Customer Reviews

Red Rose Speedway

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

On 1973's Red Rose Speedway, Paul McCartney & Wings achieve the logical midpoint between the domesticity of RRS's predecessor Wild Life and its intense follow-up Band on the Run. Balancing the homespun looseness of the former with elements of bombast and production from the latter he creates a sort of domestic art-rock. This is most obvious in the medley, which is more ambitious than it seems at first glance - four simple, mid-tempo pop songs woven together into an eleven-minute suite, building so all are interrelated jigsaw pieces but entities in and of themselves. Twisted in its way, but strangely succesful, as on the infectious Get on the Right Thing, for instance, or the melodic When the Night.

However, where the album triumphs on a melodic level, except for a few very notable exceptions it stumbles lyrically. The opener Big Barn Bed, for example, has a great tune and is incredibly catchy, but there's not much substance to it beyond that. I suppose you could construe "Keep on sleeping in a big barn bed" to mean "Get out to the country, away from the bustle of city life", but I think that may cross the line to overanalyzing. This carries throughout - When the Night, One More Kiss, much of the medley, and (despite its overall quality) Get on the Right Thing are married to essentially lightweight words.

However, as mentioned before, there are some very conspicuous exemptions from this "rule". My Love (for all its "syrup"), Single Pigeon, and parts of the medley come to mind with heartwarming, uplifting messages and fine imagery. But the best and brightest of the lot is Little Lamb Dragonfly. With quite literally brilliant words set to an achingly beautiful melody, this song is like immense sorrow and regret blended with a kind of hope; it truly is extraordinary and worth every penny of whatever you have to pay for this disc. Production- and performance-wise it's all good - gone is the sloppiness of Wild Life, replaced by a quirky warmth more reminiscent of Ram.

Red Rose Speedway gives credence to the argument both for and against Paul McCartney, and is probably not the best place to dig into his repertoire - it's kind of hard to fathom that Band on the Run would be released at the end of the very same year. But for what it's worth Red Rose Speedway is a warm, imaginative, and, if you open your mind past (most of) the lyrics, thoroughly enjoyable listening experience.

NOTES FOR REMASTERED PAUL MCCARTNEY COLLECTION:

The bonus tracks are all excellent. Culled from Wings' contemporary and preceding singles, they share in RRS's vibe - the best I'd argue is either the raunchy Hi, Hi, Hi or laid-back I Lie Around.

I'm glad to see there are some other reviewers on this site who really enjoy this album. Personally I really like every track, but especially "One More Kiss," "Get on the Right Thing," "Single Pigeon," and the medley. Two brief observations: (1) I noticed someone else here commented that "Little Lamb Dragonfly" was about a sheep (or lamb) on Paul's farm that died. I don't dispute that was the inspiration, but I have always found the song to have a very poignant subtext, related to the death of Paul's mother when he was 12 or 13. A number of Paul's Beatles songs have this theme as well, including "Things We Said Today," "Yesterday," "Let It Be," and "The Long and Winding Road." In "Little Lamb Dragonfly," I always imagined the "Little Lamb" part was Paul's mother singing to Paul about her death ("I have no answers for you little lamb/I can help you out/But we may never meet again"). The "Dragonfly" part continues the theme even more strongly ("Don't know why you hang around my door/I don't live here anymore/Since you've gone, I never know/I go on, but I miss you so"). It's really heartbreaking, if you ask me. A beautiful song, and the above is just one man's interpretation of it.

Point (2): I listened to the ending medley many times before it hit me that the guitar solos that end the album are actually playing the melodies of "Hold Me Tight," "Lazy Dynamite," and "Hands of Love," first individually, then at the same time. That realization just blew my mind. What a creative way to tie the medley together!

A great, unfairly unappreciated effort -- probably Macca's best.

