James Paul McCartney

As had already been demonstrated before ("Magical Mystery Tour") and after ("Give My Regards To Broad Street"), I think it's fair to say that Paul is better with a bass in his hands than a movie camera.

Offered the chance by TV impresario Lee Grade to make his own hour long (including advert space) special, McCartney jumped at the chance seeing it as an ideal opportunity to highlight his recent music and more particularly his newly established band Wings.

The songs are mostly very good with McCartney obviously by now regaining his writing chops, which in fact was to culminate in his solo career high album "Band On The Run", just months after this TV film was aired, although ironically by then, two of his Wings had been shorn, which sort of gives the lie to the jokey band questionnaires put up at the start of proceedings.

After starting with a studio performance in front of myriad TV screens, there's an odd narcissistic segment with McCartney strumming and singing some of his acoustic numbers (including the then unreleased "Bluebird") on a studio stool as a fawning Linda takes up close and personal snaps of her man, okay Paul we get it, you're the singer, she's the photographer.

After that we're returned to a band studio performance with accompanying orchestra which handily come in on cue on the dreamy string-soaked ballad "My Love" before a brief pastoral interlude with the band playing alfresco, surrounded by sheep, naturally for his much derided hit single of the time "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and an awkward promo film with Macca dressed up as a reporter in an office pool for the hit single from "Ram", "Uncle Albert" / "Admiral Halsey".

The whole piece then lurches alarmingly as Paul sees fit to remind us all where he came from by returning to his Liverpool roots by taking his band down the local pub where he mingles in very staged fashion with the locals indulging in a pub singalong as of course happens in every local every night in old Liddypool. Really embarrassing.

It only gets worse as it's followed by McCartney giving full-vent to his old-time music predilection with his 30's styled new number "Gotta Sing Gotta Dance", replete in the white tails we hoped he'd thrown away after "Your Mother Shoukd Know" from "Magical Mystery Tour", complete with a cast of Victor Victoria-garbed dancing girls.

Thankfully, things improve with a live band rendition of his dynamite Bond theme "Live And Let Die", (including insert sequences from the Roger Moore movie) an encore number in his live set even today.

The very worst part follows with vox-pop renditions of various Beatles songs by universally out-of-tune members of the public, the funniest being the city guy who mangles the words as well as the tune of "Yesterday" which then cuts abruptly cuts into a live Wings gig, in front of a grooving audience, where the band performs fine if ragged versions of one of his best and least known rockers "The Mess", the magnificent "Maybe I'm Amazed" and the high-energy set closer "Long Tall Sally". I think I'd rather have had an hour of this whole concert as the band really cooks but then I was hardly the target audience I think.

The last number is an embarrassingly promoted solo-version of "Yesterday" with Paul apparently encouraged to do the number by the band who meekly look on, sat on their hands.

I guess the thinking for this mixed-bag production was to demonstrate McCartney's all-round entertainer status, but in the end it comes over as confused and unfocused.

To a young person who would like to discover one of the most influential rock artists ,this is not the place to begin with.

But for Beatles buffs ,it's a must : screened at a time McCartney was generally slagged off by a hostile press, when his partner Lennon had still the upper hand , it's an interesting document ,if not always enthusing .

It was the first time MacC. Had performed Beatles songs after the break-up ("blackbird " "Michelle" "yesterday" in truncated versions ,plus "long tall Sally" which was covered by his former group and along with "maybe I'm amazed " , is the climax of the show .The other great songs are not performed live : "uncle Albert /admiral Halsey " is given a concept video treatment and "live and let die" is heard in a movie theater where the McCartneys are supposed to attend a screening of the movie.

Some of the songs ("big barn bed" " little woman love" "the mess ") are subpar ; "my love " and "CMoon " pleasant but not particularly memorable .

"Gotta sing gotta dance"written for the circumstance and never released on record, shows the singer's mastery of styles of past decades ,as "when I'm sixty four " and "honey pie" bore out ,and the ending of "magical mystery tour" was not far away from these half/men half/women dancers.

The very title of the show proves that "Wings " was not really a group ,which the triumph of "band on the run" did nothing to rectify .His best pre-"band " effort ,the underrated "Ram" , was wingless.

This is an interesting look at Wings in their early days. The special was a network television special in 1973. The band contained Denny Laine, Henry McCullogh, Denny Seiwell, Denny Laine, Paul and Linda. The show is quite amusing, but all the music played is very good. I really enjoyed the song The Mess. The version of My Love is pretty cool too. It is different than the record. They play a song called Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance that was never recorded on tape but was written for Cilla Black for her TV show Cilla. I acquired a bootleg copy of the video. If you can get your hands on it, take a look. A must have for any major McCartney fan!