It was 51 years ago today (December 7th, 1971) that Paul McCartney released his first album with Wings, titled Wild Life. The album, which was McCartney's third post-Beatles solo set, topped out at Number 10 on the Billboard 200.
At that point, Wings consisted of Paul and wife Linda McCartney — who also sang and handled keyboard duties, Ram drummer Denny Seiwell, and old friend and Moody Blues-co-founder Denny Laine, who played guitar and occasional bass. The album marked the first solo McCartney set to be recorded at the “Fab Four's” London home base, Abbey Road Studios.
Denny Laine was the sole member of Wings to span the band's decade-long run. He recalled the early-summer 1971 phone call from McCartney asking him to help form the group: “Y'know, he was looking for people he could get on with and people who would go on in the future with new ideas. So he just called up and said, 'Paul here, do you fancy getting a band together?'”