Venus and Mars

Venus and Mars is the fourth album by Wings, Paul McCartney's group formed after The Beatles' dissolution. Released as the follow-up to the enormously successful Band on the Run, Venus and Mars continued Wings' string of success and would prove a springboard for a year-long worldwide tour.

Context
After recording Band on the Run as a three-piece with wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine, McCartney added Jimmy McCulloch on lead guitar and Geoff Britton on drums to the Wings lineup in 1974. Having written several new songs for the next album, McCartney decided upon New Orleans, Louisiana as the recording venue, and Wings headed there in January 1975.

As soon as the sessions began, the personality clash that had been evident between McCulloch and Britton during Wings' 1974 sessions in Nashville became more pronounced, and Britton — after a mere six month stay — quit Wings, having only played on three of the new songs. A replacement, American Joe English, was quickly auditioned and hired to finish the album.

The sessions themselves proved to be very productive, not only finishing the entire album, but also several additional songs including two future McCartney B-sides: "Lunch Box/Odd Sox" and "My Carnival". McCartney also decided to link the songs together much like The Beatles had on Abbey Road to give the album a more continuous feel.

John Lennon, often in a nostalgic mood while in Los Angeles, had told May Pang (his then girlfriend) that he planned to visit the McCartneys during the recording sessions for Venus and Mars, but this was not to be. Lennon's planned visit would be permanently postponed due to his reunion with Yoko Ono.

Releases
Preceded by the single "Listen to What the Man Said" in May, Venus and Mars appeared two weeks later to decent reviews and brisk sales. The album reached #1 in the US, the UK and worldwide (as did "Listen to What the Man Said" in the US) and sold several million copies, even if the reaction was less than what had greeted Band on the Run a year earlier.

Two additional singles, "Letting Go" and "Venus and Mars/Rock Show" were released, though to less success. Although the latter almost reached the US Top 10, it didn't chart at all in the UK.

By September, Wings kicked off what would be their year-long Wings Over the World tour in the UK, with Australia, the United States and Canada pencilled in for the coming months; Venus and Mars material would be heavily featured.

In 1993, Venus and Mars was remastered and reissued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series with "Zoo Gang" (a UK television theme that was the UK B-side of "Band on the Run" in 1974), "Lunch Box/Odd Sox" (B-side of "Coming Up" in 1980), and "My Carnival" ("Spies Like Us"' B-side in 1985) as bonus tracks. In 2007, Venus and Mars was reissued in digital form on iTunes with these bonus tracks plus the 6-minute-plus "party mix" of "My Carnival".

Wings' interpretation of the theme to Crossroads, a British soap opera, was sometimes used to end the show in place of the regular theme tune, usually when there was a cliffhanger ending with a hint of sadness involved.

Track listing
All songs written by Paul McCartney, except where indicated.
 * 1) "Venus and Mars" – 1:20
 * 2) "Rock Show" – 5:31
 * 3) "Love in Song" – 3:04
 * 4) "You Gave Me the Answer" – 2:15
 * 5) "Magneto and Titanium Man" – 3:16
 * 6) "Letting Go" – 4:33
 * 7) "Venus and Mars (Reprise)" – 2:05
 * 8) "Spirits of Ancient Egypt" – 3:04
 * 9) *Lead vocal by Denny Laine
 * 10) "Medicine Jar" (Jimmy McCulloch/Colin Allen) – 3:37
 * 11) *Lead vocal by Jimmy McCulloch
 * 12) "Call Me Back Again" – 4:59
 * 13) "Listen to What the Man Said" – 4:01
 * 14) "Treat Her Gently/Lonely Old People" – 4:21
 * 15) "Crossroads Theme" (Tony Hatch) – 1:00

1993 Bonus Tracks

 * 1) "Zoo Gang"– 2:01 (Theme from the UK TV series The Zoo Gang)
 * 2) "Lunch Box/Odd Sox" – 3:50 (Previously released as B-side of "Coming Up")
 * 3) "My Carnival" – 3:57 (Previously released as B-side of "Spies Like Us")

iTunes exclusive tracks

 * 1) "My Carnival" (12" Party Mix) - 6:02
 * In 2007, upon adding McCartney's catalog of music, the iTunes Store added a never before released on CD version of "My Carnival", a "party mix". The extended version is the version released on the "Spies Like Us" 12" maxi-single in 1985.
 * Remixed by former Art of Noise member Gary Langan.

Personnel

 * Paul McCartney: Vocals,bass guitar, guitars, keyboards, piano.
 * Denny Laine: Guitars, keyboards, vocals.
 * Linda McCartney: Keyboards, percussion, vocals.
 * Jimmy McCulloch: Guitars, vocals.
 * Joe English: Drums, percussion.
 * Geoff Britton: Drums (tracks 3, 6 & 9).

Additional personnel

 * Kenneth "Afro" Williams: Conga
 * Dave Mason: Guitar
 * Tom Scott: Saxophone
 * Allen Toussaint: Piano, keyboards