Wings Over America

Paul McCartney has been the soundtrack of my life -- the Beatles even had a number one hit the weekend I was born. He was my first love from the Beatles... then I got rebellious and hung my hat on John and George. As I've aged, I realized my favorite solo efforts were Paul songs. I've wanted this album forever. My hubby asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said, "Say no more," and asked for this album. He told me to order it -- and here we are. Listening to it is a complete joy. I love how he meshes the old and the new. This is Paul at one of his highlights. I love Wings. So happy with this album! Oh, and the added features were cool, too!

The sound of this LP is fantastic! Wings were such a great band, and this live show proves it. Killer versions of the big hits: Band on the Run, Let Em In, Silly Love Songs. Highly recommended.

This is a concert recording I played often when it came out in 1976. So glad to have a chance to hear it cleaned up from ambiance and crowd noises. The vocal problems from the first release properly fixed now. With the instrumentation brought properly to the foreground. The remaster is from 2013 and this is the first to be released since e the original release Dember of 1976, six months after the tour in the U.S.

Been a big Paul McCartney fan for many years! First became a fan in the 1970’s when this album was released! Then became a big Beatles fan! :)

People forget today how insanely popular Wings were in the mid- to late-1970s, but Macca and company performed in front of a million concert-goers during their 'Wings Over the World' tour in 1975-76, and this live recording of that tour hit number one on the Billboard 200 on January 22, 1977. Coming on the heels of "Wings At the Speed of Sound," this live album was Wings' second release in 1976, and their last until 1978's "London Town." There are 30 songs on "Wings At the Speed of Sound:" 5 were Beatles songs, with songwriting credited to 'McCartney-Lennon' instead of the usual 'Lennon-McCartney;' 21 songs were originally recorded by Wings; and 1 was a McCartney song from his solo career between McCartney's work with the Beatles and the formation of Wings. This last song, "Maybe I'm Amazed," was the only single from "Wings Over America," itself hitting the #10 position on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977. The remaining songs on this album were a Simon & Garfunkel song and a Moody Blues song, both sung by Denny Laine, and a Wings song, "Soily," which hadn't previously been recorded. This album comes achingly close to being a truly great 70s concert album-- right up there with Zeppelin's "Song Remains the Same" or Peter Frampton's "Frampton Comes Alive"-- and probably would have been recognized as such if bootleg recordings from the same concert tour hadn't been released as an unauthorized three-album set in 1976. McCartney was worried that the bootleg edition, which had poor sound quality, would outsell his planned two-record set... or worse, that people would think that these inferior recordings were the official live album, and that word would get around that Wings’ live album wasn’t any good... so he tacked a third LP onto this double album at the last possible moment, turning it into a three-record collection so that it could compete with the three-record bootleg head-on, hoping to bury it with heavy marketing. The problem with adding the third disc is that its sound quality wasn't up to McCartney's usual standards, forcing the band to return to the studio to re-record new vocals and guitar tracks, which were then mixed back into into the raw concert footage to create something that wasn't a studio recording but wasn't truly live, either. While this process probably created an idealized re-enactment of a live Wings performance, the sound quality still dips noticeably on some songs on the last record, and audience reactions to the music also seem a little more muted towards the end-- possibly because McCartney faded the audience response out a bit in an effort to clean up the band's output tracks. There are a number of highlights on “Wings Over America,” though, and all things considered, it's still a great live album from the classic era of live arena rock shows. All of the Beatles songs covered here are pretty terrific, especially “Lady Madonna,” which has a little more 'swing' here than in the Beatles release, and it's wonderful hearing a live version of “Blackbird.” Of the Wings songs performed here, “Let Me Roll It” and “Bluebird” have always been personal favorites, and of course the single version of “Maybe I’m Amazed” is a classic Wings hit. “Letting Go” is another great track, and although none of the songs on this album sound terrible, I truly wish that the original sound quality of this song was just a bit better. At the end of the day, "Wings Over America" is a fantastic live recording of a classic rock and roll outfit at the height of its popularity. Two discs would have sufficed, but the third disc contains great Wings music which makes it a nice bonus. I'd recommend it for Wings or Beatles fans, people who enjoy live concert recordings, or anyone trying to collect many of Wings' hits in a single purchase.

This was a must have LP back in the day. Rec’d in nice condition from this seller

Buen álbum, conforme con la compra.

Always have liked this. Still sounds great.