Wild Life is the debut album by Wings, engineered by Alan Parsons. It is also Paul McCartney's third album since the Beatles' breakup. Paul and Linda McCartney had worked with drummer Denny Seiwell on their prior album, Ram, and they added Denny Laine, the former leader of the Moody Blues, to that trio to become Wings.

With a fresh set of McCartney/McCartney tunes, the newly formed Wings quickly recorded their debut that August with the mindset that it had to be instant and raw in order to capture the freshness and vitality of a live studio recording. Most of the songs were recorded in one take. Paul would later cite the quick recording schedule of Bob Dylan as an inspiration for this. Paul handled all lead vocals, sharing those duties with Linda on "I Am Your Singer".

After a party announcing the band's formation that November, Wild Life appeared the following month to lukewarm commercial and critical reaction. The album reached #11 in the UK and #10 in the US, where it went gold.

One notable song, "Dear Friend", apparently an attempt at reconciliation with John Lennon, was recorded during the Ram sessions.

The liner notes for Wild Life (and on the Thrillington album) were credited to Clint Harrigan, but McCartney in 1990 admitted to journalist Peter Palmiere via an autograph request that he was Harrigan. Interesting enough, the first person who ever knew the identity of Harrigan was John Lennon who admitted as much during their Melody Maker feud in 1972.

In addition to naming the previously hidden tracks, the original CD version added "Oh Woman, Oh Why" (the B-side of "Another Day"), "Mary Had a Little Lamb", and "Little Woman Love".

In 1993, Wild Life was remastered and reissued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series with singles "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" as well as B-sides "Little Woman Love" and "Mama's Little Girl"—all recorded in 1972—as bonus tracks, and also two hidden tracks: "Bip Bop Link" (a Denny Laine acoustic guitar solo) between "I Am Your Singer" and "Tomorrow"; and "Mumbo Link" (an instrumental jam) after "Dear Friend".

Track listing

1. "Mumbo" – 3:54
2. "Bip Bop" – 4:14
3. "Love Is Strange" (Mickey Baker, Smith) – 4:50
• Originally projected as an early 1972 single but withdrawn before release
• Excerpts from this song are played in McCartney's 2001 documentary, Wingspan. It was featured in the scene where McCartney discussed Linda's love for reggae music and Jamaica.
4. "Wild Life" – 6:48
5. "Some People Never Know" – 6:35
6. "I Am Your Singer" – 2:15
7. "Bip Bop Link" – 0:48
8. "Tomorrow" – 3:28
9. "Dear Friend" – 5:53
• Not recorded in August 1971, but during the Ram sessions in New York City in November–December 1970.
10. "Mumbo Link" – 0:45

1993 remaster bonus tracks

11. "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" – 3:46
• Wings' debut single; eventually banned by the BBC for political reasons. Henry McCulloch's brother was beaten up by thugs because he had connections to Wings.
12. "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.
13. "Little Woman Love" – 2:11
• B-side to "Mary Had a Little Lamb".
14. "Mama's Little Girl" – 3:41
• To be put on Paul McCartney's never released bootleg, "Hot Hits - Cold Cuts".

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – bass guitar, guitar, piano, keyboards, percussion, vocals
• Linda McCartney – keyboards, piano, percussion, vocals
• Denny Laine – guitars, bass guitar, percussion, keyboards, vocals.
• Denny Seiwell – drums and percussion
• Alan Parsons - engineer

Chart positions and certifications

References