James Paul McCartney (TV programme)

1973 television special

James Paul McCartney

The opening title used for the special

Developed by| ATV
Directed by| Dwight Hemion
Starring|

* Paul McCartney
* Linda McCartney
* Denny Laine
* Henry McCullough
* Denny Seiwell

Composers|

* Paul and Linda McCartney
* Lennon–McCartney
* Louis Silvers
* George Henry Powell
* Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell

Country of origin| United Kingdom
Original language| English
Production
Executive producers| Gary Smith, Dwight Hemion
Producer| Gary Smith (ATV)
Running time| 50 mins approx.
Production company| ATV
Original release
Network|

* ABC (US)
* ITV (UK)

Release| 16 April 1973 (1973-04-16)
Related

* Wings Over the World
* Back To The Egg

James Paul McCartney is the title of a 1973 television special produced by ATV, starring English musician Paul McCartney and his then-current rock group, Wings. It was first broadcast on 16 April 1973 in the United States on the ABC network, and later broadcast in the United Kingdom on 10 May 1973. It was issued on DVD for the first time as part of the super-deluxe Red Rose Speedway box set in December 2018.

## Background

[edit]

Paul McCartney agreed to star in a television special for the British ATV company to settle his two-year legal dispute with Sir Lew Grade.[1][2] As the owner of the network and its music publishing division, and, by extension, the Beatles' Northern Songs catalogue,[3] Grade had objected to McCartney crediting his wife Linda as his co-writer since 1971, citing her lack of professional experience as a songwriter and musician.[4][5] McCartney's commitment to the television project allowed him to retain the second composer's publishing royalties,[1] which would otherwise have been assigned to Grade's company.[2][6]

James Paul McCartney was McCartney's first television special since the Beatles' 1967 film, Magical Mystery Tour,[7] and was intended to showcase his versatility as an artist and entertainer.[1][8] Many segments featured his band, Wings, while in others McCartney performed solo.[9] ATV hired Gary Smith as the producer and Dwight Hemion as the director, although McCartney was assured full creative control over the programme's content.[10] After recently completing their second album, Red Rose Speedway, Wings travelled to Marrakesh in early February 1973 to plan and rehearse for the show.[11][12]

## Programme content

[edit]

* Part 1

The programme opens with a live performance by Wings in front of an audience of television screens.
Song: "Big Barn Bed"
* Part 2

An acoustic medley of songs is performed by McCartney during a photographic session with his wife Linda as the photographer. This entire segment was omitted from the Japanese broadcast.
Songs: "Blackbird", "Bluebird" (omitted from the UK broadcast) , "Michelle", "Heart of the Country"
* Part 3

A short music video-style performance set in an outdoor location of McCartney's version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb".
Songs: "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
* Part 4

A television studio performance with Wings and orchestra in front of a live audience.
Songs: "Little Woman Love", "C Moon", "My Love"
* Part 5

Another music video segment, this time for "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey". The "Admiral Halsey" section of the song was not part of the show, however.
Songs: "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"
* Part 6

A short voice-over from McCartney introduces a segment set in the Ferry public house in Egremont, near Liverpool. This features members of his family and Wings in a pub singalong. This entire segment was omitted from the Japanese broadcast.
Songs: "April Showers", "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag", "You Are My Sunshine"
* Part 7

A Busby Berkeley-style musical number, featuring dancers dressed in half-man/half-woman costumes.
Songs: "Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance"
* Part 8

A music video segment where McCartney introduces "Live And Let Die", the title theme from the 1973 James Bond movie.
Songs: "Live and Let Die"
* Part 9

"Beatles Medley": a filmed segment with street passers-by singing various Beatles songs (off key) to comedic effect.
Songs: "When I'm 64", "A Hard Day's Night", "Can't Buy Me Love", "She Loves You", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", "Yesterday", "Yellow Submarine"
* Part 10

"Wings in Concert", recorded on a sound stage at ATV Elstree Studios (Borehamwood) on 18 March 1973, before a live audience.
Songs: "The Mess", "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Long Tall Sally" (US/Japanese broadcast only; the UK and other European market replaced this with "Hi, Hi, Hi")
* Part 11

An improvisation called "Well, That's the End of Another Day", followed by a live acoustic performance of "Yesterday". Credits roll over the performance.
Songs: "Well, That's the End of Another Day", "Yesterday"

## Left-over tracks

[edit]

McCartney performed "Mama's Little Girl", "Hey Diddle", "Long Haired Lady", and "Yesterday", among others, as part of the acoustic medley (Part 2), though they were not edited into any version of the broadcast. The complete recording of this medley appeared since on unofficial "bootleg" releases, along with alternate takes of the intro for "Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance".

