Concert For The People of Kampuchea

This was the last concert of Wings. From Wikipedia:

Concerts for the People of Kampuchea was a series of concerts featuring Queen, The Clash, The Pretenders, The Who, Elvis Costello, Wings, and many more artists which took place at the Hammersmith Odeon in London during December 1979 to raise money for the victims of war-torn Cambodia. The event was organized by Paul McCartney and Kurt Waldheim, and it involved older artists such as McCartney and The Who as well as younger, new wave acts like The Clash and the Pretenders. The last of the concerts was the last concert of Wings. An album and EP were released in 1981, and the best of the concerts were released as a film, Concert for Kampuchea.

As a direct result of personal contact last autumn between the United Nations’ Secretary General, Dr. Kurt Waldheim, and Paul McCartney, four special charity concerts staged at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, from 26—29 December. The proceeds will be directed to the emergency relief work of the U.N. agencies for the civilians in Kampuchea. Wings appeared on Saturday, 29 December in a show which included Billy Connolly, Elvis Costello, Rockpile and the complete Rockestra line-up. A good time was had by all. All the concerts were filmed for television by EMI Films and will be screened early in the spring of 1980.

From Club Sandwich, N°17, 1980

From Wikipedia:

Rockestra was a Paul McCartney-led supergroup of at least thirty English rockers. The credited list appears at the bottom of the back cover of the LP. The name was first given to an assemblage of famous rock stars that were brought together by McCartney for the final Wings album, 1979’s Back to the Egg. The supergroup – which consisted of Wings, John Paul Jones and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, David Gilmour from Pink Floyd, Ronnie Lane of the Faces, Kenney Jones and Pete Townshend of The Who, and Hank Marvin of The Shadows – recorded two McCartney compositions, the instrumental “Rockestra Theme” and “So Glad to See You Here“.

Then, McCartney and Kurt Waldheim re-assembled Rockestra for a series of benefit concerts for the people of Cambodia (also known as Kampuchea), suffering from the reign of Pol Pot. This time, Rockestra consisted of, among others, Wings, John Paul Jones, Bonham, Robert Plant, Rockpile, James Honeyman-Scott and Townshend. Hank Marvin was not available and Gilmour for tax reasons had to decline, as he was with the rest of Pink Floyd in Los Angeles, California, where they had just finished recording The Wall and were in the midst of rehearsing for an upcoming concert tour.

From a 1990 interview reported in the book “Glass Onion: The Beatles In Their Own Words” by Geoffrey Giuliano:

Question: What led to the breakup of Wings?

Paul: The thing that led to the breakup of Wings was a disastrous concert we did for Kampuchea. We thought our performance was dreadful. I’ve listened to the record since and realized it wasn’t so bad, but at the time we hated it so much it put us off being in a band for a couple of years. That’s what led to the breakup.

From the liner notes of “Bespoke Songs, Lost Dogs, Detours & Rendezvous“, Elvis Costello’s compilation, 1998:

I first met Paul McCartney when we opened the show for Wings during the 1979 Concerts for Kampuchea series in London. He was very friendly and good at putting people at ease who might have been a little overwhelmed… him having been in The Beatles, like. He was also singing and playing tremendously.

Elvis Costello

Hammersmith Odeon

This was the 28th concert played at Hammersmith Odeon.

A total of 28 concerts have been played there • 1964 • Dec 24 • Dec 26 • Dec 28 • Dec 29 • Dec 30 • Dec 31 • 1965 • Jan 1 • Jan 2 • Jan 4 • Jan 5 • Jan 6 • Jan 7 • Jan 8 • Jan 9 • Jan 11 • Jan 12 • Jan 13 • Jan 14 • Jan 15 • Jan 16 • Dec 10 • 1973 • May 25 • May 26 • May 27 • 1975 • Sep 17 • Sep 18 • 1979 • Sep 14 • Dec 29

Setlist for the concert

1. Got to Get You into My Life

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Album Available on Last Flight

   Album Available on Concerts for the People of Kampuchea

   Album Available on Last Flight - Ultimate Archive Collection

2. Getting Closer

   Written by Paul McCartney

3. Every Night

   Written by Paul McCartney

   Album Available on Last Flight

   Album Available on Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea - Promo EP

