Chapter 41: Some Kind of Wonderful (June - December 1974)

14 June 1974

Paul and Linda McCartney, 1974.

Whilst Paul McCartney & Smile was on a joint tour with Freddie Mercury, the recording for the former's next single, "Helen Wheels" and "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)", had taken place. The B-side had been written the year previously whilst McCartney was on holiday in Jamaica and met with Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen on the set of Papillon. Hoffman doubted that McCartney could actually write a song about anything, and so he presented McCartney a magazine story about the death of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso and his immortal last words - "Drink to me, drink to my health. You know I can't drink anymore." Hoffman's reported reaction to his then-wife Anne Byrne was, "Look, he's doing it... He's doing it! Come and listen!"

The "Helen Wheels" single topped #9 in the United States after its initial release, and it just barely hit the Top 10 in the United Kingdom. The A-side made its debut during the final tour dates, replacing "Soily" as the opening track for Smile's setlist. However, as the tour was drawing to a close, Brian May had fallen sick from hepatitis, believed to have been caught from a dirty needle he had picked up. The tour was then brought to a halt in order to allow May to recover. Whilst he was in hospital, McCartney, Mercury, Denny Laine and Roger Taylor wrote up new material for their next projects and Paul made some arrangements.

By then, both groups had become acquainted with John Deacon, who had created an electric guitar amplifier known as the Deacy Amp that was used alongside May's Red Special electric guitar to produce sounds reminiscent of various orchestral instruments, as could be heard in "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" from The King of Rhye. Apart from being an electrical engineer by profession, Deacon was also a bass guitarist, and often performed bass for Mercury when McCartney was unavailable. As well as that, Deacon would even write up songs for Mercury to sing as he didn't like the sound of his own voice, with his first songwriting credit being "Misfire", a Caribbean-influenced number, as well as a collaboration with Mercury, May and Taylor, "Stone Cold Crazy".

Brian May, 1974.

PAUL McCARTNEY: "I wanted to give the rest of us a change of scenery and record the next Smile album outside of England. Y'know, go somewhere exotic and all that." (1974)

BRIAN MAY: "Paul suggested going to Paraguay to record Band on the Run. I was fresh out of the hospital, and now he was suggesting we go to South America of all places! I still liked it there though, despite the odd teething trouble here and there." (1988)

Smile, Mercury and their entourage such as Apple A&R and record producer Roy Thomas Baker and John Deacon landed in Paraguay that July. The studio picked for recording was not the best in the world, but it was at least serviceable enough for their needs. Recording began on the 11th with McCartney's "Let Me Roll It", a pastiche of his former bandmate John Lennon's sound. When Lennon first heard the album, he cited "Let Me Roll It" as one of Paul's greatest written songs, and later commented, "I felt jealous that he didn't think about calling me to record on it; we could've had a real Beatles reunion then!" (1984)

The sessions in Paraguay were not without problems; some of the master tapes had been stolen one night and had to be re-recorded from scratch (the tapes were eventually recovered, but they were shelved when it was decided that the new recordings were better), and during a recording session, Paul had passed out from a bronchial spasm from excessive smoking, which prompted him to quit smoking following this close call.

In between both the Smile project and Freddie's planned extended play, around twenty songs had been recorded. May, Taylor and Laine each got a respective lead vocal - "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)", "Tenement Funster", and "I Would Only Smile", a re-recording of an outtake from Purple Highway - whilst there were duets with Paul on the likes of "Band on the Run" (with May), "No Words" (with Laine), and "Junior's Farm" (with Taylor), making it feel more like a band project than a Paul McCartney solo project.

Freddie Mercury during the recording sessions for both Band on the Run and Killer Queen, 1974.

For Mercury's extended play, tentatively titled Killer Queen, eight tracks were recorded as potential candidates; the title track, "Misfire", "Stone Cold Crazy", the medley consisting of "Flick of the Wrist" and "Lily of the Valley", two tracks called "In the Lap of the Gods" and "Bring Back That Leroy Brown". In addition, he provided vocals for May's "Now I'm Here" to serve as a Smile B-side. Once the basic tracks from both groups were completed, everyone returned to London to record overdubs. Among the guest artists was saxophonist Howie Casey for solos on "Bluebird" and "Mrs. Vandebilt", the latter of which had been previewed in "Picasso's Last Words".

FREDDIE MERCURY: "I thought '74 was a pretty good year for us overall, probably one of our most productive yet. Of course, we were only just getting started for next year when Band on the Run and Killer Queen came out." (1993)

23 September 1974

Elton John and John Lennon, 1974.

