Flash back to 1976. My friend Lloyd and I had made the hundred mile trip from Phoenix to Tucson to see Paul McCartney and Wings on the only Arizona stop of their now legendary Wings Over America tour. Paul’s choice of putting Tucson on the schedule and skipping Phoenix was more than likely due to his wife Linda’s ties to the Old Pueblo.
Lloyd, who we called Loyd for short, had recently purchased a mini-cassette recorder for the occasion and had cleverly and clandestinely taped it to his leg. As for me, I was determined to get an interview with the former Beatle.
We walked into the venue and there he was, Sir Paul McCartney! Loyd bent down and clicked his recorder on through his pant leg and we manuevered as close as we possibly could.
I had come prepared so I wasted no time in firing my first question. “Paul,” I said, boxers or briefs?”
‘Twas a brilliant query, a rare one that demanded an answer bathed in full disclosure and dripping with enlightenment. The cute Beatle stared in my direction for what seemed an eternity, carefully analyzing the posit, calculating a response that would more than likely make the earth tremble. But Paul didn’t answer. He was on stage singing and playing about 150 yards away.
I don’t think he even heard me.
After extending him the professional courtesy of a long pregnant pause, and with no response forthcoming, I took charge of the situation. “Fine,” I blurted out, ”this interview is OVER!” Then I put my frizzy, multi-colored wig on and held up a cardboard sign that said John 3:16 for the rest of the show.
All was not lost however. Loyd managed to fly below the radar and record the entire concert. When Wings released their live album, “Wings Over America,” he was actually able to identify the songs that were recorded at the Tucson show by matching the crowd noises on his bootleg recording with those on the record.
If you listen real closely to the “Wings Over America” live CD, right in the middle of Band On The Run you can hear some total freaking idiot screaming, “Boxers or briefs? Boxers or briefs?” “Boxers or briefs?”
Obviously recorded in Tucson.
We’re all older now and we’ve mellowed, but one thing has remained constant over the years. Concert promoters will gladly sell a ticket to any fool who has enough money to buy one.
Koo koo ka-choo.
Gesundheit.
