Water Wings - The Alternate London Town

Paul McCartney


Water Wings - The Alternate London Town Boxset Front Cover	Water Wings - The Alternate London Town Boxset Back Cover

Label Rapple Corps

Catalogue No. BFB 92

Release Date Early 2014

Total Time 4 hours 22 minutes 55 seconds.
Disc 1 - 52:48
Disc 2 - 74:08
Disc 3 - 58.41
Disc 4 - 77:18

Comments: London Town was Paul's ninth "solo" release, credited to "Wings".
Wings V (1975) - Paul, Linda, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch (guitars) and Joe English (drums).
Really back on form, this great album stayed in the chart for 23 weeks, but never made the top three.
It's quality can probably be atributed to the 12 months it took to create it, but during the time the Wings personnel once again diminished in numbers !
1977, February 7th to March 31st the first sessions took place at Abbey Road (Silver rain was falling down), recorded there were :
     "London Town" (written in Perth, Australia - Scotland and Mexico !),
     "Deliver Your Children" (written during "Venus and Mars" sessions in L.A.),
     "Girl's School" (B-side of "Mull of Kintyre" NOT on this album)

1977, May 1st to May 31st the second sessions took place on a motor yacht called the "Fair Carol" in the Virgin Islands !
On this boat Paul had a 24-track studio installed by The Record Plant of New York, whilst the band lived on three other yachts (The McCartney's being called "El Toro", the others "Samala" and "Wanderlust").
At the water bound sessions the first title of the album was first planned as being "Water Wings" (hence the title of this set !) and these tracks were recorded :
     "Cafe On The Left Bank" (the first number to be recorded on the boat),
     "I'm Carrying" (caught in one take, and features the "Gizmo",
            an instrument invented by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme),
     "I've Had Enough" (the second single released from the album),
     "With A Little Luck" (completed back in London, the first single),
     "Famous Groupies" (written in Scotland),
     "Don't Let It Bring You Down" (Paul and Denny play "flageolets"),
     "Morse Moose and the Grey Goose" (sounds like an epic sea tale, finished in London),
     "Boil Crisis" (unreleased),
     "El Toro Passing" (unreleased),
     "Running Round The Room" (unreleased),
     "Standing Very Still" (unreleased),
     "After You've Gone" (unreleased),
     "Fairy Tale" (unreleased - recorded on the last night aboard the boat)

Taking time out from "London Town" in August Paul records "Mull of Kintyre" and finishes "Girls School", and has another dabble at "Boil Crisis", but on the latter realises he dare not issue it.
After the return to London, Jimmy McCulloch had left the band to join the reformed "Small Faces" and after Linda has given birth (on September 12th) to son James Louis McCartney, the third set of sessions resumed at Abbey Road (Silver rain was falling down). These run from October 25th to December 1st and during these recordings Joe English also left the band, leaving them back down to a trio. The tracks recorded at this time were :
     "Backwards Traveller",
     "Cuff Link",
     "Children Children" (inspired by a waterfall in Paul's garden),
     "Girlfriend" (composed for Michael Jackson who recorded it for "Off The Wall"),
     "Name And Address" (a tribute to Elvis who died in August),
     "Waterspout" (unreleased),

December 3rd to December 14th, the fourth set of recordings took place at George Martin's AIR studios.
These sessions only cover overdubs to previously recorded tracks.
And after Christmas, January 4th to the 23rd the fifth and final sessions resumed back at Abbey Road to provide the finishing touches to the mix of "London Town".
The cover design and photography were by Paul, Linda and Denny, with co-ordination by Aubrey Powell and George Hardie.
Some additional photography was by Henry Diltz and Graham Hughes.
This impressive looking longbox set gathers together a lot (but not all) of the relevant alternate takes and outtakes from this era.

Four c.d.'s plus a 12 page long booklet with each box set individually numbered as being part of a limited edition of 500.

