MPL-Hear Music

Perhaps no other event in the post- Beatles universe exemplified the former Fab Four’s caliber as a moneymaking juggernaut than Paul McCartney’s record-busting ‘75 and ‘76 tours behind Venus and Mars with his band Wings. Though John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all staged successful concerts themselves, they weren’t on par with what was chronicled on the triple-LP Wings Over America. It was an orgy of Macca maximalism that punched up the bassist’s mastery of melody to total effect with wonderfully over-the-top renditions of such hits as “Yesterday,” “The Long and Winding Road,” “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Jet” and “Live and Let Die,” alongside deeper Wings cuts as “Bluebird” and “Soily,” an unreleased one from the Band on the Run sessions. This deluxe edition of America adds a bonus disc of material sourced from a stop at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, including a killer version of “Let Me Roll It,” as well as a DVD containing the MPL-produced tour documentary Wings Over the World, which aired a few times in the ‘70s on late-night television. If you wanted to own just one Wings album, then Wings Over America is it.