Karate Chaos In The Backyard

Following their successful Nashville trip, Paul decided to continue rehearsing the new Wings lineup in London, this time in the familiar surroundings of Abbey Road's Studio 2.

With Geoff Emerick engineering and an MPL camera crew filming the proceedings, Paul, Linda, Denny, Jimmy, and Geoff ran through 20 or so numbers. Shooting actually began August 24th with Paul performing a solo acoustic set in the Studios' small garden courtyard. The result was a short film which came to be known as The Backyard:

None of the backyard footage was used in the completed hour-long production, titled One Hand Clapping. Live band performances were shot on August 27th and 28th, including this smoking version of "Soily":

Paul bookended the filming with another solo set on August 30th, this time at the piano:

One Hand Clapping was never screened in finished form, although most of it was included on a bonus DVD with the 2009 Band On The Run remaster. The Yellow Cat CD featuring excellent stereo mixes from these sessions is a must-listen, showcasing Wings at its tightest, performing some of Paul's best material.

Back in America, John was about to begin the biggest promotional push yet for any of his solo albums, and his most concentrated series of media appearances since the Bed-in days. The Walls And Bridges blitz began in Los Angeles early in the morning of September 20th. KHJ-AM was hosting "Superstar Week", with a different celebrity filling in each day for DJ Charlie Van Dyke.

John was the Superstar for the Friday slot, and managed to drag himself to the studio at 6AM (or perhaps he just stayed up all night) to begin the morning shift. His energy level remained high for the next 2.5 hours as he took requests and chatted with callers, did time checks and read local ad copy, and plugged the new album by spinning several tracks and airing a specially-taped radio spot he'd done with Ringo a couple of weeks prior.

Later on the 20th, John spoke via telephone to his old pal Kenny Everett, now working at Capital Radio in London. It would be Kenny's last interview with John.

At The Starting Gate

While he had been typically quiet in the public sphere throughout 1974, George's private life and musical activities had kept him busy. His eight-year marriage to Pattie Boyd had disintegrated following infidelities on both sides, and George found himself alone at home with a lot of time on his hands.

In March, he spent a few days in the studio producing an LP for Ravi Shankar in Los Angeles; Shankar Family & Friends featured short individual songs on one side and an ambitious ballet suite, composed by Ravi, on the other. The first single from the album was the lovely Indian-flavored pop song "I Am Missing You":

On May 23rd, George finalized a deal to found a new record label, Dark Horse Records, to be distributed worldwide by A&M. With Apple now pared back to a bare-bones staff, the company couldn't focus on promoting anything more ambitious than ex-Beatle product. George figured it would be easier to start his own company to cultivate artists such as Ravi Shankar and the duo Splinter.

As we've seen earlier, George had produced a song by Splinter for a film soundtrack, and he was so taken with their ability that he agreed to produce a full album at his home studio, FPSHOT, that spring. George played guitar on nearly every number, and used friends such as Gary Wright, Billy Preston, Jim Keltner, and Alvin Lee to provide musical support. The LP, The Place I Love, was issued on Dark Horse in September, trailed by the single "Costafine Town":

In mid-August, George sat down with DJ Nicky Horne and recorded an interview to launch the Dark Horse label and promote the first two signings. Issued to stations as Dark Horse Radio Special in September, the disc finds George discussing Splinter, the film Little Malcolm, his home studio, the Material World Foundation, the new label, Indian music, and the concept of karma. He also drops a couple of clues to his now-rabid Monty Python fandom by quoting the Lumberjack sketch and making a downright obscure reference to David Niven's fridge!

Surprise Surprise

Once he had moved back to New York and wrapped up the Pussycats sessions, John began to clean up his act. He accompanied Harry Nilsson to a meeting with RCA records executives, strongly insinuating that if they signed Harry, John would not only join the RCA roster when his EMI contract expired in 1976, but might bring some other ex-Beatles with him. The ruse worked, and Pussycats came out August 19th on RCA, accompanied by a TV ad:

Having written a new batch of songs that were his strongest in three years, John was ready to start recording another solo album at the Record Plant. Accompanied by a core band of Jesse Ed Davis on lead guitar, Ken Ascher on keyboards, Klaus Voormann on bass, and Jim Keltner on drums, John ran through all the new material on July 13th and 14th, recording the rehearsals and whipping the arrangements into shape:

Tracking sessions for Walls And Bridges began the following day, and wrapped up in a productive nine days, with overdubbing and mixing continuing into August. Ringo had been in Los Angeles since May recording his new LP, Goodnight Vienna, and John wrote and taped a demo of the title track using the Walls And Bridges band:

On August 6th, John flew back to Los Angeles (accompanied by May, Cynthia, and Julian) to participate in the Goodnight Vienna sessions. As well as playing piano on his own composition, John suggested Ringo record the Platters oldie "Only You (And You Alone)", laying down a guide vocal for Ringo to follow:

John and May left California on August 10th and flew to Colorado, meeting up with Elton John at Caribou Studios, where the latter was recording his LP Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. Elton had contributed backing vocals and piano to "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" and "Surprise Surprise" on Walls And Bridges, and now he and John teamed up to remake "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" in a reggae style.

It didn't fit in with the autobiographical concept of Captain Fantastic, so Elton released "Lucy" as a stand-alone single in November, backed with another Lennon cover, "One Day (At A Time)" (from Mind Games). John played guitar on both sides of the single, which shot to the top of the charts, as had most everything from Elton lately:

During all this musical prolificacy, John still had the threat of deportation hanging over his head. In fact, on a taxi ride to the Record Plant July 16th, John heard a radio news bulletin that his latest appeal had been rejected by the INS, and that he once again had sixty days to leave the country. His response was to facetiously tell the cabbie to take him straight to the airport.

