Lifelong Beatles and Macca fan with information for Macca & Wings fans
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Greetings,
As a Hey Jude baby that was rocked in his pram, to the boy who wanted to know why The Beatles split-up at a time before I had even attended infants school, I've always, always, always been a Beatles fan, and also a fan of much of the post-Beatles music as well.
When Paul's twitter account posted in December 2017, asking about the whereabouts of the 1972 Wings Tour Bus, which they had heard maybe about again, I happened to see that tweet as it was posted, and being a good finder of stuff online, I got on the case and replied within minutes.
The Wings Tour Bus had been shipped back to the UK after being in Tenerife for 24 or so years and was hopefully going to be restored and used by a UK based international children's charity for fundraising.
The story of this bus was such that I wanted to write it up and I did so in a (free) blog which can be found here.
I have followed what has happened since and the bus has changed ownership, with the person at the charity unable to follow-through on their intentions, but it has been sold to someone who also wants to restore it but instead, put it on display.
This Bristol KSW5G bus, that was originally built and registered in 1953 as a typical double-decker of its day, that became an open-top tour bus and went around Europe with Paul McCartney and Wings in 1972, was then used as an events bus, nearly scrapped in the late 1980s, but was saved and used again, went to Cannes as part of a British Film rally, appeared on Surprise Surprise! (UK TV show), before being repainted with its 1972 Tour livery, for sale in 1993.
It was then sold on to a rock cafe owner who took it to Tenerife to be an attraction for the cafe, but ended up being left in a ravine there, before being brought back to the UK in 2017.
I recently updated my blog about the extraordinary history of this bus, with an entry here.
Some of the initial and necessary restoration has been performed, but there is plenty more to do. The bus is moving again under its own power for the first time in about 25 years so things are looking good for a full restoration to occur.
The current owner is a man called Tom Jennings, and if you want to know more about what his plans are for the bus, because I think Macca fans, and Wings fans in particular, might be a little bit interested, he has created a web site which you can find here.
It was a labour of love researching and writing about this, so I hope at least some of you find it of interest, too.
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Very cool! Thanks for the info!
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Thanks Radio Jammor for the information. Like Nancy I am a massive Paul McCartney Solo and Wings fan. I think the 2nd disc on the 2018 Red Rose Speedway Reissue/Remaster (sold by Target at the time) really showcased many of the songs performed by Paul and Wings during those 1972 Shows. Some of the songs on that 2nd disc and performed by the band were...Country Dreamer, I Lie Around, The Mess, 1882, Thank You Darling, Seaside Woman, Tragedy, Best Friend, Live and Let Die etc. Many of those songs (changing the original Red Rose Speedway to a double album) would have made made Red Rose such a better album. I particularly think that Henry McCullough was a very underrated lead guitaritst within the Band.
I will be interested in hearing the progress of the restored double decker origninal Wings' bus. In my opinion, it should be showcased in a future Paul and Linda McCartney museum.
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Haven't we had threads about this bus before? Maybe the pictures just showed up in one thread or another.
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oobu24 wrote:
Haven't we had threads about this bus before? Maybe the pictures just showed up in one thread or another.
Yeah, we've talked about it before. I had seen the one where it was abandoned in Tenerife.
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B J Conlee wrote:
Thanks Radio Jammor for the information. Like Nancy I am a massive Paul McCartney Solo and Wings fan. I think the 2nd disc on the 2018 Red Rose Speedway Reissue/Remaster (sold by Target at the time) really showcased many of the songs performed by Paul and Wings during those 1972 Shows. Some of the songs on that 2nd disc and performed by the band were...Country Dreamer, I Lie Around, The Mess, 1882, Thank You Darling, Seaside Woman, Tragedy, Best Friend, Live and Let Die etc. Many of those songs (changing the original Red Rose Speedway to a double album) would have made made Red Rose such a better album. I particularly think that Henry McCullough was a very underrated lead guitaritst within the Band.
I will be interested in hearing the progress of the restored double decker origninal Wings' bus. In my opinion, it should be showcased in a future Paul and Linda McCartney museum.
Agreed 100% can' t wait for such a museum to come into reality!
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oobu24 wrote:
Haven't we had threads about this bus before? Maybe the pictures just showed up in one thread or another.
The one I found was from 2019, so excuse me for bringing things up to date, with information about the current owner and their plans to restore it.
I will be interested in hearing the progress of the restored double decker origninal Wings' bus. In my opinion, it should be showcased in a future Paul and Linda McCartney museum..
This is a nice idea, but the problem with it is that this does not exist in the here and now. Perhaps this will come to pass, but for the moment, there are a number of vintage automobile museums that it could go into as a home, and a number of UK based events that it could be put on display at. Mr Jennings is very much on the case as to where it may be homed, and does have somewhere in particular in mind, although he seems have to a number of options.
He is actually keen for the bus to travel and attend events (probably on a loader), especially in 2022, fifty years on from the tour. I think he would like to see it revisit the European venues it went to in 1972!
I do know some of the more immediate plans that Mr Jennings has for the bus, but they are still plans, and are his to share when he is ready to do so, so I am honour-bound to not reveal them, at least not before he does.
As I said before, I think fans might be a little bit excited about some of these plans - because I am a little bit excited about them.
So yeah, I'll update here when I know more, but feel free to follow http://www.1972wingstourbus.com/ for yourselves.
Also Fb: https://www.facebook.com/1972wingstourbus/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/72WingsTourBus