The Ladders' next single release, their first since "Mind Games" last November, was a collaboration with Apple artist Elton John and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. It was a double A-side - John Lennon's "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" and Elton and Bernie's "Snookeroo", performed by Ringo Starr. Lennon wrote "Night" from a wager by Elton that if it became a #1 hit on either side of the Atlantic, then the Ladders would make a guest appearance at one of his concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

When the double A-side was released, "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" did indeed reach #1 in America, but it topped out at #23 in the United Kingdom. "Snookeroo" also charted in America at #3, but did not chart in the United Kingdom. Critics and fans praised the novelty of seeing three fourths of the former Beatles collaborating with one of the most successful partnerships of the 1970s, which helped the single become a success.

GEORGE HARRISON: "We might've clawed back some success with Elton, but not all was well for us. I was suffering with laryngitis and Pattie and I ended up splitting with her leaving me for Eric [Clapton]. I too had had some affairs of my own, one of them being Maureen, Ringo's wife at the time. It put a strain on our friendship but it eventually healed. On the plus side of things, I helped to produce Little Malcolm for Apple Films. I felt like shit during '74, but I think John suffered worse than I did." (1987)

John Lennon, 1974.

JOHN LENNON: "Even after finishing up Young Frankenstein with Mel, Gene and Maddy, I was a fucking mess. I was now very much in love with Madeline, but I was still married to Yoko. It fucking tore me apart on the inside. It eventually led to me having an argument with Yoko on the phone - I'll spare you the details as to what was said - but long and short, I told her that this marriage was destroying me, and after some more angry words, I hung up." (1997)

RINGO STARR: "George and I were with John when he had this argument with Yoko on the phone. Neither of us said anything once he'd hung up. When he did turn to us, the first thing he said was, 'I need some help.' I thought back to the song he'd written in 1965, and it seemed to ring truer than ever than it did back then. He really needed help, and there was no joking about it." (2007)

GEORGE HARRISON: "Ringo and I didn't say anything after John first told us he needed some help. We both had his attention, and he went on for about an hour or so about what he'd been going through for the last few years. It was like his primal scream therapy sessions with Arthur Janov from 1970, only there was no professional involved. We stayed silent until John had finished, having collapsed onto the nearest chair. I asked what we should do to help him, and he told me, 'Get me to rehabilitation. Even if I'm screaming and calling you names, force me to go against my fucking will.'" (1983)

4 October 1974

Paul McCartney & Smile - Band on the Run

Released: 4 October 1974

Recorded: April 1974, 11 July - September 1974

Producer: Paul McCartney and Roy Thomas Baker

Track listing[1]

Side A

Band on the Run
Jet
Tenement Funster
No Words
Mrs. Vandebilt
Let Me Roll It

Side B

Junior's Farm
Bluebird
I Would Only Smile
Helen Wheels
She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five

The second album by Paul McCartney & Smile, Band on the Run topped the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom. "Helen Wheels" was included on the American version of the album but not the British version, although later editions would include it as the third to last song on the album. "Picasso's Last Words" had been left off due to time constraints.

Band on the Run received critical acclaim, being cited as Paul McCartney's best work following the Beatles' split. The title track even reached #1 in the United States, knocking the Ladders' "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" off of the top spot (following a one week stay) and keeping both Billy Swan's "I Can Help" and Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" off the top spot, and becoming the greatest selling single of 1974. It was eventually topped by Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle", which became the last #1 hit in the United States. Despite reaching #1 in America, "Band on the Run" stalled at #2 in the United Kingdom, although the B-side "Now I'm Here" reached #11 there. The subsequent singles, "Jet"/"Sally G" (#7 US and UK) and "Junior's Farm"/"Walking in the Park with Eloise" (#1 US, #4 UK) were also Top 10 hits.

In later years, Band on the Run has often been cited as one of the best albums of 1974, along with the Yardbirds' Kashmir, Elton John's Caribou, Bad Company's eponymous debut album, Eric Clapton's 461 Ocean Boulevard, and Neil Young's Tonight's the Night.

Freddie Mercury's Killer Queen extended play - released 8 November - also achieved success in the United Kingdom, charting at #3, with the titular track reaching #1 as a single backed with "Stone Cold Crazy". The first side consisted of "In the Lap of the Gods", "Killer Queen" and the "Flick of the Wrist"/"Lily of the Valley" medley. The second side had "Stone Cold Crazy", "Misfire", "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" and "In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited".[2] The single reached #10 in the United States but the extended play did not chart there due to the declining popularity of the format.

