Back in November 2007, Paul McCartney released his video compilation, The McCartney Years, on three DVDs, and what a great collection it is! Two of the DVDs are dedicated solely to music videos while the third disc includes concert footage. Despite a full two-disc allocation to videos, there are still many good ones by Paul McCartney that were not included, and that is the reason for this particular post. Maybe one day there will be a ‘McCartney Years II’ DVD set to gather up some more goodies from this man who has been such a phenomenally productive musician over the years.

“Arrow Through Me” was released as the second U.S. single from the last album by Paul McCartney & Wings – 1979′s Back To The Egg. During this late 1970′s period, Paul was apparently experimenting with keyboard sounds a lot more. He had already had a big keyboard-oriented hit the year before called “With A Little Luck” from Wings’ London Town LP. In fact, “Arrow Through Me” was recorded completely without guitars. The backing is exclusively Moog synthesizer, drums and brass (the brass is portrayed as being played by Linda McCartney on a keyboard in the video).

The title of the Back To The Egg album was a term Paul used to mean “back to basics.” The previous London Town sessions were mainly recorded by the three staple members of Wings—Denny Laine, Paul’s wife Linda McCartney, and Paul himself. For “Egg” Paul wanted a more basic type of rock band line up and recruited guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Steve Holly. This ended up being the final line up for Wings, before disbanding on friendly terms in early 1981. Although “Arrow Through Me” is sans guitar, the rest of the album, true to its title, is more conventional rock ‘n’ roll fare. Many fans I have heard from consider it sort of a mystery that it is one of the lesser noticed Wings albums, yet it is a very enjoyable listen. But then again, to coin an overused phrase, hindsight is 20/20.

Click the image above to play the video.

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Back to the Egg
– 1993 CD remaster of original 1979 album plus 3 bonus tracks. Includes Arrow Through Me. Note: This CD is out of print but can be purchased used from sellers linked here (a little pricey, though). A reissue is certainly in order.

2) The McCartney Years
– 2007 3-DVD set mentioned in post by Paul McCartney, featuring 2 DVDs of music videos plus a 3rd DVD with concert footage (does not include Arrow Through Me).

3) London Town
1993 remaster CD of original 1978 album containing With A Little Luck and 2 bonus tracks

4) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Another highlight of mine from the 2010 Fest For Beatles Fans was getting a few photos and autographs from some of the stars and just hanging out.

KLAUS VOORMANN, an original member of the Plastic Ono Band, was reunited with most of the band for Yoko’s Birthday Concert in NYC in February (with Eric Clapton, Jim Keltner and Sean). His latest effort A Sideman’s Journey CD/DVD/Book, features Paul, Ringo, his old band Manfred Mann, Joe Walsh, Cat Stevens and many other friends. This is Klaus’ first ever solo CD and it was worth the wait. Klaus’ friendship with The Beatles goes back 50 years to the Hamburg days. Klaus is one of those few musicians who has performed and recorded with all four Beatles. He is a two time Grammy Winner including his album cover artwork for Revolver.

Happy Nat & Klaus Voorman, Aug. 2010, Fest For Beatles Fans

DENNY SEIWELL is one of the busiest session drummers in Los Angeles. In 1971, Denny was hired by Paul to join him on the Ram album session in NYC in 1971. Paul must have liked what he heard, as later that year, he was asked to join Wings. In the two years with Wings, he played on two of Paul’s biggest hits, My Love & Live & Let Die.

Happy Nat with Denny Seiwell, Aug. 2010, Fest For Beatles Fans

Denny Seiwell plays selections from the 'Ram' sessions at the Fest For Beatles Fans, 2010

LAURENCE JUBER is one of the finest guitarists on the planet. It is no wonder Paul asked him to join Wings in 1978! His guitar work on Back To The Egg was amazing. His new CD, LJ Plays The Beatles 2 was premiered in Chicago at the Fest.

