Going for Broke or Going Home: Why Forming Wings Was Paul McCartney’s Biggest Risk

How in the world does one follow up the success of the most successful band of all time, The Beatles? Well, Paul McCartney asked himself that same exact question when the band dissolved and he was out on his own. Just for a minute, put yourself in McCartney’s shoes.

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How do you branch off and create an identity apart from the band that started the first British invasion, garnered 20 No. 1 hits and 19 No. 1 albums, and generally, just changed the trajectory of music altogether? Seems impossible, right?

At first, Paul McCartney thought the same exact thing. After all, is it better to quit on top or to try something new and run the risk of failing? To each their own, but Paul McCartney didn’t choose the prior. Consequently, he seemingly ran the risk of tainting his legacy by forming Wings.

Back To Square One: How Paul McCartney and Wings Kickstarted Their Career

In an interview on McCartney’s website, the former Beatle transparently expressed just how risky starting Wings truly was. He stated in his interview, “The main question I had was whether to keep going after The Beatles, because it was a hard act – some might say, an impossible act – to follow.” “The ingredients in the Beatles were so unique. You had John right there, who could have made any group brilliant. Then you had George’s talent, and Ringo’s, and then me,” added McCartney.

Paul McCartney continued, “Once that band had finished, I didn’t know what to do with myself, and trying something new was really risky.” In lieu of this risk, McCartney and Wings seemingly believed they needed to start back at the basics. In other words, they all needed to dip their toe in the water to mitigate the risk at hand, and that is exactly what they did.

Regarding their start, McCartney said, “In the early days of Wings, we decided to go right back to square one, taking a van up the motorway and playing little spontaneous gigs at universities for students, rather than jumping straight in with big live shows.”

“I’d doubled back to almost being nothing – just some guy in the band – and now I was earning my fame again. By the time the mid-70s came around, when we were doing a big American tour, that was the vindication of it…The risk paid off,” concluded Paul McCartney.

Needless to say, the risk paid off. As Paul McCartney’s legacy was not tainted by a failed attempt in the slightest. As a matter of fact, it was only bolstered.

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