Paul McCartney Album: “Wild Life [US Bonus Tracks]”

Most people don't even know this album exists. Even among diehard Beatles fans this album is little known. This is a Bloody Shame! This is the rawest you will ever hear Paul McCartney! This may be his best album. It's main competitors being Red Rose Speedway and McCartney. Before I continue to wax poetically about how much I love this album let me clear up one thing. The song SOME PEOPLE NEVER KNOW is Paul's nicely versed answer to John Lennon's vitriolic HOW DO YOU SLEEP? not DEAR FRIEND. A close inspection of the lyrics will bear this out. Also the original album ends at DEAR FRIEND. The bonus tracks do not detract from it for me, though. Why do I love this album? Musically it's a tour de force. Wings, in all it's incarnations, has never sounded better. Lyrically McCartney is at the top of his form. Yes, I even mean MUMBO and BIP BOP. Paul's singing is exquisite. Linda sings better than she ever has here, too! Mostly, though I love this album because it is fun. Rock'n'Roll is supposed to be fun, not pretentious. This album is definitely not pretentious. And it definitely is fun!

I fully realize that Wings Wild Life is generally dismissed and one of the least liked McCartney/Wings efforts. Yet after all these years I continue to find it a fascinating, raw, adventurous, and top notch album. This album comes right after Paul's RAM album (billed to Paul & Linda), and was recorded in very little time (anywhere between 3 days and 2 weeks, depending on who you believe).

The opening track "Mumbo" sets the stage: the band unleashes an energy that pops out at you, with few (and hard to understand anyway) lyrics. Ditto for "Bip Bop". "Love is Strange" is reggae-influenced, and irresistable. The title track (concluding Side 1 of the album) is Paul and Linda's earliest environmentally themed song. The best songs are yet to come!! "Some People Never Know" may be Paul at its very best, period. Linda delivers "I Am Your Singer", a sweet 2'15" track that flows well in the scheme of things. "Tomorrow" is the most commercial track of the album. "Dear Friend" closes out, with Paul on the piano, supposedly addressing John Lennon.

If you are thinking of buying this excellent album, by all means AVOID this domestic pressing, and instead buy the "import" version (also available on Amazon) which is remastered AND has better bonus tracks: "Give Ireland Back to the Irish", "Mary Had a Little Lamb", "Little Woman Love" and "Mama's Little Girl".

If your idea of Paul at his best is "My Love" or "With a Little Luck", avoid this album. If on the other hand you've always wished for Paul to think "outside the box" musically, he most certainly did on Wings Wild Life. You won't be dissapointed.

When talking about Paul McCartney, people expect great epic ballads and catchy 3-minute songs. Not with this one and that's exactly what makes this album so great (and so misunderstood). If this album was recorded by anyone but an ex-Beatle, it would have the light it so richly deserved. Raw, straight to the point, bitter and inspiring, this is Paul at his most "alternative" persona, going away form all excesses of 1972, without being necesarily difficult. As soon as people leave their prejudices aside, this will be heralded as one of his best albums ever. "Some People Never Know" and "Dear Friend" are much cleaver slap-on-the-face responses to Lennon than Lennon's HEY-this-is-about-Paul's "How Do You Sleep". "Wild Life" is one of his best vocal exercises, and "Tomorrow" highlights his genius at taking a simple melody into a masterpiece.

Eager to be part of touring band again, Paul assembled Wings in 1971. On board was wife Linda (who reluctantly complied), old mate Denny Laine; formerly of the Moody Blues, and drummer Denny Seiwell, who performed on Paul's previous album "Ram". Their debut opens with "Mumbo", and the song itself doesn't make much sense either. Then we get "Bip Bop", which is performed to a three note melody. I admit I like that one, even though it is sloppily performed, like much of the album. Their rendition of "Love Is Strange" is catchy, but the title track sounds awful. The second side opens with the pleasant "Some People Never Know", followed by the god awful "I Am Your Singer", with Linda's horrific backing vocals. "Tomorrow" is a decent track that Paul thought might launch the album (it didn't) and we close with "Dear Friend", a soft response from Paul to John Lennon's vicious "How Do You Sleep?" Wings tried to emulate Bob Dylan's style of just coming into the studio and laying down tracks with minimal rehearsing, but that didn't come off here. Fortunately the band redeemed themselves with the wonderful "Red Rose Speedway" two years later.

Wild Life

This may be McCartney's most controversial album, usually causing strong feelings, for better or worse, not rarely people change their mind about it given the time. IMO this is one of his best pieces of work and undoubtedly one of the most interesting. I have to admit that at the beggining of its listening, the first two horrible tracks (bip bop and mumbo) cause sheer desperation, is not uncommon the automatic need to check at the CD and its label to confirm if it's the correct record. Anxiety rises, you begin to fear for what is coming ahead...when out of the blue, the old macca changes everything, "I am your singer", a very nice duet with Linda where her eventually off key lines account for most of the song's charm, "tomorrow" is simply some of the best things someone ever recorded, words are not enough, "Dear Friend" the ballad McCartney's specialty (here, longer than usual), "some people never know", bringing some delicate, yet somewhat sad, acoustic guitar melody and very well constructed vocal harmony, and closing the (now we can call it) masterpiece comes the title song, when Paul reminds that he hasn't lost at any rate THE BLUES (and his amazing vocal resources as well), singing with such passion some would doubt he still had. Maybe it is the stronger and most hipnotizing blues in his entire career ("oh darling" included)...really gives the shivers. Shortly...strange, surprising and great album!