Henry McCullough, 72, Ulster-born guitarist (Spooky Tooth, McCartney's Wings, Cocker's Grease Band)

That Derek

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Jun 14, 2016, 11:20:59 AM6/14/16

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Wikipedia is reporting the death of Henry McCullough, guitar soloist on Paul McCartney's "My Love" and lead guitarist on "Hi Hi Hi" and "Live and Let Die," He also played guitar on the pre-stage concept production "Jesus Christ Superstar."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_McCullough

Bryan Styble

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Jun 14, 2016, 12:32:43 PM6/14/16

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Apparently no relation to dead-at-26 Wings guitarist Jimmy McCullough...

When looking this guy up in the wake of his unfortunate demise, I saw somewhere--although I can't seem to now find precisely where--that rock historians consider his lead work on "My Love" to be one of the greatest lead-guitar performances ever!

How on earth could anyone come to that conclusion? Now, I yield to no one in my estimation of McCartney's melodic gifts--he may be the most talent melody conjurer rock has produced, despite seldom demonstrating similar lyrical diligence--but "My Love" is hardly one of McCartney's better tunes. Its melody is boring and thus not very enjoyable, and its lyrics are banal at best and thoroughly lame at worst. And what about this supposedly for-the-ages lead work by McCullough? Well, it's very brief, rounding out just a single verse, and while sophisticated, hardly that memorable. (Indeed, so little that I had to review the track before writing this up.)

And CERTAINLY nothing very special in a genre that offers everyone from Clapton's to Jeff Beck's to Mark Knopfler's to Glen Campbell's astonishing talents. I mean, why listen to a few seconds of McCullough on a third-rate 45 when you can, say, savor over a half-hour of soaring, often breathtaking licks by Duane Allman and Richard Betts on the "[First There Is a] Mountain" jam by the Allman Brothers Band?

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida

MJ Emigh

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Jun 14, 2016, 2:26:02 PM6/14/16

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On Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 11:32:43 AM UTC-5, Bryan Styble wrote:
> rock historians consider his lead work on "My Love" to be one of the greatest lead-guitar performances ever!
>
> How on earth could anyone come to that conclusion?

Everybody gets a lot better when they die.

tr...@iwvisp.com

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Jun 14, 2016, 4:14:58 PM6/14/16

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With all due respect, Bryan, to your musical expertise, I think I'll go with Sir Paul's opinion...

Though McCullough only lasted one album with Wings, McCartney paid tribute to his former bandmate with a heartfelt note on Tuesday. "I was very sad to hear that Henry McCullough, our great Wings guitarist, passed away today," McCartney wrote in a blog post. "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."

Also, I was pleasantly surprised that you didn't somehow personally insert yourself into this story. :)

Ray Arthur

David Carson

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Jun 14, 2016, 8:01:31 PM6/14/16

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On Tue, 14 Jun 2016 09:32:41 -0700 (PDT), Bryan Styble
<radioacti...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Apparently no relation to dead-at-26 Wings guitarist Jimmy McCullough...

I suspected that because Jimmy McCulloch's last name was different than
his.

--
Dead or Alive Data Base
http://www.doadb.com

David Carson

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Jun 14, 2016, 8:20:34 PM6/14/16

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On Tue, 14 Jun 2016 19:01:25 -0500, David Carson <da...@neosoft.com> wrote:

>On Tue, 14 Jun 2016 09:32:41 -0700 (PDT), Bryan Styble
><radioacti...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>Apparently no relation to dead-at-26 Wings guitarist Jimmy McCullough...
>
>I suspected that because Jimmy McCulloch's last name was different than
>his.

Incidentally,Wings had ten members during its existence. Four of their
last names began with Mc. Three of them have died. None of the other six
have. Also, Hugh McCracken, who played on "Ram" before Paul began calling
his group Wings, died three years ago.

Since McCullough quit before the cover photo for "Band on the Run" was
made, the count of people in that photo who have died holds at five.

David Carson

Bryan Styble

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Jun 15, 2016, 12:05:36 AM6/15/16

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David Carson noted that Bryan Styble should read more carefully:

I suspect that because Jimmy McCulloch's last name was different than [McCullough's].
______________________________________________________________________________________

Glad you caught this, something to which I obviously was oblivious. I realize, based on some of your previous comments heaved my way, that you already think I'm a borderline moron, and I suppose this is just further evidence.

But I do appreciate the correction nonetheless!

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida

CDH

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Jun 15, 2016, 11:23:29 AM6/15/16

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On Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 12:32:43 PM UTC-4, Bryan Styble wrote:
> Apparently no relation to dead-at-26 Wings guitarist Jimmy McCullough...

That's because their names were spelled different.

Jimmy's is McCulloch

CDH

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Jun 15, 2016, 11:28:34 AM6/15/16

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On Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 11:20:59 AM UTC-4, That Derek wrote:
> Wikipedia is reporting the death of Henry McCullough, guitar soloist on Paul McCartney's "My Love" and lead guitarist on "Hi Hi Hi" and "Live and Let Die," He also played guitar on the pre-stage concept production "Jesus Christ Superstar."
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_McCullough

Can't believe that you or anyone else for that matter would use Wikipedia as your primary source for information. It was true in this case but everyone knows they're about as reliable as IMDb.

Also, there was never a group called McCartney's Wings. That's about as bad as one of my announcers playing "Follow You, Follow Me" and saying it was by Phil Collins and Genesis.

That Derek

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Jun 15, 2016, 12:12:45 PM6/15/16

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The only reason why I phrased it as "McCartney's Wings" was simply because it utilized less "real estate" in the subject line than "Paul McCartney and Wings" would have. IMHO, I absolutely feel that I effectively conveyed what was intended and that most readers/participants on this forum would have, likewise, picked up on it.

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bryan Styble

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Jun 15, 2016, 12:36:09 PM6/15/16

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"That Derek" defended his headline:

I absolutely feel that I effectively conveyed what was intended and that most readers/participants on this forum would have, likewise, picked up on it.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

I may indeed be as dimwitted as some herein allege--that's ya'll's call, not mine, after all--but Derek, I indeed likewise picked up on it. Without even trying.

And while there never was a McCarney's Wings, the name DID evolve: as I recall, they started out as Wings and soon enough bowed to commercial considerations and became Paul McCartney & Wings. (Or perhaps "and", but the ampersand is preferred here in titles even if Macca didn't employ it, and I'm too lazy to look it up right now.]

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida

Scott Brady

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Jun 15, 2016, 11:59:23 PM6/15/16

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On Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 10:28:34 AM UTC-5, CDH wrote:

> Can't believe that you or anyone else for that matter would use Wikipedia as your primary source for information. It was true in this case but everyone knows they're about as reliable as IMDb.

Do you accept the Belfast Telegraph as a source? Because that is the source cited by Wikipedia--which, by definition, is not a "primary source."

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/beatle-paul-mccartney-pays-tribute-to-former-wings-guitarist-and-northern-ireland-music-legend-henry-mccullough-who-has-died-34800555.html