As the lights dimmed in the theater, today's Paul McCartney coms on the screen to welcome his fans who are in the theater, and introduces the documentary and reminds us that 3 of the 5 band mates of Wings are no longer with us (Linda, Denny and Jimmy). As "One Hand Clapping" (filmed in 1974; 67 min.) opens, Paul licks the band into "Jet" and we are off...
Couple of comments: these live studio sessions were recorded in August and October, 1974, after the massive success of Band On the Run, but before the release of Venus and Mars in 1975. All the songs included here go up to and including Band On the Run. The sessions seem fun, and the band. With two 2 members (Jimmy and Geoff) sound great. Alas, the video quality of the documentary is pretty rough, to be honest. Still, there is much to enjoy, including stirring renditions of Live and Let Die (with orchestra) and Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five (the initial half is just Paul on piano, joined midway by the rest of the band and the orchestra). The big surprise comes after the closing credits, when today's Paul reappears to introduce "The Backyard", a short (10 min.) solo acoustic set in which Paul rips through 5 songs. If you have CD released some months ago, the documentary covers all of CD1 (the CD does not include "the Backyard" acoustic set, unfortunately).
"One Hand Clapping" opened this weekend in select theaters. The afternoon screening where I saw this today in a fairly small auditorium here in Cincinnati was filled to the rafters. As a lifelong Macca fan, I couldn't wait to see this. It's a nice little addition to the McCartney catalog. If you are a Macca fan, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