Disc 1

No	Tracklisting	Time
Acetate Rough Mixes Tracks 1-14 : 1978 Stereo Test Pressing Acetate
1	London Town	4:12
2	Cafe On The Left Bank	3:28
3	I'm Carrying	2:45
4	Backwards Traveller	1:10
5	Cuff Link	2:01
6	Children Children	2:24
7	Girlfriend	4:46
8	I've Had Enough	3:05
9	With A Little Luck	5:51
10	Famous Groupies	3:40
11	Deliver Your Children	4:22
12	Name And Address	3:11
13	Don't Let It Bring You Down	4:39
14	Morse Moose And The Grey Goose	6:37
Videos (Data Tracks ! .... mp4's)
1	Album Presentation	4:17
2	Capitol Album T.V. Commercial	0:30

Disc 2

No	Tracklisting	Time
Demos #1 Tracks 1-2 : February 1977 Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland
1	Suicide	3:45
2	I Keep On Believing (0:46)/Love Awake(0:54)	1:40
Track 3 : February 1977 Abbey Road Studio Rehearsal
3	London Town (Paul says something at start and end)	0:54
Tracks 4-5 : May 1977 Virgin Islands
4	Sea Melody (piano only)	0:36
5	A Fairy Tale	6:05
Rough Mixes Tracks 6-20 : May 1977 "Watermelon Bay Sessions" Record Plant Mobile Studio Aboard The Fair Yacht Carol - U.S. Virgin Islands
6	Cafe On The Left Bank	3:07
7	I'm Carrying (2:45) a count-in heard at the start	2:51
8	I've Had Enough (#1) (3:04) with count-in	3:08
9	I've Had Enough (#2)	1:59
10	With A Little Luck (#1) with electric drum (for timing ?)	5:58
11	With A Little Luck (#2)	3:12
12	Famous Groupies	3:36
13	Deliver Your Children	4:15
14	Don't Let It Bring You Down (with count-in)	4:41
15	Morse Moose And The Grey Goose	6:32
16	Find A Way Somehow (with count-in)	5:35
17	Waterspout (#1)	4:40
18	Waterspout (#2) (Instrumental)	5:46
19	Waterspout (#3)	2:31
20	Waterspout (#4)	2:26

Disc 3

No	Tracklisting	Time
Oobu Joobu Version 20th June 1977 - Black Ark Studio, Kingston, Jamaica
1	Sugartime (1:44) (plus Cook of the house recipe - Basic omelette)	4:37
Demos #2 Tracks 2-12 : Summer 1977 Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland
2	Waterspout	4:55
3	Backwards Traveller (#1) (Complete intro)	3:38
4	Backwards Traveller (#2) (Complete ending)	3:46
5	After You've Gone (#1)	4:46
6	After You've Gone (#2)	4:36
7	After You've Gone (#2) (Inline exerpt)	1:13
8	Boil Crisis (#1) (Complete intro)	3:50
9	Boil Crisis (#2) (Complete Ending)	3:59
10	Jamaican Hilite (1:17)	1:22
11	Mull Of Kintyre (#1) (Instrumental)	1:35
12	Mull Of Kintyre (#2)	4:20
Studio Rehearsals
Tracks 13-14: August 1977 - Spirit of Ranachan Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland
13	Mull Of Kintyre (#1)	0:38
14	Mull Of Kintyre (#2)	1:18
15	With A Little Luck	4:40
16	I've Had Enough	3:18
Revisited - No Demos ! Tracks 17-18 : 1978 "Piana Tape" at Home
17	Mull Of Kintyre	2:38
18	Girlfriend	2:37

Disc 4

No	Tracklisting	Time
Promo Radio Single Versions
1	With A Little Luck (Promo Single Stereo Edit Version)	3:11
2	London Town (Promo Single Stereo Edit Version)	3:47
3	With A Little Luck (Promo Single Mono Edit Version)	3:11
4	London Town (Promo Single Mono Edit Version)	3:47
5	I've Had Enough (Promo Single Mono Version)	3:00
6	Mull Of Kintyre (Promo Single Stereo Edit Version)	3:30
7	Girls School (Promo Single Stereo Edit Version)	3:14
Promo T.V. Versions
8	With A Little Luck (#1) (with dutch introduction ?)	3:13
9	With A Little Luck (#2)	3:13
10	With A Little Luck (#3)	3:13
Tracks 11-12 : 10th December 1977 - Mike Yarwood Christmas Show (BBC)
11	Mull Of Mintyre	3:46
12	12 Bar Blues	0:22
Promo Radio Show - Capitol Radio 1978 Tracks 13-24 : Paul talks about the songs with brief exerpts (21:30)
13	Introduction	0:19
14	London Town	1:40
15	Morse Moose And The Grey Goose	3:12
16	Cafe On The Left Bank	1:35
17	Famous Groupies	0:43
18	Backwards Traveller	1:26
19	Mull Of Kintyre	2:28
20	With A Little Luck	2:25
21	Name And Address	2:33
22	Outro	0:15
23	Venues and Playing Live	3:55
24	Not from the Capitol section	0:42
Suzy And The Red Stripes
25	B-Side To Seaside : (Single Version 1977)	2:38
26	B-Side To Seaside : (Remix Version 1986)	3:27
27	B-Side To Seaside : (Extended Remix Version 1986)	4:40
Bonus Tracks
28	With A Litte Luck (fake Wingspan Remix, 2000)	3:46
29	Michael Jackson - Girlfriend (1979 - "Off The Wall" Album)	3:05

