Wild Life
Studio - Wings / Parlophone/EMI / 07 Dec 1971
Disc 1
Album Notes |
As with a lot of debut albums from a new band, Wings' Wild Life (released in 1971) wasn't a real reflection of what was to come, its guiding ethos being Paul's intention to record the entire piece fast. Taking just two weeks to record, Wild Life was about spontaneity, with the opening track, Mumbo, being recorded in one take. "Our first album was recorded in just two weeks," Paul explains. "I'd read that Bob Dylan had just made a quick album, and I really liked the idea, because we tended to take longer and longer to make records. The early albums by the Beatles hadn't taken long and it seemed to me that Dylan was getting to that. I was a great admirer of his – and still am to this day – so I thought, ‘Well, if it's good enough for him, let's do it.' Linda was heavily pregnant with Stella, while we were recording. If she'd have wanted to stop the sessions we would have done, but it just didn't arise. A lot of women work until two weeks before the baby is due and that's what Linda did. Even though it was a rock band, it was still a job." The actual pregnancy was a difficult one and as Paul slept next to his wife he had vivid dreams about angels, "and I thought, ‘That's a nice image, wings. I wonder if there's been a band called Wings?' That's how the name came about, in King's College Hospital, in London, as we recovered from the birth of Stella. So Wings became the name." The album is also notable for showcasing McCartney's fascination with reggae, which would bubble to the surface sporadically through the rest of the decade and was first illuminated here on the cover version of the old Mickey and Sylvia hit Love is Strange.
Performed by Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Denny Seiwell |
RELATED TEXT AND MEDIA
'Wild Life' vinyl artwork, 1971
Did you know?
The first Wings album, Wild Life was recorded in 2 weeks. The politically controversial song on the album, Give Ireland Back To The Irish, was banned by the BBC
'Wild Life' vinyl artwork, 1971
'Wild Life' photo shoot, Denny Laine, Paul, Linda and Denny Seiwell, 1971