It was 43-years-ago today — May 24th, 1979 — that Paul McCartney released his final album with Wings and the first as part of his five-album, multi-million dollar deal with Columbia Records — Back To The Egg. The album featured the last lineup of the band, including co-founders Linda McCartney and Denny Laine — as well as its newest members, Laurence Juber on guitar and Steve Holly on drums. The album was co-produced by McCartney and Chris Thomas.
The Back To The Egg sessions spawned three hit singles, the 1979 Top Five hit “Goodnight Tonight” — which was not included on the album; “Getting Closer,” which hit Number 20; and “Arrow Through Me,” which peaked at Number 28. Back To The Egg hit Number Seven on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and spent five weeks in the Top 10. The album has since been certified platinum.
The album featured a pair of songs by Rockestra — the largest group of rock legends to record together up to that date. The cream of the rock elite joined Wings to record two tracks at London's Abbey Road Studios for the instrumental “Rockestra Theme” and “So Glad To See You Here.” Rockestra consisted of the Who's Pete Townshend and Kenney Jones, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Procol Harum's Gary Brooker, the Faces' Ronnie Lane, the Attractions' Bruce Thomas, and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones and John Bonham, among others.