The Daunting Decision Paul McCartney Made on His First Wings Tour: “I Was Pretty Nervous”

There seemingly comes a point in a musician’s career where they become, more or less, a singing robot. While that isn’t every musician, the ones who’ve struggled with this in the past have either reinvented themselves or gone solo. That isn’t the case for Paul McCartney, however. When Wings embarked on their first tour, he refused to play Beatles music.

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As one could imagine, leaving the most successful rock band of all time would be quite a stressful decision. Was it the right decision? Will the people still like my music even though I’m not a Beatle? Can I make it on my own? McCartney seemingly asked himself a few of those questions when he formed Wings and planned to turn the next chapter in his career.

Due to this anxiety, Wings and McCartney’s first tour was actually a college tour. He told Rolling Stone in 1974, “The main thing I didn’t want to face was the torment of five rows of press people with little pads all looking and saying, ‘Oh, well, he’s not as good as he was.’ So we decided to go out on that university tour, which made me less nervous because it was less of a big deal.”

So, now with a better sense of what to expect, Wings and McCartney embarked on their first European tour. Despite the preparation, McCartney was still incredibly nervous.

New Faces and No Old Material: Behind Paul McCartney’s First Tour With Wings

In the summer of 1972, Wings embarked on the Wings Over Europe Tour. Traversing Europe in a bright colored double-decker bus, McCartney, his family, and the band went on to show Europe something that separated him from The Beatles’ success. A large challenge, to say the least.

Recalling the stressfulness of that tour, McCartney divulged, “I was pretty scared on the Europe tour. That was a bit more of a big deal, here he is, ladies and gentlemen, sold all the tickets out.” McCartney stared that fear in the face and made a major decision that would remove his past from his present.

“We decided not to do any Beatle material, which was a killer, of course…I didn’t have something like ‘My Love’ that was sort of mine. I felt like everyone wanted Beatles stuff, so I was pretty nervous on that,” stated Paul McCartney.

This might not seem like a big deal, but if you were a fan planning to go see Paul McCartney, wouldn’t you expect him to play Beatles music? After all, would that not be partially what you paid for? Certainly, and for that reason, Paul McCartney’s decision not to play Beatles music was a major one.

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