Okay, so Ram was released and sold very very well. McCartney had his first #1 US hit in “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” but the reviews were terrible by critics and his ex-band mates.
The lawsuit heightened the tension between he and Lennon and reach its zenith of fighting in public soon after this.
Wings went into the studio in late July for 5 days of loose and quick recordings. Paul claimed he had seen Bob Dylan knock off his NEW MORNING album in a week, and wanted to put his new band through the same ritual.
August 3rd had Paul announcing the new “band.”
On September 9th that year Lennon released his next solo album, IMAGINE. Besides its legendary title track, it was reviewed very positively.
John responded to the digs that Paul had included in RAM (“Too Many People”), as well as those that HE THOUGHT were digs at he and Yoko (“Three Legs” and “Dear Boy”) .
Lennon chose to put on the back cover a mock of Paul’s Ram cover.
The true blow to the face was his including the song, “How Do You Sleep.” Painting Paul as untalented, a “corporate square” who jumped at Linda’s whim.. It truly was a biting and vicious song (see lyrics)
How Do You Sleep
John Lennon
So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise
You better see right through that mother’s eyes
Those freaks was right when they said you was dead
The one mistake you made was in your head
How do you sleep?
How do you sleep at night?
You live with straights who tell you, you was king
Jump when your momma tell you anything
The only thing you done was yesterday
And since you’ve gone you’re just another day
How do you sleep?
How do you sleep at night?
How do you sleep?
How do you sleep at night?
A pretty face may last a year or two
But pretty soon they’ll see what you can do
The sound you make is muzak to my ears
You must have learned something in all those years
How do you sleep?
How do you sleep at night?
Later that year Wings (named on September 13th) recorded just a bit more,
With Paul mixing and preparing the album for a pre-Christmas release.
In this time he decided to be a bigger man and stop the fighting in public and wrote a song from his heart that was an attempt to reach out to John to end the war of words. This song was called “Dear Friend.”
Though the tension was diffused to a great degree it wasn’t until after Paul won the legal battle and the three other ex-Beatles saw new evidence of Klein taking financial advantage all of them.
A “I guess Paul was right” was about the closest we got to a realization that maybe the years of fighting and bitterness were ultimately unnecessary.
Paul sat down Linda in front of the piano and started to teach her the basics, lessons were taken and she was in his new band.
Paul had been itching for years to get back on the road in any fashion and started jammed with his new band and planned their first moves outside of the studio.
Up next…. My review of the tracks and reflections of the WILD LIFE release….
A Life Through The Eyes Of A Man 