During his time with Wings, Paul McCartney wrote so many love songs for Linda McCartney that became anthems across the world. Wings started off on the wrong foot commercially. Here’s a look at how Paul and Linda’s love helped put things back on track.
Why Paul McCartney was so proud of 1 Wings song in particular
Wings debuted with the experimental album Wild Life. After the failure of that album, Wings asserted their commercial supremacy with the follow-up, Red Rose Speedway. During a 2023 interview with PaulMcCartney.com, Paul discussed his feelings about Red Rose Speedway. “Yeah, it sounds more professional to me,” he said. “It sounds like it’s putting in more effort, but it’s less rebellious than Wild Life.”
The “Silly Love Songs” singer was asked if he was particularly proud of any of the tracks from Red Rose Speedway. “I’m very proud of ‘My Love,’” he said. “This was early days for me and Linda, so it’s a love song to her really. One of the things I was proud of, funnily enough, was that it charted. It sort of did very well.” In fact, it was Wings’ first real hit in the United States. Who knows if Wings ever would have become a commercial force if not for the deep love between Paul and Linda?
Paul McCartney said ‘My Love’ was a ‘proper song’ but other tracks on the album weren’t
Paul contrasted “My Love” with an album track from Red Rose Speedway called “Loup (1st Indian On The Moon).” “Because it’s an album track, we had a bit more room to manoeuvre,” he said. “And I think it’s the rebellious aspect of Wild Life coming back in.
“So you’ve got ‘My Love,’ and that’s a proper song,” he added. “You’ve got some other proper songs on the album. But then we’ve got something like ‘Loup,’ where it was sort of a bit of fun for us. It’s pretty experimental. But we didn’t ever play it live, it was just something fun that only existed in the studio.”
The contrast between “My Love” and “Loup (1st Indian On The Moon)” represents the heart of Wings. Sometimes, they released tracks that were perfectly normal and commercial, like “My Love.” Other times, they did stuff that felt entirely out of left field, like “Loup (1st Indian On The Moon).” At their best, they managed to make oddball music that ruled the airwaves, like “Band on the Run,” “Jet,” and “Live and Let Die.”
‘My Love’ was a milestone for Wings
“My Love” became the first No. 1 single credited to Paul McCartney & Wings. The record topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. It lasted on the chart for 18 weeks. Red Rose Speedway was popular, too. It topped the Billboard 200 for three of its 32 weeks on the chart.
The Official Charts Company reports “My Love” reached No. 9 in the United Kingdom, charting for 11 weeks. Meanwhile, Red Rose Speedway reached No. 5 and charted for 16 weeks. It later reached No. 82 for a single week. Together, “My Love” and Red Rose Speedway proved that Paul knew how to remain popular without the aid of John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr — even if Wings’ output wasn’t as good as The Beatles’.
Paul was proud of “My Love” for expressing his love for Linda — and for becoming a massive hit.
