‘Rockestra’: Paul McCartney’s supergroup with Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, John Bonham and more
Few people on this earth can call Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, John Paul Jones, The Who’s Pete Townshend, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, and countless more rock legends friends. But The Beatles have a way of connecting everybody, so Paul McCartney can do just that.
In 1978, Macca was keen to put his heavy phonebook to the test by forming one of the biggest supergroups of all time. He asked the aforementioned rock stars, plus a host more, to attend the Abbey Road Studios to record two songs for the latest Wings record, Back To The Egg. It would be the biggest collection of rock credibility of all time.
Let’s take it back to basics. When Paul McCartney calls you up and invites you to be a part of his band, even for just two songs, you gladly accept the invitation. It’s a tried and tested method that has seen many stars work with The Beatles man over the years. So when Macca had two tracks planned for his new Rockestra, there were high hopes.
The ensemble included some really heavy hitters from the great and the good of rock ‘n’ roll. The Who’s Pete Townshend heeded the call as did Kenney Jones, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Procol Harum’s Gary Brooker, the Faces’ Ronnie Lane, the Attractions’ Bruce Thomas, and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and John Bonham, among a ream of incredibly talented players.
Inside Paul McCartney’s star-studded supergroup session
The group could have been bigger, too. Despite receiving an invitation, some of the guests couldn’t make it. Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck were the most prominent names that turned Macca down for one reason or another. Sadly, Keith Moon was scheduled to appear but died just a few weeks prior to recording.
The two songs in question ‘Rockestra Theme’ and ‘So Glad To See You Here’ would test the group as Macca pursued his usual pop perfection. Wings’ guitarist Laurence Juber often recalled how Macca would turn guitarists away from pursuing the blues riff that they all wanted, “Where Paul wouldn’t really go was into that kind of extended bluesy lead guitar solo,” he said. “Now he’ll go there more readily as part of the stage show; but then – I won’t say that it was an area not to go, but it was an area to maybe hint at. Y’know, so I needed to be inventive. And he drove me to be inventive.”
The supergroup session would go down in history as one of the most star-studded events in rock music history. The songs would be finished by Linda McCartney and Denny Laine and become a vital part of Wings’ set.
There’s a charmingly chaotic energy to the whole thing that only Macca himself could have pulled off. One minute you’re strumming along in your own band, the next you’re shoulder to shoulder with half of bloody Led Zeppelin, belting out a glam-tinged instrumental written by a Beatle. It wasn’t some tidy industry PR stunt either; this was pure musical bedlam with a touch of that classic McCartney polish, everyone playing full tilt, trying not to step on each other’s toes, both figuratively and literally.
In true Macca fashion, the sessions didn’t feel like a who’s who of rock royalty jostling for the spotlight. Blokes who’d once filled stadiums on separate bills were now squeezing into Abbey Road, trading licks and sharing pints like old mates. It’s telling that, even with all the egos and guitar gods in that smoke-filled room, what came out was tight, joyful and just a bit daft…exactly how McCartney likes it.
The group performed together only once, as most of the players got together on December 29th, 1979, at the closing night of The Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea benefit at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. There they would perform a few songs, including two versions of ‘Rockestra Theme’ and a couple of covers of Little Richard and The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’.
Below, you can watch that very moment.
