Wings - Venus And Mars Sessions

(Yellow Cat, YC 070)

first released in Japan now also available in Europe

Booklet:

"EMI Studios - London
Sea Saint Studios - New Orleans, LA
Wally Heider Studios - Los Angeles, CA
November 1974 - March 1975
Produced by: Paul McCartney
Band: Wings
(Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCullouch, Joe English)
Released: May 1975

After a "restful" 1974, 1975 began with the recording of a new Wings LP (the success of Band On The Run leading to the dismissal of the "Paul McCartney and" prefix). Rather than taping the record in untested waters continent wise, the band trooped off to New Orleans, Louisiana ("the cradle of the blues") to Allen Toussaint's Sea Saint Studios (the site where Patti LaBelle's smash 'Lady Marmalade' was recorded). This was done as much for UK tax purposes as it was for inspirational reasons, something other UK acts such as The Rolling Stones and Elton John were discovering to be a necessity if they wanted to hang on to their money from the records they recorded. Originally, it was planned to begin the sessions during the previous Thanksgiving, but the dates were pushed back to mid-January. Some tracks ('Love In Song', 'Letting Go' and 'Medicine Jar') were recorded in late 1974 at EMI, instead.

Finally, on January 16th, after some problems with getting Denny Laine into the USA because of visa problems, Wings hit New Orleans for a series of recordings that would continue through February 24th. Alan O'Duffy was to be the engineer on these New Orleans tracks, with Paul producing. During their trip, they enjoyed the native pleasures of traditions such as Mardi Gras, and even jammed one night at Sea Saint with legendary New Orleans musicians. dr. John, Professor Longhair, studio owner Toussaint and Traffic's Dave Mason, but the varied musical flavors of the city did not rub off many of the songs included on the final LP. On February 13th, there was a press conference held on a steamboat traversing the Mississippi. Paul hired the famed Young Tuxedo Brass band to play on the quay prior to the press conference, after which a party on the riverboat was held. The unreleased (at the time) track 'My Carnival' was recorded the morning of the press conference. Also recorded during the Venus And Mars sessions was the unissued 'Crawl Of The Wild', which was recorded with Dave Mason. presumably during the 'Listen To What The Man Said' sessions during which he added guitar.

Not long after recording began in New Orleans, new drummer Geoff Britton was sent packing after skirmishes with Denny and Jimmy; he went on to the band Rough Diamond featuring David Byron, former vocalist for boogie Uriah Heep. Drafted in to play on the sessions was Atlanta-based Joe English, who had drummed with the band Jam Factory for six years from 1968-74. He was rehearsing with Bonnie Bramlett in early 1975 when he got a call from Paul after a recommendation from Tony Dorsey, and was summoned to Louisiana. Paul was impressed enough with his playing during the session to ask Joe to officially join the band while they were in Los Angeles mixing the LP.

This move to Los Angeles was strictly for mixing and overdubbing purposes; Wings went to Wally Heider's in Hollywood to complete this mixing and recorded the strings and sax. On March 24th, after work on the LP had been completed, a party was held on the boat the Queen Mary in Long Beach, with New Orleans stalwarts Lee Dorsey ('Ya-Ya'), Ernie K-Doe ('Mother In Law', 'Working In The Coal Mine'), Professor Longhair, The Meters and Chocolate Milk all playing for the assembled friends and hangers-on of the band (including none other than George Harrison and Bob Dylan). In fact, The Meters were considered as an opening act for the 1976 tour. but Wings decided to have no support on the road. Professor Longhair's set at the Venus And Mars party was released as Live On The Queen Mary.

In 1975, Paul re-signed with Capitol Records, thereby terminating his Apple solo contract due to expire in January 1976; Venus And Mars was the first product to be released under this new pact, and was issued on a 1950' style Capitol label used specifically for Paul's releases. Though the album was not nearly the artistic or commercial success its predecessor was, it was still a big hit upon release, reaching #1 in most countries.

Two different compilations exist consisting of the Venus And Mars project at two different stages of completion. The tape surfaced in late 1989 and copies traveled through collectors circles before being bootlegged first by Starlight (on vinyl as two LP's Venus And Mars) and later by No Pig International (on CD as Venus And Mars Outtakes Are Alright Tonight Vols. 1 and 2). Unfortunately, the "source" tapes used for both of these releases had been noticeably degenerated in comparison to cassette copies in circulation. Now finally, for the first time ever, the original source tape turns up on Yellow Cat Records.

The first compilation (tracks 15-23) contains 30 minutes of rough mixes of some tracks as they stood towards the end of the New Orleans sessions in February 1975. Most of the performances are in the very early stages of recording.
The second compilation (tracks 1 -14) is essentially a rough assembly of the LP. The majority of the tracks are similar to their final mixes with all of the overdubs in place, while others are still lacking final vocals or miscellaneous overdubs. This material was also released in improved quality on the CD Perth '75. which lacks three songs and is marred by a high pitched whine. It also appears on Venus And Mars Paul's Rough Sketch, presenting the songs in an alternative order (the original order on Yellow Cat Records is shown below).

Taken from The solo Beatles compendium: Eight Arms to Hold You, by Chip Madinger and Mark Easter, ©2000, 44.1 Productions, LP, ISBN 0-615-11724-4, Library of Congress #00-191181.

The reproduction of parts from this book should be interpreted as a compliment to the authors, not as making the authors and 44.1 Productions grumpy.

My comments:

Why did Yellow Cat put the second compilation in front of the first and not use the chronological order? I think they did that to 'hide' the inferior sound quality of tracks 15 to 23. The 2nd compilation sounds much brighter and I even wonder if the first compilation is much better than on Venus And Mars Outtakes Are Alright Tonight. Nevertheless this is a fine CD and an improvement of earlier releases but 'the original source tape?' no way!

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