[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_code module_class=”custom-cat” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
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[\/et_pb_code][et_pb_text module_class=”article-title” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”||||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#111111″ header_font_size=”68px” custom_margin=”40px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
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How to fill the unimaginable void left by The Beatles? Paul McCartney<\/strong> formed Wings<\/strong>, a new group run on different lines; in 1972, they embarked upon a British university tour and a European \u2018Summer Holiday\u2019 in a psychedelic open topped bus. But Wings\u2019 first flight would not last. As told to Tom Doyle<\/strong>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-1210538052-scaled.jpg” alt=”Paul McCartney and American photographer and musician Linda McCartney (1941-1998) in front of the converted bus in which their band Wings ” title_text=”Wings Over Europe” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Paul and Linda McCartney in front of the converted European tour bus, Juan-les-Pins, France, 12th July 1972.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Speaking in March 2012, guitarist Henry McCullough remembered phenomenal excitement, adventure and payment in 50p coins. And then he walked out…<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n \u201cI first went to meet them at the Scotch Of St James club in London [in January 1972] and played for three days. At the end, Paul said, \u2018D\u2019you want to join the band?\u2019 I was a little bit intimidated. But I wasn\u2019t scared. He was easy to be about if you were in the gang, y\u2019know. After a month or two, you got used to his face.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n One of the first things we did was Mary Had A Little Lamb. I was just coming off the road after three years in America with Joe Cocker and I end up playing Mary Had A Little Fucking Lamb. But he put it to me that this was the sort of thing that he would do for his daughters, a kids\u2019 thing. So we committed ourselves. It was like swearing on the Bible almost. Paul explained how he was going to do it. Just the thought of going out on the road with this band was real exciting for everyone.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n When we took off to do that university tour [in February 1972, with Wings turning up unannounced at student unions and asking to play], it was like a black and white Sgt. Pepper.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n You went to the promenade and you stayed with Mrs McGonagall. There was dogs, there was kids. We were all out to have a great time and play music. But I think the setlist had nine numbers (laughs)<\/em>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pull-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#111111″ header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pullquote-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#111111″ header_3_font_size=”38px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n With Linda, I must say \u2013 and I\u2019m quite ashamed of it \u2013 that I did mention that maybe we should get in a proper piano player. Paul basically said, \u2018Linda\u2019s the wife, y\u2019know, and I\u2019m fucking driving this boat, so just keep quiet.\u2019 It was never brought up again, on my part anyway. I think we were all nervous, y\u2019know.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The first gig was Nottingham. I remember the reaction when the social secretary had a look in the van \u2013 slide the door open and there\u2019s Paul McCartney sitting there. It was a big deal for them, but it was also a big deal for us. It was like, \u2018This is it, the first fucking gig.\u2019 It was 50p to get in. After the gig, we were like children. Two for you and two for you, all 50ps. You walked out of the university and your trousers were tripping you. It was just as exciting travelling in a green Transit as it was in a fucking Rolls. You probably had more room in the van.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The Wings Over Europe tour that summer was fantastic. We travelled in an open-top bus all painted real psychedelic. Bit of dope in the fridge. Magical. The lounge was upstairs and it was carpeted and had big cushions. Downstairs was bunks made up for the kids. A couple of times the promoters had to send cars out for us to get us to the gig on time because the bus only went so fast. It was like a holiday. You don\u2019t have to do anything but go on-stage and play your arse off. What a dream. \u2018I\u2019m just gonna lie upstairs for a while, boys, and smoke me pipe. I\u2019ll be down at four o\u2019clock.\u2019 Paul was as straight as the rest of us (laughs)<\/em>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The dope bust happened in Gothenburg. There was something sent through the mail from London. Whoever was looking after the package didn\u2019t look after it well enough and consequently by the time it got to the hotel, there was twigs sticking out of it. We did the gig and the last number you could see these guys running round the top of the auditorium with rifles. We\u2019re thinking, What\u2019s going on? And we never got to the dressing room. [Paul, Linda and Denny Seiwell \u2013 whose name was on the package \u2013 were fined a total of $1,800].