Good news came down August 8th while John was in L.A., as Richard Nixon resigned, taking most of the steam out of his administration; all that remained now was for the wheels of bureaucracy to grind slowly to a halt. On August 30th, John appeared in court again; with the widespread corruption of the Nixon government now common knowledge, John and his lawyer Leon Wildes were trying to cross examine high-ranking officials in an effort to prove that the deportation push was politically motivated.

Outside the courthouse, John spoke with reporters about his odds of staying in the US, and afterwards was cornered by some fans with a tape recorder and camera. He posed for photos and sang a bit of "Hello Dolly" before changing out of his "civvies" and heading to the Record Plant to finalize the Walls And Bridges lineup. From this point on, things would only improve in John's life over the next 24 months.

Take Me Down, Jimmy!

On May 23rd, 1974, news leaked that Paul and Wings would be flying to Nashville for a six-week visit to rehearse the new band lineup and record a few numbers. The McCartney clan arrived June 6th, followed the next day by the rest of the group.

They all stayed at a farm owned by songwriter Claude "Curly" Putman, Jr., giving Paul the inspiration to write "Junior's Farm"; its B-side, "Sally G", was influenced by the local nightlife. Paul and family also ventured out during the day a few times, visiting the Grand Masters Fiddling Contest at Opryland on June 16th, where they met Dolly Parton and Porter Waggoner. They also socialized with Johnny Cash at his home.

Recording sessions at Soundshop Studios took place over the first half of July, and produced an interesting batch of songs:

In addition to the "Junior's Farm" single, Paul recruited Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer, and other local pros to record an instrumental number written by his father, Jim McCartney, back in the 1950's. "Walking In The Park With Eloise" would be credited to the Country Hams when it came out as an EMI single in October.

Wings also recorded a country-tinged Denny Laine composition, "Send Me The Heart", and added overdubs to some earlier unreleased recordings, including "Wide Prairie", "Hey Diddle", and "Bridge On The River Suite" (which ended up as the B-side of the Country Hams single). Paul's plan was to gather the various Wings outtakes and rejects on a budget-priced package called Cold Cuts.

Meanwhile, Band On The Run showed no signs of slowing down; it was in the UK top 20 for every single week of 1974, and hung around the Billboard top 200 until May of 1975. A third potential single from the album, "Mamunia", was dropped in favor of the newer "Junior's Farm", but a promo film was created and aired on ITV in August:

What's The Use Of Worrying?

Before flying back to London from Los Angeles, Paul received a gold record for Band On The Run, which was proving to be the sturdiest seller in his solo career. It had entered the Billboard chart back in December 1973, and it took until April 13th (helped by the "Jet" single) to reach #1. The title track was issued as a single April 8th, and it too would top the chart by June, bringing the album back up to #1 twice more that summer.

All this success meant Paul had a chance to take a break from recording and touring while he recruited new Wings members and stockpiled fresh compositions. Jimmy McCulloch had already won the lead guitarist role, and after a series of auditions in April and May, Geoff Britton was elected to fill the vacated drummer's seat.

Although Wings issued only one single and no albums in 1974, Paul wasn't exactly hard to find on store shelves if you knew where to look. Back in 1971 during the Ram sessions in New York, he had sat in on bass with singer/guitarist Leslie Fradkin. Paul's contribution to the song "God Bless California" came out June 17th, 1974 on the LP Pass On This Side, credited to Thornton, Fradkin & Unger and the Big Band.

In early '74, during the McGear sessions, Paul also produced and played on a single for the Scaffold, a music/comedy/poetry group Mike McGear had co-founded. "Liverpool Lou" was released May 24th, and climbed to #7 in the UK:

During his and Linda's visit to the US, Paul also dropped by James Taylor's sessions for the LP Walking Man, which came out June 1st. Paul, Linda, and Carly Simon provided backing vocals on two numbers, "Rock 'N' Roll Is Music Now" and the anti-Nixon tune "Let It All Fall Down":

One of Paul's least-known compositions (co-written with Linda) was "4th Of July". It was written at least as early as the spring of 1973 (he strummed a bit of it while taping James Paul McCartney), but ended up being donated to singer John Christie. His version, produced by Dave Clark (of DC5 fame), came out as a single June 28th, perhaps too close to the holiday to make an impact on the charts:

Guaranteed To Keep You Alive

Riding high on the success of his Ringo LP, which had just spawned its third top 10 single, Ringo was eager to get back into the studio with producer Richard Perry and his musical mates such as Harry Nilsson to record a follow-up album.

Sessions for Goodnight Vienna would begin at the end of May, 1974, but Ringo was plenty busy in the weeks leading up to them. On March 29th, he and Keith Moon taped an appearance on ABC-TV's In Concert, introducing the UK band Sparks to an American audience. The show was aired November 11th:

On April 14th, Ringo and Keith made a live appearance on KROQ radio in Pasadena, sitting in on the Flo & Eddie Show. Ringo knew the duo from his work with the Mothers of Invention on 200 Motels, and the obviously inebriated drummer sang a bit of his current hit single, "Oh My My", and took calls from befuddled listeners. Legend has it that Ringo came on the show and dropped 14 f-bombs during the first 90 seconds, leading to the show's cancellation, but the truth is a bit less sensational than that.

A few days later, Ringo, Keith, and Harry flew to Atlanta for the long-delayed April 19th premiere of their film Son Of Dracula, which had sat unseen in the can since 1972. To say the film was a flop would be an understatement, as it closed soon after the gala opening night, and rarely showed up on any other movie screens. Ringo (sounding drunk yet again) did a bit of promotion for the movie during an April 27th interview for the Dutch pirate station Radio Veronica, of all places; there's no evidence the film ever opened in Holland.

