Philip Norman:Unfortunately, the new line-up’s immersion in ‘Music City USA’ had not welded them together as Paul had intended. Geoff Britton, it had become plain, was a different animal from the others with his mouthy Cockney manner, his devotion to physical fitness and distaste for alcohol, cigarettes and pot. A visceral rock drummer, he found himself struggling with quasi-symphonic Wings numbers like ‘Band on the Run’ and ‘Live and Let Die’, especially on the ‘poxy’ kit that had been provided for him. And his devotion to karate was continually mocked by his exertion-averse bandmates. ‘Are you gonna play those drums or chop ’em in two?’ Denny Laine liked to quip. Least of all had Britton bonded with his fellow new recruit, the ten-years-younger Jimmy McCulloch, whose slightness and prettiness belied a large appetite for everything the drummer considered unhealthy,nas well as a true Glaswegian acid tongue. One day in the studio–when, according to Britton, ‘everyone else was stoned’–he and McCulloch almost came to blows after the latter made a remark about Linda’s musicianship that reduced her to tears. Paul blamed Britton for the fracas and said he needed to ‘reassess the situation’, which Britton interpreted as being fired and angrily walked out. The miniature Ringo-moment passed, however, and he was persuaded to return the next day.
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The mood swings about which McCulloch had warned Paul were also kicking in with a vengeance. Some mornings, the boy-wonder guitarist would be sweetness itself, creating what he thought ‘some of the best music I’ve ever laid down in my life’; on others, hung-over from booze or grass, he’d be dour and scowly, muttering about Britton and Linda and the sloppiness of Denny Laine’s tuning. Once, in response to a minor quibble about his playing, he picked up an empty bottle and hurled it through the control room glass. The two new recruits had expected their Nashville stay to include the signing of long-term contracts with Wings. Instead, they learned that Paul wanted them only on a piecemeal basis, paying them per recording session or stage performance. All his persuasiveness was needed to convince them the arrangement would be to their advantage, allowing them to play in other bands (something forbidden to Wings Mk. 1) and so potentially earn far more than mere staffers. Denny Laine didn’t particularly want a contract, having signed too many injudicious ones in the past. But after six weeks, even his usual blind willingness to follow Paul’s lead was starting to waver. ‘At one point, I thought “I don’t know what we’ve come here for. We should be at home, gigging,”’ he recalls. Weary of acting as a buffer between his band-boss and the fractious recruits, he, too, talked about quitting, though never seriously, he insists.
‘It’s not like these things had never been said before… You’re walking out, but the next minute you can be walking back.’
In mid-July, the expedition came to a premature end when Jimmy McCulloch was charged with drink driving. Had the case reached court, it doubtless would have uncovered the fact that Wings were in America without work permits, so putting Paul’s probationary visa in jeopardy. However, Kevin Killen was able to get the charges dropped on condition McCulloch left ‘the friendly state of Tennessee’ forthwith.
