Back to the Egg is the seventh and final studio album by the British-American rock band Wings, released on 8 June 1979 on Parlophone in the UK and Columbia Records in North America (their first for the label). Co-produced by Chris Thomas, the album reflects band leader Paul McCartney's embracing of contemporary musical trends such as new wave and punk, and marked the arrival of new Wings members Laurence Juber and Steve Holley. Back to the Egg adopts a loose conceptual theme around the idea of a working band, and its creation coincided with a period of considerable activity for the group, which included making a return to touring and work on several television and film projects.
Recording for the album began in June 1978 and lasted for almost a year. The sessions took place at Spirit of Ranachan Studios in Campbeltown, Scotland; Lympne Castle in Kent, London's Abbey Road Studios, and Replica Studio – the last of which McCartney built as an exact replica of Abbey Road's Studio Two when the latter became unavailable. Wings returned to Abbey Road in March 1979 to complete the album, before filming a series of promotional videos in Lympne and elsewhere, for what became the Back to the Egg TV special.
Back to the Egg received unfavourable reviews from the majority of critics, with Rolling Stone magazine deriding it as "the sorriest grab bag of dreck in recent memory". Although the album charted in the top ten around the world and was certified platinum in the United States, it was viewed as a commercial failure relative to previous Wings releases, particularly in light of the generous financial terms under which McCartney had signed with CBS-owned Columbia Records. Of its singles – "Old Siam, Sir", "Getting Closer" and "Arrow Through Me" – only "Getting Closer" made the top 20 in Britain or America. The song "Rockestra Theme", recorded with a cast of guest musicians from bands such as the Who, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1980.
Wings toured the UK in support of the album, but the planned world tour ended in January 1980, when McCartney was arrested in Japan for possession of marijuana, spending nine days in jail. The group disbanded early the following year after the departure of Laine. Back to the Egg was reissued in 1993, with bonus tracks, and in 2007 for iTunes, with the addition of Wings' 1979 non-album single "Goodnight Tonight", in its extended form.
Background After the release of the album London Town (1978), Wings band leader Paul McCartney hired two session musicians, drummer Steve Holley and lead guitarist Laurence Juber, to replace former members Joe English and Jimmy McCulloch.McGee, p. 120 With the new line-up – Wings' sixth since its formation in 1971Doggett, p. 264 – McCartney intended to record a raw rock and roll album and return to touring, for the band's first concerts since their successful Wings Over the World tour of 1975–76.Rodriguez, p. 66 McCartney also hoped to realise his longstanding plan of making a film adaptation of the Rupert the Bear cartoon series,Madinger and Easter, p. 239 for which he owned the commercial rights,Clayson, p. 210 and commissioned English playwright Willy Russell to write a feature film starring Wings.Sounes, pp. 345–46
Holley and Juber were recruited by Wings co-founder and guitarist Denny Laine,Clayson, p. 190 who had appeared as a guest on The David Essex Show in 1977 when Juber was working as a guitarist in the house band.Rodriguez, pp. 217, 220 Holley, a neighbour of Laine's, joined Wings in time to appear in the promotional video for London Towns lead single, "With a Little Luck",McGee, p. 121 having turned down a position with Elton John's band.Rodriguez, pp. 217, 219 According to Wings biographer Garry McGee, Juber and Holley were each paid a weekly sum less than one-fifth of that paid to McCartney, his wife Linda (the band's keyboard player) and Laine.
For the new album, Back to the Egg, McCartney collaborated in the studio with producer Chris Thomas, with whom he had begun working on the audio for two films documenting Wings' last world tour: Wings Over the World, a television documentary, and the cinema release Rockshow (1980).Madinger and Easter, p. 228 This was the first time Wings recorded with an outside producer since their 1973 single "Live and Let Die", which George Martin had produced.Rodriguez, pp. 66, 269 After working with the Pretenders and the Sex Pistols, Thomas brought a punk rock and new wave influence to Wings' sound,Sounes, pp. 344–45 matching McCartney's desire to reflect contemporary musical trends.Madinger and Easter, p. 240Rodriguez, p. 376
Songs
Although London Town had featured a significant level of contribution from Laine as a songwriter,Woffinden, p. 120Rodriguez, p. 223 all but one of the songs on Back to the Egg are credited to McCartney alone. The album was originally planned around a loose conceptual theme,Rodriguez, pp. 269, 391 about which authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter write in their book Eight Arms to Hold You: "The idea was to have a theme of a working band, getting back on the road ... or 'back to the egg' (or protective shell) of touring." In the original LP format, the two album sides were labelled with the egg-related titles "Sunny Side Up" and "Over Easy".
"Sunny Side Up" The album's opening song is "Reception", an instrumental, in which McCartney attempted to capture the effect of turning a radio dial and finding "about four stations at once".Madinger and Easter, p. 241 The track features a guitar-controlled synthesizer (played by Juber) over a funk-inspired bassline, and spoken voices, including a reading of part of "The Poodle and the Pug", from Vivian Ellis's opera Big Ben (1946).Benitez, pp. 88–89 A brief segment from the track "The Broadcast", which appears later on Back to the Egg, is previewed in this opening piece. The next three songs – "Getting Closer", "We're Open Tonight" and "Spin It On" – adhere to the proposed album-wide concept. Writing in Melody Maker in June 1979, Mark Williams interpreted "Reception" as representing a radio being tuned in a car, whereby "the occupant is on his way to a gig, hence 'Getting Closer' [to the venue] and, upon arrival, 'We're Open Tonight'".Williams, Mark (16 June 1979). "Wings: Taking off at Last". Melody Maker. Available at Rock's Backpages (subscription required). The notion of live performance is then reflected in the sequencing of what Madinger and Easter term "heavier rock tracks such as 'Spin It On'".