   Album Available on Concerts for the People of Kampuchea

   Album Available on Last Flight - Ultimate Archive Collection

4. Again And Again And Again

   Written by Denny Laine

5. I've Had Enough

   Written by Paul McCartney

   Album Available on Last Flight - Ultimate Archive Collection

6. No Words

   Written by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine

7. Cook Of The House

   Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney

8. Old Siam, Sir

   Written by Paul McCartney

9. Maybe I'm Amazed

   Written by Paul McCartney

10. The Fool on the Hill

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

11. Hot As Sun

    Written by Paul McCartney

    Album Available on Last Flight - Ultimate Archive Collection

12. Spin It On

    Written by Paul McCartney

13. Twenty Flight Rock

    Written by Eddie Cochran, Ned Fairchild

    Album Available on Last Flight - Ultimate Archive Collection

14. Go Now

    Written by Larry Banks, Milton Bennett

15. Arrow Through Me

    Written by Paul McCartney

16. Coming Up

    Written by Paul McCartney

    Album Available on Concerts for the People of Kampuchea

    Album Available on Last Flight - Ultimate Archive Collection

    Album Available on Last Flight

17. Goodnight Tonight

    Written by Paul McCartney

18. Waltzing Matilda Snippet

    Written by Traditional

19. Yesterday

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

20. Mull of Kintyre

    Written by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine

21. Band on the Run

    Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney

22. Encore

1. Rockestra Theme

   Written by Paul McCartney

   Paul McCartney : Bass, Piano, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Keyboards, Vocals Denny Laine : Guitars Howie Casey : Horns Laurence Juber : Guitars Steve Holley : Drums, Percussion Thaddeus Richard : Horns Tony Ashton : Keyboards Gary Brooker : Keyboards James Honeyman : Scott: guitars Dave Edmunds : Guitars Billy Bremner : Guitars Pete Townshend : Guitars Robert Plant : Guitars, Vocals Bruce Thomas : Bass, Vocals Ronnie Lane : Bass, Vocals John Paul Jones : Bass, Vocals Kenney Jones : Drums, Percussion Tony Carr : Drums, Percussion Morris Pert : Drums, Percussion Speedy Acquaye : Drums, Percussion John Bonham : Drums, Percussion Steve Howard : Horns Tony Dorsey : Horns

   Album Available on Concerts for the People of Kampuchea

   Album Available on Last Flight - Ultimate Archive Collection

   Album Available on Last Flight

2. Lucille

   Written by Richard Penniman / Little Richard, Albert Collins

   Paul McCartney : Bass, Piano, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Keyboards, Vocals Denny Laine : Guitars Howie Casey : Horns Laurence Juber : Guitars Steve Holley : Drums, Percussion Thaddeus Richard : Horns Tony Ashton : Keyboards Gary Brooker : Keyboards James Honeyman : Scott: guitars Dave Edmunds : Guitars Billy Bremner : Guitars Pete Townshend : Guitars Robert Plant : Guitars, Vocals Bruce Thomas : Bass, Vocals Ronnie Lane : Bass, Vocals John Paul Jones : Bass, Vocals Kenney Jones : Drums, Percussion Tony Carr : Drums, Percussion Morris Pert : Drums, Percussion Speedy Acquaye : Drums, Percussion John Bonham : Drums, Percussion Steve Howard : Horns Tony Dorsey : Horns

   Album Available on Concerts for the People of Kampuchea

   Album Available on Last Flight - Ultimate Archive Collection

   Album Available on Last Flight

3. Let It Be

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Paul McCartney : Bass, Piano, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Keyboards, Vocals Denny Laine : Guitars Howie Casey : Horns Laurence Juber : Guitars Steve Holley : Drums, Percussion Thaddeus Richard : Horns Tony Ashton : Keyboards Gary Brooker : Keyboards James Honeyman : Scott: guitars Dave Edmunds : Guitars Billy Bremner : Guitars Pete Townshend : Guitars Robert Plant : Guitars, Vocals Bruce Thomas : Bass, Vocals Ronnie Lane : Bass, Vocals John Paul Jones : Bass, Vocals Kenney Jones : Drums, Percussion Tony Carr : Drums, Percussion Morris Pert : Drums, Percussion Speedy Acquaye : Drums, Percussion John Bonham : Drums, Percussion Steve Howard : Horns Tony Dorsey : Horns

   Album Available on Concerts for the People of Kampuchea

   Album Available on Last Flight - Ultimate Archive Collection

   Album Available on Last Flight

4. Rockestra Theme

   Written by Paul McCartney

   Paul McCartney : Bass, Piano, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Keyboards, Vocals Denny Laine : Guitars Howie Casey : Horns Laurence Juber : Guitars Steve Holley : Drums, Percussion Thaddeus Richard : Horns Tony Ashton : Keyboards Gary Brooker : Keyboards James Honeyman : Scott: guitars Dave Edmunds : Guitars Billy Bremner : Guitars Pete Townshend : Guitars Robert Plant : Guitars, Vocals Bruce Thomas : Bass, Vocals Ronnie Lane : Bass, Vocals John Paul Jones : Bass, Vocals Kenney Jones : Drums, Percussion Tony Carr : Drums, Percussion Morris Pert : Drums, Percussion Speedy Acquaye : Drums, Percussion John Bonham : Drums, Percussion Steve Howard : Horns Tony Dorsey : Horns

   Album Available on Concerts for the People of Kampuchea

   Album Available on Last Flight - Ultimate Archive Collection

   Album Available on Last Flight

Going further

Andrew+Lynch • 2 years ago

The PaulMcCartney Project • 2 years ago

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