Meanwhile, John and Harry had been taping Pussycats at the Record Plant, but as events spiralled out of control, they opted to ditch the Los Angeles scene and return to New York, where they could finish the sessions in relative peace. They also decided to counter the negative press their drunken exploits had been receiving with a bit of positive PR.

On April 28th, they appeared briefly at a Central Park rally for the March Of Dimes charity. WABC's Cousin Brucie introduced John and Harry to the throng of marchers, and they sang a bit of "I'm Walkin'" and fielded a few questions from the crowd:

Spoiled Soup

On March 8th, 1974, Paul and Linda were interviewed at MPL's offices in London for the US morning news show Today. Scott Osborne conducted the filmed interview, which covered the standard reunion topics and touched on Paul's songwriting technique (using "Picasso's Last Words" as an example). The film was aired in two segments on NBC March 12th and 13th.

A week later, Paul and Linda flew to Los Angeles, where they would attend the Academy Awards on April 2nd (and watch "Live And Let Die" lose to "The Way We Were" for best song, as well as seeing David Niven deal effortlessly with a streaker). Of course, John and Ringo were both in Southern California that spring, stoking the reunion fire once more.

Tired of waiting around for Phil Spector to resume the oldies sessions, John had agreed to produce Harry Nilsson's next album, Pussycats. The duo were already making headlines for their drunken antics, most notably being thrown out of the Troubadour on March 12th for heckling the Smothers Brothers.

There was a large pool of session musicians to choose from in Los Angeles (Spector had used dozens of them the previous fall), and whoever was around the Record Plant on Sunday nights would often join in a loose weekly jam dubbed the "Jim Keltner Fan Club". On one such night just prior to the Pussycats sessions, Mick Jagger was present and decided to cut a song with John producing and the "Fan Club" providing a tight backing. The result, "Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup)", remained unreleased until the Very Best Of Mick Jagger collection in 2007:

While that session produced admirable results, there was no better illustration of the adage about too many cooks than the events of March 28th. It was the first night of the Pussycats sessions, and after cutting the first song, a cover of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues", a drunken (and likely cocaine-fuelled) John and Harry were joined in the studio by Paul and Linda, along with Stevie Wonder.

What could have been a memorable, if not mind-blowing, jam session was spoiled by nerves, intoxicants, and the bizarre decision to stick Paul behind a drum kit. Unable to settle on a song everyone could play, John vented his frustration by bitching about the level in his headphones; his and Harry's voices were pretty shot anyway, and the results of the sole 70's Lennon/McCartney reunion are not pleasant to hear:

By that time, John and May were living in a beach house in Santa Monica along with Harry, Klaus Voormann, and Ringo (with other musicians and partygoers such as Keith Moon, Mal Evans, and Jesse Ed Davis coming and going at will). Paul and Linda dropped by on April 1st (just missing Ringo's presence), when the above photo was taken. It was the last time John and Paul were photographed together.

Ten Years After at Strawberry Studios

The first single pulled from Band On The Run was "Jet", issued January 28th in the US with "Mamunia" on the B-side, but quickly withdrawn when Paul changed his mind and switched the flip to "Let Me Roll It", matching the UK B-side. The song reached #7 on Billboard and #4 on Melody Maker's chart.

Paul spent the first two months of 1974 at Strawberry Studios in Stockport (just outside Manchester) producing an album for his brother, Mike McGear. As well as writing or co-writing most of the songs on the LP, Paul played bass, guitar, and keyboards throughout. He, Linda, and Denny also provided backing vocals, making it a de facto Wings LP with Mike as the lead singer:

The sessions were also sort of an audition process for the new Wings lineup, as Jimmy McCulloch played lead guitar, and Gerry Conway played drums. On February 7th, Paul spoke via telephone from Liverpool to Jay Stone of KSLQ in St. Louis; despite his assertion during the interview, Gerry Conway would not join Wings, and the search for a new drummer would continue.

February 7th, 1974 also happened to be the 10th anniversary of the Beatles' momentous first arrival in New York, and Capitol Records put together a campaign celebrating the "Beatles Decade". 30-second and 60-second radio spots were produced, along with a TV commercial pushing the group and solo back catalogs.

Lonely Far East Man

After the release of Living In The Material World, George retreated once again from the public eye for the remainder of 1973. One of his only Apple-related projects that year was producing the film Little Malcolm; George had seen the play on which it was based in 1966 and fell in love with the story.

The movie was filmed in February and March 1973 but not released until June 1974, when it was screened at a Berlin film festival. By that time, Apple was nearly defunct as a business, and the film remained mostly unseen until its recent DVD release. George also produced and played guitar on a song for the soundtrack, "Lonely Man", co-written by Mal Evans and performed by the duo Splinter.

As with most of George's musical efforts from this point forward, the song was recorded at his home studio, FPSHOT (Friar Park Studios, Henley-On-Thames). He invited guitarist Ron Wood to stay there in October 1973, and the duo co-wrote a song for Wood's next album, "Far East Man".

In November, George was ready to begin recording his own LP at home, inviting Ringo to participate. He would record his own versions of "Far East Man" and an earlier giveaway, "So Sad", for the album. Very little work on what would become Dark Horse was done by the time George took another trip to India in February 1974.

By that time, Ringo was hogging most of the spotlight as his LP Ringo had been a gold-seller, and the #1 single "Photograph" was followed up in December by another #1 US single, "You're Sixteen". On February 8th, 1974, "You're Sixteen" was issued in the UK (where it peaked at #3). By then, the US was up to its third single from the LP, "Oh My My", which came out February 18th. It reached #5, making Ringo the first (and to date, only) ex-Beatle to have three top five singles from the same LP.

