Wings
Rupert The Bear Soundtrack

1968, Paul McCartney is quite doubtful about the realization of "Yellow Submarine". The project doesn't involve the Beatles directly, and even the soundtrack is recorded very quickly, utilizing songs that were mostly written beforehand. Paul has another incredible idea spinning in his head, "the other day I was reading a Rupert book to a friend of my daughter Heather, and I came to the conclusion that we should have made a movie about this character instead of 'Yellow Submarine,' with our songs as the soundtrack", so Paul writes to Derek Taylor in the summer of that year. The Rupert McCartney refers to is the well-known protagonist of a comic series much loved in the United Kingdom, n He acquires the rights in '70 and once he leaves the Beatles, he begins to immerse himself totally in the most incredible and lesser-known work of his career.

In essence, in the early '70s, McCartney gradually composes the soundtrack of the feature film that MPL is ready to produce on Rupert The Bear; while recording "McCartney" and then "Ram", Paul systematically sets aside both instrumental and vocal material for this project, indicating that his idea was not just a sketch but a truly concrete plan. The genesis will be very long and will never definitively see the light of day; in fact, Paul will only make a test in 1984 with the video "We All Stand Together" based on the short film "Rupert And The Frog Song" (the pilot episode of the film). Despite the success of the preview, Paul falls into a period of strong indecision over the film's script, and throughout the '80s, he does nothing but hire new screenwriters to rewrite everything; ultimately, no one understands anything anymore, and McCartney's perfectionist mania leads the project to stagnate right before the start of the work. Despite everything, there is a soundtrack, or rather a draft, recorded by Wings in '78. 

For many, this "lost album" is a true masterpiece even though it was recorded in just one day and many songs don't have a definitive text, McCartney merely hums or sings softly in many tracks. Paul is also the narrator; the songs are interspersed with his narrations that tell the story, and these spoken parts also outline a draft of the plot. The music, however, is truly remarkable; Wings here, already in the five-member formation of "Back To The Egg" with Juber and Holly, create a little gem. It starts with the peaceful "Rupert Song", a fine pop song with a breezy and engaging reprise. It continues with "Tippi Tippi Toes", an instrumental with a '20s atmosphere and a melancholic central part. "The Wind Is Blowing" is a calm song, sung by McCartney in a soft voice, characterized by the atmosphere it creates, relaxed in its slow pace. "The Castle Of The King Of The Birds" is a magnificent piano piece; "Sunshine Sometime" is a bossa nova recorded during the times of "Ram", and this song is really very interesting and beautiful as well. Other instrumental tracks follow, among which "Sea Melody" stands out, which Paul will revisit to create "Celebration" for the symphonic work "Standing Stone". "Sea Melody" is, for many, one of the highest points reached in McCartney's composition. 

The soundtrack is obviously unreleased; McCartney has kept it in the drawer for years, waiting to make the film or perhaps to use it for other projects. But what the Wings recorded in a single recording session in '78 is their masterpiece, and it's truly a shame that it hasn't been released.