The working relationship between Wings member Denny Laine and The Beatles‘ Paul McCartney “blew up” for one reason.
According to McCartney, 83, things got a “little personal” towards the end of the pair’s working relationship. Laine, who died in 2023, was a permanent member of Wings, performing on all of their studio releases and maintaining a spot as a touring member. The Moody Blues co-founder was reportedly upset at the lack of touring following the death of John Lennon, with McCartney reluctant to head out on the road. When asked about the split with Laine, McCartney suggested in an interview given in 1982 that the instrumentalist would be “happier” leaving Wings. The Wings frontman also noted the apparent pressure which came from constant line-up changes, and says he eventually “got bored” of the band. Though he and Laine were still writing together around this time, McCartney says a falling out between the pair hurried the end of Wings.
He recalled: “I did it with the Beatles. Towards the end there was a bit of a pressure but I never really felt it. I just felt the positive side of the group. But with Wings, with so many changes in the line-up, it wasn’t so easy.
“That often distracts you from the music and you start thinking a whole load of other things. You’re thinking about the group image. Anyway, I got bored with the whole idea and I thought, ‘Christ! I’m coming up to 40 now. I don’t really have to stay in a group.
“At that time Denny Laine was staying with me. We were writing together. He was going to stay on but we had a bit of a falling out. It was nothing madly serious, but he did decide to go his own way, saying that he want to go on tour.”
Despite the fallout between the pair, Laine would go on to work with McCartney shortly after the end of Wings. He appeared on both Tug of War and Pipes of Peace, collaborating with McCartney twice. He would also work with George Harrison on Somewhere in England, and Linda McCartney on Wide Prairie.
McCartney added of his and Laine’s falling out: “There were little personal things here and there, little things that were just niggly. In the end, it blew up a bit. It was a bit of a number. We didn’t part shouting at each other or arguing. We both decided that it would be best… in fact, it was his own decision.
“I can never remember these things because once they’re gone, they’re gone. It was his decision. He rang up saying that he was going out on his own to get his own stuff together. He thought he’d be happier that way.”
McCartney went on to explain the final Wings album, Back to the Egg, was a disappointing release and was part of the reason the band decided to part ways. The Let it Be songwriter also rubbished the idea of a “hatchet job” being at play when the band decided to split.
He said: “As far as I’m concerned, there were no hatchet jobs, ever, and if there were, it certainly wasn’t Denny that went around doing them. Maybe there was one case where he had to do it. I don’t know.
“With the last Wings line-up, we parted in a friendly way. Everyone was a bit disappointed, and I was a bit sad because that was it… because it was a bit of a burden. It’s like a marriage you’ve got to keep up. It becomes a very real thing.”
He answer that question from every which direction! It was his album one of two he made after that mega successful tour. He hired one new drummer and one guitarist very successful session guy. He got half the British rock stars to play on the album. I love Paul but underwhelming as it’s reception may have been Paul hit bottom 5 years later with ego trips like Broad Street & Press to Play. And he was chewing his associates to pieces during that time too. There’s no excuse for his F ups during the Columbia Records era.