On February 6th, Ringo sat down with Brian Matthew for an appearance on the BBC Radio 1 series My Top Twelve. As the title suggests, the show was an outlet for celebrities to choose 12 of their favorite songs, creating a fantasy LP. Ringo, whose record collection was legendarily enormous, made things easy on himself by selecting singles from his home jukebox. In addition to discussing the songs, he chatted about favorite drummers, films, seeing Elvis in Las Vegas, the Ringo LP, and his new home studio.

Mickey Duck

John's promotion for Mind Games continued in late November 1973 with a trans-Atlantic telephone interview with Tony Prince. It was aired December 9th on the series Rock Present, Roll Past. In addition to running through each track of the album, John talked about his current relationship with his ex-bandmates and with Yoko, disingenuously denying any romantic involvement with May Pang.

Their relationship was stormy at this point, with John sending May back to New York for a couple of weeks, where she resumed working for Yoko. But he was soon overwhelmed by loneliness, and May returned to be with him in Los Angeles on December 6th.

Meanwhile, the oldies sessions with Phil Spector and company had fallen apart. After being kicked out of A&M Studios at the end of November, they tried three more recording dates at the Record Plant in December before taking a break for the holidays. It turned out to be a permanent break, as Phil was reportedly involved in a car accident in February and went into seclusion for most of 1974.

John closed out 1973 with a visit from his son Julian, and accompanied by Mal Evans and guitarist Jesse "Ed" Davis, the father and son spent some timeover the holidays bonding at Disneyland. Coincidentally, back in England, Paul and Linda were also spending time with Disney characters, hosting the Boxing Day edition of Disney Time on BBC1. Their introductions were taped December 16th, and the program still exists in the BBC archive (but remains uncirculated).

La-De-Da

After wrapping up the Band On The Run LP, Paul, Linda, and Denny flew to France in mid-November 1973, where they spent a couple of days at EMI's Paris studio. Filling in on drums was Davey Lutton, and playing lead guitar was Jimmy McCulloch, who would soon join Wings on a permanent basis. In addition to working on a few "Suzy and the Red Stripes" (aka Linda and Wings) numbers, the group taped a special jingle for Radio Luxembourg, incorporating the titles of several numbers from the new album.

Upon their return to London, Paul and Linda spent a couple of weeks promoting Band On The Run, including a visit to the studios of Capital Radio on November 24th. Despite being served with a $20,000,000 writ just before he entered the room, Paul was in a silly mood as he interacted with Kenny Everett, Dave Cash, and listeners who called in.

Paul also sat down with music journalist Paul Gambaccini to discuss Band On The Run for an interview aired on BBC Radio 1's Rockweek November 30th. The two Pauls actually met for several extended chats over the next few weeks, and the results were published in Rolling Stone the following February, and eventually in a book, Paul McCartney In His Own Words.

The Band On The Run LP was released December 3rd in the US (promoted with a 60-second radio spot) and four days later in the UK. It proved to be a slow but steady seller, hovering around the low end of the top 10 in both countries through March 1974. When the title track was eventually issued as a single (April in the US, June in the UK), that gave it the extra nudge to hit #1 in both countries.

Rabbits On The Run

Having chosen "Band On The Run" to be the title track of his next LP, Paul wanted to represent the song's narrative on the album cover. With Wings down to a trio, he boosted the "band" of convicts making a prison break by inviting a number of celebrity acquaintances to join the photo shoot.

On October 28th at Osterley Park, Paul, Linda, and Denny were joined by James Coburn, John Conteh, Clement Freud, Christopher Lee, Kenny Lynch, and Michael Parkinson. Cameras were rolling in the dressing room (watch out for Paul and Kenny harmonizing on "Misery") and outside as Clive Arrowsmith snapped the iconic photo:

On October 29th, John's "Mind Games" single and LP were released in the US, the same day Ringo's self-titled album hit store shelves. A friendly competition now existed among the ex-Fabs, and Ringo won this one hands down, with "Photograph" topping the chart, and Ringo at #2 on Billboard (right behind Elton John's monumental Goodbye Yellow Brick Road).

Mind Games only made it to #9, with the single "Mind Games" topping out at #18; John's response to the situation was a tongue-in-cheek telegram sent to Ringo: "Congratulations! How dare you? And please write me a hit song."

John had other problems to deal with, such as the increasingly erratic Phil Spector, who was quickly losing a grip on the "oldies" sessions, which were now more of an excuse to drink, snort coke, and wreak havoc than record decent music. He took a break from recording in November to promote Mind Games, including a phone interview with Nicky Horne and Sarah Ward on November 12th for Capital Rap, on the newly-launched Capital London radio station.

As her album Feeling The Space was released in the US on November 2nd, Yoko was also on the promotional trail. She played a week of nightclub gigs in New York at the end of October, and spent the first week of November in Los Angeles, meeting up with John and May for lunch. Yoko also made a return visit to The Mike Douglas Show, performing "Angry Young Woman" for the November 15th broadcast.

Sit And Cry

By the end of July 1973, John finally had enough new compositions to begin recording his next LP, Mind Games. As soon the sessions for Yoko's Feeling The Space album were completed, John and the same studio band began to tape backing tracks at the Record Plant East.

Within a few days, they had completed enough songs for the entire LP (plus a leftover, "Rock And Roll People"), but overdubbing and mixing dragged on into mid-September, killing much of the spontaneity of the basic recordings.

Feeling stifled by her relationship with John, Yoko was growing more independent with each passing day, performing solo at another benefit concert in San Diego on September 16th. By September 22nd, she was back in New York and it was John and their assistant May Pang who were flying to Los Angeles, where they began an 18-month relationship with Yoko's blessing.

