This 50th anniversary half-speed mastering edition from the original masters at Abbey Road studios where it was originally recorded enjoys it best sounding reissue yet.
The artwork is stunning with the record featuring the original front and back cover, the latter with notes by McCartney under the guise of Clint Harrigan. There’s a certificate from Miles Showell explaining the mastering process while the vinyl is housed in the original mustard coloured yellow inner-sleeve.
Macca’s bass sounds fantastic throughout particularly on the Louie Louie inspired Mumbo, a 50s rock n’ roller invigorated by McCartney’s early 70s enthusiasm. Bip Bop might not feature in The Lyrics or have come up in conversation with Paul Muldoon but it remains a catchy piece of throwaway fun.
Perhaps the sound of a man shedding the weight of The Beatles? But not on the title track which resembles something of his old band. There’s something of George Harrison’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps with a hint of the classic Lennon harmony.
Compared to other early post-Beatles offerings Wild Life is often overlooked, 50 years on it stands up well. One of the stand-outs is Dear Friend which features a clearly hurt McCartney lamenting his broken friendship with Lennon during their very public spat. The album also has a certain charm due to the speed at which the songs were written and produced, taking inspiration from Bob Dylan’s New Morning and his old band’s final release Let It Be.
Some People Never Know is the songwriter doing what he does best with a genius yet simple acoustic guitar motif. On the likes of Tomorrow and others, he proves once again you can go far on a great hook abated by a hint of melancholy.