Additional tracks performed during the "Wings in Concert" segment (Part 10) included "When the Night", "Wild Life", "Go Now" and "The Long and Winding Road", which was the first time McCartney performed this song in front of a live audience ever.

## Reception

[edit]

Critical reception to the programme was highly unfavourable.[10][13][14] According to authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter, the show "was roundly panned by every critic with a pulse, and was not a stunning success in the ratings either".[10] Melody Maker stated: "McCartney has always had an eye and ear for full-blown romanticism, and nothing wrong with that, but here he too often lets it get out of hand and it becomes over-blown and silly."[15] The New York Times' reviewer described it as "a series of disconnected routines strung together with commercials for Chevrolet cars", while The Washington Post criticised the amount of screen time allocated to Linda McCartney, saying that "her previous careers ... certainly don't qualify her to perform in public."[16]

Writing for Rolling Stone, Lenny Kaye found McCartney "remote and distant from the camera" and added: "if the consequent production did nothing to heal McCartney's ongoing image problem, it certainly didn't help his musical offerings, which came off as forgettably ordinary and certainly disappointing."[17] Referring to the former Beatle's return to television, Alan Coren of The Times wrote: "[James Paul McCartney] was not the sort of programme you make a come-back with. It was the sort of programme you make a come-back after."[18]

Among more recent critiques, Peter Doggett describes the special as "insipid" and "unrecognisable as the work of the man who had conceived Magical Mystery Tour".[19] Robert Rodriguez writes that, in its attempts to present McCartney as all-round entertainer, the show embarrassed and alienated his rock audience, and that even the in-concert segment was lacklustre. Rodriguez concludes: "the band must surely have been conscious of their shortcomings alongside virtually any other recording act of the day. When Henry McCullough buries his head in his hands during the [McCartney] solo finale of 'Yesterday,' one feels his pain."[20] Tom Doyle contends that the show "wasn't all bad" but considers the "Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance" segment and the Chelsea Reach pub scene to have been particularly ill-advised for McCartney's image at the time.[21]

## Home media

[edit]

The special was never released on VHS.[22]

In 2018, a DVD remaster was released as part of the "Paul McCartney Archive" deluxe reissue of Red Rose Speedway.[23] This new edit doesn't contain "Bluebird" as part of the acoustic medley (Part 2), alike original UK broadcast. However, unlike the UK broadcast, the last song of the "Wings in Concert" segment (Part 10) is "Long Tall Sally", as the US/Japanese broadcast, while "Hi, Hi, Hi" is missing.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Woffinden 1981, p. 67.
2. ^ a b Sounes 2010, pp. 303–04.
3. ^ Sounes 2010, p. 303.
4. ^ Schaffner 1978, p. 151.
5. ^ Doggett 2011, pp. 167–68.
6. ^ Doggett 2011, pp. 168, 194–95.
7. ^ Doyle 2013, pp. 78–79.
8. ^ Schaffner 1978, p. 156.
9. ^ Badman 2001, pp. 96–97.
10. ^ a b c Madinger & Easter 2000, p. 180.
11. ^ Badman 2001, p. 90.
12. ^ Madinger & Easter 2000, p. 179.
13. ^ Frontani 2009, p. 166.
14. ^ Doyle 2013, p. 81.
15. ^ Badman 2001, p. 97.
16. ^ Frontani 2009, pp. 166, 269.
17. ^ Kaye, Lenny (5 July 1973). "Review of Red Rose Speedway". Rolling Stone. p. 68\. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
18. ^ Frontani 2009, p. 269.
19. ^ Doggett 2011, p. 208.
20. ^ Rodriguez 2010, pp. 329–30.
21. ^ Doyle 2013, pp. 79–80.
22. ^ "James Paul McCartney 1973 TV Special".
23. ^ "Paul announces reissues of 'Wild Life' and 'Red Rose Speedway' + 'Wings 1971-73'". 8 October 2018.