15 November 1974

The Ladders - Dark Horse

Released: 15 November 1974

Recorded: June - July 1973, April and August - October 1974

Producer: The Ladders and Dennis Wilson

Track listing[3]

Side A

Simply Shady
Intuition
Oh My My
Tight A$
So Sad
I Know (I Know)

Side B

Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)
Dark Horse
Only People
Devil Woman
Far East Man
You Are Here

Most of the tracks from Dark Horse actually had their origins coming from the Photograph sessions with Dennis Wilson, and those sung by Lennon and Starr - plus Harrison's "So Sad" - were also recorded during said sessions. The only new tracks from the April 1974 sessions were all written and sung by Harrison; "Simply Shady", "Dark Horse" and "Far East Man", the latter of which had been written with Ronnie Wood of the Jeff Beck Group and Faces. Overdubs had been added with help from Highway 61 artist Tom Scott and the L.A. Express from August to October.

When Dark Horse finally came out on 15 November, it received very mixed reviews from critics, reaching #4 in the United States and #13 in the United Kingdom. It had been preceded the week before by the single "Oh My My"/"Maya Love" (#5 US, #3 UK) which had gotten better reviews. Most criticized the fact that Dark Horse was simply a collection of outtakes from the previous Dennis Wilson collaboration, Photograph, with a few new songs from Harrison and overdubs put into the 1973 recordings.

But was the album really that bad? In retrospect, it was generally forgettable but inoffensive, save for Harrison's vocals not being as strong as they normally were due to his bout of laryngitis at the time. Other than "Oh My My" and the title track, there were still other highlights like the rockabilly "Tight A$", the songwriting collaborations with Dennis Wilson ("Devil Woman") and Ronnie Wood ("Far East Man") and the soulful "I Know (I Know)", which called back to the Beatles' "I've Got a Feeling". "So Sad" even gained a following among Beatles fans, calling it one of Harrison's most undervalued songs.

November 28, 1974

George Harrison performing at Madison Square Garden, November 28, 1974.

Fulfilling their end of the wager with Elton John, the Ladders made their first live performance as a group since the Concert for Bangladesh three years ago. For the past two months, John Lennon had been undergoing therapy and rehabilitation to cure his drug and alcohol addiction; Lennon was still a bit on edge, having admitted to Harrison and Starr in the midst of his ranting that he was now in love with his Young Frankenstein co-star Madeline Kahn, but he didn't know how he could admit it to her, especially as he was still married to Ono.

ELTON JOHN: "It was Ringo who told me about John's love for Madeline. He said to me, 'She seems to bring out the best in him. He's more like the John we knew back in the days of Beatlemania, but a bit less sarcastic and a bit more sensitive.' With a bit of help from Marty Feldman, I arranged for a meeting between John and Madeline after the performance." (2004)

Lennon's thoughts were focused on the performance when it came time for him, Harrison, Starr, Klaus Voormann and Billy Preston to appear on stage. Elton had already performed eleven of his greatest songs including "Candle in the Wind", "Rocket Man", "Bennie and the Jets" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", and after performing "You're So Static", he introduced the Ladders for their guest spot.

The first song was the current Ladders hit, "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night", then followed by a pair of Beatles covers - "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (later released as a single) and "I Saw Her Standing There", which John introduced as "a number of an old, estranged fiance of mine, called Paul." Lennon, Harrison and Starr got caught up in the moment and performed the rest of the show with Elton, with George performing a duet version of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" - which had kept Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods' "Billy Don't Be a Hero" off of the #1 spot in America that June - Ringo taking the lead on "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", and Billy Preston sharing vocals on "Crocodile Rock" during the encore, as did John Lennon for "The Bitch is Back" with he, George, Billy and Ringo harmonizing with Elton on "Your Song".

RINGO STARR: "It was such a magical moment for us, playing live with Elton. I think it's safe to say we stole the show from him. *laughs*" (1996)

Madeline Kahn as Elizabeth in Young Frankenstein, 1974.

Ringo might have called the performance magical, but even he knew that the meeting between Lennon and Kahn was just as special, as it was backstage that he professed his love to her. "There was silence at first," John remembered years later, "and it was kind of like in the movies, you know, when time stands still?" It was that moment between him and Madeline that marked the final death knell for John Lennon's marriage with Yoko Ono, whom he would divorce at the start of 1975, having had no children with her, discounting a few miscarriages in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

JOHN LENNON: "I was in such good spirits following that performance with Elton and making it almost official with Madeline that I wanted us to perform at Madison Square again. Even George was enthusiastic about the idea." (1986)

December 6 - 20, 1974

The Ladders - 1974 Madison Square Performances[4]
3 shows at Madison Square Garden, New York City (December 19 and 20)
Setlist:
1. Ladders Express[5]
2. Mind Games
3. Something
4. Yellow Submarine
5. Instant Karma
6. Will It Go Round in Circles (Get Back on second December 20 show)
7. For You Blue
8. Puttin' on the Ritz
9. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)
10. I Wanna Be Your Man (Back Off Boogaloo on second December 20 show)
11. Come Together
12. Nothing from Nothing (That's the Way God Planned It on first December 20 show)
13. Photograph
14. What Is Life (My Sweet Lord on December 19 show)
15. In My Life
16. It Don't Come Easy
17. Imagine
Encores: While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happy Xmas (War is Over), Ding Dong, Ding Dong (second December 20 show only)

Ringo Starr, 1974.

