Charity Brawl

After a day of recording for the “James Paul McCartney” TV special, Wings did a charity concert at the Hard Rock Cafe in London.

A quick trip to the Hardrock Cafe for a party and surprise benefit concert for ‘Release’ followed. With no cameras etc. the whole thing was looser, and so more together(?) About two hundred people – at £5 a head, had a really good time.

From Wings Fun Club newsletter #1

From Wikipedia:

Release, founded in 1967 by Caroline Coon and Rufus Harris (died 2007),[1] is a UK charity that provides legal advice and arranges legal representation for people charged with the possession of drugs.[1] Release is now the oldest independent drugs charity in the world and continues to provide a range of services dedicated to meeting the health, welfare and legal needs of drugs users and those who live and work with them.

Paul and Linda McCartney met David Litchfield, who was then the editor of The Image, a graphic arts magazine. This initial meeting led Litchfield to publish Linda McCartney’s photographs in his magazine, and subsequently to more collaborations with Paul McCartney, including directing the 1974 “One Hand Clapping” documentary about Wings.

From The McCartney Legacy page on Facebook:

Wings played their first ever live performance in London at the Hard Rock Cafe in the West End, on Sunday 18th March 1973. Technically it was the 19th between 12.25pm to 1.30am. Seats for the “Charity Brawl” were priced at £5 and included a burger and ice cream meal.

[This surprise date proved to be] really fantastic, the best we’ve played up to now. We only played an hour or so, but on the tour we’ll be doing a rather extravagant affair, probably playing for two and a half hours. I’m glad we took such a time before starting out on a tour like this, though. It’s hard work for a band to come together. It’s similar to a marriage there are the five of you and you have to find out what makes each of you tick, and that learning takes time.

Denny Seiwell – From Interview with Record Mirror • Apr 28, 1973

From Wikipedia:

The support group for the entire [1973 UK ]tour was pub rock band Brinsley Schwarz who Paul and Linda asked to be on the tour after seeing them perform at the London Hard Rock Cafe’s opening night a few weeks previously.

In March 1973, [Wings] held a charity concert at London’s newly opened Hard Rock Cafe, for the launch of their album Red Rose Speedway. When my client invited me to this event, I was finally able to see Paul McCartney on stage, for the first time since that early Pigalle Club concert. I was delighted to find that he was back in top form, and didn’t doubt for a second that Wings would be a success – which it eventually was.

Shortly afterwards, however, Paul and Linda moved to their new home in Peasmarsh, in East Sussex. Though Paul kept the house in St John’s Wood, the couple didn’t visit London that often, so I finally lost touch with the McCartneys, as Ernie did with Martha.

Leslie Cavendish – The Beatles’ 24-year-old hairdresser – From “The Cutting Edge” by Leslie Cavendish, 2017

Hard Rock Cafe

This was the 1st and only concert played at Hard Rock Cafe.

Going further

Wings Live - On tour in the 70s

This is the first detailed study of Paul McCartney's Wings on tour in the 1970s. It covers every single concert from the University Tour of 1972, ending with the abandoned tour of Japan in January 1980. A wide variety of primary sources have been consulted, including all available audio and video recordings; press reviews; fan recollections; newspaper reports and tour programmes.

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