Customer Reviews

Paul McCartney - Wingspan - An Intimate Portrait

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wish Alister and Mary would have spent more time trying to find footage to make this documentary more complete. If anyone has connections on how to get more newsreel and music video footage it would be Paul, and his daughter Mary and son-in-law Alister.

I have seen important Wings footage on MTV, etc. that was not included on this DVD. For example: Where is the Wings over the World footage when Ringo visits them backstage, and the 1976 Rockshow interview with a very confident sounding Paul? How about the footage from the James Paul McCartney show where Wings plays several songs live? How about the Rockestra band playing "Lucille" live during the Concert for Kampuchea? I have them playing that on my bootleg video, and Mary could not get it? How about asking the detailed questions about the events in these videos? They should have definitly interviewed Denny Lane! Since he recently made a CD of old Wings hits, I'm sure he would have been available to answer a few questions from Mary. Speaking of questions, Mary should have asked the more detailed and tougher questions. Since she didn't do this, she shows me that she is not the biggest Wings fan out there, and she should have consulted her dad more about what questions would make this story sound complete in order to make this a world-class video like the Beatles Anthology. Her questions only let us see the tip of the iceberg, and are nothing that any big Wings fan does not already know.

I have seen many, many Wings videos on bootleg tapes that would have fit nicely into this DVD, such as: Goodnight Tonight, and Mull of Kintyre. Almost every video they showed on this DVD was cut and just partially shown. They should have shown the entire length of all the "good" music videos, and shown partials of some of the "mediocre" ones. Better yet, they should have archived ALL the videos in the Special Features section of the DVD.

I speculate that Paul just left everything in the hands of Alister and Mary and just let them do it all themselves, while he acted like executive producer and provided the majority of the funding for this DVD. Mary is inexperienced and should have taken more time to do this right.

2/5 stars for this one.

For this "rockumentary," Paul McCartney is interviewed by his daughter. He is very playful and relaxed, given his familiarity with the interviewer. At the beginning of the program we witness the dissolution of the Beatles and the marriage of Paul and Linda. Interestingly, none of the other Beatles were in attendance at the hastily arranged nuptials. Later, Paul wonders if he can make it as a solo artist. After releasing a couple of solo albums, he decides to form a new band. His wife Linda would be a member of the group, even though she had little musical experience. Paul admired Denny Laine's guitar playing and singing with the Moody Blues. Denny was asked to join his new group Wings. As it turned out, Denny Laine was the ONLY member of Wings to stay with the group from start to finish, other than Linda. However, his musical contributions - what songs he wrote and sang on, or contributed a guitar solo to - are never discussed. Mr. Laine was not interviewed for this DVD, nor are any clips of old interviews with him included. Other band members are only mentioned in passing although, to be fair, most only lasted with Wings a short time.

As Paul said near the end of the program, he proved that he could have major hits and successful world tours with another band after the Beatles. After Paul's infamous drug bust in Japan, he felt that it was time to give everything a rest. Thus Wings ended, not with a bang but with a whimper. Surprisingly, there is no booklet or even an insert included with the DVD. The extras include complete live performances of two songs - "Jet" and "Let 'Em In" - as well as the studio session for the instrumental "Rockestra." The discography contains mistakes; when you click on the song list for "Wings Over America" it displays the song list for "Wings At The Speed Of Sound." A little more attention to detail and interviews with other band members could easily have made this a 5 star DVD.

In intimate conversation with daughter Mary (whose husband directed), Paul McCartney discusses life after the Beatles, and how his next challenge was to form a band, pack up the family, and hit the road. 88 minute film seen on ABC-TV is satisfying for fans but footage shown could have been expanded. We just get snippets of great songs and rare concert footage, and there isn't any interviews or commentary with the rest of the band (save for Linda's posthumous comments) especially from loyal, talented, long-suffering Denny Laine who was there from start to finish. DVD extras include an additional 22 minute discussion between Paul and Mary, promotional videos for "Jet" and "Let 'Em In" (which were both taken from the "Rockshow" film) and the superstar jam "Rockestra". Just three videos? Also included is a discography and a photo gallery, with 100 pictures. A neat package, but they should have alloted themselves more than 88 minutes to cover a nine-year career, especially with all the great music involved.