Label	Rapple Corps
Catalogue No.	BFB 92
Release Date	Early 2014
Total Time	4 hours 22 minutes 55 seconds. Disc 1 - 52:48 Disc 2 - 74:08 Disc 3 - 58.41 Disc 4 - 77:18
Comments:	London Town was Paul's ninth "solo" release, credited to "Wings". Wings V (1975) - Paul, Linda, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch (guitars) and Joe English (drums). Really back on form, this great album stayed in the chart for 23 weeks, but never made the top three. It's quality can probably be atributed to the 12 months it took to create it, but during the time the Wings personnel once again diminished in numbers ! 1977, February 7th to March 31st the first sessions took place at Abbey Road (Silver rain was falling down), recorded there were : "London Town" (written in Perth, Australia - Scotland and Mexico !), "Deliver Your Children" (written during "Venus and Mars" sessions in L.A.), "Girl's School" (B-side of "Mull of Kintyre" NOT on this album) 1977, May 1st to May 31st the second sessions took place on a motor yacht called the "Fair Carol" in the Virgin Islands ! On this boat Paul had a 24-track studio installed by The Record Plant of New York, whilst the band lived on three other yachts (The McCartney's being called "El Toro", the others "Samala" and "Wanderlust"). At the water bound sessions the first title of the album was first planned as being "Water Wings" (hence the title of this set !) and these tracks were recorded : "Cafe On The Left Bank" (the first number to be recorded on the boat), "I'm Carrying" (caught in one take, and features the "Gizmo", an instrument invented by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme), "I've Had Enough" (the second single released from the album), "With A Little Luck" (completed back in London, the first single), "Famous Groupies" (written in Scotland), "Don't Let It Bring You Down" (Paul and Denny play "flageolets"), "Morse Moose and the Grey Goose" (sounds like an epic sea tale, finished in London), "Boil Crisis" (unreleased), "El Toro Passing" (unreleased), "Running Round The Room" (unreleased), "Standing Very Still" (unreleased), "After You've Gone" (unreleased), "Fairy Tale" (unreleased - recorded on the last night aboard the boat) Taking time out from "London Town" in August Paul records "Mull of Kintyre" and finishes "Girls School", and has another dabble at "Boil Crisis", but on the latter realises he dare not issue it. After the return to London, Jimmy McCulloch had left the band to join the reformed "Small Faces" and after Linda has given birth (on September 12th) to son James Louis McCartney, the third set of sessions resumed at Abbey Road (Silver rain was falling down). These run from October 25th to December 1st and during these recordings Joe English also left the band, leaving them back down to a trio. The tracks recorded at this time were : "Backwards Traveller", "Cuff Link", "Children Children" (inspired by a waterfall in Paul's garden), "Girlfriend" (composed for Michael Jackson who recorded it for "Off The Wall"), "Name And Address" (a tribute to Elvis who died in August), "Waterspout" (unreleased), December 3rd to December 14th, the fourth set of recordings took place at George Martin's AIR studios. These sessions only cover overdubs to previously recorded tracks. And after Christmas, January 4th to the 23rd the fifth and final sessions resumed back at Abbey Road to provide the finishing touches to the mix of "London Town". The cover design and photography were by Paul, Linda and Denny, with co-ordination by Aubrey Powell and George Hardie. Some additional photography was by Henry Diltz and Graham Hughes. This impressive looking longbox set gathers together a lot (but not all) of the relevant alternate takes and outtakes from this era. Four c.d.'s plus a 12 page long booklet with each box set individually numbered as being part of a limited edition of 500.