July 6, 1973, Birmingham England Steven: Has it been
difficult for you putting together a new band? There would seem
to be an extraordinary amount of pressure on you to come up with
a group of musicians that could compete with the Beatles.
Paul: It was a bit touch and go at the beginning because it was
a bit difficult for me to just suddenly develop a new band.
Because let?s face it, the Beatles played Hamburg for like a
year solid, playing eight hours a day before we ever were
anything. Then we still came back to Liverpool and played for
years at these little places, Litherland Town Hall and the
Aintree Institute. So it took a long time but that was the idea.
We felt, ?Well, we can?t take quite as long with this band but
we?re gonna kinda duck out of the press thing and do little
anonymous gigs.? We did our university tour and we did a Europe
tour which was a bit more kind of press but we thought we?ve got
to swallow our pride and go right ahead. Steven: Were those
considered breaking-in tours? Paul: Definitely, for us. It
was to get the band used to playing. Because if you get any five
people, it?s pretty hard to get a band out of it unless you?ve
been going a year or so. It takes that long for five people to
begin to understand each other. Steven: After playing with
the same three musicians for such a long time, was it difficult
to find new players? When you chose the people in Wings, were
they your first choices? Paul: Yeah, they were all first
choices. I didn?t do it like thinking, ?OK, who are the best
musicians in the world?? and get it together like that. It was
all done very kind of random, really; there was like a great
element of randomness in it. I went to New York and we
auditioned drummers which everyone said later was about the
uncoolest thing you can do because these drummers are like the
world?s top. And there?s me, I just got them all down in a
basement and said, ?Alright, lads ?? And they?re sitting there
and there?s no band, each drummer is just sitting there. But
Denny (Seiwell) was the one who kind of appealed to me; I
thought he looks good, he sings, and he can drum great. And he?s
picking up a lot of compliments now from musicians who think he
?s a red hot drummer. Brinsley really digs him, Brinsley?s
drummer goes crazy over Denny. That?s Billy (Rankin). Steven:
Was that your idea to bring Brinsley Schwarz on the tour?
Paul: We did that special, that TV special, and that was kind of
the end of our breaking-in period. We really hadn?t played very
well, I don?t think any of us thought we played very well as a
band up until the end of that special. And the last night, we
did a concert for the special which we didn?t dig too much, it
just didn?t get enough on for us. It was a bit of a dead
audience. Linda McCartney: And the audience was just sitting
there all hot. Paul: And they were all lit (with lights) and it
was very. But we did a gig at the Hard Rock Caf? in London which
is a real tiny, little thing for kind of charity. And Brinsley
Schwarz were on before us and they kind of warmed it all up and
they got a standup. Once you?ve heard a band rock a bit you
can?t go on and not rock, you?ve got to play better. So we
thought,?Great,? and we went on after Brinsley and that was the
first night we thought we played at all well. We were all double
made up with that night. We rocked a bit that night. Steven:
What are you going to do for a second encore? You?ll have to
have one now. Paul: There are a lot of features with the act
that are still a bit raw. Our opening is still possibly a bit
raw, and the end we could go on a bit longer, but this is all
fine tuning. The thing for us, the way we?ve done it is the idea
of having places to go still. This is only our third thing
really ? university tour, European tour and this. The aim was
just to have a band, pure and simple. Have a good band. As to
where we play, we?re easy. We?ll play down a pub if it?s cool,
if we feel like it and they like it. But that?s the thing for
us, we won?t naturally just play 50,000-seaters. That?s? the
interesting thing, we got Denny from New York, we auditioned
some drummers there, and I knew Denny (Laine) was a good
guitarist and good singer and stuff. So I just rang Denny up.
And Henry was a kind of friend of Denny?s and Ian?s and he
turned up one day at a rehearsal we were doing. Henry
McCullough: Drunk! Paul: Drunk again. We didn?t really know, we
were just thinking about it and stuff and he turned up and he
played good stuff and that?s the kind of thing I meant about the
element of random. It wasn?t like, ?OK, now let?s audition
another fifty guitarists and let?s see who?s who and what?s
what.? We just thought, ?Great, let?s see how it goes? and we
had a band together then. It worked out good. Henry McCullough:
Everybody got to know each other; you know me, I know you, and
we took each other for what it is. We were a little bit scared
of each other. It started off we were a little bit apprehensive
and it was ?Who?s this we?ve got in the group?? but we managed
to cool out. Steven: Did you have plans from the beginning to
include Linda? Paul: Yeah, Linda was a kind of first
inclusion because we?d done Ram together. I worked her so hard
in New York because it was all very well having Linda on
harmonies but I?m not having her do bum harmonies. So I only
worked her like mad. I mean she had never done it before, she?d
never done a thing before. If you listen to Ram, all those
harmonies on there are just me and Linda. Pretty good, some of
them. It was quite hard work as I said. I worked her hard on
that album. There was a bit of (mimics Linda), ?What do you mean
I?m singing flat?? But in the end it was OK and we did it.
Steven: You must have noticed tonight that the more rock
tunes you did created a bigger response. Will you emphasize
those more and more? Paul: That?s what we?re thinking,
that?s the way we?re going to include a few more of those kinds
of numbers. The main thing in performance, an average audience
always go for numbers they know. Witness tonight when we did ?C
Moon;? as soon as we hit ?C Moon,? which was a hit in Britain
but not in the States, how the audience reacted. Linda
McCartney: On the university tour, we did some numbers twice.
Paul: But rather than go back, we?d like to do new numbers in
the same vein. And on the next album we?ll have another bunch of
numbers from which to choose. And by the time that album is done
the whole act will be there. Steven: How did it feel getting
back on stage? Paul: It?s now beginning to feel really good.
It feels good to have a gig. If you?re just recording it?s very
nice but you get a bit sterile. It?s a bit testtube, a bit like
being in the laboratory. And if you go out and play, it?s the
difference between sex and artificial insemination. Do you get
what I mean? That?s what I think ? audiences. It?s true enough,
isn?t it? Steven: Being on stage, then, must be a natural
place for you. Paul: You see I?ve always been, I suppose, a
bit shy about getting up on stage. I remember the first time I
ever got up on stage, I hauled my brother up with me. He had his
arm in a cast, he?d broken his arm at scout camp, and I brought
him up there with me. I brought my guitar with me and guess what
I sang? ?Long Tall Sally.? I was eleven and still doing it.
About the author:
Steven Rosen is a rock journalist. Since 1973 he has accumulated
over 1000 hours of audio and 700 interviews...all now available
for licensing or purchase. Contact Steven Rosen for more information
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