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Clip of the Week

When the Nice – consisting of Keith Emerson, Lee Jackson and Brian Davison – were at the height of their popularity in the autumn of 1969 (guitarist and vocalist Davy O’List was no longer a member of the band by that point), I was a mere toddler just starting primary school. It would be another 14 years before I discovered their music by which time they had long been defunct. When I did start to explore their back catalogue after a school mate gave me the Five Bridges album it was a case of working backwards from Keith Emerson’s other, perhaps better known, band ELP of which I was already a fan… (READ ON)

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This Week’s Book Choice

The recently published “Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run” (Allen Lane) has given me a newly found respect for both Paul and Linda McCartney. For one of the most famous musicians in the world to experience what felt like an act of survival after the Beatles’ breakup, and to attempt to rebuild a band completely from scratch, both emotionally and creatively, is extraordinary. Linda McCartney’s resilience stands out. She ignored critics who slammed her for having the audacity to join a band led by one of the greatest songwriters of all time, while still learning to play herself. The early days of Wings were spent riding a relentless wave of criticism, with Paul’s early solo albums frequently dismissed, yet they pressed on regardless.

Paul begins with his and Linda’s isolation on the Kintyre Peninsula and their intense focus on family life. It had always struck me as a romantic way of living, but the day-to-day details reveal a reality that was anything but. He then moves on to describe – in remarkable detail – driving up to universities and announcing they would play for 50p a ticket, often met with disbelief. It’s incredible to think of them performing in student unions across the country with their three young children playing at the side of the stage. Paul refused to play Beatles songs and so the band had to repeat songs within the same set as they only had enough material for half an hour. The subsequent 1972 ‘Wings Over Europe’ tour, carried out in a brightly painted 1953 double-decker bus with a top speed of just 38 miles per hour, its open top converted into a makeshift play area for the children, is just as crazy.

The book charts Paul’s second rise to fame, once again built from basic beginnings. What shines through the most is Paul and Linda’s love for one another, their devotion to their family, and the sense that they were genuinely good, caring parents. The band looked after each other, quickly gelled, and built something real, unpretentious, and organic. It’s a fabulous read and an incredible story.

Neil Waite

Read all our previous book reviews here.

Toppermost Recommends

2 brand new books from
2 of our long-time contributors

The Gretsch Hollow-Body Field Guide: Setup, Tone and Stability by David Lewis

You’ve bought one of the most iconic guitars ever made. Now learn how to actually make it work. Most players approach a Gretsch hollow-body like a Fender or Gibson – and quickly become frustrated. This book explains why that doesn’t work, and what to do instead.

What makes this book different? This is not a generic guitar manual. It’s a player’s field guide – built from real-world experience – designed to help you understand how a Gretsch actually behaves in your hands. As the book explains, a Gretsch is “a guitar that plays honesty” – it reveals your touch, your timing, and your choices…

Persisting in the Truth: Peter Finnerty and the Birth of Activist Journalism by Andrew Shields

Peter Finnerty (c.1774-1822) was one of the most combative and consequential journalists of the Age of Revolutions. Despite this, historians have long overlooked his key role in helping to shape radical politics in England and Ireland in this period. The book delineates Finnerty’s role as a crucial link between the Irish radical movement of the late eighteenth century and its counterpart in Britain in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. It evaluates his ideas, his public life in both England and Ireland, and the legacy he left behind for those radical journalists who followed in his footsteps.

Finnerty’s turbulent career involved him in two notorious libel trials in 1797 and 1810. The first of which left him with little choice but to leave Ireland and essentially forced him to pursue a new career in England. During his years as a courageous and crusading journalist there, he frequently exposed corruption in high places…