Man on the Run

by Tom Doyle

  Papillon (film) ref 1

  Parker, Bertram ref 1

  Parkinson, Michael ref 1

  Parsons, Alan ref 1

  Patrie, Jo Jo (Joanne)

  and birth of Laine Hines ref 1

  and cocaine use ref 1

  and Denny Laine ref 1, ref 2, ref 3

  drugs overdose ref 1

  and Jimmy McCulloch ref 1

  and Linda McCartney ref 1, ref 2, ref 3

  and Low Ranachan ref 1

  and marijuana ref 1

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  Peel, John ref 1

  Peggy Lee ref 1

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  ‘Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me)’ ref 1

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  Q (magazine) ref 1, ref 2

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  Ram

  artwork ref 1, ref 2

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  pop-orchestral version ref 1

  recording sessions ref 1

  released ref 1

  and songwriting credits ref 1

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  Ramone, Phil ref 1

  ‘Reception’ ref 1

  Red Rose Speedway ref 1, ref 2

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  Reveille (magazine) ref 1

  Richard, Cliff ref 1

  Ringo ref 1

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  Robertson, Brian ref 1

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  Rock’N’Roll ref 1

  ‘Rockestra Theme’ ref 1, ref 2

  ‘Rocket Man’ ref 1

  Rockshow (film) ref 1

  Roddenberry, Gene ref 1

  Rolling Stone (magazine)