Ostensibly, the trip was set up for John to record an oldies LP with Phil Spector and then promote Mind Games, but he ended up staying in southern California for the better part of a year. John's schizophrenic state of mind at the time can best be exemplified by two events which occurred on October 24th.

He began the day in a TV studio, overseeing the videotaping of a commercial for Mind Games. Apple PR Tony King camped it up as the Queen while May and Elton John looked on. I'm not sure whether any usable footage was captured, but two radio spots were produced, and everyone seemed to be having fun.

That night, John was in the studio with Phil Spector and a cast of thousands, taping a cover of the Lloyd Price oldie "Just Because". By this point in the evening, he had consumed way too much alcohol. Presumably the song's lyrical content hit uncomfortably close to home, and John rambled an ignominious guide vocal:

Things would get much worse before they got better, but John was in a relatively sane frame of mind, if untalkative, a few days later when he filmed an interview on Malibu Beach with Elliot Mintz. The result was aired on KABC's Eyewitness News in several segments sometime in November, and outtakes from the interview also circulate.

Make This Journey Last

1973 turned out to be the busiest year ever for ex-Beatle releases, with the issue of five albums plus two non-LP Wings singles. Most of these came towards the end of the year, and Ringo was first out of the gate with the single "Photograph" on September 24th in the US.

The song topped the Billboard chart, giving Ringo his first American #1 hit; in the UK, the single was delayed until October 19th, but also fared well, peaking at #8. It was helped along by a promo clip filmed at Tittenhurst and aired on Top Of The Pops November 1st:

Sessions for the Ringo LP were completed in London in July, with mixing to follow in Los Angeles. Ringo and Maureen (whose marriage was on its last legs at this point) found the time to attend David Bowie's "farewell performance" as Ziggy Stardust at the Hammersmith Odeon on July 3rd (note the sticker in the photo above promoting Wings' shows there from five weeks prior), and found themselves in the concert film Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars:

Elsewhere, just prior to their trip to Lagos, Nigeria, Henry McCullough and Denny Seiwell dropped out of Wings. Paul, Linda, and Denny Laine (along with Geoff Emerick) decided to carry on as a trio and spent most of August and September at EMI's Nigerian studio, as well as ARC in Ikeja, owned by Ginger Baker, who can be seen in home movies from the trip:

The first release from these sessions was the single "Helen Wheels", backed with a 1972 recording, "Country Dreamer". It came out October 26th in the UK, accompanied by a promo clip which aired on Top Of The Pops November 15th:

"Helen Wheels" reached #11 in the UK, and #10 in the US where it was released November 12th. Capitol executive Al Coury persuaded Paul to add the song to US copies of Wings' forthcoming LP, reasoning that including a known hit single would help to boost sales. As it would turn out, Band On The Run needed no such help.

When You Got A Job To Do

Wings' fifth single, "Live And Let Die"/"I Lie Around", was released June 1st, 1973 in the UK (and on Paul's 31st birthday in the US). It reached the top 10 in the UK and spent three weeks at #2 on Billboard's chart, stuck behind "The Morning After", "Touch Me In The Morning", and "Brother Louie".

The song served as a great teaser for the movie Live And Let Die, which had its London premiere on July 5th, attended by Paul and Linda (and Heather) McCartney. The date fell in the middle of a quick Wings tour; in fact, a potential gig in Stoke-on-Trent was scrubbed so the couple could attend the film.

The tour had opened July 4th in Sheffield, and continued on the 6th in Birmingham. Backstage prior to a July 9th concert at Leicester's Odeon Theatre, Paul was interviewed by John Mitchell. The result was used in an updated version of BBC Radio's documentary series The Beatles Story (first aired in 1972, and overhauled a second time in 1974), and Paul was asked his opinion of the original broadcast.

Also on July 9th, Paul and Linda were interviewed for an American broadcast, possibly by Fred Robbins, who had been conducting Beatle interviews since 1964. The recording was bizarrely repurposed later in the year for an open-end LP to promote Band On The Run, in which American disc jockeys could have the thrill of pretending to ask Paul questions about an album he hadn't even recorded yet at the time of the interview!

The mini-tour concluded July 10th at Newcastle City Hall, and the gig was professionally recorded. The tape was never used, possibly because it ended up being the final project for this lineup of Wings. By the time Paul was ready to fly to Lagos, Nigeria in August to record the next LP, he found himself two band members short.

Man's Work Is Never Done

With John mired in a songwriting slump, the suddenly prolific Yoko took up the slack. Following the double-LP release Approximately Infinite Universe at the start of 1973, she released a Japan-exclusive single, "Joseijoi Banzai", and began stockpiling songs for a follow-up LP, Feeling The Space.

On May 12th, she and John videotaped a TV special at the Record Plant in New York, being interviewed and performing songs from the LP and single backed by Elephant's Memory. It was broadcast June 30th as an episode of Flipside, a syndicated TV music series.

Yoko performed her first solo pop concert on May 20th at New York's Town Hall, a benefit for WBAI radio. Once again, she was backed by Elephant's Memory, but John was nowhere to be found. The two did travel together to the First International Feminist Planning Conference, held from June 1st through the 4th at Harvard University.

Obviously, Yoko was at the forefront there too, and her performance of a new composition, "Coffin Car" (backed by John on guitar), was released as a bonus track on the Feeling The Space CD. When WBCN reporter Danny Schecter interviewed the couple on June 3rd, the conversation drifted from feminism to the immigration situation and the recent Beatle reunion rumors.

