Own the rights?
I have to agree with the previous postings that this should be called McCartney's Wingspan. Although Wings was basically Paul's baby, there should have been more interviews and footage from the rest of the former members (Denny Laine in particular). The absence of Denny Laine is quite disturbing to anyone who has followed this band. McCartney's experience with The Beatles and getting ripped off by their then manager Epstein, cemented his determination to be in control of everything. Laine on the other hand, was not responsible enough to financially plan for his future. The results saw Laine selling his own song rights (most notably Mull Of Kintyre which he co-wrote with Macca) to the ever-enterprising McCartney. Maybe this might be one of the reasons that McCartney did not allow any of the members their own time for interviews. We might have heard shocking tales of conflicting personalities as well as the sheer joy and excitement of being part of the band that became one of the tops of the seventies. I believe that McCartney should have really started Wingspan in 1971 when the group was formed. The solo albums "McCartney" and "Ram" really have nothing to do with Wings as a group. The rest of the footage was interesting to watch but far too little time was spent on the other members of the group and one felt like it was brushed over quickly to get to the glory and triumph that the McCartney once again claimed. Denny Laine was faithful to the McCartneys for almost a decade. He played and supported all the Wings' albums with no exceptions. At the same time, he would be lucky to get two of his own songs on an album. A real Wings' project should have had a lot of input from him (there was none). Instead, McCartney mentions him even less than the others because he didn't leave. By the time McCartney had started Wings, he must have known that his own legacy was already secured with the Beatles. Too bad then that his approach towards Wings did not incorporate the building of a group in a less domineering way. He came close to it with Wings At The Speed Of Sound and the American tour of 1976. There was a higher group participation during this period which explains the great success and Linda's own fond recollection of that line-up. However, by the time the London Town LP arrived, McCartney was back to being in control again (even being careful to list what he plays on each track like hand-claps) and never quite reached the 1976 heights for the duration of Wings. To summarize, Wingspan will always be incomplete until at least we hear from Denny Laine and his own recollections as well as the other band-mates. Come on Paul, you really did not do it ALL yourself. The film is a good walk down memory lane in the seventies from McCartney's perspective and should be viewed as such.
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