The Wings Over the World tour was a series of concerts in 1975 and 1976 by the British–American rock band

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

performed in Britain, Australia, Europe, the United States and Canada. The North American leg constituted band leader

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

's first live performances there since

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' final tour, in 1966, and the only time Wings would perform live in the US and Canada. The world tour was well-attended and critically acclaimed, and resulted in a triple live album, ''

Wings over America ''Wings over America'' is a triple live album by the British–American rock band Wings, released in December 1976. The album was recorded during the American leg of the band's 1975–76 Wings Over the World tour. It peaked at number 8 on the ...

'', which

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

released in December 1976. In addition, the tour was documented in the television film '' Wings Over the World'' (1979) and a cinema release, ''

Rockshow ''Rockshow'' is a 1980 concert film released by Paul McCartney and Wings, filmed during the band's 1976 North American tour. The film features 30 songs from segments of four concerts of the tour: New York, on 25 May (four songs); Seattle, Washin ...

'' (1980). The

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

for much of the tour featured material from Wings' bestselling studios albums ''

Band on the Run ''Band on the Run'' is the third studio album by the British–American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, released in December 1973. It was McCartney's fifth album after leaving the Beatles in April 1970. Although sales were modest initially ...

'' (1973), '' Venus and Mars'' (1975) and '' Wings at the Speed of Sound'' (1976), as well as some of McCartney's compositions from the Beatles era, including " Yesterday", " Lady Madonna" and "

The Long and Winding Road "The Long and Winding Road" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album '' Let It Be''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. When issued as a single in May 1970, a month after the Beatl ...

". The inclusion of the latter songs proved especially popular and marked the first time that McCartney had performed material from the Beatles' catalogue in concert since their break-up, as he had previously vowed against playing any songs from that era. Aside from McCartney, the line-up of Wings included his wife Linda,

Denny Laine Denny Laine (born Brian Frederick Hines, 29 October 1944) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, known as a founder of two major rock bands: the Moody Blues, with whom he played from 1964 to 1966, and Wings, with whom he played from 1 ...

Jimmy McCulloch James McCulloch (4 June 1953 – 27 September 1979) was a Scottish musician best known for playing lead guitar and bass, as a member of Paul McCartney's band Wings from 1974 to 1977. McCulloch was a member of the Glasgow psychedelic band One in ...

and Joe English, together with a brass section led by

Howie Casey Howard William Casey (born 12 July 1937) is a British rhythm and blues and rock saxophonist. He came to prominence in the early 1960s as a member of Derry and the Seniors, the first rock and roll band from Liverpool to play clubs in Germany, a ...

History

In contrast to

' low-profile 1972 tours and a 1973 tour of UK theatres, Wings Over the World was a highly publicised concert tour that took place mostly in

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...

s and stadiums, and in the American stages of this tour the band's entourage and equipment were transported to each successive venue in five 32-ton trucks. Around 1 million people attended the 66 shows, which were staged in six legs: Britain (September 1975); Australia (November 1975); Europe (March 1976); North America (May–June 1976); a return to Europe (September 1976); and three final concerts in London at Wembley's Empire Pool (October 1976). A tour of Japan was planned, but it was cancelled by that country's authorities due to McCartney's 1972 Swedish

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various t ...

arrest. The world tour followed the release of Wings' bestselling album '' Venus and Mars'' (1975), while the follow-up album, '' Wings at the Speed of Sound'' (1976), was completed after the band's Australian concerts. Both ''Venus and Mars'' and ''

'' (1973) were well represented in the setlist for the two 1975 legs. Songs from ''Speed of Sound'' were then introduced into the set in March 1976, and McCartney is known to have remarked: "Everything I have done since The Beatles split has been leading up to this."''McCartney: Songwriter'' p. 120 In order to demonstrate that Wings was not merely a McCartney showcase,

sang lead vocals on several songs, including " Go Now", reprising his vocal from

the Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The g ...

' 1965 hit, and

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of ...

's song "

Richard Cory "Richard Cory" is a narrative poem written by Edwin Arlington Robinson. It was first published in 1897, as part of ''The Children of the Night'', having been completed in July of that year; and it remains one of Robinson's most popular and anth ...

also sang lead, on his ''Venus and Mars'' composition "Medicine Jar". Of particular interest to fans and music critics, McCartney decided to perform five of his songs from the Beatles, thereby overcoming an earlier disinclination to do any at all. Performances of " Yesterday" and "

" used muted horn arrangements in place of their original strings. In the case of the latter song, the new arrangement emphasised McCartney's objections to the version released on '' Let It Be'' in 1970, where, according to McCartney, American producer

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

had added orchestral and choral parts to the Beatles' 1969 recording without his approval. Wings' line-up for this tour was Paul McCartney (vocals, bass, piano, acoustic guitar),

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

(keyboards, backing vocals), Denny Laine (vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion), Jimmy McCulloch (electric and acoustic guitars, bass, vocals) and Joe English (drums, percussion, backing vocals). They were joined by brass and woodwind players

, Steve Howard, Thaddeus Richard and Tony Dorsey. A

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

of the tour, titled '' Wings Over the World'', aired on US television in November 1979.

Wings over America

More than 600,000 people attended Wings' 31 shows in the United States and Canada, held between 3 May and 23 June 1976. In order to reduce the stress of moving their young family around the country during the course of the tour, the McCartneys rented houses in New York City, Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles. Each night, they would fly in a specially chartered

BAC One-Eleven The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111/BAC 1-11) was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-se ...

to the closest of the four properties. The beginning of the American leg of the tour was delayed for nearly a month because lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch broke his finger after slipping when getting out of a bathtub in a Paris hotel. At one of the Los Angeles shows, McCartney's former Beatles bandmate

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

joined him on stage and handed him a bouquet of flowers. Many of the concerts were professionally recorded. The best performances would later be compiled, after studio

overdubs Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

, for release as the

triple album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...

'' in December 1976. In addition, a concert film combining footage from the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, New York and Los Angeles shows was released in cinemas in 1980, as ''

'', by

Miramax Films Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a lead ...

Tour setlists

Tour dates

Box office score data

References