## Sources

[edit]

* Badman, Keith (2001). The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-8307-6.
* Clayson, Alan (2003). Paul McCartney. London: Sanctuary. ISBN 1-86074-486-9.
* Doggett, Peter (2011). You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup. New York, NY: It Books. ISBN 978-0-06-177418-8.
* Doyle, Tom (2013). Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s. New York, NY: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-8041-7914-0.
* Frontani, Michael (2009). "The Solo Years". In Womack, Kenneth (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-68976-2.
* Madinger, Chip; Easter, Mark (2000). Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium. Chesterfield, MO: 44.1 Productions. ISBN 0-615-11724-4.
* Rodriguez, Robert (2010). Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles' Solo Years, 1970–1980. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-4165-9093-4.
* Schaffner, Nicholas (1978). The Beatles Forever. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-055087-5.
* Sounes, Howard (2010). Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-723705-0.
* Woffinden, Bob (1981). The Beatles Apart. London: Proteus. ISBN 0-906071-89-5.

* v
* t
* e

Wings

* Paul McCartney
* Linda McCartney
* Denny Laine
* Denny Seiwell
* Henry McCullough
* Jimmy McCulloch
* Geoff Britton
* Joe English
* Laurence Juber
* Steve Holley

Studio albums|

* Wild Life (1971)
* Red Rose Speedway (1973)
* Band on the Run (1973)
* Venus and Mars (1975)
* Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976)
* London Town (1978)
* Back to the Egg (1979)

Live albums|

* Wings over America (1976)
* Wings over Europe (2018)
* One Hand Clapping (2024)

Compilations|

* Wings Greatest (1978)
* Cold Cuts (unreleased)
* Wingspan: Hits and History (2001)

Singles|

* "Give Ireland Back to the Irish"
* "Mary Had a Little Lamb" / "Little Woman Love"
* "Hi, Hi, Hi" / "C Moon"
* "My Love"
* "Live and Let Die" / "I Lie Around"
* "Helen Wheels" / "Country Dreamer"
* "Mrs. Vandebilt" / "Bluebird"
* "Jet" / "Mamunia"
* "Let Me Roll It"
* "Band on the Run" / "Zoo Gang"
* "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five"
* "Junior's Farm" / "Sally G"
* "Listen to What the Man Said" / "Love in Song"
* "Letting Go" / "You Gave Me the Answer"
* "Venus and Mars"/"Rock Show" / "Magneto and Titanium Man"
* "Silly Love Songs" / "Cook of the House"
* "Let 'Em In" / "Beware My Love"
* "Maybe I'm Amazed" / "Soily"
* "Seaside Woman"
* "Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School"
* "With a Little Luck" / "Backwards Traveller"/"Cuff Link"
* "I've Had Enough" / "Deliver Your Children"
* "London Town" / "I'm Carrying"
* "Goodnight Tonight" / "Daytime Nighttime Suffering"
* "Old Siam, Sir"
* "Getting Closer"
* "Arrow Through Me" / "Old Siam, Sir"
* "Rockestra Theme"
* "Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)"
* "Mama's Little Girl"

Other songs|

* "Big Barn Bed"
* "Little Lamb Dragonfly"
* "Loup (1st Indian on the Moon)"
* "No Words"
* "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)"
* "Call Me Back Again"
* "Spirits of Ancient Egypt"
* "She's My Baby"
* "Must Do Something About It"
* "Warm and Beautiful"
* "Girlfriend"

Tours|

* Wings University Tour (1972)
* Wings Over Europe Tour (1972)
* Wings 1973 UK Tour (May 1973)
* Wings Over the World tour (1975–1976)
* Wings UK Tour 1979 (1979)

Filmography|

* Wings Over the World (1979)
* Concert for Kampuchea (1980)
* Rockshow (1980)
* Back to the Egg (1981)
* Wingspan – An Intimate Portrait (2001)

Related articles|

* 1972 Wings Tour Bus
* Discography
* Songs
* McGear
* Concerts for the People of Kampuchea (album)
* Japanese Tears
* Standard Time
* Suzy and the Red Stripes
* The Oriental Nightfish
* Wide Prairie

* v
* t
* e

Paul McCartney

* Paul "Wix" Wickens
* Rusty Anderson
* Brian Ray
* Abe Laboriel Jr.

