I originally wasn't going to write this post up, but I was kind of struggling with what to do in order to fill up the monthly post quota, but suddenly, this idea had come to me and I knew I had to write about it. Hopefully this will do while I plan out the next Second Coming discography.
As many of us Beatlemaniacs know, Denny Laine is practically the guy in Wings that wasn't Paul McCartney, and after they broke up in 1981, he's pretty much faded into obscurity. Which is a shame, really, because he's put out some good music before (i.e. the Moody Blues), during and after Wings, which is pretty much part of the reason I made this album. The purpose behind this album is to highlight Denny Laine's vocals in Wings, as he usually had either one or two per album; he didn't have any in Wild Life, and his planned vocal spots for Red Rose Speedway ended up on the cutting room floor until 2018, although "I Lie Around" was released as the B-side to "Live and Let Die" in 1973.
Side A (25:22)
1. Say You Don't Mind - 3:08 (1972 live performance; unreleased)
2. I Lie Around - 5:01 (Red Rose Speedway)
3. The Note You Never Wrote - 4:21 (Wings at the Speed of Sound)
4. Send Me the Heart - 3:35 (Japanese Tears; 1974 outtake)
5. Again and Again and Again - 3:34 (Back to the Egg)
6. Children Children - 2:20 (London Town)
7. I Would Only Smile - 3:23 (Red Rose Speedway)
Side B (24:49)
8. Spirits of Ancient Egypt - 3:04 (Wings Over America; edit)
9. No Words - 2:35 (Band on the Run)
10. Time to Hide - 4:32 (Wings at the Speed of Sound)
11. Deliver Your Children - 4:17 (London Town)
12. Picasso's Last Words - 5:49 (Band on the Run)
13. Weep for Love - 4:32 (Japanese Tears; 1978 outtake)
The opening track, "Say You Don't Mind", was originally written in 1967 after quitting the Moody Blues and released as a single that same year, eventually being recorded by Colin Blunstone in 1972. Wings performed it live during 1972 and 1973, but it was never officially recorded by them or even included on Wings Over Europe in 2018, which is a great shame. My edit of a live recording that I found crossfades into the cold opening of "I Lie Around", which was originally started by Paul in 1970 during the Ram sessions. This makes for a great one-two punch of an opener, explaining a part of Denny's pre-Wings career and following that with one of the first songs recorded with him.
Following that is "The Note You Never Wrote", the second track written for Denny by Paul and Linda, and is known for being the track that follows from "Let 'Em In" off of Wings at the Speed of Sound. Next up is another outtake, "Send Me the Heart", recorded during the sessions for the "Junior's Farm" single, but seemingly left aside in favor of "Sally G", not even appearing as a bonus track on Venus and Mars. It was eventually released on Japanese Tears, Denny's solo album from 1980, as was his re-recording was "Say You Don't Mind". Track five is "Again and Again and Again", making for a nice little juxtaposition as a punk rocker following upon the country flavor of "Send Me the Heart".
The first side concludes with "Children and Children" from London Town and "I Would Only Smile", sourced from the 2018 remaster of Red Rose Speedway; the former being a co-write with Paul McCartney like "Send Me the Heart". Thus far, Denny's written (or co-written) five tracks, with two being given to him. The third McCartney-penned track, "Spirits of Ancient Egypt", kicks off the second side, and comes from Wings Over America, mainly as the Venus and Mars studio version crossfades out of the reprise, which is rather frustrating. Of course, the live version sounds pretty similar, possibly more atmospheric, and I cut the track down to a similar three-minute length.
Next on the track listing is "No Words", Denny's first official co-writing credit to an album, and is said to have been written prior to the Band on the Run sessions. Following that is the title track, "Time to Hide", which is possibly Denny's greatest song to date, and it fades out right at the end before the transition leading to "Must Do Something About It" from Speed of Sound. "Deliver Your Children", said to have started being written in 1975, comes next, followed by the penultimate track, "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)", the fourth and final track by Paul and Linda, as well as the third co-lead vocal between Paul and Denny, the other two being "I Lie Around" and "No Words". The album concludes with "Weep for Love", an outtake from Back to the Egg; why that was excluded, I'll never understand.
Overall, this makes for a great listen, painting a much stronger picture of Denny Laine's contributions to Wings, even though they were mostly a Paul McCartney project in all but name. I'd have put the songs in chronological order, but that felt rather boring and there would've been a three-minute difference between the two sides, so I arranged the tracks mostly based upon where they appeared on the albums, and then filling in the gaps with what was leftover. But if you'd rather play them in chronological order, you could probably cut "Say You Don't Mind" and still have a solid collection of songs. Try it out!
