Following the break up of The Beatles, Paul McCartney and Denny Laine founded Wings; together with Paul and Linda McCartney, Denny was one of only three constant members of the band.
In this wide-ranging interview, Denny takes us through the Wings story, his relationship with McCartney, and how they stepped out of The Beatles' shadow to build one of the biggest bands of the seventies.
Denny Laine is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist; lead singer on The Moody Blues' 1965 debut album The Magnificent Moodies; and, later, best known for his role as co-founder (with Paul and Linda McCartney) of Wings. After leaving the Moody Blues in early October 1966, he formed the Electric String Band in December 1966, which featured himself on guitar and vocals, Trevor Burton (another former member of The Move) on guitar, Viv Prince on drums, and electrified strings in a format not dissimilar to what Electric Light Orchestra would later attempt. Laine and Burton then went on to the band Balls from February 1969 until the band's breakup in 1971, with both also taking time to play in Ginger Baker's Air Force in 1970.
In 1971, Laine joined Paul McCartney to found Wings, and stayed with them for a full ten years until they officially disbanded in 1981. Laine provided lead and rhythm guitars, lead and backing vocals, keyboards, bass guitar, and woodwinds, as well as writing or co-writing some of their material. Together with Paul and his wife, Linda, they formed the nucleus of the band, being called that "strange, 3-winged beast". It was with Wings that Laine enjoyed the biggest commercial and critical successes of his career, including co-writing the smash hit "Mull of Kintyre".
