The Heartbreaking Story Behind the Success Of Wings' 1976 World Tour

Paul McCartney with his dad Jim

 Lets face it,rock stars are just like any other guy at the showbusiness,you wont really know how they feel inside,they just do what they do and entertain us on their magical concerts everytime there's a new album out and going on tour to promote it along with their greatest hits.

As a matter of fact,the guys at the rock music biz were more notorious than the guys in the cinemas but I think we should not move into that.

We all know that Paul McCartney's exceptional musical talent is in the genes.His dad Jim played in a band before the second world war,he played the trombone but had quit when his teeth fell off.Jim switched to piano but their gig was cancelled  when the war broke out.After Paul's birth,he switched jobs and became a cotton salesman.Paul's mom Mary on the other hand,was a nurse and she died when Paul and his brother Michael were still very young.

Jim McCartney who was born in 1902 had a huge influence on Paul's music though Paul didn't really described him as the dad who taught him everything.One interesting fact however was the humor in the film A Hard Day's Night had included during a scene in the press room wherein the Beatles had managed to deal with tons of reporters asking different questions in which one of them had dared to ask Paul "Do you often see your father?" Paul chuffingly answered back "No,we're just good friends" though the story of the film were regarded as fictionized-it shows the day in the life of being in a rock n' roll band and being in the road during that moment when rock music was rapidly evolving at a fast and dizzy rate.Paul had described his parents as a little bit strict and has set the rules though he admitted that he didn't listen to all of them.

Little Paul McCartney with his dad Jim undated photo

Though not directly involved,Jim had a strong influence on the Beatles particularly in the band's early days.During a  gig in Liverpool,former drummer Pete Best had difficulty getting on the bus the band had been using,Best couldn't get free from the grips of the adoring crowd and Neil Aspinall had to shoo them away so he could get into the tour bus as Paul,George and John waited for him.It was then said that it was Jim who accused Best of trying to get even with the band's popularity at the time.Though there are no substantial evidences that the said incident somehow had led to Best's firing.

Jim McCartney eventually remarried and a woman named Angie became Paul's stepmother.Her daughter from a previous marriage Ruth was adopted by Jim and became a stepsister to both Paul and Mike.Jim married widow Angela Williams in 1964 at the height of Beatlemania,Angie is 28 years younger than Jim who was 62 at the time.Presently,both mother and daughter now lives in Playa Del Ray,California where they are successfully running a Multimedia business.

Paul with dad Jim,stepmom Angie and stepsister Ruth

Showbusiness is showbusiness as they say and no matter how things gets rough the show must go on.Well there are few artists I've known who had lived with that saying.During Cream's reunion tour in 2005,Eric Clapton had to get on with the band despite of having a flu,and on the band's final show in London,Clapton looked awful but decided to get on with it for its too late to cancel the show and the audience was anticipating this once in a lifetime event.Cream sounded good despite of Clapton's health- imagine his head must be going berzerk with all that loud noise they were making.Another artist in that field is James Brown who admitted that he do his shows even if he's sick.

The Beatles made it to the top of the charts and the world over but as it was said on one of George Harrison's songs all things must  pass away.After seven years of worldwide chart domination,the band was over and John,Paul,George and Ringo each went their separate ways.It was widely known that it was Paul McCartney himself who was badly hit with the split amid all the legal problems the band was facing.Eventually he turned to his parents for support and inspiration and Let It Be was conceived with McCartney saying that his mom Mary came to him in a dream giving him a good advice to chill and keep his head up during this very difficult situation.

Paul formed his own band Wings in 1971 and took the time to start over again having the tour of the British Universities as his band's "Hamburg" where they would play unannounced to the delight of the students.During this time his dad Jim's health was slowly deteriorating due to severe arthritis.

As I mentioned before,rock stars are like any other guys in the showbusiness,no matter how bad they feel the show must indeed go on.Wings got past into a major European tour in 1973 where Linda admitted that she cried before they left for France coz she was too nervous to go.This major concert tour unlike their previous,was booked in advance as the music press were sharpening their knives on the arrival of Paul McCartney's new band.Obviously,everyone will compare what they saw and hear to the Beatles.McCartney has stated several times that with Wings,the Beatles were indeed a tough act to follow and even admitted that he is under pressure of changing his own sound.

Paul McCartney on Wings' 1976 World Tour

Wings had a major concert tour in 1976 which highlighted the band as stadium rock juggernauts.It was also during this tour that Paul received one heartbreaking news,his dad Jim has passed away due to complications from arthritis.They were on the European leg of their world tour when Paul had a phone call from his stepmom Angie telling him the sad news.Angie McCartney then described Paul being shocked upon hearing the news,but who wouldn't feel such a thing hearing that your loved one has just passed away?

A 2005 interview with Reader's Digest saw Paul answering a question about if he ever cried when his mom passed away.His mother Mary,succumbed to breast cancer in 1956 when Paul was only 14 years old,coincidentially,Paul's wife Linda also died from the same illness.Paul said that he did cried when his mom died but he therefore stress the fact that he indeed cried in private.One such reason he was pointing out is  that because he was  a guy,and in Liverpool at least during that time,they were too tough to shed tears in public-that was the reason anyway.But then he said that with John Lennon's death he learned not to hold back the tears any longer in reference to his song "Here Today" in which he wrote upon hearing of Lennon's assassination.

When his dad Jim McCartney died on March 18,1976,Wings was on the European leg of their world tour and in a troubled frame of mind,Paul was adviced not to come for his dad's funeral by his stepmom saying that if he'll throw everything away and come up to Liverpool for the funeral it'll all be just a circus and definitely wont bring his dad back. Paul then realized all the media and people that'll ruin his dad's solemn moment that he decided that what his stepmom had said makes sense after all.So he went on with the tour where they held their first performance for that year in Copenhagen,Denmark.Paul never saw his dad again,even for the very last time.That is,the price of fame,and the show must go on.

Paul McCartney did went on and did what he was born to do.Carrying in his heart and mind the memories of his dad who has always been proud of him and his music.


(c) Keith Vernon Adagio