McCartney had recorded a piano demo for "Getting Closer" in 1974, at which point the song had a slower tempo.Benitez, p. 89 Author and Mojo contributor Tom Doyle describes Wings' version as "power-popping" and reminiscent of the English band Squeeze.Doyle, p. 174 The mellow "We're Open Tonight" was written at the McCartneys' farm in Campbeltown, Scotland, and was the album's title track until Linda suggested Back to the Egg.Madinger and Easter, pp. 240, 242
Another song composed in Scotland, the fast-tempo "Spin It On" was an obvious acknowledgment of punk and new wave; author Vincent Benitez terms it "McCartney-esque whimsy on punk steroids". Laurence Juber talked about his guitar solo in Luca Perasi's book Back to the Egg. The Story of Wings' Last Album: "It just seemed natural – especially with a song called 'Spin It On' – to get these spinning like guitar lines happening".Perasi, p. 68 Laine's composition "Again and Again and Again" similarly has "echoes of the Clash", according to McCartney biographer Howard Sounes.Sounes, p. 345 This song was originally two separate pieces, which Laine combined on McCartney's recommendation.Madinger and Easter, p. 242
Although credited to McCartney alone, "Old Siam, Sir" marked "the most collective band involvement" as regards songwriting, Madinger and Easter suggest. Similar in style to "Spin It On", the song features a keyboard riff written by Linda and a Holley-composed middle eight;Rodriguez, p. 219 in addition, Laine helped McCartney complete the composition,Benitez, p. 90 an early version of which the previous incarnation of Wings had demoed in July 1976.Madinger and Easter, pp. 223–24 "Arrow Through Me", a track more in keeping with McCartney's melodic pop style,Madinger and Easter, p. 243 is a song written from the perspective of a rejected lover.Benitez, p. 91 With a musical arrangement that eschews guitar backing for synthesizer, Fender Rhodes piano and horns, Benitez views it as "reminiscent of the techno-pop style of Stevie Wonder". As Steve Holley told author Luca Perasi, the backing track was recorded with only McCartney and himself, with Holley playing drums and some special percussion.Perasi, p. 301
"Over Easy" Opening side two, "Rockestra Theme" was a composition that McCartney had first recorded in 1974, on the same piano demo tape as "Getting Closer".Madinger and Easter, pp. 193–94, 599 "Rockestra Theme" is an instrumental – except for the shouted line "Why haven't I had any dinner?", which author Robert Rodriguez describes as a "deliberate evocation" of Glenn Miller's 1940 single "Pennsylvania 6-5000". Another rock track,Madinger and Easter, p. 244 "To You" includes a lyric aimed at a lover who has wronged the singer.Benitez, p. 92 The guitar solo on the recording provides an unusual aspect for a Wings song, in that Juber played the part through an Eventide harmonizer while McCartney simultaneously altered the harmonizer's settings from the studio's control room.Benitez, pp. 92–93
McCartney deemed the two gospel-influenced pieces making up "After the Ball/Million Miles" as being of insufficient quality to merit inclusion as separate tracks;Benitez, p. 93 "After the Ball" ends with a guitar solo, edited from parts played by McCartney, Laine and Juber, after which "Million Miles" consists of a performance by McCartney alone, on concertina.Madinger and Easter, p. 245 This is followed by another medley, "Winter Rose/Love Awake", both portions of which McCartney had demoed at Rude Studio, his home studio at Campbeltown, in 1977.Benitez, p. 94
"The Broadcast" is another instrumental,Benitez, p. 95 designed to give the impression of several radio signals interlaced, and bringing full-circle the concept established in the album's opening track, "Reception". Over a musical backing of piano, mellotron and gizmotron, it features readings taken from the plays The Sport of Kings by Ian Hay and The Little Man by John Galsworthy.Woffinden, p. 121 As a return to the proposed working-band concept, "So Glad to See You Here", Rodriguez writes, "[evokes] the anticipation of a live act guaranteed to 'knock 'em dead'" and so recalls Wings' 1975–76 show-opening medley "Venus and Mars/Rock Show".Rodriguez, pp. 62–63, 269, 376 During the outro, the band reprise a line from "We're Open Tonight". The album ends with a jazz-inflected ballad, "Baby's Request", which McCartney wrote for American vocal group the Mills Brothers, after seeing them perform in the South of France during the summer of 1978.
Production The band first rehearsed material for Back to the Egg in London, at the offices of McCartney's company MPL Communications in Soho Square, before carrying out further rehearsals in Scotland, in June 1978. As on his other Wings recordings over 1978–79, Thomas worked with Phil McDonald as his recording engineer, at McCartney's insistence, rather than Bill Price, who was the producer's preferred engineer.Madinger and Easter, p. 238
Recording and overdubbing
June–July 1978: Spirit of Ranachan Studios