Wild Life

[The Big Guy]

Released in 1971.

[Kylenz]

Not one of Paul's strongest albums, but not as bad as people make it out to be. Some People Never Know is a classic, Mumbo rocks, and I Am Your Singer has an innocent charm. Then you have solid songs like Tomorrow and Dear Friend and the title track. A good cover of Love Is Strange, far better than the original in my opinion. Perhaps the main drawback of the album is the short playing time - and some of the tracks could have benefited from an earlier fade-out!

[mervap]

The bonus tracks made this a much stronger album...."Little Woman Love" was a treasure to uncover!

[chris]

this album is in a close race, head to head battle (with pipes of piece), for the crappiest album paul has ever done. to offer an example...in my opinion...the best song on it is a cover tune (the fabulous love is strange...with its reggae groove.) that is how weak his songwriting was during this period. some songs don't even have words...mumbo(?) makes me long for the intellectual songwriting prowess of hanson's mmm bop.

and tomorrow has a great ending. lets face it, this was wings original (and weakest) lineup. paul should have been playing with the greatest musicians in the world. he chose not to. and he gave us this instead.

i need to take a bath. i feel dirty just thinking about this album.

[mervap]

Cleanse thyself, brother, and be of good will...these grim portents need not be to our undoing! 

Uh...what happened there?

I used to point to this album as a sign of Paulie's total lack of direction at this time...Macca said that he had read that Dylan cut his records in three days or so...and decided to try that approach with this one. One critic at the time said, "What passed for Dylan as 'rough-hewn', translated as 'half-arsed' for "Wild Life". The anti-McCartney sentiment at the time was high and the man released this album. Bad timing, to be sure.

After all that, I have to admit that I never even owned this album until about three months ago....so who was I to point at this album as the end-all of lousiness? The general consensus was on my side, so I never need bother with the particulars of why "Wild Life" was putrid. As usual, my guitar bud D set me on the path to acceptance, asking me why I hated this album with such ferocity. I was ashamed that I could not give him a concrete answer, and decided I would find out why it was so.

"Mumbo"....title sounds so dumb, right? Yeah, but it rocks...so what if the lyrics might have been ad-libbed by someone at a karaoke bar? "Bip-Bop"....another idiotic title, but the tune sounds like something that, if it were not released on this collection, might have fitted snugly on "Mac II". "Love Is Strange" has an easy reggae charm, better than the original. Next is the bluesy title track, with Macca screaming along in a most unsettling way, but having fun along with me. "Some People Never Know" is a nice, if kinda insubstantial tune, as is "I Am Your Singer". A throwaway reprise of "Bip-Bop" is next, followed by two decent Paulie tunes, "Tomorrow" & "Dear Friend". The original record closed with another toss-off reprise, this time of "Mumbo".

What really set this CD off, for me, was the inclusion of 4 bonus tracks, 2 of which I had never heard, "Little Woman Love" & "Mama's Little Girl", both quite fetching pieces of music, especially the former.

In a discography as extensive as Macca's, figuring out what's 'best & 'worst' is entirely subjective...what I like probably won't be identical to your taste...this CD is not in my Macca Top 10, but has risen several spots out of the cellar, thanks primarily to the bonus dips.

[Kylenz]

What really set this CD off, for me, was the inclusion of 4 bonus tracks, 2 of which I had never heard, "Little Woman Love" & "Mama's Little Girl", both quite fetching pieces of music, especially the former.

On my Wild Life cd, Oh Woman Oh Why is a bonus track - that one is a humdunger of a great track. It's the best track on Wild Life! 

[mervap]

You're right, but it's not on my CD....got it elsewhere!

[chris]

just thought i'd take a quick moment to point out the obvious, mervap...you write goodly. 

[Kylenz]

Yeah, one cd came out as part of 'The Paul McCartney Collection', mine was an earlier version I think. I've never owned it on record but saw it many years ago in a second-hand shop when I was a kid, and remember reading the tracklisting on the back cover and thinking "wow... is this all?" Haha.

[2 of 3]

Too bad you youngin's had to wait for the cd. I got to listen to it over and over till I wore it out.....the B-side to ANother Day. Yes, they used to make this little record called a 45, and it had one song on the front and one on the back.

[Kylenz]

Yes, they used to make this little record called a 45, and it had one song on the front and one on the back.

Hehe, that reminded me of the 'dictionary' episiode of Blackadder!!

E: Right, let's get the book. Now; Baldrick, where's the manuscript?

B: You mean the big papery thing tied up with string?

E: Yes, Baldrick -- the manuscript belonging to Dr. Johnson.

B: You mean the baity fellow in the black coat who just left?

E: Yes, Baldrick -- Dr. Johnson.

B: So you're asking where the big papery thing tied up with string belonging
to the baity fellow in the black coat who just left is.

E: Yes, Baldrick, I am, and if you don't answer, then the booted bony thing
with five toes at the end of my leg will soon connect sharply with the
soft dangly collection of objects in your trousers. For the last time,
Baldrick: Where is Dr. Johnson's manuscript?

B: On the fire.

E: (shocked) On the *what*?

B: The hot orangy thing under the stony mantlepiece.

E: You *burned* the Dictionary?

B: Yup.