The March 23rd ruling gave John 60 days to leave the US voluntarily, but of course his lawyer Leon Wildes immediately appealed the decision, continuing the cat-and-mouse game with the government that would drag on for a few more years. Naturally, John had been following the televised Watergate hearings closely, and while visiting Washington DC on June 27th, couldn't pass up the opportunity to attend John Dean's testimony in person, sporting a newly-shorn scalp.

Paul McCarpet

In April 1973, after taping the James Paul McCartney TV special, Paul went back into the studio with Wings, this time to back up his brother Mike McGear on "Leave It", a catchy number written by Paul:

A more notable April session took place at Apple Studios, where Ringo was working on his Ringo LP with Richard Perry. With John and George already on the album, Paul's contributions made the Beatles-on-vinyl reunion complete. In addition to adding a "mouth sax solo" to "You're Sixteen", Paul played piano and synthesizer on his own composition, "Six O'Clock". The song's rave-up coda heard on promo copies of the LP, with Paul and Linda singing, might as well be a Red Rose Speedway outtake:

Sometime around April or May, Paul was interviewed by DJ Nicky Horne; topics included the session with Ringo, the end of the Klein era, and what would be Wings' next single, the James Bond theme song, "Live And Let Die".

Wings went back on the road in May, playing 17 shows in 12 cities across England, Wales, and Scotland. The setlist was greatly streamlined from the 1972 tours, and updated to include two songs from Red Rose Speedway, plus the debut for "Live And Let Die".

On May 12th, following a concert at the New Theatre in Oxford, disc jockey David Symonds spoke with Paul for his Radio Luxembourg show. After chatting about the concert and songwriting (including a new composition, "Picasso's Last Words"), Symonds nearly brings the conversation to a halt by asking about Paul's relationship with the other ex-Beatles. Things end on a lighthearted note with David and Paul swapping cute stories about their daughters.

Only People

John and Yoko began 1973 facing yet another lawsuit, this time filed by Northern Songs/Maclen Music, who were claiming unpaid royalties on jointly composed Lennon/Ono compositions. As had happened with Paul and Linda's co-written numbers on Ram, the people who owned the rights to Lennon and McCartney songs wanted 100% of the income, claiming that to give their wives 50% credit was a ruse to retain half the money.

Having tired of the legal battles, political hassles, and immigration fights, and at a low point in their personal relationship, John and Yoko decided to make a fresh start, moving out of their Greenwich Village apartment and buying one in the Dakota building. During the move, they spent a few weeks in Los Angeles, arriving in early February. Yoko kept busy promoting her new LP Approximately Infinite Universe, including a telephone chat with Johnny Moran for BBC Radio's Scene And Heard.

More bad news arrived from New York on March 23rd, when INS judge Ira Fieldsteel handed down a decision they had been dreading: Yoko's visa application was approved, but John's was denied, and he was ordered to leave the US within 60 days. Government lawyer Sol Marks announced the decision at a press conference, where the Lennons' lawyer Leon Wildes fielded questions about his next move.

John and Yoko's response was suitably Conceptual. On April 2nd, they flew back to New York and held their own press conference, declaring themselves ambassadors of the new country Nutopia (and thereby eligible for diplomatic immunity).

On April 6th, they were back in Los Angeles, videotaping an interview with John Fielding for the London Weekend Television series Weekend World (aired in the UK two nights later). Most of the chat centered on John, George, and Ringo's March 31st decision to cut ties with Allan Klein and ABKCO, with John being careful to note that it doesn't mean a Beatles reunion is imminent.

John expanded on the subjects of reunions and Klein during his April 16th interview with Elliot Mintz at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Yoko also plugged her new LP, but most of the lengthy discussion focused on John, who talked about his recent session with George and Ringo, two Hollywood parties they had attended, primal therapy, drugs, his feud with Paul, and his marriage to Yoko, which they claimed was stronger than ever.

Got A Lot Of Work To Do

By the spring of 1973, the Quiet Beatle must have seemed like the Monastic Beatle. Since the release of the Concert for Bangla Desh album and film in the winter of 71-72, George had made no TV or radio appearances, given few interviews, and released no new product.

He was still in demand as a session player and always willing to help his friends in the music business, producing Ravi Shankar's In Concert 1972 LP. Apart from his work on Ringo's singles and LP in progress, in 1972 and 73 George participated on records by Nicky Hopkins:

Cheech and Chong:

Dave Mason:

and Alvin Lee:

Still, it came as a relief to Harrifans when a bona-fide NEW George single appeared in May of 1973. The A-side, "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" saw no decline in quality from his heralded All Things Must Pass material, and it shot to #1 on the Billboard chart. The exclusive B-side, "Miss O'Dell" was a light and fun ditty which echoed "Apple Scruffs".

Given all the anticipation and the excellence of the single, the full LP, Living In The Material World, was inevitably a disappointment upon release a few weeks later. While it contained some excellent material, the preachiness of the lyrics wore thin on many listeners with repeated playing.

Despite George making no media appearances or promo clips to promote the album, it sold like hotcakes, racking up five weeks atop the Billboard LP chart, and going top 5 in the UK. In fact, among 1967-1970, Red Rose Speedway and George's album, the #1 slot was Fab-filled from May 26th through July 21st.

Red Rose Seedway

Back in August, 1972, Paul and Linda had been arrested for marijuana possession in Sweden, the first in a lengthy string of drug busts for the McCartneys. A month later, police raided their farm in Scotland and seized cannabis plants from a greenhouse. Paul decided to plead not guilty, with the flimsy excuse that a fan had mailed him some seeds and he planted them unaware of their illegal nature. On March 8th, 1973, he and Linda were fined £100 at the Campbeltown courthouse, and were interviewed outside by a BBC reporter.