Happy Nat with Laurence Juber, Aug. 2010, Fest For Beatles Fans

DENNY LAINE was a founding member of Wings (with Paul & Linda) in 1971 and remained a core part of the band until it broke up in 1980. Denny co-wrote Paul’s biggest solo hit in the UK – Mull of Kintyre. Denny, also a founding member of the Moody Blues, burst onto the scene in 1965 with his bluesy rock vocals on Go Now. Denny’s has a new CD called Storyteller.

Happy Nat with Denny Laine, Aug. 2010, Fest For Beatles Fans

MARK HUDSON Mark’s knowledge of the entire spectrum of music is truly remarkable. Plus, he is an admitted Beatlemaniac. During his 10 years as Ringo’s producer, Mark had the chance to work with Paul, George and dozens of other music legends. Mark also produced Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, and Ozzy Osbourne. Mark has a new CD out called, The Artist.

Unfortunately, this pic (below) came out a little fuzzy.

Happy Nat with Mark Hudson, Aug. 2010, Fest For Beatles Fans

Pictured (below) from left to right: Klaus Voormann, Mark Lapidos, Gary Wright and Walter Podrazik (author of All Together Now)

From a late-night party on 8/14/2010

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Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. This week’s BROW hails from late in Paul McCartney’s Wings era. I’ve Had Enough was released as the second single from 1978′s London Town LP and although it did not enjoy the same commercial success as the album’s first single, With A Little Luck, it is still a great little rock and roll tune. In fact, I like this live version better than the London Town studio account. This recording is sourced from a concert in Glasgow, Scotland on December 17, 1979 during the last Wings tour. Along with Paul, Linda and Denny Laine, the Wings line-up included Steve Holley (formerly with the Elton John Band) and lead guitarist Laurence Juber who along with Denny will be in attendance at this year’s 34th Annual Beatles Celebration in Chicago IL, later this month on August 13-15. I hope to say hello to some of you there, so look for me if you decide to go. More info on this event is available here.

Wings, from 1979 magazine spread

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Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? If so, I will do my best to deliver, so let me hear from you. To browse for ideas, check out this search-able listing of thousands of Beatle-related recordings to choose from. Then let me hear from you here.

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Wow! How many legends can you spot in this line-up?

The Rockestra line up featured Paul McCartney, Wings, David Gilmour, Hank Marvin, Pete Townshend, Kenny Jones, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Ray Cooper and more. How often do you get a Beatle, Led Zeppelin, The Who and Pink Floyd together? Recorded in October 1978, which was a month after the death of Keith Moon, this song was released on the last studio Wings album Back To The Egg in 1979. It was also played live at the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, which was a series of concerts featuring Queen, The Clash, The Pretenders, The Who, Elvis Costello, Wings, and many more artists. This took place at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, England during December 1979 to raise money for the victims of war-torn Cambodia and was the last live show from Wings. Refer to the related posts section below to check out this live account in London. The video footage here comes from a rehearsal Paul organized for the recording. Looks like a good time was had by all. Enjoy!

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The Cooler was a short promo film for Ringo Starr’s Stop And Smell The Roses album that was directed by 10cc’s Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. It was filmed in southwest London in mid-January 1981 by Paul McCartney’s MPL Communications and stars both Paul and Linda, along with Ringo’s new wife, Barbara Bach. At nearly ten minutes, it features three songs from the LP: Private Property, Sure To Fall and Attention. The first and third were written by Paul, while the second, as you are probably aware, was a big Carl Perkins hit, back in the day. All three tracks were produced and mixed by Paul and include Ringo on drums and lead vocals, Paul on bass and piano, Paul and Linda on backing vocals and Wings guitarist Laurence Juber on guitar (wow! Ringo McCartney & Wings!). Paul also mixed and produced these three songs. The film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and I read an opinion somewhere that it was a kind of “kinky” film, but I’ll say no more about that. Although the film did little to help with the sell of the album, the album, in hindsight is probably Ringo’s best of the late 70′s/80′s era.

