Wings Over St. Paul (Misterclaudel mccd-37/38)
Civic Center, St. Paul, MN – June 4th, 1976
Disc 1: Venus & Mars/Rock Show/Jet, Let Me Roll It, Spirits Of Ancient Egypt, Medicine Jar, Maybe I’m Amazed, Call Me Back Again, Lady Madonna, The Long And Winding Road, Live & Let Die, Picasso’s Last Words, Richard Corey, Bluebird, I’ve Just Seen A Face, Blackbird, Yesterday
Disc 2: You Gave Me The Answer, Magneto & Titanium Man, My Love, Listen To What The Man Said, Let ‘Em In, Time To Hide, Silly Love Songs, Beware My Love, Letting Go, Band On The Run. Bonus tracks, Capital Center, Landover, MD – May 19th, 1976: Hi Hi Hi, Soily
Any release from the Wings’ career is exciting, and especially any show from their Wings Over America tour in 1976. Every show on this tour has at least one tape source and hopefully one day they will all surface on pressed disc. Misterclaudel have added to the fun with this latest release Wings Over St. Paul. They utilize the source which has been circulating which is mediocre. It was taped far from the stage and sounds very thin and distorted with intrusive audience noise. The label did work the tape to improve it from the copies already in circulation to make it listenable and even enjoyable. There are cuts in “Blackbird” and the two encores “Hi Hi Hi” and “Soily”.
The cuts were so severe in the encores that they didn’t try to fix the holes but rather add the encores from the May 19th Landover show which is similar sonically. Despite that the show is a typical high quality show from the tour which stands with other more well known concerts. Paul announces, “this was recorded in New Orleans” before a great version of “Call Me Back Again”.
“You Gave Me The Answer” is dedicated not to Fred Astaire but to guitarist Jimmy McColloch whose birthday it was. In most of the shows I’ve heard from this tour the band reserve more energy for the songs from At The Speed Of Sound making that part of the show the most fun. Paul shouts, “Do the funky monkey” as an intro to “Let ‘Em In”. “Time To Hide” sounds very aggressive. “Silly Love Songs” is dedicated to all the people of Minneapolis-St.Paul Minnesota, U.S.A. and is irresistible.
Misterclaudel put a lot of thought and care into the presentation and they’ve included a miniature copy of the first issue of Club Sandwich, the Wings’ fan club newsletter. It’s a four-page broadsheet with the front cover dedicated to a photo of Paul playing the original “Heartbreak Hotel” bass. It’s a nice touch. There is also some home video footage shot by a member of the road crew is circulating of the band approaching the venue in limos and various, fragmentary stage shots. This set is nice as it is although to have a bonus DVD with that would have been tremendous. Casual fans will find Wings Over St. Paul to be rough going, but is definitely recommended for Wing’s completist.
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