  and Band On The Run ref 1

  and criticism of Linda McCartney ref 1

  Lennon interview ref 1

  and PM’s Japan drugs bust ref 1

  Ram review ref 1

  and rumours of PM’s death ref 1

  and Wild Life ref 1

  and Wings UK theatre tour ref 1

  The Rolling Stones ref 1, ref 2

  Roxon, Lillian ref 1

  Royal Court Theatre (Liverpool) ref 1

  Royal Iris (ferry) ref 1, ref 2

  RSPCA ref 1

  Rude Studio ref 1, ref 2

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  The Rutles ref 1

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  Sargent, Bill ref 1

  Saturday Night Live (US television show) ref 1, ref 2

  Seaman, Fred ref 1, ref 2

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  Sebastian, John ref 1

  ‘Secret Friend’ ref 1

  Secunda, Tony ref 1

  See, Mel ref 1

  Seider, Harold ref 1

  Seiwell, Denny

  and drugs bust in Sweden ref 1

  and formation of Wings ref 1

  and initial Wings tour ref 1, ref 2

  and launch of Wings ref 1

  and Linda McCartney’s musicianship ref 1

  and marijuana use in Wings ref 1

  and ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’ ref 1, ref 2

  quits Wings ref 1, ref 2

  and Ram recording sessions ref 1

  and The Bruce McMouse Show ref 1

  and Wild Life ref 1

  Seiwell, Monique ref 1, ref 2

  Sex Pistols ref 1, ref 2

  Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band ref 1, ref 2

  ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ ref 1

  The Shadows ref 1

  ‘She Loves You’ ref 1

  Shevell, Nancy ref 1

  Shrimpton, Steve ref 1

  Shrine (club, Lagos) ref 1

  ‘Silly Love Songs’ ref 1

  Simon, Paul ref 1

  Simons, Judith ref 1

  Sinatra, Frank ref 1

  Small Faces ref 1, ref 2

  The Smothers Brothers ref 1

  ‘Soily’ ref 1

  ‘Some People Never Know’ ref 1

  Some Time In New York City ref 1, ref 2

  ‘Something In The Air’ ref 1

  Spector, Phil ref 1, ref 2, ref 3

  Spector, Ronnie ref 1

  Spencer, Terence ref 1

  ‘Spin It On’ ref 1

  Spinozza, David ref 1, ref 2

  Spooner, James ref 1

  SS France (cruise liner) ref 1, ref 2

  ‘Stand By Me’ ref 1

  Star Trek ref 1

  Starr, Ringo

  and ‘All Those Years Ago’ ref 1

  and Allen Klein ref 1, ref 2

  and Concert for Bangladesh ref 1

  and Eric Clapton’s wedding ref 1

  and ‘How Do You Sleep?’ ref 1

  and Lennon’s Santa Monica property ref 1, ref 2

  and Montserrat sessions ref 1

  musicianship of ref 1

  and PM’s Japan drugs bust ref 1

  and PM’s legal action ref 1

  and Ram ref 1

  and release date of McCartney ref 1

  and ‘reunion’ of The Beatles ref 1, ref 2, ref 3

  walks out on The Beatles ref 1

  and Wings US tour ref 1, ref 2

  Stevens, Joe ref 1

  Stewart, Eric ref 1, ref 2

  Stewart, Rod ref 1, ref 2

  Stone the Crows ref 1

  The Stranglers ref 1

  ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ ref 1

  ‘Suicide’ ref 1

  Summer Holiday ref 1

  The Sun ref 1, ref 2, ref 3

  ‘Sunshine Sometime’ ref 1

  Suzy and the Red Stripes ref 1

  T. Rex ref 1

  ‘Take It Away’ ref 1

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  Taylor, Alistair ref 1

  Taylor, Derek ref 1, ref 2, ref 3

  Taylor, Elizabeth ref 1

  ‘Temporary Secretary’ ref 1

  ‘That Was Me’ ref 1

  The Autobiography of Malcolm X ref 1

  ‘The Back Seat Of My Car’ ref 1, ref 2

  The Basil Brush Show (television programme) ref 1

  ‘The Broadcast’ ref 1, ref 2

  The Bruce McMouse Show (film) ref 1

  The Buddy Holly Story (biopic) ref 1

  ‘The Castle Of The King Of The Birds’ ref 1

  ‘The Country Hams’ ref 1

  The Enterprise (fishing boat) ref 1

  ‘The Long And Winding Road’ ref 1, ref 2, ref 3

  ‘The Lovely Linda’ ref 1

  ‘The Luck Of The Irish’ ref 1

  The Man Who Knew Too Much(film) ref 1

  ‘The Mess I’m In’ ref 1

  The Mike Walsh Show (Australian chat show) ref 1

  ‘The Note You Never Wrote’ ref 1

  The Plastic Macs ref 1

  ‘The Shape I’m In’ ref 1

  The White Album ref 1, ref 2

  This is Your Life (television programme) ref 1

  Thomas, Chris ref 1, ref 2

  Thrillington ref 1

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  Thunderclap Newman ref 1

  Tighten Up ref 1

  Time (magazine) ref 1, ref 2

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  ‘Too Many People’ ref 1, ref 2

  Top of the Pops ref 1, ref 2

  Toussaint, Allen ref 1

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ly Old People’ ref 1

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  Twain, Mark ref 1

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  videos

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  Virgin Islands ref 1

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  ‘Walk On The Wild Side’

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  Wayne, John ref 1

  Welch, Raquel ref 1

  Welcome Back, Kotter (US sitcom) ref 1

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  ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’ ref 1

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  Wild Life ref 1, ref 2

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  Wings

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  Caribbean sessions ref 1

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  and drugs bust in Sweden ref 1

  European tour ref 1

  final gig ref 1

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  at Finston Manor ref 1

  formation of ref 1

  and groupies ref 1

  initial tour ref 1, ref 2

  and James Paul McCartney ref 1

  and Japan tour ref 1, ref 2, ref 3

  at La Mamounia hotel ref 1

  in Lagos ref 1, ref 2

  launch of ref 1

  and ‘Live and Let Die’ ref 1

  and Madison Square Garden show ref 1

  and ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’ ref 1, ref 2

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  and Montserrat sessions ref 1

  and ‘Mull Of Kintyre’ ref 1

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  and Nashville trip ref 1

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  and Red Rose Speedway ref 1

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  Wings At The Speed Of Sound ref 1, ref 2

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  ‘With A Little Luck’ ref 1

  ‘Without You’ ref 1

  Woman’s Own (magazine) ref 1

  Wonder, Stevie ref 1, ref 2, ref 3

  ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ ref 1

  Wood, Len ref 1

  Woodhams, Elaine ref 1

  Yarwood, Mike ref 1

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  ‘Yesterday’ ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7

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  York University ref 1

  ‘You Can’t Catch Me’ ref 1

  ‘You Can’t Do That’ ref 1

  ‘You Gave Me The Answer’ ref 1

  ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’ ref 1

  Acknowledgements

  For their generous interview time and for quotes that made their way into this book, thanks to Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Michael Parkinson, May Pang, Denny Laine, Denny Seiwell, Henry McCullough, Clive Arrowsmith, Laurence Juber, Steve Holley, Robert Ellis, Dave Clarke, Bob Gruen, Robin Black, Alan Parsons, Howie Casey, Jimmy McGeachy and Jimmy Iovine. For allowing me to use additional transcripts of interviews with Denny Laine and Denny Seiwell, thanks to Tom O’Dell and Elio Espana of Prism Films.

  Thanks also to Phil Alexander and Paul Rees, under whose editorships the original McCartney interviews were conducted for Mojo and Q. For continuing to employ me and putting up with me in general, not to mention indulging my frequent disappearing acts while writing this book, I’d like to thank: Danny Eccleston (and his idea for the interstitial quotes), Ian Harrison, Andrew Male, Jenny Bulley, Ross Bennett, Mark Wagstaff, Andrew Harrison, Ted Kessler, Chris Catchpole, Niall Doherty, Matt Mason, James Mannion, Gordon Thomson and Sam Inglis. To my writerly comrades – keep the faith, people: Sylvia Patterson (the big sister I never wanted), John Aizlewood, Craig McLean, Mark Blake, Andy Fyfe, Dave Everley, Mark Ellen, John Harris, Gareth Grundy, Helena Drakakis, Louise Millar, Allan Brown and Daryl Easlea.

  Very special thanks to Simon Goddard for his Staropramen-induced, lightbulb-above-the-head notion that gave this book its title, and to Dorian Lynskey, who also came up with the same title, only just a bit later.

  To all at Polygon: Neville Moir, Sarah Morrison, Vikki Reilly, Jan Rutherford and especially my utterly ace editor, Alison Rae, who calmly extended my deadline more than once with a reassuring ‘Oh, don’t worry.’ To my unflappable agent Kevin Pocklington at Jenny Brown Associates, for ‘getting’ this book and getting it off the ground.