"Wingspan", as noted, purports to be one thing but clearly becomes another.

While we certainly feel his warmth of memories to his late wife, Linda, the story of Wings had little directly to do with her. Wings was a performing and recording band, they played concerts and made records. But what is also impossible to argue, Linda McCartney's actual contributions to either live shows or records was minimal. Those records and shows rested in the hands of Paul and his able band of musicians.

What's disappointing is how little we really know of the MUSIC of Wings from this DVD. How little of the musicians, how they came into the group, what became of them, how they contributed. That's a real shame; they worked hard to keep up with an ex-Beatle, to do him and themselves proud, and make records that could stand up to the legacy of Paul McCartney.

Instead, we get to know more about Linda McCartney than perhaps we really need to know. It's no surprise that their love was incredibly strong - we've known that all along, they were very open, public and direct about that. And her impact on his life was, without question, immeasurable. But, it is also fair to say that her direct impact on the music of Wings was VERY measurable, and the overemphasis on her contributions defeats the thesis of this program.

It's unfair to diminish Linda McCartney's place in the life of her famous husband, but it's equally unfair to overshadow with her memory the fine collaborations of the various members of Wings. That's the real Wings story, and sadly, you won't find much of it here.

I'll try to keep this one short and sweet...

Paul could have done more with "Wingspan" (in much the same way he could have done more with the CD release). It is clear that his intentions were not so much to tell the story about his band as they were to tell how he and Linda moved forward with their lives in the post-Beatles years (the 70's, that is).

Denny Lane and the others are given short shrift on 'Wingspan". The various members of Wings come and go, but the focus remains on Paul and Linda. Paul really doesn't say all that much about any of the other members. It would have been nice if, at the end of the documentary, the viewer was given a little info on "where are the former members of the band now?". A little tribute to the late Jimmy McCulloch would have been cool... etc., etc.

Now, if you are a Paul McCartney and Wings fan, you WILL find this entertaining and worthwhile. It just could have been much more. The extra interview out-takes are, for the most part, not all that exciting. However, you do get to hear Paul sing "Picasso's Last Words" to his daughter. That would have been enough as far as "out-takes".... and the three videos included are cool. Included are two performances from the "Wings Over America" tour, which begs the question:

Why the heck isn't "Rock Show" available on DVD yet????

The first album I ever bought was Venus & Mars - I'm a diehard Wings fan and always will be. I love this DVD. Yes, there could have been much more (the Back To The Egg videos, Kampuchea, Goodnight Tonight, Midnight Special, etc.) but I judge this release on what it is. Wonderful interview with Paul. I adore the man. He is just so charming and its obvious he enjoys telling these old stories. Some of the old news footage is amazing -especially regarding the drug bust in Japan. There wasn't much in the news here when that happened. The home movies are touching to say the least. Highly enjoyable. Not to be missed by Macca's fans, and would easily be enjoyed by casual fans. Hugs and kisses Paul!

This DVD is an expanded version of the television special that aired in May, 2001 on ABC. It is an intimate and interesting look not only at the band Paul McCartney started after the Beatles, but at the love story between Paul & Linda. Through home movies and an interview between Mr. McCartney and his daughter Mary, we get an inside view of one of the most famous and enduring marriages in entertainment history. The DVD also includes vintage videos for "Jet", "Let' Em In" and "Rockestra" as well as over (100) still pictures. A must own for all Wings fans and a perfect companion for the Wingspan cd.

First, I'm a big fan of the Beatles, Paul, and Wings. All artists have their hits and misses. And this mockumentary is a miss. As others have stated, this is the story of Paul & Linda McCartney from 1969 to the 1980s, and not about the group Wings 1971-1979. What does the breakup of the Beatles, or Paul and Linda's marriage have to do with Wings? It's odd that Paul starts by saying how he wanted to form a band after the Beatles, then basically ends up proving it never really was a band. He rarely even mentions a band member by name! It's usually "the guitarist" or "the drummer"- as if it was whoever happened to be there. This just comes across as a commercial for Paul by Paul, as most of his videos do.

