At The Speed Of Sound Sessions (Misterclaudel mccd-167)
(70:00): September & October 1975 Studio Sessions: Let ‘Em In (1975 Tour Rehearsal), The Note You Never Wrote (Basic Track, Without Strings), Richard Cory (Studio version 1975), Suicide (Studio version Sept 1975), Stealin’ (Sept 1975).
January & February 1976 Studio Sessions: Silly Love Songs (Basic Mix Without String Horns), Must Do Something About it (Paul on vocals), Beware My Love (Take 1, instrumental Complete Acetate Version), Beware My Love (Alternate Take), She’s My Baby (take1), She’s My Baby (Version 2 Rough Take, complete), Time to Hide (outtake, basic track), Wino Junko (Alternate Early Take), Silly Love Songs (Single Edit Version), Let ‘Em In (Promo edit 45″), Beware My Love (45″ slight edit), Beware My Love (Take 1, Acetate incomplete)
At The Speed Sound Sessionscollectors together the phenomenal Trevor Jones tapes that surfaced several months ago. Misterclaudel covers essentially the same ground as on Wings at The Speed Of Sound: Trevor Jones Collection Vol. 1 (Audiofon AF 017), but instead of the live tracks from Toronto, promo edits are inserted instead. This single disc is more comprehensive than the other focusing soly upon studio recordings.
The first half of the disc is labeled 1975 studio sessions and a tour rehearsal of “Let ‘Em In.” It begins with Paul at the piano, leading the rest of the band into the song and ends with his doodling of “When The Saints Come Marching In” and is followed by “The Note You Never Wrote” without strings.
Denny Laine’s cover of Paul Simon’s “Richard Corey” was played on the Wings Over The World in 1975 and 1976 segued with “Picasso’s Last Words.” This is the closest to a studio recording of the track. The final two songs of this set are McCartney’s still unrelesed torch song “Suicide,” in what sounds like a spontaneous performance in the studio. And the final song is a cover of the Gus Cannon blues “Stealin'” which as been covered by many artists including Arlo Guthrie, The Grateful Dead and The Yardbirds.
The second half of the disc contains material from the actual Wings At The Speed Of Sound sessions from early 1976. “Silly Love Songs” sounds like the basic track of the released version except with the horn section missing. “Must Do Something About It” is a version of the song with Paul on vocals instead of Joe English.
Two takes of “Beware My Love” follow. The first is an instrumental runthough of the well known track as it appears on the album and the second is another take of the song but in the same arrangement. “She’s My Baby” are two versions included and are close to the commercial version. “Time To Hide” is a instrumental runthrough of the Denny Laine song with the horns missing. The only vocals are an “oh yeah” near the beginning (assumed to be Laine). The final new track is an early version of Jimmy McCulloch’s “Wino Junko.”
The final three tracks are edited promo versions of “Silly Love Songs,” “Let ‘Em In” and “Beware My Love.” These were the three songs promoted at the time of the album’s release and distributed to radio stations for airplay. Overall, this appeals to fans of Wings and for this album in particular and does contains much interesting material and is a strong effort by Misterclaudel.
