Linda McCartney
Wide Prairie

Four stars or little dots, call them what you want but I express the rating for this record with all my heart, and it deserves every bit of it.

"Wide Prairie" sees the light just a few months after Mrs. McCartney's passing in April 1998; it is not a tribute album, it is the solo work that was planned multiple times but never released over thirty years of recordings and demos, with an honest and quiet career behind her husband.

Linda was not a musician, let alone a singer, but she had a unique spirit and a decidedly strong character. Her greatest talent was expressed through photography; she was a photographer for "Rolling Stones" in the '60s, and for her TRUE ecological convictions and immense love for animals. The album is very interesting for both McCartney enthusiasts and mere curiosity seekers; it's a well-done and well-produced work despite being slightly uneven, gathering pieces recorded between 1972 and 1998, spanning from the country diversions of "Wide Prairie" recorded in 1974 to the effervescent atmosphere of New Orleans' carnival, "New Orleans".

It's important to emphasize that many songs were completed by Linda shortly before leaving us, like the beautiful love declaration towards horses (her great passion) in "Appaloosa", where McCartney plays the drums that underpin the piece's relentless rhythm, or the biting "The Light Comes From Within", where Linda attacks all those who have unjustly and heavily criticized her over the years for reasons she had almost nothing to do with, like the breakup of the Beatles. Still beautiful is "Seaside Woman", the first example of white reggae created in 1971 by Wings and played only in early concerts, and worthy of mention is "Love's Full Glory", a delicate and magnificent song written in response to Paul's "My Love" and only recorded in 1980 with an excellent slide guitar. One of the most curious things is "Oriental Nightfish", the only progressive track I know of recorded by Paul McCartney, with beautiful prominent keyboards, Linda's spoken vocals, and a transverse flute to seal a melody decidedly outside the canons of McCartney of the era (1973). It was supposed to be released on "Band On The Run", but nothing came of it, a pity.

So, a delightful and precious work, it contains no masterpieces, but if you don't expect too much and can tolerate Linda's not exactly pitch-perfect singing, you'll like it.