Having finished recording their new LP, Red Rose Speedway, Wings spent most of March and April videotaping a TV special to promote the record. Titled James Paul McCartney, the show contained musical performances from Wings such as "Mary Had A Little Lamb" (shot on location March 10th), an acoustic medley from Paul during a Linda photo shoot (taped March 15th), and a mini-concert by Wings in front of an audience at Elstree Studios (shot March 18th).

The latest Wings single, "My Love"/"The Mess" was released March 23rd in the UK; the band filmed a promo clip for the A-side, including a live vocal from Paul, for airing on Top Of The Pops April 5th:

Production of James Paul McCartney wrapped on April 1st with in-studio performances of "Little Woman Love/C Moon", "My Love", and "Live And Let Die", Paul's theme song for the upcoming James Bond film. The TV special aired on ABC in the US April 16th, and May 10th on ITV in the UK, to generally poor reviews.

The new album (issued April 30th in the US, May 4th in the UK) and single fared much better, giving Wings its first US #1 hits on the Billboard album and singles charts.

The Ladders

During the course of 1972, Ringo had become fast friends with Harry Nilsson and his producer, Richard Perry. When Ringo decided it was time to record his first solo LP of pop/rock material, he turned to Perry, whose past efforts with artists ranging from Fats Domino to Tiny Tim were much admired by Ringo.

On February 28th, Ringo and Maureen flew to the US, where he and Harry were co-presenters at the Grammy Awards in Nashville on March 3rd:

Foruitously, The Concert For Bangla Desh won the Grammy for Album of the Year that night, and Ringo was happy to accept on behalf of George and the other participants:

Two days later, he and Harry flew on to Los Angeles to begin work at Sunset Sound Studios on what would become the Ringo LP. During their stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel on March 10th, both Ringo and Richard Perry taped radio spots for an anti-drug campaign.

The industrious team, abetted by Klaus Voormann, Nicky Hopkins, and Jim Keltner, completed the backing for eight songs in just under two weeks. George dropped by to land a hand on his composition "Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)" and his co-write with Ringo, "Photograph".

But is was the events of March 13th that would make jaws drop at Sunset Sound and find the music world abuzz for weeks thereafter. John had been uncharacteristically quiet for several months while Yoko recorded and promoted her own album, Approximately Infinite Universe. They had arrived in Los Angeles in early February, ostensibly for Apple business (such as the Red/Blue albums, and to discuss Allen Klein's management contract, which was set to expire at the end of March), but John must have itching to play some rock and roll.

Naturally, he socialized with Ringo (they took their wives and Richard Perry to see Last Tango In Paris one evening) and was impressed by what he heard at the sessions, particularly George's numbers. So on the night of the 13th, he offered up a song he had been working on since 1970, "I'm The Greatest", which seemed perfect for the occasion.

With Billy Preston sitting in on organ, it was January 1969 all over again; John played piano and sang a guide vocal, while Ringo drummed, George played guitar, and Klaus filled in on bass:

Although Paul hadn't been present, and John flew back to New York the next day, rumors began to emanate from Los Angeles that all four Beatles were secretly recording a reunion album there. The craziness would only ratchet up a notch when Paul added his contribution to the album back in London the following month.

Red Alpha/Blue Omega

1973 began with Ringo making another appearance on BBC Radio's Scene And Heard. His interview with David Wigg was taped January 3rd (probably in his office at Apple) and broadcast three days later. With no new product to plug, the discussion touches on financial matters, how to deal with bothersome fans, and the state of relations between the ex-Beatles.

Wigg guessed that Ringo would be the one to bring all four together on a project, a theory which would soon be borne out. But with no group releases since the split, and no greatest hits package available in the US, some unscrupulous entrepreneurs filled the market's gap.

Dubbing the recordings from whatever vinyl was handy, they pressed a 4-LP set collecting 60 Beatles songs, seemingly chosen at random and sequenced roughly in alphabetical order. Many hits were included, but so were album tracks such as "I'll Follow The Sun", "All I've Got To Do", and "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby". Solo numbers including "Imagine", "Bangla Desh", and "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" were also tossed in.

The unauthorized package, titled The Beatles Alpha Omega, was sold only by mail order and promoted with a series of TV and radio ads beginning around Christmas 1972; here's a radio spot from a January 27th, 1973 airing. It was quickly followed up by another 4-disc set, this time called Beatles Vol. 2, and likewise advertised on TV. The sequel had an even stranger track listing, with filler material ("Maggie Mae", "Why Don't We Do It In The Road") alongside solo cuts ("Apple Scruffs", "Crippled Inside", "The Lovely Linda") and even a George Martin number ("Pepperland")!

Needless to say, the Beatles and EMI were quick to counter the unofficial product; on February 16th, Allan Klein filed a suit against the producers, Audiotape, Inc., as well as ABC, which aired the offending commercials, for $15 million in damages. The best way for Apple to quash the pirates was to put out their own "greatest hits", so two official double-LP sets were hurried into production.

The intelligently-sequenced and attractively packaged sets, The Beatles 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 (colloquially known as the Red and Blue albums), hit US store shelves on April 2nd, accompanied by EMI's own TV ads. Both were certified gold based on pre-orders alone, on March 31st, and both would top the charts.

Recover From The Trip

After the satisfaction of their One To One benefit performance in August 1972, John and Yoko's world slowly began to fall apart. They spent most of October and November at the Record Plant, mixing the concert tapes and recording new numbers for a Yoko Ono album, Approximately Infinite Universe.

On November 7th, Richard Nixon was re-elected in a landslide, striking a major blow to John's chances of staying in the country. Drunk and demoralized, he spent the night at a party blatantly cheating on Yoko within earshot of his wife and their chagrined comrades. Little would be heard from the couple for several months.

