Wings - Wild Life (1971)

Wild Life is the debut album by Wings, and the third studio album by Paul McCartney since the breakup of the Beatles. The album was recorded during July–August 1971 at Abbey Road Studios by McCartney and his wife Linda along with session drummer Denny Seiwell, who they had worked with on the previous album, Ram, and Denny Laine, formerly of the Moody Blues. It was released by Apple Records on 7 December, in both the UK and US.
In July 1971, with a fresh set of McCartney tunes, the newly formed Wings recorded the album in slightly more than a week with the mindset that it had to be instant and raw in order to capture the freshness and vitality of a live studio recording. Five of the eight songs were recorded in one take. Paul McCartney later cited the quick recording schedule of Bob Dylan as an inspiration for this.
The first session was held at Abbey Road Studios on 25 July. As well as recording the tracks that would turn up on the album, the group also recorded the unreleased track "Tragedy". McCartney was filmed playing "Bip Bop" and "Hey Diddle", around this time, which would later be included in the made-for-TV film, Wings Over the World.
The album was rehearsed at McCartney's recording studio in Scotland dubbed Rude Studio, which Paul and Linda had used to make demos of songs that would be used in the album, and recorded at Abbey Road with Tony Clarke and Alan Parsons engineering. Paul can be heard saying "Take it, Tony" at the beginning of "Mumbo". Paul handled all of the lead vocals, sharing those duties with Linda on "I Am Your Singer" and "Some People Never Know". "Tomorrow" features background vocals from Denny Laine and Linda McCartney.
"Dear Friend", recorded during the Ram sessions, was apparently an attempt at reconciliation with John Lennon. It was certainly a timely follow-up to John's attack on Paul in the song "How Do You Sleep?" from the album Imagine, which had apparently been in retaliation for Paul's digs at John in "Too Many People" on Ram. Music critic Ian MacDonald used "Dear Friend" as a counter-argument to the caricature of McCartney as an emotional lightweight.
Wild Life also included a reggae remake of Mickey & Sylvia's 1957 top 40 hit "Love Is Strange".

Track listing

01.  "Mumbo" - 3:54
02.  "Bip Bop" - 4:14
03.  "Love Is Strange"  (Mickey Baker, Sylvia Vanderpool, Ethel Smith) - 4:50
04.  "Wild Life" - 6:48
05.  "Some People Never Know" - 6:35
06.  "I Am Your Singer" - 2:15
07.  "Tomorrow" - 3:28
08.  "Dear Friend" - 5:53

1993 Remaster Bonus Tracks
09.  "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" - 3:46  Wings' debut single; eventually banned by the BBC for political reasons.
10.  "Mary Had a Little Lamb" - 3:34  Wings' second single; like "Give Ireland Back to the Irish", this was never released on an album until "The Paul McCartney Collection" was released.
11.  "Little Woman Love" - 2:11  B-side to "Mary Had a Little Lamb".
12.  "Mama's Little Girl" (Paul McCartney) - 3:41  First release was in 1990 as the B-side of the "Put It There" single.

All tracks written by Paul and Linda McCartney, except where noted.

Credits
Paul McCartney - vocals, bass guitar, guitar, piano, keyboards, percussion
Linda McCartney - keyboards, piano, percussion, vocals
Denny Laine - guitars, bass guitar, percussion, keyboards, vocals
Denny Seiwell - drums, percussion
Alan Parsons and Tony Clark - engineering
Producer - Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney

Notes
Release date: 7 December 1971
Recorded: July–August 1971, Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre:  Rock
Length:  50:25

Label - Apple Records