Henry McCullough,rock guitar player passes away

Henry McCullough,circa Wings 1973(photo: Linda McCartney)

As much as I hated the fact that my blog this year has become a bit of an obituary for rock stars who are passing away at an incredible high rate,you cannot avoid on having the senses of how short life is.Now its Henry McCullough's turn.

McCullough had a massive heart attack in 2012 and was by then mistakenly reported to have died.He was in critical condition.The former guitar player for Paul McCartney's rock band in the seventies Wings once played with Joe Cocker and the Grease band and first came into prominence for being the latter's lead guitarist when he performed in Woodstock in 1969.The guitar player then met Paul McCartney upon the recommendation of his friend,drummer Denny Seiwell who also played as a session musician on Paul's second solo album Ram.He and Seiwell,along with Denny Laine,were the ones who completed the first line up of Wings with Paul and Linda McCartney as the core members.

However,his career with Wings was cut short when he and Denny Seiwell decided to leave the band over an argument with Paul regarding money.Paul,Linda,along with Denny Laine had to record Band On The Run without them.McCullough was then known to be critical of Paul post-Wings in which he described on past interviews about his clash with McCartney hereby having the music press to label Paul as somewhat autocratic or simply the Don,even going far as having with the pretenses of a democratic little band in which he himself actually has total control.The hurt by then healed through time with recent interviews wherein McCullough were saying positive comments this time about Wings in 2011.

After a brief stint with Wings where he played on only one album Red Rose Speedway,McCullough signed with Dark Horse records which was owned by former Beatle George Harrison and released a solo album Mind Your Own Business in 1975.He then went back to being a session and touring musician and worked with bands like Pink Floyd,Frankie Miller Band as well as solo artists like Eric Burdon,Marianne Faithfull and Donovan.

Henry McCullough(left) with Wings

 McCullough was said to have never fully recovered from his 2012 attack and has been ill for several years before passing away at his home in Ireland in the early morning of June 14,2016. Among the people who led tributes after his passing is none other than Paul McCartney who described him as a super talented musician with a lovely sense of humor. A benefit concert for him was even held in 2015 to aid on his finances during his years of  illness.His most famous trademark was that guitar solo on the Wings song "My Love" wherein it was said that he made up the solo on the spot.

(Above:Paul McCartney's tribute on his facebook page after hearing of McCullough's passing,describing him as a "super talented musician")

(c)2016 Keith Vernon Adagio