Detroit

I went to this show. Are any of the songs downloaded?

Hi Ronn, the concert is available on bootlegs, especially https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/album/wings-over-america-detroit-mi-5-8-1976/ - you might find it on sites sharing bootlegs.

THE REST OF THE STORY . . . behind my picture of Paul McCartney & Wings in front of the world's biggest tire in Allen Park, Michigan - May 7th, 1976.

A few weeks before my Aquinas High School 1976 graduation, I went for a hike in the woods near my northern Allen Park neighborhood. I had to run across both the westbound & eastbound lanes of I-94 to reach the woods near the iconic Uniroyal tire. The giant tire was a former Ferris wheel at the 1964 New York World's Fair. It was moved in 1966 by rail and truck to its present location near Uniroyal's former Allen Park, Michigan regional headquarters. The enormous tire has become a local landmark.

At the end of my hike, I was standing on the shoulder of the highway waiting for a gap in traffic in order to run back across the interstate and return home. A car swerved from the left lane and stopped abruptly near me on the shoulder. Some hippies got out and asked me if I would take their picture in front of the collosal Uniroyal tire. I was happy to oblige them. The guy on the far right in the picture handed me his camera (see the pic in my attached Classmates.com photos). I warned the barefooted girl that there was a lot of broken glass on the ground from beer and pop bottles thrown from cars, and she responded by standing on one leg to pose for the pic.

I returned the guy's camera and he asked me what music I listened to. I said Rock & Roll, especially The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He asked me if I liked any Wings music. I said not really. Wings had just released 'Silly Love Songs' and I said it 'sucks'. I added, "What has Linda McCartney ever done musically?" The blond female then said she's taking keyboard lessons (I didn't realize I was speaking with Linda McCartney). I complimented her on her cool shirt with large bird wings on the front. She said she picked it up in California.

A Wayne County Sheriff's car pulled up. The officer exited and said it's illegal to pull over onto the shoulder of the highway to take pictures of the giant tire. The group then stepped away from me to converse with him privately. The bearded guy on the far right of the picture came over and explained to me that a car was supposed to meet them at the airport, but there was a terminal location mixup so they decided to grab a rental. He said the cop had just radioed a colleague at the airport to arrange for their reserved car to meet them. A few minutes later, a Cadillac limo with another Wayne County Sheriff escorting it pulled up. The hippies thanked me and got into the limo and took off. The first Sheriff on the scene told me that I had just met somebody famous and I didn't know it. I asked him who. He said that the guy made him promise not to tell me.

Fast-forward 30-some years later -- I'm living in Arizona and reading an online article about the anniversary of the 80-foot tall, 12-ton Uniroyal tire being moved by rail to Allen Park. There was a picture of the Uniroyal tire with the caption of 'Paul McCartney & Wings' in front of it that looked very familiar. It suddenly struck me that was the picture I took in 1976 of the hippies in front of the tire! I never recognized Paul & Linda McCartney and Wings at the time I took their picture. The guy that handed me his camera to take the picture was their drummer Joe English (far right). Also in the picture was Denny Laine (far left wearing a headset), who was previously in the Moody Blues and sang lead on their hit, 'Go Now'. Also pictured was guitarist Jimmy McCulloch, who died in 1979 from a drug overdose in London. My only direct interaction with Paul McCartney was asking him if he lived nearby. He said no. I said, "Your face looks familiar."

So I had unknowingly insulted the most successful song writer in history -- Paul McCartney -- with gross global sales of over $1-billion dollars of music. Paul, Linda & Wings had just flown into Metro Airport for two concerts at Detroit's Olympia Stadium during their 'Wings Over America' tour. I've learned to temper my opinions shared with strangers.

In the music video of 'Silly Love Songs', (Google: "Wings - Silly Love Songs Official Music Video YouTube")... about 2:32 through the music video, is a brief clip of Paul & Linda walking to get into the limo near the Uniroyal tire. They were passing around a home-video camera as Paul picked up a broken-off car antenna from the shoulder of the road and wielded it like a sword as he waved it at me. He then playfully stabs himself with it. I'm hoping that was NOT in response to the biting criticism I just shared with him about Wings and their new 'Silly Love Songs' release.

And now you know . . . the rest of the story.

Ross Couples

See my Classmates.com profile:

Aquinas High School, Southgate, Michigan - Class of 1976 - Ross C.

Wow, Ross what an incredible story !!! Thanks so much for sharing !