Paul McCartney / Wings Red Rose Speedway CD - Import

Out of print in the U.S.! Digitally remastered reissue of Macca & Wings' Top Ten album from 1973 featuring four bonus tracks: 'C Moon', 'Hi Hi Hi', 'The Mess' and 'I Lie Around'. Recorded just three years after the Beatles' split, this was his second album using the Wings name (and fourth solo release overall). Red Rose Speedway finds McCartney upping the Rock ante a bit. His three previous solo releases had been low-key, earthy and predominantly acoustic affairs, but Macca and mates started rocking out a little on tracks like 'Big Barn Bed', 'Get On The Right Thing' and especially the non-album bonus track 'Hi Hi Hi'. Featuring the beautiful #1 smash 'My Love', this remains a hidden gem in the McCartney canon. Parlophone.

This remastered U.K. import reissue contains the bonus tracks "C Moon," "Hi, Hi, Hi," "The Mess," and "I Lie Around."
All right, he's made a record with his wife and a record with his pickup band where democracy is allegedly the conceit even if it never sounds that way, so he returns to a solo effort, making the most disjointed album he ever cut. There's a certain fascination to its fragmented nature, not just because it's decidedly on the softer side of things, but because his desire for homegrown eccentricity has been fused with his inclination for bombastic art rock à la Abbey Road. Consequently, Red Rose Speedway winds up being a really strange record, one that veers toward the schmaltzy AOR MOR (especially on the hit single "My Love"), yet is thoroughly twisted in its own desire toward domestic art. As a result, this is every bit as insular as the lo-fi records of the early '90s, but considerably more artful, since it was, after all, designed by one of the great pop composers of the century. Yes, the greatest songs here are slight -- "Big Barn Bed," "One More Kiss," and "When the Night" -- but this is a deliberately slight record (slight in the way a snapshot album is important to a family yet glazes the eyes of any outside observer). Work your way into the inner circle, and McCartney's little flourishes are intoxicating -- not just the melodies, but the facile production and offhand invention. If these are miniscule steps forward, consider this: if Brian Wilson can be praised for his half-assed ideas and execution, then why not McCartney, who has more character here than the Beach Boys did on their Brother records? Truthfully. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Paul McCartney's second album with his new band Wings (consisting of himself, his wife Linda, ex-Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine, and drummer Denny Seiwell) was a far more polished recording than Wings' low-key 1971 debut, WILDLIFE. Recorded at several sessions between 1971 and 1973, RED ROSE SPEEDWAY found McCartney rebuilding his reputation as a major rock artist. The album featured his biggest solo hit to date, "My Love" (a romantic rock ballad that rocketed him back to the top of the charts), as well as forceful rockers like the opening track, "Big Barn Bed," and plenty of winsome, McCartneyesque pop confections like "One Last Kiss."
A strong album in its original form, RED ROSE SPEEDWAY has since been augmented with three excellent bonus tracks, including "The Mess," a stomping guitar-driven rocker from Wings' 1972 European tour, and "Country Dreamer," a charming, country-tinged pop song that was previously only available as a long out-of-print single.Paul McCartney's second album with his new band Wings (consisting of himself, his wife Linda, ex-Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine, and drummer Denny Seiwell) was a far more polished recording than Wings' low-key 1971 debut, WILDLIFE. Recorded at several sessions between 1971 and 1973, RED ROSE SPEEDWAY found McCartney rebuilding his reputation as a major rock artist. The album featured his biggest solo hit to date, "My Love" (a romantic rock ballad that rocketed him back to the top of the charts), as well as forceful rockers like the opening track, "Big Barn Bed," and plenty of winsome,Mojo (Publisher) (7/01, p.64) - "...An album of sturdy texture and considered production..."