The Stop And Smell The Roses LP also contained contributions by George Harrison. George composed the song Wrack My Brain which, along with Private Property, was released on a single. George produced and mixed this track along with Ringo’s cover of You Belong To Me. John Lennon also had plans to help out with this one too, but sadly, the events of December 1980 kept this from happening. There are even other big name contributors including Stephen Stills, Ron Wood, Harry Nillson and Jim Keltner, to name a few more. Bottom line: if you don’t already own this album, it just might be worth checking out.

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This week on BROW let’s have a listen to a ballad-like track recorded during the sessions for the last Wings album Back To The Egg, sometime between June 29 and July 27, 1978. Aside from Paul and Linda, the band line up at this time included Wings-original Denny Laine, lead guitarist Laurence Juber and former Elton John drummer Steve Holly. Did We Meet Somewhere Before? was not actually intended for inclusion on the Egg album though, but for use in the new film Heaven Can Wait (starring Warren Beatty). The final version of the film however, did not include the song. A few bits of it did surface a year later in the Ramone’s film Rock ‘N’ Roll High School but the song did not appear on the soundtrack. During the late 1980′s a project went underway to put together a compilation of predominately Wings-era out-takes called Hot Hits And Cold Cuts that was to include the song but even though some preliminary track lists were released to the press, the project was never finalized and various bootleg versions of Hot Hits And Cold Cuts began to surface around 1990. Recently, I have read a few rumors from various Internet blogs that an expanded 4-cd box set of Hot Hits And Cold Cuts is planned for 2010. I’ve even seen a projected track listing that includes many tracks that I have featured on the BROW in the past. We shall see if it sees the light of day this time.

Wings 1979, Left to right: Laurence Juber, Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Steve Holly

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
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Since 2007, I have been bringing you a new Beatles-related rarity every week and fortunately, I have not had to repeat myself yet. This week is no exception and I promise to not run out of rarities any time soon.

This week’s feature hails from the often interesting and enormous family of McCartney out-takes from his 1970′s era band, Wings. The uniquely arranged Cage was once a part of the running order for the last Wings album, Back To The Egg, released May 24, 1979. You may remember this album as the one containing the hit singles Arrow Through Me and Getting Closer. Later in the LP’s production, it was decided that another track from the sessions called Baby’s Request would replace Cage which was then filed away in the vault and never heard from again. The line-up for Wings at the time included Laurence Juber (guitars), Steve Holly (drums), Denny Laine (guitars), Linda McCartney (keyboards), and Paul McCartney (bass). A lot of other big name musicians contributed to the LP as well such as Pete Townshend, John Bonham, Kenney Jones, Gary Brooker, John Paul Jones, David Gilmour, Ray Cooper…and the list goes on and on. Needless to say the album was an interesting end to the long series of Wings releases from 1971-1979.

Wings in 1979

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Merry Christmas and welcome to BROW. As the 1970′s ended, so did Paul McCartney & Wings. This week’s BROW recounts a farewell performance of one of the most successful acts of that decade. This last hoorah by Wings was recorded on December 29th, 1979 at a series of benefit concerts for the people of Kampuchea. The event took place at the Hammersmith Odeon in London and was organized by Paul and Kurt Waldheim to raise money for the victims of war-torn Cambodia. The line-up of Wings at the time was Paul & Linda along with Denny Laine (bass, guitars, piano), Laurence Juber (guitar, vocals) and Steve Holly (drums). This particular performance also includes a phenomenal amount of other English rock musicians on it such as Kenney Jones, Dave Edmunds, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, Gary Brooker, Pete Townshend and more. The combination of all of these musicians came to be known as the Rockestra Line-up and this rocking instrumental was their theme. Also present for the concerts were Queen, The Clash, The Who, Ian Drury & The Blockheads, The Pretenders, The Specials and more. The double album release covering the performances at the shows was not released to vinyl until March of 1981 and has never been released to CD. I have no idea why not, but since it hasn’t it is now a rare recording that has been out of print for many years. The way Paul yells “Happy New Year” at the conclusion made me feel that it was an appropriate time to feature this on the BROW. Enjoy, thanks for reading and Happy New Year to you all.

Cover for the 1981 double vinyl LP Concerts For The People of Kampuchea (never released to CD)

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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