  Additional thanks to Stuart Bell at DawBell and to Claudia Schmid at MPL.

  For allowing me to bore them senseless in the pub about Paul McCartney for an entire year: Anth Brown, Mike Brown, Steve Aungle, Derek Hood, Steve Wilkins, Dave Black, Dave Scott, Nick Roberts, Paul Esposito, Sophie Mayerhoeffer, Robbie and Parm Gunn-Hamilton, Alan Shaw (who’s still wrong about ‘Smile Away’), Allan Shanks, Aidan Rose, Kieran Leonard, Martin Low, Steve Hands, Dave Tomlinson, Jon Bennett, Steve Donoghue, Kris O’Mahoney, Nick Holywell-Walker, Jon Mills and Gary Clark. For simply just encouraging me or sorting stuff or helping with research: the McCombies, Paul Salley, Lorraine Wilson, Roddy Isles, Linda Barclay Isles, Rosha Kasravi, Richard and Ben at Audio Gold, Nick de Grunwald at Isis Productions.

  To my family up in Scotland, for understanding why I didn’t phone so often: Dad and Heather, Brian, Caroline and Ryan. And to the all-knowing, all-suffering, saintly patient love of my life, Karen, and to Milly, who manages to get bigger and cheekier and funnier and cleverer and more beautiful with every day.

  T.D.

  List of Illustrations

  1. Linda, Heather and Paul arrive at JFK Airport, NYC, 17 March 1969, five days after their London wedding. Paul: ‘She had a child. I was genuinely impressed by the way she handled herself in life.’

  2. Paul and Linda emerge from the High Court in London on 19 February 1971 on the first day of the proceedings to untangle the Beatles’ legal affairs. Paul: ‘I was having to fight my mates. It was just fucking awful.’

  3. Allen Klein, the master of casual intimidation, March 1971.

  4. Wings Over Europe soundcheck, Châteauvallon, France, 9 July 1972. Paul and Denny Seiwell go over keyboard parts with a nervous Linda. Seiwell: ‘She was unhappy and frightened. But she had a lot of chutzpah.’

  5. Paul the bed-headed businessman, behind the desk, 1972.

  6. The McCartneys peer out of the back of a police car, after the Swedish dope bust, Gothenburg, 10 August 1972. Linda to photographer Joe Stevens: ‘Just get the
pictures.’

  7. Togetherness vibes backstage during Wings Over Europe: L–R: Denny Seiwell, Henry McCullough, Paul, Linda and Denny Laine.

  8. The Wings Mark I front line at the Théatre Antique in Arles, 13 July 1972. L–R: Henry McCullough, Denny Laine and Paul.

  9. The fivesome with the trundling, freakadelic open-topped bus used for Wings Over Europe, July 1972.

  10. 1 December 1972, the day ‘Hi Hi Hi’ was released and instantly banned by the BBC. Paul: ‘I think the BBC should be highly praised, preventing the youth from hearing my opinions.’

  11. Outside Campbeltown Sheriff Court, March 1973, trying to keep straight faces, after being fined for growing marijuana in Scotland. Paul: ‘We got a load of seeds. We didn’t know what they were. We planted them and . . . five of them came up illegal.’

  12. Paul and Henry McCullough onstage at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, May 1973, just weeks before their argument that caused the latter to quit. McCullough: ‘I was driving off the edge of a cliff.’

  13. ‘We’re not pinching your music’: the summit to quell the Africaninfluences ‘controversy’ stirred by Fela Kuti (right), Band On The Run, Lagos, 1973.

  14. The fearless leader of the band. Paul: ‘If anyone’s gonna make a decision, it should probably be him.’

  15. Dressed up in La La Land. At the 46th Annual Academy Awards, April 1974. ‘Live And Let Die’ was nominated for Best Original Song, but lost out to Barbra Streisand’s ‘The Way We Were’.

  16. On the porch of songwriter Curly Putnam Jr’s house, Tennessee, July 1974, toasting the end of the troubled preliminary rehearsals with Wings Mark II.

  17. Venus And Mars press shot, May 1975.

  18. The record-trouncing, critics-bowling, all-conquering Wings line-up of 1976: L–R: Joe English, Linda, Jimmy McCulloch, Paul and Denny Laine.

  19. The outlook returns to cloudy. Back down to a trio, eating fish and chips in the rain, at the London Town launch on the Thames, March 1978.

  20. Wings Mark III in Liverpool, aboard the Royal Iris ferry, scene of early Beatles gigs, November 1979. L–R: Laurence Juber, Linda, Paul, Steve Holley and Denny Laine. Paul: ‘I feel I’m not judged with the same harshness by the people here.’

  21. Take these broken Wings. Paul: ‘It was getting a bit boring, to tell the truth. I was getting a bit fed up with yet another line-up.’

  22. Full circle: recording McCartney II alone, ten years after the solo-recorded McCartney, 1979. Paul: ‘I think of it as being a nutty professor, holed up in this little laboratory.’