<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n I quit the band after an argument with Paul on the farm in Scotland in 1973, just before they went off to Nigeria to do Band On The Run. I got fed up with everything really. You didn\u2019t play anything other than what you were shown to play. Every solo was exactly the same on every tune. I packed my guitar and put my amp in the boot and drove down to London. I walked out on him and it was the most unprofessional thing I\u2019ve ever done in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-97577410-scaled.jpg” alt=”Wings perform live on stage at The Theatre Antique in Arles, France on July 13 1972 L-R Henry McCullough, Denny Seiwell, Denny Laine, Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney” title_text=”Wings Perform In Arles” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Wings perform live on stage at The Theatre Antique in Arles, France in July, 1972.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Drummer Denny Seiwell was nonplussed by nursery rhymes, but admired Macca\u2019s pioneer spirit and the giant heart of Linda…<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n \u201cI\u00a0played on Ram in New York [in 1971] and then Paul said, \u2018Would you and your wife like to come over to Scotland and have a little holiday?\u2019 While we were there, he said, \u2018Y\u2019know, I\u2019m putting a band together.\u2019 The university tour was his way of saying, \u2018OK, let\u2019s get out there and do it. Just like The Beatles did. We\u2019ve gotta start somewhere. So let\u2019s jump in a van. We didn\u2019t have enough songs and we had to repeat a couple. We did Lucille and some of the old standards that The Beatles used to do, just to kill time (laughs).<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Paul wanted to give the world a look at square one, starting all over again. And it\u2019s commendable for somebody who\u2019s as huge an icon as Paul McCartney to leave The Beatles and then just start over with some unknown band and having his wife playing keyboards. After The Beatles, that was kind of cheeky.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Give Ireland Back To The Irish was his social statement\u2026 brilliant, right on. Mary Had A Little Lamb on the other hand \u2013 we\u2019re supposed to be a rock band! I said, What\u2019s with all this shit? But he had a daughter named Mary, he had lambs on his farm\u2026<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Dope smoking? We were lightweight if you compared us to a lot of other bands at the time. We enjoyed a bit of the herb for creative consciousness, you know what I\u2019m saying? But we weren\u2019t Bob Marley And The Wailers.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Linda wasn\u2019t an important element musically. But she was a necessity. She was Paul\u2019s security blanket, his inspiration, his wife and mother of his kids. I\u2019ve seen her cry on my shoulder because of the criticisms. But she had a lot of chutzpah. She wasn\u2019t much of a piano player or a singer, but boy she had the heart for it. And over time, she got better.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pull-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#111111″ header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pullquote-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#111111″ header_3_font_size=”38px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Paul had some musical differences with Henry. I didn\u2019t have any of that. Financially, it was difficult. We were selling records, we were touring, but there was a huge underlying problem \u2013 the business of The Beatles\u2019 break-up and the court receivership. We were all working on retainers that were hard to live on, for being one of the top bands in the world. We worked for \u00a370 a week, but I was making \u00a32,000 a week in New York as a session guy.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n As close as we were, that stuff is difficult to talk about. There was a lot of unsaid stuff going on. It probably was the beginning of the demise of Wings. We didn\u2019t have agreements in writing. That was why I left, just after Henry. It\u2019s one of the few things in my life I regret doing.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This article originally appeared in Issue 239 of MOJO\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-names” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”14px” text_orientation=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Images: Getty Images<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Rise and Fall of Wings Mk. 1How to fill the unimaginable void left by The Beatles? Paul McCartney formed Wings, a new group run on different lines; in 1972, they embarked upon a British university tour and a European \u2018Summer Holiday\u2019 in a psychedelic open topped bus. But Wings\u2019 first flight would not last. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mojo-presents"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"akindell","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3653"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3672,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653\/revisions\/3672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}“We committed ourselves. It was like swearing on the Bible almost.”<\/h2>\n
Henry McCullough<\/h3>\n
“There was a lot of unsaid stuff going on\u2026 it probably was the beginning of the demise of Wings.”<\/h2>\n
Denny Seiwell<\/h3>\n