NewsMcCartney mourns death of Wings guitarist Henry McCullough
Paul McCartney has paid tribute to former bandmate, Henry McCullough who died yesterday, aged 72.
The Northern Irish guitarist and songwriter spent two years with McCartney’s group Wings in the early 1970s and along with Denny Seiwell was infamously one of two members of the band who quit just before they were supposed to fly out to Lagos to record Band on the Run.
In Garry McGee’s 2003 book Band On The Run: A History of Paul McCartney and Wings, Paul is quoted as saying “Henry preferred to lead a more bluesy way of life and he left over musical differences. He was very good at the other stuff, but more into blues.”
McCullough played lead guitar on Hi Hi Hi, Live and Let Die and most memorably the 1973 single My Love. It’s his voice that can be heard at the end of Pink Floyd‘s Money, saying “I don’t know; I was really drunk at the time”.
Henry joined the Frankie Miller Band in 1975 and thereafter enjoyed a successful career as a session musician, playing live with artists such as Roy Harper, Ronnie Lane, Marianne Faithful and Donovan. He released a number of solo albums over the years, including 2002’s Unfinished Business and Poor Man’s Moon from 2008. His last was Shabby Road in 2012, the year he suffered a heart attack from which he would, ultimately, never make a full recovery.
Paul McCartney left this message on his website yesterday:
“I was very sad to hear that Henry McCullough, our great Wings guitarist, passed away today. He was a pleasure to work with, a super-talented musician with a lovely sense of humour. The solo he played on ‘My Love’ was a classic that he made up on the spot in front of a live orchestra. Our deepest sympathies from my family to his.“
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RIP Henry McCullough – You created a guitar solo for the ages.
I would love to see the ITV special which Paul Made at ATV released commercially, It is of many Beatle associated programmes which should see the light of day
Maybe Paul will release the film of the first Wings european tour now .
It’s a shame Henry and others didn’t get to share more stories in the Wingspan documentary. A number of unsung talented musicians came and went.
Was fortunate to see Henry four times a number of years ago at intimate gigs in Scotland, one of them the night after seeing Denny Laine at the same venue (Deliver your Children being one of his standouts on the night). Wow, what a guitarist and singer HM was. Big Barn Bed was storming but it was his own material that surprised me the most. Check out Unfinished Business or FBI Live for a taste of his genius. Another era over.
Henry was a good man.
It seems 2016 is a year for grief in the music world, maybe a sign for years to come as our rock heroes (male/female) get older. Ourselves also.
I miss TV shows like that one in the clip!
Great piece about Henry McCullough by Bob Lefsetz at http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2016/06/14/henry-mccullough/