The Ladders made three surprise appearances at Madison Square Garden following their now-legendary performance with Elton John from three weeks previously. In between, there was the release of the holiday single "Ding Dong, Ding Dong"/"Rock and Roll People" (#30 US, #35 UK) on the sixth of December, which had been met with indifference from critics at the time but had since gone on to receive airplay over the holiday season, and Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein on the 15th, which received critical acclaim and has since been considered by many to be Mel Brooks' greatest film, with critics praising Lennon's performance as Frederick Frankenstein.

On all three shows, Lennon performed "Puttin' on the Ritz" like he did in the movie when introducing Peter Boyle's character to the crowd with Ringo hamming up the lyric "Puttin' on the Ritz!" in lieu of Boyle. This was met with great laughter among the audiences, and reportedly, it even got George Harrison to laugh. The overall performances were considered a bit sloppy in some places, but they were still positively received for how spontaneous they were.

Rolling Stone

December 28, 1974

Smiles Over Ladders: The Band Battle of the Decade

"At the start of the decade, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr proved they could still create magic together as a threesome, especially Harrison, who's had his chance to shine with the popular hits such as 'What Is Life' and 'Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)'. This was further proved by their performance at the Concert for Bangladesh on August 1, 1971, which also generated the best-selling double A-side 'Bangla Desh'/'Imagine', the Lennon-penned track now on its way in becoming an anthem for world peace.

But alas, poor Paul McCartney showed that he needed them to be a pop wizard when he went solo with his first album Cherry Wine from 1971; that was further proven with 1972's Tomorrow. Since then, he's gotten a little help from new friends Brian May, Roger Taylor, and Denny Laine, as well as the eccentric Freddie Mercury, as can be seen with McCartney's soon-to-be-classic Band on the Run.

It seemed as if Paul was now on the same level as his former bandmates, although it now appears they've stumbled with their latest album Dark Horse and their holiday single 'Ding Dong' despite successful collaborations with Elton John on the 'Whatever Gets You Thru the Night'/'Snookeroo' single and the November 28 Madison Square performance. Still, there's only half a decade to go to see where this rivalry between Paul McCartney & Smile and the Ladders will end up; it's anyone's battle at this stage."

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from Band on the Run, Sheer Heart Attack ("Tenement Funster", "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)", Venus and Mars ("Junior's Farm"), and Red Rose Speedway ("I Would Only Smile"). In addition, the start of "Flick of the Wrist" - which segues from "Tenement Funster" is added onto the start of "No Words", linking the songs together.
2. All tracks are sourced from Sheer Heart Attack.
3. Tracks are sourced from Dark Horse, Mind Games and Ringo (1973).
4. Some of the songs from the setlist were actually performed by George Harrison and Billy Preston during the ill-fated North America tour in 1974. Ringo's songs were from his 1989 live performances as part of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
5. OTL's "Hari's on Tour (Express)" from Dark Horse.

Author's Comments

We're back! Happy New Year (and Decade), readers! It's only fitting that we kick off by bringing in the members of the Beatles and Queen to the forefront.

Parts of this chapter were written back in November 2018. At this point, I should mention that much of what you've read in regards to the series has been essentially a serialized first draft of sorts; some sections were second, or possibly even third, drafts. As Neil Gaiman once stated, "the purpose of a first draft is to finish it." Right now, I've outlined the story up to 1977, which will be close to the start of Phase Three. The next chapter will be the last set in 1974, and the remaining eight chapters for Phase Two will cover 1975 and 1976. With a bit of luck, I'll have completed 1976 by the end of March, having covered eleven years over fifty chapters.

I've also been thinking about it further, and I thought about taking the series up to the end of 1989; Phase Three will consist of 1977-1985, and Phase Four will run from 1986-1989 (or 1990, depending on what comes up). I've always intended for Live Aid to be the endgame of sorts, with the rest of the 1980s being an encore of sorts. I may end up doing a sequel blog taking place from 1990 to the present. We'll see where it goes in the future. As Ringo Starr once commented, "Tomorrow never knows."