Don't know why I waited 30 years to buy this CD. The song Little Lamb Dragonfly strikes a cord so deep in my soul that I cry every time I hear it. The melody, the words, the whole thing transcend my ability to describe it. The album is wonderful. Don't listen to those who say this is just a throwaway album by Paul. It is a delight start to finish.

Red Rose Speedway is clearly Paul's most Beatlesque solo recording. Although perhaps less consistent than Band On The Run, Speedway is even more satisfying for lovers of Paul's more pop-oriented material. If you were to cross Meet the Beatles with Abbey Road, this album is what you would get. Immensely enjoyable and sentimental. And it contains Paul's most beautiful and carefully crafted song ever, Little Lamb Dragonfly. A five-star pop masterpiece.

I think RRS is a really good album. It has a fine starter (Big Barn Bed) which has a beautiful refrain melody. What follows is the wonderful ballad My Love. There are some tracks that are just good fun, throw-away stuff, like Get On The Right Thing and (which should have been about two minutes longer, to be a nice country song) One More Kiss. There is only one disspointment, Loup (1st Indian On The Moon) is a boring instrumental which has no straight melody staying in your ears. The best songs are Little Lamb Dragon Fly, a sort of folk-hymn, dedicated to a shhep that died on Paul's farm, which is a banal background, but it has a melody which is very touching. Single Pigeon is a short waltz thing, a song that stays in your ears after hearing it some times, and to which Linda contributes fine background vocals. And When The Night... I don't know why so many people don't like it. It's a waltz that has harmony vocals by Paul, Linda and Denny which remind me of Because. The song is very lovely and it has a really clouless-night-feel. The Medley is a funny idea, but I like the Abbey road Medley much more. The Songs aren't bad, they're also worked out very well and all in all the Medley has its moments. I don't really know why I prefer Abbey Road. The bonus tracks are very very good also, C Moon is my favorite Wings song. A grooving reggae, which I always have in my mind. Hi Hi Hi is a rocker, also is The Mess. Both are worth having, showing the Wings were a good rock-band. I Lie Around is a song, Paul also liked. It is sung by Denny Laine and always remembers me of the Band On The Run style. It's a watch into the future... All in all compared to other Wings albums I would say, it is as good as the much praised Band On The Run. Even better, bacause there are no songs I don't like (while I can't stand Bluebird and No Words). You can listen to it and just relax. A must have. A great, under-rated album by Macca. Buy. Buy. Buy.

Come on, other reviewers ... lighten up! No, this isn't Abbey Road, but I think people have come to expect a little too much perfection of McCartney. Must everything he do be on some high plane? Can't an album just be simply enjoyable and fun to listen to? Personally, I find this album very enjoyable -- always have. Brings back some great memories. Makes me feel good to listen to the songs. And isn't that really what music is all about? "Get on the Right Thing" is a fun, "feel good" song ... so is "When the Night" and the ending "Medley." "Little Lamb Dragonfly" is a lovely, poignant song that I'm very fond of. I also think "One More Kiss" and "Single Pigeon" are quite nice. "My Love" goes without saying. I do admit I'm not that excited about "Big Barn Bed" or "Loup". But I say to you critics: where's the romance in your soul? Love songs don't have to be deadly serious to be good. If you're a true McCartney fan, you'll enjoy this album. If not, well ... to each his own.

One of Paul's most underrated albums, Red Rose Speedway is a combination of garage rock'n'roll with a glam after shave. Ment to be listened at high volumes in a howling moon night, Paul delivers some fantastic songs here, with his voice at its peak, screaming and howling even better than John's... (quite a compliment for the composer of "Silly love songs.") The only out of place song here is My love, an over the top orchestrated ballad which just doesn't fit the picture of distorted guitars, orchestra thrown in (but not dominanting the songs), and simple and beautiful piano ballads in between. Check out Single Pigeon, one of his most beautiful ballads ever, and probably one of his most underrated gems. "One more Kiss" is intimate, heart felt and painfully beautiful (!!)(quite the opposite of My love), and "When the Night" is a "Why don't we do it on the Road" cover, 5 years later. I've always wondered if John heard this song before he attempted to record "Stand by me" on his Rock'n'Roll 1975 album. Listen.... and you'll see why. All in all, a master piece by one of the greatest song writers ever, at a time when he could allow himself not to be self conscious in any way. Wings was his facade to cover up his demons and angels, and Seiwell's drumming kept everything tight and right. Highly recommended.

