It was 49 years ago Sunday night (July 10th, 1973) that the original lineup of Paul McCartney's solo band Wings played their 58th and final show in Newcastle, England. The show was recorded by McCartney and briefly considered to be released as Wings' first live album and followup to their recent chart-topper, Red Rose Speedway. An acetate of the show at Newcastle City Hall was pressed by Apple Records and has since made the rounds on the bootleg and collectors circles. The concert, which featured McCartney on bass and keyboards, also included wife Linda on keyboards, Denny Laine on rhythm guitar, bass and keyboards and the soon departed Denny Seiwell on drums and Henry McCullough on lead guitar. McCullough joined Wings just prior to their first shows in January 1972, not long after Wings' 1971 debut album, Wild Life. Both McCullough and Seiwell would regroup with Wings on McCartney's Scottish farm later in July 1973 to rehearse the material for the Band On The Run
Happy Birthday to Paul McCartney, who turns 80 on Saturday (June 18th). McCartney closed out the North American leg of his "Got Back" tour on Thursday night (June 16th) to a sold-out crowd at East Rutherford, New Jersey's MetLife Stadium. Bruce Springsteen was on hand to join McCartney and his band to perform his own "Glory Days" and trade vocals with McCartney on the Meet The Beatles classic "I Wanna Be Your Man." Jon Bon Jovi led a crowd sing-a-long of "Happy Birthday" and presented McCartney with balloons. "The Boss" returned to trade solos with McCartney and the band during the show-closing Abbey Road finale, "The End." To date, Paul McCartney is the most successful songwriter in history, having written or co-written 30 U.S. Number One hits. McCartney met his original songwriting partner John Lennon on July 6th, 1957 at a church social where Lennon was performing. After joining Lennon's band, the Quarrymen, McCar