Paul McCartney always got the short end of the stick when he was in the Beatles and again in the '70s, as he and his erstwhile partner John Lennon pursued solo careers. McCartney was attacked for his virtues – for his melodicism and his domesticity, along with his desire to form a real touring band following the Beatles…
Basically, there are two things that rock bands do: they make an album and they go on tour. Since Paul McCartney fervently wanted to believe Wings was a real rock band, he had the group record an album or two and then took them on the road. In March of 1976 he released Wings at the Speed of Sound and launched a tour of America, following which he released Wings Over America, a triple-album set that re-created an entire concert from various venues. It was a massive set list, running over two hours and featuring 30 songs, and it was well received at the time, partially because he revived some Beatles tunes, partially because it wasn't the disaster some naysayers expected, and mostly because – like the tour itself – it was the first chance that millions of Beatles fans had to hear McCartney in concert properly (the Beatles had toured, to be sure, and had played before millions of people between 1963 and 1966, but as a result of the relatively primitive equipment they used and the frenzied, omnipresent screaming of the mid-'60s teen audiences at their shows, few of those present had actually "heard" the group).
George Martin is one of the world's most famous record producers and yet, despite a long and varied career, he is most celebrated for his era-defining work with the Beatles. The six-CD box set Produced By George Martin commemorates his 50 years behind the desk. The discs are in chronological order and loosely themed–early years, comedy recordings, 60s hits, orchestral, etc. While generally presented in a chronological fashion, each disc is likewise aptly subtitled. Disc one – "Crazy Rhythms" – features pre-rock & roll big band ("High Society"), skiffle ("Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O"), and dance music ("Scottish Polka" and "Saturday Jump"). In addition, there are tracks from other well-known yet rarely heard artists such as Jimmy Shand ("Bluebell Polka") and Rolf Harris ("Sun Arise"). The "Transports of Delight" on disc two highlight spoken-word and comedy sides produced by Martin in the '50s and '60s.
Stone the Crows was a tough-luck, working class, progressive soul band that came out of the pubs of Scotland in the early '70s. They had everything going for them at the start: not one, but two gritty singers, a talented guitarist, a rhythm section that had played with John Mayall, and the name recognition of having Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant as their producer. Despite favorable reviews by the critics, however, they never managed to sell their hybridized soul music to a large audience.
On toward the mid-'70s, it dawned on the powers-that-were at Capitol/EMI that millions of listeners had come of age since the breakup of the Beatles in 1970 and, thus, had never experienced the group except in a historical context. (This notion was aided by true tales of younger Wings fans discovering – to their amazement – that Paul McCartney had been "a member of another group"). All of the Beatles' albums were still in print and easily available (and routinely stocked by most record stores), but it was thought that some new excitement was needed, some fresh exposure, to re-introduce their work to these younger listeners…