Rockestra Theme
"Rockestra Theme" | ||||
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Single by Wings | ||||
from the album Back to the Egg | ||||
B-side | "Old Siam, Sir" | |||
Released | 1979 | (France)|||
Recorded | 3 October 1978 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:37 | |||
Label | Parlophone/EMI (Europe only) | |||
Songwriter(s) | Paul McCartney | |||
Producer(s) |
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Wings singles chronology | ||||
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"Rockestra Theme" is the fourth and final single on Wings' final studio album Back to the Egg.
Recording
"Rockestra Theme" was recorded on 3 October 1978 at
Personnel
Musicians who performed on both this song and on "So Glad To See You Here" included: Denny Laine, Laurence Juber, David Gilmour, Hank Marvin, Pete Townshend (guitars), Steve Holley, John Bonham, Kenney Jones (drums), Paul McCartney (piano, bass[3]), John Paul Jones, Ronnie Lane, Bruce Thomas (basses), Gary Brooker, Linda McCartney, Tony Ashton (keyboards), Speedy Acquaye, Tony Carr, Ray Cooper, Morris Pert (percussion), Howie Casey, Tony Dorsey, Steve Howard, Thaddeus Richard (horns).[4]
One person taken out of the Rockestra supergroup was Jeff Beck. After being asked by McCartney to participate, Beck requested to be able to have veto power over his own guitar contributions. McCartney subsequently withdrew Beck's invitation.[5]
In a 2001 interview on VH1, McCartney said Keith Moon was to have taken part in "Rockestra" but died one month before the recording sessions took place. Kenney Jones, who replaced Moon on drums within The Who, appeared instead. Wings' drummer Steve Holley described the recording session as "daunting".[6]
Personnel
- Paul McCartney – vocals, bass, piano
- Linda McCartney – keyboards, backing vocals
- Denny Laine – electric guitar
- Laurence Juber – electric guitar
- Steve Holley – drums
- David Gilmour – electric guitar
- Pete Townshend – electric guitar
- Hank Marvin – electric guitar
- Tony Ashton – keyboards
- Gary Brooker – piano
- Bruce Thomas – bass
- Ronnie Lane – bass
- John Paul Jones – bass, piano
- John Bonham – drums
- Kenney Jones – drums
- Ray Cooper – percussion
- Tony Carr – percussion
- Morris Pert – percussion
- Howie Casey – horns
- Tony Dorsey – horns
- Steve Howard – horns
- Thaddeus Richard – horns
- Speedy Acquaye – percussion
Live
The song was performed again at the
Most of the Rockestra wore silver suits for this performance. On the Concerts for Kampuchea home video, McCartney can be heard making a comment about Townshend before playing the song, making reference to Townshend being a "poof" (gay in British slang). "Thank you, Peter. Only lousy sod who wouldn't wear the silver suit. Cuz he's a poof." Townshend made comment about it in several interviews following the performance.[7] Juber can be seen walking up behind Townshend after McCartney's comment, and placing a silver top hat on his head. Townshend quickly grabs the hat and flings it into the audience. James Honeyman-Scott and Dave Edmunds filled in for Marvin and Gilmour as the former was in New Zealand while the latter was in Los Angeles, California as a tax exile with the rest of Pink Floyd rehearsing for the concerts in support of the then newly released album The Wall.
Aftermath
"Rockestra Theme" won the 1980
References
- ISBN 978-0-878-33304-2p. 123
- ^ 45cat.com
- ^ "Back to the Egg".
- ISBN 978-6-612-52441-7p. 91
- ISBN 978-0-711-97985-7p. 246
- ISBN 978-88-909122-1-4, p.182.
- ISBN 978-1-409-28301-0p. 307
- ^ "Grammy Award Nominees 1980 – Grammy Award Winners 1980". Awardsandshows.com. Retrieved 10 August 2019.