40 Year Itch : She Tastes Like Wine

Wings : Letting Go

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   On September 5, 1975 Paul McCartney ran his band and crew through one final exhaustive rehearsal as he prepared for a world tour. The next evening, Wings held a dress rehearsal in front of twelve hundred EMI employees and members of the UK Wings Fan Club. McCartney did not want to repeat the mediocrity that was George Harrison's 1974 tour. He had attended one of Harrison's shows in disguise, wearing an afro wig and mustache, and decided when he played Beatles songs they would sound like the original versions.

   And speaking of "original versions", you can hear a very early version of "Let Em In" at about 12:15 into the video above.  The hit single would appear on Wings at the Speed of Sound in March of 1976.

    The tour would kick off with 12-cities in the UK , beginning September 9 at Southhampton. At the end of the month Wings released a new single from Venus and Mars, the concert favorite "Letting Go". The song peaked at #41 in the US and #39 in the UK. 

Next stop: Australia.

40 Year Itch : Like a Relic From a Different Age

Wings: Rock Show (old version)

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   Inspiration meets calculation on this celebration of the rock concert-1970's style. McCartney was planning a US tour in 1976 and presumably "Jet" wasn't the kick ass opening tune he wanted. Along with the acoustic scene setter "Venus and Mars", "Rock Show" kicked off both Venus and Mars (released on this date in 1975)  and the live album Wings Over America. 

  The rougher "old version" is better in my opinion if only because it reveals McCartney's enthusiasm for his new song. There isn't an ounce of restraint here, especially in his bass playing.  

 For the album version, recorded at Sea-Saint Studios in New Orleans, Allen Toussaint came downstairs from his studio to play. The venues McCartney mentions are The Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Madison Square Garden ( NYC), Hollywood Bowl ( LA) and the Rainbow in London.

  There's also a line about scoring an ounce. I'm guessing that's marijuana which might have cost a concertgoer $50-$60 in 1975,  as opposed to $350-$450 today.

40 Year Itch : This is my Carnival

Photo by Sidney Smith

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 In New Orleans to record the Wings album Venus and Mars, Paul and Linda McCartney masked as a pair of clowns and joined the Mardi Gras crowds on Charles Street and Canal. 20 year old Sidney Smith was asked to be the personal photographer of the McCartneys and documented their stay in New Orleans. Wings recorded at Sea-Saint Studios, co-owned by famed producer Marshall Sehorn and songwriter Allen Toussaint.

   The album doesn't have much of a New Orleans feel, but the band also recorded a Professor Longhair inspired number called "My Carnival", which was released as a B Side to "Spies Like Us" in 1985, and is now one of the bonus cuts on the remastered Venus and Mars.

The McCartneys with Ernie K-Doe