Wide Prairie

Wide Prairie is a posthumous compilation album by Linda McCartney, compiled by her husband Paul McCartney and released in October 1998, roughly six months after her death due to breast cancer. The idea for the album was inspired by a fan who wrote Paul McCartney inquiring about "Seaside Woman", a song Wings released under the name Suzy and the Red Stripes featuring Linda on lead vocals.^[5]

Wide Prairie
Studio album / Compilation by Linda McCartney
Released	26 October 1998
Recorded	1972–1980, 1987–1989, 1998
Genre	Pop, rock
Length	52:09
Label	Parlophone
Producer	Paul McCartney Linda McCartney Lee Perry Ian Maidman
Compiler	Paul McCartney
Linda McCartney chronology
Ram (1971) Wide Prairie (1998)
Singles from Wide Prairie
"Wide Prairie" Released: 9 November 1998 "The Light Comes from Within" Released: January 1999

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[2]
NME	2/10[3]
Pitchfork	6.8/10[4]

Promotion and reception

To promote the album, Paul McCartney held an 80 minute webcast on 17 December 1998. During the show, McCartney answered questions submitted by the fans about Linda and the recording of the album, played promo videos and cooked mashed potatoes.^{[6][better source needed]} The album reached #127 in the UK charts with two singles released in support. The title track made the top 75, at #74,^[7] while "The Light Comes from Within" charted at #56.^[7]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording Information	Length
1.	"Wide Prairie"		Recorded by Wings on 20 November 1973 in Paris, and in July 1974 in Nashville, Tennessee.	4:33
2.	"New Orleans"		Recorded in New Orleans February 1975 during Wings sessions for their album Venus and Mars, with further recording taking place on 24 May 1979.	3:13
3.	"The White Coated Man"	Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney, Carla Lane	Recorded on 21 March 1988 and on 18 July 1989, a song critical of the practice of vivisection.	2:13
4.	"Love's Full Glory"		Recorded on 16 July and October 1980	3:46
5.	"I Got Up"	L. McCartney, P. McCartney	Recorded on 11 November 1973 and 20 March and 9 July 1998.	3:19
6.	"The Light Comes from Within"	L. McCartney, P. McCartney	Recorded on 18 March 1998 in Paul's Hog Hill Studio with Paul and son James McCartney, this turned out to be Linda's final recording session before her death.	2:57
7.	"Mister Sandman"	Pat Ballard	Recorded in Jamaica at The Black Ark studio, on 20 June 1977 and in Scotland in August of the same year.	2:50
8.	"Seaside Woman"		Recorded by Wings on 27 November 1972. Released as a single 31 May 1977. Included in a short film by Oscar Grillo that won the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival. The first song Linda ever wrote, according to Paul.	3:54
9.	"Oriental Nightfish"		Recorded by Wings on 4 October 1973 during sessions for Band on the Run. Included in a short film titled Oriental Nightfish by Linda McCartney and Ian Emes.	2:49
10.	"Endless Days"	L. McCartney, Mick Bolton	Recorded on 21 October 1987.	3:11
11.	"Poison Ivy"	Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller	Recorded on 21 October 1987.	2:54
12.	"Cow"	L. McCartney, P. McCartney, Lane	Recorded on 24 July 1988.	4:24
13.	"B-side to Seaside"	L. McCartney, P. McCartney	Recorded on 16 March 1977 specifically as the B-side for the single "Seaside Woman".	2:38
14.	"Sugartime"	Charlie Phillips, Odis Echols	Recorded in Jamaica at The Black Ark studio, on 20 June 1977 and on 7 July 1998 in England.	2:06
15.	"Cook of the House"	L. McCartney, P. McCartney	Originally released in 1976 on the Wings album Wings at the Speed of Sound and also as the B-side to "Silly Love Songs".	2:37
16.	"Appaloosa"	L. McCartney, P. McCartney	Recorded on 7 March 1998 in Paul's Hog Hill Studio, inspired by the history of the Nez Perce tribe and their Appaloosa horses.	4:44

All tracks are written by Linda McCartney, except where noted

Personnel

• Linda McCartney – lead, backing and harmony vocals, piano, electric piano, keyboards, mellotron, synthesizer
• Paul McCartney – backing and harmony vocals, speaking voice, bass, double bass, electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, piano, electric piano, clavinet, electronic organ, organ, mellotron, synthesizer, string synthesizer, drums, drum machine, congas, engineer, cover design
• James McCartney – electric and acoustic guitar (on "The Light Comes from Within")
• Denny Laine – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals (on "I Got Up"), piano (on "Seaside Woman"), flute (on "Oriental Nightfish")
• Jimmy McCulloch – electric guitar (on "Wide Prairie", "I Got Up" and "Cook of the House")
• Henry McCullough – electric guitar (on "Seaside Woman")
• Laurence Juber – acoustic guitar (on "Love's Full Glory")
• Robbie McIntosh – electric guitar (on "The White Coated Man")
• Billy Boy – electric guitar (on "Mister Sandman")
• Lloyd Green – pedal steel guitar (on "Love's Full Glory")
• Boris Gardiner – bass guitar (on "Mister Sandman" and "Sugartime")
• Joe English – drums (on "New Orleans" and "Cook of the House")
• Denny Seiwell – drums (on "Seaside Woman")
• Mike "Boo" Richards – drums (on "Mister Sandman" and "Sugartime")
• Davey Lutton – drums (on "Wide Prairie" and "I Got Up")
• Ian Maidman – bass, drums, engineer and producer (on "Endless Days" and "Poison Ivy"), electric guitar and backing vocals (on "Poison Ivy")
• Geoffrey Richardson – mandolin, slide guitar (on "Endless Days")
• Mick Bolton – piano, keyboards, backing vocals (on "Endless Days" and "Poison Ivy")
• Steve Johnson – string synthesizer, synth bass, trumpet (on "The White Coated Man")
• Winston Wright – keyboards (on "Mister Sandman")
• Vassar Clements and Johnny Gimble - fiddles (on "Wide Prairie")
• Thaddeus Richard – alto saxophone (on "Wide Prairie")
• William Puett – tenor saxophone (on "Wide Prairie")
• Norman Ray – baritone saxophone (on "Wide Prairie")
• Hewlett Quillen – trombone (on "Wide Prairie")
• George Tidwell and Barry McDonald – trumpets (on "Wide Prairie")
• Steve Fletcher – backing vocals (on "Poison Ivy")
• Carla Lane – spoken verse (on "The White Coated Man" and "Cow")
• Lee Perry – producer (on "Mister Sandman" and "Sugartime")

References

1. Wide Prairie at AllMusic
2. Schinder, Scott (20 November 1998). "Wide Prairie". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
3. Beaumont, Mark (4 November 1998). "Linda McCartney - Wide Prairie (Parlophone)". NME. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000.
4. Greene, Jayson (8 August 2019). "Linda McCartney: Wide Prairie Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
5. Mike Kovacich (27 October 1998). "Paul McCartney – :Wide Prairie – MACCA-Central, The Paul McCartney FUNsite". Macca-central.com. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
6. Beatleson Film ^{[dead link]}
7. "Chart Log UK: M – My Vitriol". Zobbel.de. Retrieved 6 May 2013.

External links

• Wide Prairie at Macca-central.com Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine