Paul McCartney Album: “Red Rose Speedway [4 Bonus Tracks]”

The recent promotion of Wingspan the CD and TV special have prompted me to go back and revisit Paul McCartney & Wings' back catalog. Red Rose Speed--now close to thirty years old--is one of my favorites.

"Big Barn Bed": A terrific rocker. A great track to kick off the album.

"My Love": The first of McCartney's solo 'silly love songs' released as a single. And it's a great one. It spent four weeks at No. 1.

"Get on the Right Thing": Another great rocker.

"One More Kiss": This lovely ballad has a country feel to it.

"Little Lamb Dragonfly": A pleasant ballad, nice acoustic guitar playing.

"Single Pigeon": Mostly Paul at the piano with some nice harmonies. At under two minutes it seems unfinished, though.

"When the Night": A rather pedestrian mid-tempo song.

"Loup (1st Indian on the Moon)": A somewhat interesting instrumental. Some clever effects here and there--McCartney's attempt at Pink Floyd?

"Medley: Hold Me Tight/Lazy Dynamite/Hands of Love/Power Cut": Maybe it's just me, but this pastiche of unfinished songs is my favorite track. Reminiscent of side two of Abbey Road.

Bonus Tracks (These non-album songs were originally released as the b-sides to "Live and Let Die," "Helen Wheels" and "My Love," the three singles McCartney released in 1973, the year Red Rose Speedway was released.)

"I Lie Around": Lyrically this is not one of McCartney's best efforts, but it's a fun song celebrating country life.

"Country Dreamer": Another ditty extolling the joys of country living. Very upbeat and very country sounding.

"The Mess": This is a live recording and shows that when they wanted to, Wings could be a tough rock 'n' roll band.

While critics have drubbed this release almost as mercilessly as 1971's Wild Life, this album is fun from start to finish and the bonus tracks (none of which made it onto the Wingspan anthology) make this an essential purchase for die-hard fans. RECOMMENDED

I'm glad to see there are some other reviewers on this site who really enjoy this album. Personally I really like every track, but especially "One More Kiss," "Get on the Right Thing," "Single Pigeon," and the medley. Two brief observations: (1) I noticed someone else here commented that "Little Lamb Dragonfly" was about a sheep (or lamb) on Paul's farm that died. I don't dispute that was the inspiration, but I have always found the song to have a very poignant subtext, related to the death of Paul's mother when he was 12 or 13. A number of Paul's Beatles songs have this theme as well, including "Things We Said Today," "Yesterday," "Let It Be," and "The Long and Winding Road." In "Little Lamb Dragonfly," I always imagined the "Little Lamb" part was Paul's mother singing to Paul about her death ("I have no answers for you little lamb/I can help you out/But we may never meet again"). The "Dragonfly" part continues the theme even more strongly ("Don't know why you hang around my door/I don't live here anymore/Since you've gone, I never know/I go on, but I miss you so"). It's really heartbreaking, if you ask me. A beautiful song, and the above is just one man's interpretation of it.

Point (2): I listened to the ending medley many times before it hit me that the guitar solos that end the album are actually playing the melodies of "Hold Me Tight," "Lazy Dynamite," and "Hands of Love," first individually, then at the same time. That realization just blew my mind. What a creative way to tie the medley together!

A great, unfairly unappreciated effort -- probably Macca's best.

The only reason why a mellow, pot-smoking hippie wouldn't dig this album to death is because of the MOR cheese that is "My Love." Frankly, the song bears no indication as to how experimental, melodic and cool RED ROSE SPEEDWAY is throughout.

Side one moves at a hit-or-miss pace, with most of the misses still coming off as funky DIY anthems, as Wings sport big, layered vocals ("Big Barn Bed," "Get on the Right Thing"). "One More Kiss" is the first sign of some WHITE ALBUM-esque inspiration (with side two's "Single Pigeon" taking it back to 1968 with a vengeance). But "Little Lamb Dragonfly" is where we start to get a sense that McCartney's talent and flair for melody hasn't lost an ounce since his Beatle days. The song is delivered from such a simple and gentle place.

