Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Paul McCartney
Engineers: Tony Clark, Alan Parsons
The first recording session by the still-unnamed Wings took place on 24 July 1971.
Paul and Linda McCartney invited guitarist Denny Laine and drummer Denny Seiwell to jam with them in Scotland two days earlier. Pleased with the results, a week of recording sessions was hastily arranged.
The session, booked under the pseudonym Sam Browne, began at around 2.30pm. Accompanying the musicians were new roadies Ian Horne and Trevor Jones.
The first song worked on was ‘Bip Bop’, with Paul on electric guitar, Linda on tambourine, Laine on bass guitar, and Seiwell on drums. Two takes were recorded, with the second marked ‘best’.
Next up was ‘I Am Your Singer’, with Paul switching to bass guitar, and Laine on electric guitar. Ten takes were recorded, five of them false starts, and the last was the keeper.
The third song was then known as ‘Half Past Ten’, which marked the debut of Linda on keyboards. Two takes were recorded, then the band went into the control room to hear them back.
Paul noted the song’s similarity to ‘Love Is Strange’, a 1956 R&B hit, and it was decided that they would record a cover version. The song was duly retitled and a final take was recorded.
The final song of the day was ‘Dear Friend’. Paul played the song twice at the piano to help the other musicians find their parts.
‘Dear Friend’ was really a brilliant, brilliant song, and it was hard to find a part on it. There was a little beat that came in near the end of it, but all I remember doing was big cymbal swells.
The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969-73, Allan Kozinn, Adrian Sinclair
Following some rehearsals, a single take of ‘Dear Friend’ was recorded, with Laine on vibraphone. McCartney overdubbed a bass guitar part before the end of the session.
Recording in Studio Three on this and the following day was Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. Over the two days they recorded two albums, Afrodisiac and Live. Tony Clark engineered the Wings sessions, and also assisted on the Kuti recordings, which began in the afternoon and ended at 10pm.
The McCartneys saw some of the performances, which influenced a jam they recorded the following day.