SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS – ONE HAND CLAPPING

PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS
ONE HAND CLAPPING
MPL/UNIVERSAL

Paul McCartney recently turned 82, and he is as busy as ever. He is not slowing down one bit. Along with a sold-out tour of South America, Europe, and the U.K, he has been busy with photography shows, books, The Beatles and getting this album ready for release. One Hand Clapping is a live recording of Paul McCartney and Wings in Abbey Road Studios in 1974.

In 1973 McCartney had a great deal of success with a television special, James Paul McCartney, so he thought a special in 1974 would be equally well received. One Hand Clapping was designed as a television special in the vein of Get Back/Let It Be. It is a film of a band practicing and getting ready to record the follow-up to Band On The Run. However, for many reasons neither the film nor the album was released in 1974, but McCartney has dusted off the tapes, and with help from Giles Martin, One Hand Clapping now sees the light of day.

One Hand Clapping features classic McCartney/Wings and a couple of Beatles songs along with a few new ones at the time. There are even songs here that have never been heard by fans, outside of bootlegs or those lucky enough to have the deluxe box set of Band On The Run which included the film One Hand Clapping. When McCartney handles his older material, he does so with new vigor and with the excitement of playing with a very hot band. “Maybe I’m Amazed” is fantastic, for example. It is better than the studio version on 1970’s McCartney, perhaps, but compare this version with Wings Over America, and one can hear a much tighter and exciting version. “Junior’s Farm” had not yet been released when the film was shot, and here it rocks. Again, maybe it is not better than the single, but one can hear how McCartney would have performed it live (which he didn’t do until 2019).

Some of the previously unreleased songs are much too short but they are demos and McCartney is obviously working on the songs. Songs like “All Of You” or “Love My Baby” both show promise and offer a glimpse into McCartney composing a song. “I’ll Give You A Ring” would be finished and released in 1982 as a B-side and “Let’s Love” would be given to Peggy Lee. But what makes the album so interesting are the older Wings songs, which had been recorded with the Wings Mach One. “Tomorrow”, “Wild Life” and “Hi Hi Hi” are vibrant, fresh and exciting to hear.

His take on Beatles songs is also quite fascinating. “The Long And Winding Road” is closer to how McCartney had envisioned the song, but, sadly, it is far too short as he combines it in a medley with “Lady Madonna”. Denny Laine gets a turn at the microphone with “Go Now”, a song that he sang with the original Moody Blues in 1965 and would revive on the Wings Over America Tour. It sounds great here and the whole band breathes new life into the song. The real gem here, however, is “Soily”. A solid rocker that McCartney recorded in the studio but performed live in his 1975 and 1976 tours. It is proof that McCartney did not calm down after “Helter Skelter” and that he could produce a heavy rocker as good as, if not better than anyone. It is a fantastic song.

Because this was filmed in 1974 and it seems that the band is preparing for a tour, there are a few songs from Band On The Run. Again, songs like “Jet” and “Let Me Roll It” have a tight live sound, songs like “Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five” and “Bluebird” benefit from being live off the floor and are excellent examples to show just how good Wings were. McCartney also throws a couple of curveballs during these rockers by performing “Blue Moon Of Kentucky” (Elvis style) and his own “Sally G”, which would go on to chart on the country charts in North America.

McCartney had nothing to prove then or now. However, this album serves as a reminder that for a time, Wings were a contending band. McCartney went to great lengths to show them as a band rather than just his backing and One Hand Clapping helps with that argument.  This was a tight rock and roll band. In 1974, in many ways, McCartney was swimming against the tides of trends. This is not glam, pre-punk, disco, prog, or country rock. One Hand Clapping is a straight-ahead rocking album with a little English Music Hall thrown in for good measure. It is a brilliant small glimpse into McCartney and Wings creating in a studio. It is vibrant, energetic, and exciting and a welcome addition to McCartney’s ever-growing catalogue.

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