"Single Pigeon" opens side two as sort of an intro piece (with lonesome lyrics akin to the classic "Yellow Bird"), before Wings launch into the chronic vibes of "When the Night," featuring head lyrics about the night being beautiful and mellow... the light being marvelous and yellow, and "the light of the night, fell on me" (!!!!) If the lyrics aren't hazy enough for ya, perhaps the Donovan-esque rhythm will take you there. Not to be outdone by the instrumental, "Loup (First Indian on the Moon)," a tribal psychedelic experience about, well... what the first Indian on the moon might experience. Its mysterious opening chords and gutteral harmonies launch into a mystical pastiche of sound waves from beyond, as Loup re-enters a world (the moon) where land is again like air. For the Indian it's preposterous to think that a human being could "own" land (just as absurd to think that you could own air or water). With heart content, Loup then launches into a funky tribal dance around the burning coals, before the whole affair slides back into the opening chords to fade.

RED ROSE SPEEDWAY ends with an ABBEY ROAD-like suite (in four parts), starting out with the catchy, light-hearted ditty "Hold Me Tight." This seques into "Lazy Dynamite," not only the strongest melody on the whole LP (and one that shows, again, McCartney's utter melodic genius), but a dynamic message about taking this special spark inside and drawing it out from its sleep.

In all, RED ROSE SPEEDWAY was the McCartney album that finally got critics and fans to take his solo career seriously. While it was a 50-50% shot as to whether heavies and hippies bought it in 1973, there would be no doubt on the next album, BAND ON THE RUN. Every household had a copy.

I think RRS is a really good album. It has a fine starter (Big Barn Bed) which has a beautiful refrain melody. What follows is the wonderful ballad My Love. There are some tracks that are just good fun, throw-away stuff, like Get On The Right Thing and (which should have been about two minutes longer, to be a nice country song) One More Kiss. There is only one disspointment, Loup (1st Indian On The Moon) is a boring instrumental which has no straight melody staying in your ears. The best songs are Little Lamb Dragon Fly, a sort of folk-hymn, dedicated to a shhep that died on Paul's farm, which is a banal background, but it has a melody which is very touching. Single Pigeon is a short waltz thing, a song that stays in your ears after hearing it some times, and to which Linda contributes fine background vocals. And When The Night... I don't know why so many people don't like it. It's a waltz that has harmony vocals by Paul, Linda and Denny which remind me of Because. The song is very lovely and it has a really clouless-night-feel. The Medley is a funny idea, but I like the Abbey road Medley much more. The Songs aren't bad, they're also worked out very well and all in all the Medley has its moments. I don't really know why I prefer Abbey Road. The bonus tracks are very very good also, C Moon is my favorite Wings song. A grooving reggae, which I always have in my mind. Hi Hi Hi is a rocker, also is The Mess. Both are worth having, showing the Wings were a good rock-band. I Lie Around is a song, Paul also liked. It is sung by Denny Laine and always remembers me of the Band On The Run style. It's a watch into the future... All in all compared to other Wings albums I would say, it is as good as the much praised Band On The Run. Even better, bacause there are no songs I don't like (while I can't stand Bluebird and No Words). You can listen to it and just relax. A must have. A great, under-rated album by Macca. Buy. Buy. Buy.

One of Paul's most underrated albums, Red Rose Speedway is a combination of garage rock'n'roll with a glam after shave. Ment to be listened at high volumes in a howling moon night, Paul delivers some fantastic songs here, with his voice at its peak, screaming and howling even better than John's... (quite a compliment for the composer of "Silly love songs.") The only out of place song here is My love, an over the top orchestrated ballad which just doesn't fit the picture of distorted guitars, orchestra thrown in (but not dominanting the songs), and simple and beautiful piano ballads in between. Check out Single Pigeon, one of his most beautiful ballads ever, and probably one of his most underrated gems. "One more Kiss" is intimate, heart felt and painfully beautiful (!!)(quite the opposite of My love), and "When the Night" is a "Why don't we do it on the Road" cover, 5 years later. I've always wondered if John heard this song before he attempted to record "Stand by me" on his Rock'n'Roll 1975 album. Listen.... and you'll see why. All in all, a master piece by one of the greatest song writers ever, at a time when he could allow himself not to be self conscious in any way. Wings was his facade to cover up his demons and angels, and Seiwell's drumming kept everything tight and right. Highly recommended.