This afternoon I went to the Kendall Square Cinema to attend a special screening of One Hand Clapping, a film featuring Paul McCartney & Wings.
One Hand Clapping was shot at Abbey Road Studios in August 1974. It consists of live recordings and voice overs by Macca and Wings including his wife Linda, former Moody Blues lead singer Denny Laine, drummer Geoff Britton and lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch of Thunderclap Newman and Stone the Crow fame. Yesterday, actually marked the 45th anniversary of McCulloch's death. He was only 26 when he suddenly passed away of an accidental alcohol and pills overdose. Also on hand was Geoff Emerick, The Beatles' longtime recording engineer.
While originally intended for theatrical release, McCartney ultimately shelved the project. Bootlegged for many years, the film finally came to light during a 2010 re-issue of Band on the Run. The One Hand Clapping album received a formal release back in June with the movie hitting the big screen this past week featuring an introduction from Macca himself.
To some degree, I can see why McCartney originally saw fit to shelve the project. While the sound quality of the music was good, the visuals are grainy while the editing of the music and the voiceovers is slip-shod, and the viewer is treated to awkward periods of silence. While McCulloch offers some interesting insights as a musical prodigy, the voiceovers of Laine and Britton are utterly incomprehensible.
Nevertheless, where you have McCartney good music is sure to follow. The film was shot less than a year after the release of Band on the Run so the new Wings lineup gives us great renditions of "Jet", "Band on the Run". "Bluebird" (featuring Howie Casey on saxophone) and "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five". During this period, Wings would also have a hit with "Live and Let Die" from the James Bond movie of the same name. For One Hand Clapping, "Live and Let Die" was performed with the Tuxedo Brass Band with conductor Del Newman.
Given that One Hand Clapping had been bootlegged for decades, I wonder if Rob Reiner saw it during this period. When Linda McCartney saw fit to be critical of Geoff Britton's drumming after their performance of "Soily" (a song previously unreleased on record until now) she gave me Jeannine Pettibone vibes from This is Spinal Tap. It was the only point in the documentary which McCartney asked director David Litchfield to cut the film. Although Britton did appear on several tracks on Wings' 1975 album Venus and Mars, his drumming must have been an ongoing issue because he would be replaced by Joe English during the recording sessions.
The most interesting aspect of One Hand Clapping was when McCartney was alone at the piano wearing a suit explaining that he knew he wanted to go into music when he was a lad but assumed it would be in cabaret rather than rock 'n roll. One of the songs he played was "Suicide" which I recognized as a fragment at the end of "Hot as Sun/Glasses" from McCartney. It was fascinating to hear "Suicide" in full. One can only wonder how many other McCartney songs remain on the shelf.
At the conclusion of One Hand Clapping, McCartney, who was 32 at the time the film was shot, said he figured he would retire from music at 25 and then at 30 but now had concluded he would go on "until I drop". Fifty years later, McCartney is proceeding according to plan.
After the credits finished rolling, McCartney returned to the screen for a bonus film called The Backyard which was directed also by David Litchfield in 1976. The Backyard was shot in the back of Abbey Road Studios and it featured McCartney on an acoustic guitar playing some old rock 'n roll favorites including Eddie Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock" (the first song he played for John Lennon), "Peggy Sue" and "I'm Going to Love You Too" by Buddy Holly, "Sweet Little Sixteen" by Chuck Berry and McCartney's own "Blackpool" which is very clearly inspired by "Twenty Flight Rock".
While both One Hand Clapping and The Backyard are quite raw in some respects, it does give us a glimpse of Paul McCartney's creative process with Wings at the height of their success.
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