For an "inside documentary" I didn't hear anything I didn't already know. And I don't think you will either. Most fans already know that Paul, Linda and Denny recorded Band on the Run after the first guitarist and drummer quit. What we want to hear is why? And not just Paul's version, how about asking the band members themselves?

I think Paul ends up answering the question unwittingly: They were probably tired of being ignored and the whole thing being about Paul. Oh this was Paul's show the whole way alright- no question about it- and this proves it. But we already knew that. So what does this documentary accomplish? Not much. It's as if it's designed for someone who know's nothing about Paul (Really? he was in the Beatles before Wings? His wife was in Wings too?)

Not enough music, either. What would have made this documentary work would be a year to year review, with Band members and others, discussing how songs were written and recorded, the concerts, the "behind the scenes" relationships of the band mambers, etc. This DVD is an insult to Wings members and fans. I'm left with a DVD that was mildly interesting to watch once. But I'll never watch it again- I already knew all of this in the first place!

The worst thing I can say about Wingspan is that the title is misleading. I suspect McCartney and his daughter intended to make a documentary about Wings but ended up with one about Paul and Linda instead. But that's okay, although they should have changed the name of the DVD.

The best feature of Wingspan is that Paul, for once, is remarkably articulate in the interview sections. The questions are more intimate than you might expect from his own daughter, too. It can't have been easy for him to talk with her about such issues as the drug bust in Japan - but he does it, apparently quite honestly. I also loved the early films and stories of the retreat in Scotland immediately before and after the Beatles broke up, and the first Wings tour. The shots of the 1976 American tour are also terrific - if there's enough footage of those shows for a full-length DVD, everyone who sees this will want to buy it. Just sayin', guys. While most fans will already know some of the stories he tells, there are several here that I've never heard before, notably the origin of "Mrs. Vanderbilt" and the reggae bridge in "Live and Let Die." I also came away with a lot more respect for Linda after watching this, even if the fact remains that she couldn't sing.

What's not so good is the discussion of the other members of Wings and the band's work as a whole - which, after all, is apparently what the show was supposed to be about in the first place. With occasional exceptions, the talk about the songs is fairly cursory, and this is even more true when it comes to the musicians. Denny Laine, the only constant member of Wings besides Paul and Linda (and, on two occasions, the only other member of the band) doesn't get anywhere near the screen time he warrants. Some of the other members literally only get one mention in passing. Then again, that is an accurate reflection of how long they were in the group! Their best-selling album, "Wings at the Speed of Sound," isn't discussed at all and only about a minute's worth of it is even used as background music. (I can't help wondering if this is Paul and Mary's way of acknowledging that, big as it was, it's not a very good album.) During the segment on the 1976 tour, he recites a rather obnoxious nursery rhyme he made up in response to questions about a Beatles reunion - without ever mentioning that Ringo turned up at one of the shows and he seemed quite happy about it at the time. I'd love to know why he left that out.

Overall, the good outweighs the bad. Now, let's see about a full-length Wings concert DVD...

I like other reviewers felt that the video "WINGSPAN" was more about how he and Linda moved forward with their lives after the Beatles.After reading the book "Linda McCartney: An Itimate Portrait" I understood why the "Wingspan" video was the way it was. They did not delve much into the band, because honestly the only imput Paul really cared about was Linda's. In the book it was even intimated that it was an "US" (Paul and Linda) and then THEM(the band).Great for a marriage, not great for a band.Paul also does not go into why these musicians quite. The fact was they were not getting paid what they felt they deserved.And when two musicians went to Scotland to practice with them (and brought their wives), Linda told them that the wives should leave as this was business. Hmmm...wonder what Paul would have said if someone told him to leave Linda home.