* Linda McCartney
* Hamish Stuart
* Robbie McIntosh
* Chris Whitten
* Blair Cunningham

Studio albums|

* McCartney
* Ram
* Thrillington
* McCartney II
* Tug of War
* Pipes of Peace
* Give My Regards to Broad Street
* Press to Play
* Снова в СССР
* Flowers in the Dirt
* Off the Ground
* Flaming Pie
* Run Devil Run
* Driving Rain
* Chaos and Creation in the Backyard
* Memory Almost Full
* Kisses on the Bottom
* New
* Egypt Station
* McCartney III

with Wings|

* Wild Life
* Red Rose Speedway
* Band on the Run
* Venus and Mars
* Wings at the Speed of Sound
* London Town
* Back to the Egg

The Fireman|

* Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest
* Rushes
* Electric Arguments

Classical|

* Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio
* Standing Stone
* Working Classical
* Ecce Cor Meum
* Ocean's Kingdom

Live albums|

* Wings over America (with Wings)
* Tripping the Live Fantastic
* Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)
* Paul Is Live
* Back in the U.S.
* Back in the World Live
* Amoeba's Secret
* Good Evening New York City
* Live in Los Angeles
* Amoeba Gig
* One Hand Clapping

Remix albums|

* Liverpool Sound Collage
* Twin Freaks
* McCartney III Imagined

Compilations|

* Wings Greatest
* All the Best!
* The Paul McCartney Collection
* Wingspan: Hits and History
* Never Stop Doing What You Love
* Pure McCartney
* McCartney I II III
* The 7″ Singles Box

Books|

* High in the Clouds
* Hey Grandude!
* The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present
* 1964: Eyes of the Storm

Filmography|

* A Hard Day's Night (1964)
* Help! (1965)
* Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
* Yellow Submarine (1968)
* Let It Be (1970)
* James Paul McCartney (1973)
* Wings Over the World (1979)
* Back to the Egg (1979)
* Concert for Kampuchea (1980)
* Rockshow (1980)
* Rupert and the Frog Song (1984)
* Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984)
* Put It There (1989)
* MTV Unplugged (1991)
* Get Back (1991)
* Liverpool Oratorio (1991)
* Paul Is Live (1993)
* In the World Tonight (1997)
* Standing Stone (1997)
* Tropic Island Hum (1997)
* Live at the Cavern Club (1999)
* Working Classical (2000)
* Wingspan (2001)
* The Concert for New York City (2001)
* Back in the U.S. (2002)
* Paul McCartney in Red Square (2003)
* The Music and Animation Collection (2004)
* Between Chaos and Creation (2005)
* The Space Within US (2006)
* Memory Almost Full – Deluxe Edition (2007)
* The McCartney Years (2007)
* Ecce Cor Meum (2008)
* Good Evening New York City (2009)
* The Love We Make (2011)
* A Rendez-Vous with Paul McCartney (2013)
* New – Collector's Edition (2014)
* A MusiCares Tribute to Paul McCartney (2015)
* Pure McCartney (2016)
* Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney Live from Liverpool (2018)

Bootlegs|

* Cold Cuts
* Costello Album
* A Toot and a Snore in '74
* Return to Pepperland

Tours|

* The Paul McCartney World Tour
* The New World Tour
* Driving World Tour
* The 'US' Tour
* Summer Live '09
* Good Evening Europe Tour
* Up and Coming Tour
* On the Run
* Out There
* One on One
* 2018 Secret Gigs
* Freshen Up
* Got Back

Tributes|

* The Beatles Statue
* The Art of McCartney
* Let Us in Americana: The Music of Paul McCartney
* Pure McCartney (2013 album)

Lists|

* Awards
* Discography
* Music contributions and appearances
* Song recordings

Related media|

* "Cut Me Some Slack"
* The Family Way
* A Garland for Linda
* "Lisa the Vegetarian"
* The McCartney Interview
* Many Years from Now
* Oobu Joobu
* Paul McCartney Archive Collection
* Paul McCartney's Glastonbury Groove
* Two of Us (film)
* Wide Prairie

Other topics|

* 20 Forthlin Road
* The Beatles
* Brian Clarke
* The Fireman
* Lennon–McCartney
* Heather Mills
* MPL Communications
* "Paul is dead"
* Paul McCartney's band
* Personal relationships
* The Quarrymen
* Wings

* Category

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