•
Rating: In 1974, the Wings returned to being a quintet after the trio interlude of "Band On The Run". With the arrival of Jimmy McCulloch and Geoff Britton, Paul McCartney could seriously consider organizing a world tour after releasing a new LP.
"One Hand Clapping" is a documentary film that shows the group rehearsing some material that was thought might be useful for concerts. The parts related to "Venus And Mars" and "At The Speed Of Sound" are still missing, which would form much of the backbone of the future "Wings Over The World Tour," but the soundtrack allows us to appreciate how the group worked in the studio. Unfortunately, as happened with the very precious "The I.C.A Rehearsals" of '72 (a documentary film about the rehearsals for the '72 tour), the film remains shelved despite being practically complete with musicians' comments. This lack of release was due to Geoff Britton leaving the group during the recordings of what was then referred to as "Venus And Mars Are Alright Tonight" because of irreconcilable differences with McCulloch. Britton would later declare that leaving the Wings was the biggest mistake of his life.
Regarding the soundtrack, one can hear spirited versions of "Jet" and "Junior's Farm", the latter only making it to the tour setlist for the Australian dates, as did the medley "Little Woman Love/C Moon". The group is on fire, Geoff Britton is a powerful and precise drummer just as McCartney likes, and the version of "Let Me Roll It" present here already shows its full strength, "Hi Hi Hi" is effective from the first notes, "Soily" is a curious retrieval by Paul from the previous tour; a previously unreleased track initially intended for "Red Rose Speedway," later destined to close the '75-'76 tour as an encore. However, this version lacks McCulloch's guitar intro, which would be added later. From "Band On The Run," the title track is also present, along with "Bluebird" and "1985", the latter being rehearsed but never performed live until 2010, a huge crime for one of the most stunning songs in the ex-Beatle's repertoire. Also noteworthy is the performance of "Go Now" with Denny Laine on vocals, a classic by the Moody Blues of which Denny was a member of the original lineup.
Being a bootleg of this soundtrack, various versions exist; some include all the dialogues and a complete setlist that also included "Sitting At The Piano", a piano medley by Paul solo, which also features a version of "I'll Give You A Ring." As for the film, it is only available as a bootleg, but some fragments can be appreciated in the "The McCartney Years" box set in the interactive menus.
Loading comments slowly
