Macca's Gems: Bluebird

Jamaica has brought us a lot of beautiful music. And I am not even referring to reggae, which originates from the Caribbean island. Jamaica is also a favorite Paul McCartney holiday resort and during the many times he visited the island, McCartney has written some great songs there. Such as Souvenir, from the 1997 album Flaming Pie, or Picasso's Last Words, to be found on the album Band on the Run. That one also contains Bluebird, a song he composed during a vacation two years earlier.

All alone on a desert island 
We're living in the trees, 
And we're flying in the breeze
We’re the Bluebirds


These four lines of the final verse summarize the essence of the song. Listening to the calypso-like rhythm you imagine yourself on a tropical island; it sounds light and gives you a sense of freedom. As if you can fly away like a bird at any moment, fleeing the worries of everyday life. And with that, Bluebird builds on the theme of the album Band on the Run, just like the title track or a song such as Mrs. VandeBilt.




Bluebird was already written in 1971, but it takes two years before it appears on an album. However, the audience is introduced to the song before. In a medley that can be seen and heard in the James Paul McCartney TV special, aired early 1973, a short excerpt appears. And in 1971, Paul and Linda McCartney would have sung the song live during an interview for a radio station in New York. It was finally recorded in 1973 by Paul, Linda and Denny Laine in Lagos, Nigeria during the recording sessions of Band on the Run. It is the only track on the album that also features a Nigerian musician. But the contribution of percussionist Remi Kebaka, a session musician working in England, was added funny enough during overdub sessions in London, when the band had long since returned from Nigeria. In addition to the album Band on the Run, Bluebird appears in Australia and Europe as the B-side of the single Mrs. VandeBilt. 

The acoustic track stands out in a number of respects. Firstly, the beautiful harmonies by Paul, Linda and Denny, during the chorus of the song. But especially the saxophone solo makes Bluebird a true McCartney classic. The saxophonist is Howie Casey, an old acquaintance of Paul from Liverpool, who, like the Beatles, performed in Hamburg in his younger years. Unlike John, Paul, George and Ringo, Casey was already an experienced musician at the time, who initially wasn’t very pleased by the arrival of the young band of which he thought, wasn’t very professional. How ironic.

Video: Paul en Howie Casey rehearsing Bluebird (taken from the never released movie One Hand Clapping):

Two years after the recording of Bluebird, Howie Casey joins the Wings horn section while touring the world in 1975/76. There he gets his own "moment of fame" during the live performance of Bluebird. This version is played by Paul and Denny Laine on twelve-string acoustic guitars, Jimmy McCulloch on a regular acoustic guitar, a rhythm box and subtle drumming by Joe English. As far as I'm concerned, this is the most beautiful version of the song.

Video: Bluebird (live)

When Wings is denied entry to Japan on the same tour because McCartney is convicted of drug possession, the band uses the song in a video message to Japanese fans:

Video Message: 

The 1975/76 live version also appears on the triple live album Wings over America, but it then disappears from the set list of Wings and McCartney solo. Until 2010. To everyone's surprise, Bluebird is played during the Up and Coming Tour in Argentina and Brazil. This performance does not compare that of Wings, more than thirty years earlier. Perhaps that's why it's only been done at two shows. But since then, McCartney does play the song regularly at the sound check.

Video: Bluebird (Live, Argentina, 2010) 

Related Posts:

1976: Wings Over America
The Band On The Run Album Live
10 Favorite McCartney Songs On Acoustic Guitar

André Homan

André Homan is a Dutch writer and journalist.

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