Studio One, AIR Studios, London
Producer: Paul McCartney
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Wings recorded the Linda McCartney song ‘Oriental Nightfish’ on 4 October 1973.
It had been written in Lagos, Nigeria, during the initial sessions for the Band On The Run album. Linda had recorded a basic demo with some lyrics, but the writing and recording was completed on this day.
The recording began with Linda on piano and Paul McCartney on drums. She then overdubbed vocals and a Moog synth part, and Paul added electric guitar, Mellotron, and bass guitar. Denny Laine recorded a flute overdub.
‘Oriental Nightfish’ was mixed in stereo on 15 October. It became the title track of a 1978 animated film directed by Linda McCartney and Ian Eames, and was also released on her posthumous 1998 album Wild Prairie.
Recorded with Wings up at the old Air London Studios, Linda’s dramatic vocal harks back to the Fifties and Sixties when strange stories were told by acts like The Shangri-Las, The Coasters, and others. It was made into an excellent animated film by Ian Eames which was later objected to by some lady writing to a newspaper to complain about the nudity and its effect on her 5 year old child. A female figure is seen naked, yes but come on! – it’s only a harmless drawing, the likes of which have been on view in museums around the world for centuries.
Wild Prairie liner notes