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Rating: Seeing Paul grappling with the "University Tour" rehearsals in February 1972 is something magical. We have a former Beatle who is preparing to return on stage after more than five years, it's just a handful of years but it feels like an eternity. Vest, shirt, and sneakers on his feet, and a Rickenbacker bass destined to enter legend. In these films, attached to the DVD of the box edition of the new Wild Life reissue, McCartney appears a bit bewildered but these Wings are still very raw, and the sound has to be handled as best as possible. "The Mess" is already an important number, and the newly joined Henry McCullough slips in his raw, rusting blues sound between grimaces, which will become a trademark of the group's first phase. This edition is exceptional, with impeccable remaster quality and historically interesting video content as, besides a twenty-minute rehearsal fragment at the ICA (the complete footage is damaged as known), there's a video with Paul, Linda, and Mary in the courtyard in Scotland in June 1971 while rehearsing some acoustic versions of songs that will partly form the tracklist of the album. This particularly peculiar and difficult period of McCartney is well outlined in the copious accompanying book, rich with historical anecdotes and photographs; this volume completes and enriches with details a transitional phase (between RAM and the birth of Wings) that in reality has never been well explored historically before today. Lack of detailed information for years has made it difficult to reconstruct the genesis of this almost "instant record" put together in the summer of '71. Thanks to the diaries of Denny Seiwell's wife, already a drummer in Ram, it can be learned that Paul and Linda quickly decided on the band lineup, which still had no name, keeping the drummer in the dark by simply inviting him for a holiday in Scotland. Seiwell will be surprised to see that Paul’s farm was composed of two rooms and a kitchen at that time, "is this how rockstars live?" he thought. Denny Laine is called to join the group after Hugh McCracken stepped back for the birth of his child. Linda's photos, also attached are two Polaroid cards and her notebook, are very useful and beautiful. Wild Life is thus analyzed in all its parts, for an album composed of just eight tracks there's much to dwell on and thanks to the contributions of technicians Tony Clark and Alan Parsons, it’s easier to navigate the history of enigmatic pieces like the jam "Mumbo" or the childish sing-song of "Bip Bop" (originally a tune sung by little Mary). Added are the demos of all tracks and many unreleased tracks, mostly sketched in an acoustic version like "Indeed I Do"; the historic "Dear Friend" dedicated to John is present in various domestic demo versions while an orchestra-free version is available on Paul's website for free. Lastly, there's the historical anecdote of Paul and Linda being guests of John in New York when they learned of the "bloody sunday"; this is important because it clarifies the now relaxed relations between Paul and John at that time and, more importantly, that both got the inspiration for their pieces on the event at the same moment. McCartney, of Irish origin, will impulsively write the fiery "Give Ireland Back to The Irish", immediately released as a single at the expense of the already planned "Love is Strange", which will never see the light as a single but its edit appears on the third CD of the reissue.
Excellent work then by MPL and thus highly recommended for purchase.
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