Customer Reviews

Band on the Run: A History of Paul McCartney and Wings

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Of all the books on Paul McCartney, this is the best one on his career, post-Beatles. Unlike most other bios, this one gets about as deep as it can in telling Wings' story.

I found this book very even-handed in its approach. No whitewashes or hatchet jobs. It even tells the stories of the recordings of some of McCartney's and Wings' lesser works, "Ram" and "Red Rose Speedway," two albums rarely discussed in other books.

The book offers a list of every Wings concert, as well as the set lists from their tours.

As of now, this is the best Wings bio out there, and is worthy of any McCartney fan's time.

As the back cover states that Mr. McGee is an 'authority on Wings", I'm here to tell you he is not. Errors are found on just about every other page ranging from:

Wrong dates given as to when sessions took place (Ram, RRS, McGear, etc...)

Songs being released when they haven't (Robber's Ball)

Songs being listed as recorded from one time frame when they were either recorded years earlier or later (When The Wind Is Blowing, Seaside Woman)

McCullough and Seiwell recording with Denny Laine in 1980 (sorry, didn't happen)

The interview as being described 'real' from 1976 where the reporter was asleep was actually from Australia 1975 and the reporter is a local hero called Norman Gunston who 'pulls pranks' on celebs even though the Mac's were aware of it. So in other words, that whole interview was staged.

I think the biggest crime of this book was to re-tell stories from one JoJo Laine (the 1975 housekeeper Rose story, Jimmy contemplating murdering the Macs, etc...) that she initially told to Geoffrey Giuliano. Come on, every knows JoJo can be trusted about as far as you can throw her and those stories are the work of Geoffrey and JoJo wanting to dump crap on the McCartney's legacy.

About the only thing this book is usefull for are the quotes from Paul, Linda & Wings collected from various magazines over the past 30 + years.

Nothing new isn't reported that hasn't already been told in previous books on Macca. He even missed a golden oppurtunity while speaking with Henry McCullough in 2002 about asking him to comment on the original Band On The Run rehearsal tapes from the Summer of '73 that Henry has kept all these years. He's the only one with copies and it would've shed light on how far the album was truly developed at that point and which guitar riff was it that got him so heated with Macca that he up and quit.

So to sum up... Skip this book and just enjoy the music. Maybe someday someone will get it right but not Mr. McGee!

I am definetly a die hard fan of the beatles since time immemorial and this conviction never cease to exist to this day. However, it is also imperative to know the musical activities of every member of the beatles after they disbanded, indeed there is light at the end of the tunnel after the post beatle era. One visible and yet subliminal effort during the post beatle era, was the birth of Paul Mccartney and Wings. This book takes you to the inner mind of Paul and his inevitable predicament to continue his musical career by forming a new band and having a new life with Linda. In this book you will also witness the other side of Paul Mccartney not as an ex-beatle, but as the band leader of the Wings. Moreover, discover the fraustrations of Linda Mccartney as a musician in her own right. I highly recommend this book to all genuine beatlemaniacs and die hard fans of Sir Paul Mccartney,like me!

Garry McGee's Band On The Run: A History of Paul McCartney & Wings is a fine account of the 1970's musical output of a rock legend. McCartney's music with Wings is often overlooked and dismissed, but looking back, he crafted some of the most enduring pop songs of his career. Mr. McGee does a great job of chronicling the recording sessions that produced the music. If you a fan of Paul McCartney and Wings, then this book is worth your time.

Band On The Run: A History Of Paul Mccartney And Wings by Garry McGee (who spend more than twenty years in collecting materials and interviews for this book) is the informative biography of the famous former Beatles member that concentrates exclusively on the music Paul McCartney made after he left the Beatles and strived to refine his music with a personally chosen group of studio musicians. Based on twenty years' worth of research and interviews, Band On The Run successfully strives to present an accurate portrait of Paul McCartney, the Wings band, and their musical contribution to popular culture in the twentieth century.

This book hits on all aspects of wings. McGee covers areas that have had little or no coverage elsewhere including some of there less popular material. It also offers a complete discology, a complete list of every wings concert and set lists. The interviews are in depth and show Paul in a light that isn't always flattering. McGee is very honest and straight in his writing and has not smoothed over anything. This book shows how the band became so popular and also lets you see what led to the ultimate end. Very well written and very informative.

if your a fan of wings and paul mccartney this is the one book you must have. garry has done his research well and has got the whole story behind the scenes. it tells the fans why wings was so successful and of all the problems withen the band. the book tells all the sides and has not sugar coated them. the book also contains many rare wings promo material, a complete discography and a interview with former guitarist henry mccullough.

Little did I know that when Garry and I attended a Wings concert in college that he was composing this book in his head. Excellant read, interesting, complete and full of fun information. If you love Paul, then you will love this book. Congrats, Garry on a great book. Can't wait for your next book to get published!

This book is simply and engagingly written. You learn of McCartney's desire to be in a post Beatles band, and his determination to have his wife Linda learn piano so that she can be in the band. This causes some problems because fans and band members alike are not overly impressed with her musical skills.

Paul is also so much more talented than the other members of Wings that many skeptics regard Wings as a phony band. Thus the book title is very appropriate!

Band on the Run is regarded as the best album, even though it was mostly a solo McCartney effort with the help of his wife and Denny Laine.

Paul is also quite proud of the fact that Wings sold more records than the Beatles.

One thing that unfortunately comes out is that Paul ran a tight ship and some felt that he didn't compensate them as well as he could have.

This is a nice addition to the McCartney story and a well deserved spotlight on the band on the run.

This book really provides an overview of Wings' career. But it feels to me a little disjointed, like it is really just a lot of anecdotes and stories cobbled together from other sources, rather than a complete uniform work in it's own right. I also find some of the writing a little clumsy in it's phrasing and wording. That said it is an entertaining enough read for a night but I can't say that I learned anything new here.
The album and singles sections in the back are good to have though. There are some photos of rare Wings material throughout the book which are interesting, but it would have been nice to have them printed in colur in a glossy photo section of the book.