For some reason, most of the 1970-1990 McCartney/Wings catalogue is now available in two versions: the Capitol CDs and the British remastered "McCartney Collection".

The British CD's offer, in many cases, more bonus tracks than the Capitol CD's, some of which are very welcome: I regard Hi Hi Hi as one of the best Wings singles that never made it to an album, compilations aside. This album has always been one of my favourite Wings albums, except for the medley - too long and just a bit boring, and also for some of the lyrics that I'd never dare to sing out loud. The bonus tracks are a definite plus!

The remastering of the British series is, to my ears, NOT a bonus. The signal has been compressed in such a way, that the average level is louder than on the Capitol CD's, although the peaks are not. Especially the low frequencies have been boosted, resulting in a somewhat muddy sound and a less focused midrange. This has also affected the stereo image. To me, the Capitol CDs are sonically superior and closer to the original LPs.

I found the remastered sound a disappointment, not doing justice to the obvious care that went into the original production!

Being a longtime Beatle fan, like most I find it a shame the band broke up when it did. Lennon himself said that for all those who still want the Beatles, just get their solo albums and play a song from each back to back.

Well one of the best listening pleasures I have ever found, and I could just listen to continuously... and if you have a cd player with a 3-disc changer you have got to try it.

McCartney's Red Rose Speedway, Lennon's Mindgames, Harrison's Living in the Material World cds in a 3 disc changer on shuffle play! All three discs are from 1973 and almost sound as if they were made to fit together... they are albums a bit more obscure (than say Imagine, or Band on the Run for example) and seem fresher because of it. But these 3 discs fit together so well it really is amazing! By this time, the 3 of them were acheiving their own individual sound and style musically and lyrically (the Paul songs are very Paul, George songs are very George, and Lennon's are very Lennon), but the songs are also still Beatle-esque in their own way.

It is like having a new triple CD of the Beatles from 1973... has enough top quality hits like Mindgames, Hi Hi Hi, Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth), and My Love. And has some great songs that would be given more weight if Beatle records, to add to the arsenal such as Meat City, That Is All, You Are Here, Mess (Live), Out The Blue, Hold Me Tight/Lazy Dynamite, Be Here Now, Only People, When The Night, Get on the Right Thing, The Light That Has Lighted The World ...

It is just so awesome... with the shuffle play you never know what is coming next. The songs sound great together, and hearing a John song, followed by a Paul, then a George makes them sound even so much better and fresh.

Released in 1973, Paul McCartney's Red Rose Speedway was his fourth solo album after his split from the Beatles and his second with Wings. A more polished, better-written effort than Wild Life, its near-disastrous predecessor, Red Rose Speedway conforms to the pattern of many of Paul's solo albums: the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. That is, taken out of context, some of the tracks are silly, and none really hit the highs Paul hit with the Beatles. . .but put them all together, sequence them correctly, and the album is strangely charming and quite likable. Sure, looking at the track listing, you may only recognize the hit "My Love", but there are several good songs here - the bouncy "Big Barn Bed"; the funky "Get On The Right Thing"; the passionate "Little Lamb Dragonfly" (I just wish the song's subject matter was something to actually get passionate about). The album closes with a final medley that is nice, but hard to listen to without directly comparing it to the Abbey Road medley.

Final thoughts? A fun, quaint album. . .if you're looking for the best, skip on ahead to Wings' next album, Band on the Run. If you like Paul, you'll get a kick out of this one anyway.