Paul McCartney has released the film One Hand Clapping. Fifty years ago, in August of 1974, Paul McCartney & Wings filmed the documentary. The video was of the band recording live in Abbey Road Studios. The audio album of the sessions came out this past June. The 67-minute film was released on September 26th, 2024, with limited screenings in theaters.
The original project was shot on videotape, but has been restored (as best you can with old video) to 4K for this release. This new documentary has additional unreleased footage of Paul McCartney performing “Backyard Sessions” on acoustic guitar. Besides some of his own songs, he plays Rock & Roll classics like “Twenty Flight Rock” and songs by Buddy Holly. Included is the unreleased song “Blackpool”.
1974 was a time when the Wings album Band On The Run was #1, and there are five songs from that album performed live in the studio. Here are the songs as they appear on the double CD album.
The audio quality is high, and the band’s playing is very good…quite similar to their performances on the 1976 Wings Over America tour album. The three Beatles songs you see on Disc 2 are just Paul rehearsing at the piano, and are short segments.
There were two new members of Wings, Geoff Britton on the left, and Jimmy McCulloch on the right. Paul, Linda, and guitarist Denny Laine had recorded the Band On The Run album and needed the new drummer and additional guitarist for concerts.
The film has an introduction by Paul McCartney, and features previously unseen Polaroid photos from 1974.
No word yet about when One Hand Clapping might be available for streaming or on DVD. Normally, screenings are a way to have a theatrical release prior to a film appearing on a streaming platform.
Extra: For more information and my review of the album One Hand Clapping, here’s the link. https://ontherecords.net/2024/06/lennon-mccartney2024-releases/
1970’s was a great decade of music for so many of us. Paul McCartney and Wings on the rise and only a few knew how far. But anyone who was anyone knew Paul McCartney was taking it over the top. And he didn’t disappoint you. Today at 82 he’s still out there playing his heart out for the trillions of fans listening. You go Paul!!!