Every Wings song with Denny Laine on vocals
Most of the evolution of Wings can be traced back to the genius of Paul McCartney. After walking out of one of the biggest bands in the world, McCartney was convinced that he wanted another band to work with, feeding off of the collaborative spirit rather than working on his own. Although Macca may have been the beating heart behind Wings, Denny Laine was responsible for making the group a true band effort.
Coming from The Moody Blues, Laine had already been a seasoned veteran of the British music scene when he signed on to work on Wings’ Wild Life. While most of the first album involved the band jamming on various songs that didn’t have a clear end, Laine would soon become McCartney’s right hand in the group after the rest of the band abruptly quit following the release of Red Rose Speedway, featuring abandoned Laine songs like ‘I Lie Around’ and ‘I Would Only Smile’.
After deciding their next album would be recorded in Nigeria, Laine would help write his first Wings song with the track ‘No Words’ and accompany McCartney on lead vocals for ‘Picasso’s Last Words’. While the song featured McCartney’s touch behind a few melodic passages, he soon took over for McCartney behind the microphone.
On the album Venus and Mars, Laine would lend his vocal skills to the track ‘Spirits of Ancient Egypt’, featuring a swirling instrumental going along perfectly with the otherworldly themes of the record. From there, Laine would become an integral part of McCartney’s stage show as well, where he would lend his vocals to a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Richard Cory’ on the live album Wings Over America.
Deciding to take a democratic approach to songwriting on Wings at the Speed of Sound, Laine would have the most vocals on a Wings project yet, singing on ‘The Note You Never Wrote’ and ‘Time To Hide’. Outside of the various album cuts, Laine could also be heard in the background of the hit ‘Silly Love Songs’, providing the round-robin vocal break in the song’s mid-section inspired by The Beach Boys’ ‘God Only Knows’.
After the rest of the band quit again before the making of the album London Town, Laine would also be able to flex even more on the album. Taking a mellower approach to traditional rock music, Laine’s ‘Children Children’ and ‘Deliver Your Children’ boast a whimsical quality reminiscent of Beatles songs like ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘Octopus’s Garden’.
By the time Wings had folded with Back to the Egg, Laine would also have one more lead vocal spot on the album, embracing the sounds of punk rock on the song ‘Again and Again and Again’. While Laine would end up playing various instruments on later McCartney projects like Tug of War, Back to the Egg would be the final time he was credited on an equal footing as McCartney.
Although McCartney was acknowledged by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1999, Laine’s work with him throughout Wings’ history cannot be understated. While he may not have been looking to compete with McCartney from a songwriting point of view, his indelible mark on the band’s trajectory helped the former Beatle stand out as an original entity rather than being shackled by his former group.
