” which was a hit for Thomas Wayne and the DeLons and also the Fleetwoods. 

The Wings lineup for Red Rose Speedway was Paul, Linda, Denny Laine on guitar, Henry McCullough on lead guitar, and Denny Seiwall on drums. As the group was rehearsing new material during the summer of 1973, McCullough and Seiwall left the band. The trio of Paul, Linda, and Denny Laine went to Lagos, Nigeria, to record Wings’ most successful album: Band on the Run, released just seven months after Red Rose Speedway.