Meanwhile, Wings had spent more time in the studio following their European tour and emerged with a fantastic single, "Hi Hi Hi"/"C Moon", issued December 1st in the UK and three days later in the US. Paul and Linda recorded a goofy radio commercial to promote the single, and the band filmed clips for both songs on November 25th:

George Harrison had amazed the music world with the twin triumphs of All Things Must Pass and the Concert for Bangla Desh in 1971, then all but disappeared throughout 1972. It wasn't until October that he finally returned to the recording studio, taping new compositions for the LP Living In The Material World.

Ringo joined George as session drummer when he wasn't busy filming or attending premieres. On December 11th, he was at the London opening of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, and on the 17th, he and Marc Bolan attended the gala premiere of their concert film Born To Boogie:

John and Yoko's film of the One To One concert was aired on ABC-TV the night of December 15th. On that evening's Eyewitness News on WABC in New York, Geraldo Rivera reported on the money raised by the benefit and previewed the telecast.

While none of the ex-Fabs had an exemplary musical output in 1972, 1973 would be a tremendous improvement for all four. Ringo's "Back Off Boogaloo" was chosen to conclude the December 28th Top Of The Pops year-end edition:

Might Win An Oscar

While Ringo had spent the first half of 1972 in recording studios, sitting in on Harry Nilsson's Son Of Schmilsson LP, Lon and Derrek Van Eaton's Brother LP (for which he taped a radio spot), and recording his own single, "Back Off Boogaloo", the latter half of the year was spent in front of movie cameras.

From August through October, Ringo and Harry filmed the lamentable musical horror comedy Son Of Dracula for Apple Films. Ringo played Merlin, advisor to Harry's Count Downe (son of Count Dracula), and the music was taken from Nilsson's two most recent albums:

Ringo moved directly from that project into a far meatier role in That'll Be The Day, a nostalgic look at the early years of rock in Britain. Filming on location from late October through early December, Ringo was able to relive his days playing at Butlins holiday camps with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes (Rory had just died on September 27th). Ringo was right at home playing a street-tough Teddy Boy, and received the best reviews of his film career since A Hard Day's Night:

The Who's drummer Keith Moon had small roles in both films (playing a drummer, naturally), and he and Ringo were becoming close friends as well as drinking buddies during this period. In September, Ringo had performed the part of Uncle Ernie on an orchestrated LP version of the Who's rock opera Tommy. When this iteration of Tommy was performed at the Rainbow in London on December 9th, Keith took over the role of Ernie. Moon would deliver the ultimate Uncle Ernie in Ken Russell's 1975 film.

Meanwhile, Ringo could be seen on the small screen when the film Yellow Submarine made its US network television debut October 29th on CBS.

Welcome To The Rehearsal

Because it would be his first (and as it turned out, only) full live performances as a solo artist, John put in plenty of rehearsal prior to the "One To One" Willowbrook benefit concerts in August, 1972.

He and Yoko began rehearsing with Elephant's Memory at Butterfly Studios soon after returning to New York from the west coast. August 16th was "One To One Day" in New York City, with Mayor Lindsay making the proclamation at a ceremony attended by John and Yoko with Geraldo Rivera.

Rivera was at the rehearsals on the 18th to tape a series of radio spots for airing on local stations. The concert had sold out within hours of the announcement, so the ads alerted listeners that a matinee show was being added for the same day. Noise complaints from neighbors meant the rehearsals changed venues to the Fillmore East on August 25th.

On the 28th, John and Yoko appeared live on the WABC evening news, chatting with Geraldo at the TV studio and playing a bit of "Give Peace A Chance" rehearsal footage. Another TV report from around that time reminded viewers that tickets for the matinee were still available.

Ready or not, the shows went on as scheduled on August 30th at Madison Square Garden, with both houses being filmed and professionally recorded. Opening acts included Sha Na Na, Stevie Wonder, and Roberta Flack. Edited and remixed versions of the concerts were released on the LP Live In New York City in 1986, as well as on home video:

John, Yoko, and the band had one final commitment in 1972: performing on the annual Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, hosted by Jerry Lewis and airing from the Americana Hotel in New York. The night before their appearance, September 3rd, they were interviewed in their hotel room by Roy Carr of the New Musical Express.

On the evening of September 4th, John and Yoko appeared live on the telethon, performing "Imagine", "Now Or Never", and "Give Peace A Chance". It would be the last time the couple performed together in front of an audience.

One Long Loon

The second leg of Wings' 1972 European tour began August 1st in Copenhagen and concluded on the 24th in West Berlin.

Along the way they visited Finland (Helsinki and Turku), Sweden (Stockholm, Orebro, Goteborg, and Lund), Norway (Oslo), Denmark (Odense and Arhus), and Dusseldorf, West Germany.

By the time they reached the Netherlands on August 17th, Paul felt the act was tight enough to begin recording and filming the shows professionally for possible release.

The opening medley from the August 19th Groningen show, "Eat At Home"/"Smile Away", was recently released as a bonus download with the Ram deluxe reissue.

On August 20th, Wings played the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; the same day, Paul and Linda were interviewed for the VPRO radio show Popsmuk. They also performed an exclusive ad-lib number for the broadcast, with Henry McCullough on piano, called "Complain To The Queen".

August 21st found Wings at the Congresgebouw in the Hague, a performance filmed for a potential TV special called the Bruce McMouse Show:

The B-side of "My Love", a live rendition of "The Mess", also comes from the Hague concert. August 22nd had Wings playing at the Cine Rome in Antwerp, Belgium; this concert was also recorded (it's the source of the outtake "Best Friend"):