On This Day in Beatles History: Wings Record in Nashville – Bridge Over The River Suite, Wide Prairie & Send Me The Heart – 11 July 1974

Q: What did Wings record in Nashville on 11 July 1974?

Wings recorded Bridge Over The River Suite (completed), added overdubs to Wide Prairie for Linda McCartney, and recorded Denny Laine's Send Me The Heart.

Q: What is Bridge Over The River Suite?

A Wings instrumental begun as Mood Music in 1972, released as the B-side of Walking In The Park With Eloise by The Country Hams in October 1974.

Q: What happened to Wide Prairie?

Wide Prairie was released on Linda McCartney's posthumous album of the same name in 1998, compiled by Paul McCartney after Linda's death.

Q: What happened with Jimmy McCulloch at the Nashville session?

McCulloch walked off the session, returned drunk, threw a Coca-Cola bottle at the control room glass, and was ejected by studio owner Buddy Killen.

July 11, 2026

On This Day in Beatles History: Wings Record in Nashville – Bridge Over The River Suite, Wide Prairie & Send Me The Heart – 11 July 1974

On 11 July 1974, Wings held two recording sessions at Sound Shop Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, working on three songs that would each be released by a different act. Produced by Paul McCartney and engineered by Ernie Winfrey, the sessions featured Wings augmented by a brass section of Nashville session musicians — and were not without incident.

Session Details

Date: 11 July 1974
Studio: Sound Shop Studio, Nashville, Tennessee
Producer: Paul McCartney
Engineer: Ernie Winfrey
Session one: 2–5.30pm
Session two: 6pm–midnight
Tracks recorded: 'Bridge Over The River Suite', 'Wide Prairie', 'Send Me The Heart'

The Musicians

In addition to Wings, the sessions featured a brass section hired by studio owner Buddy Killen and arranged by trombonist Tony Dorsey, who had been commissioned by McCartney to write the parts. The additional musicians were:

Saxophones: Thaddeus Richard, William Puett, Norman Ray
Trumpets: George Tidwell, Barry McDonald
Trombones: Tony Dorsey, Dale Quillen

The evening session also featured Nashville pedal steel legend Buddy Emmons on 'Send Me The Heart'.

Bridge Over The River Suite

'Bridge Over The River Suite' was an instrumental piece that had begun life at Abbey Road on 29 September 1972, during the Red Rose Speedway sessions, under the working title 'Mood Music'. It was completed on 11 July 1974, with Tony Dorsey’s brass arrangement built on suggestions from McCartney.

The piece was released as the B-side of the single 'Walking In The Park With Eloise', credited not to Wings but to The Country Hams — a pseudonym that allowed McCartney to release the material in a more low-key fashion. The single came out on 18 October 1974 in the UK and 2 December 1974 in the US. 'Walking In The Park With Eloise' was a song written by McCartney’s father, Jim McCartney, and the Nashville sessions gave Paul the opportunity to record it with the kind of country and brass instrumentation it deserved.

Wide Prairie

'Wide Prairie' had been earmarked for a Linda McCartney solo project. The backing track was recorded in France on 21 November 1973, with additional overdubs laid down at Sound Shop Studio on 26 June 1974. On 11 July, more saxophones and trumpets were added to the track, building out the arrangement.

The song was eventually released on Linda McCartney’s posthumous solo album Wide Prairie in 1998, more than two decades after this Nashville session. The album was compiled and released by Paul McCartney following Linda’s death in April 1998 and stands as a testament to her musical ambitions beyond her role in Wings.

Send Me The Heart

The evening session was devoted to 'Send Me The Heart', a song written by Wings guitarist and vocalist Denny Laine. Laine had written it after being encouraged by McCartney to compose something influenced by their time in Nashville. The recording featured Wings plus Buddy Emmons on pedal steel — a quintessentially Nashville touch that gave the track a country flavour.

'Send Me The Heart' was not released as a Wings track. It eventually appeared on Denny Laine’s 1980 solo album Japanese Tears, by which point Wings had effectively ceased to exist.

The Jimmy McCulloch Incident

The evening session was not without drama. Guitarist Jimmy McCulloch — who had joined Wings earlier in 1974 — found little to do during the recording of 'Send Me The Heart' and walked off the session. He returned to the studio control room later that night, drunk, and threw a Coca-Cola bottle at the glass partition dividing the control room from the main studio area. Studio owner Buddy Killen threw him out.

The incident added to the tensions that characterised this period of Wings’ history. McCulloch was a gifted guitarist but a volatile presence, and his behaviour in Nashville was symptomatic of the difficulties McCartney faced in managing the band’s personnel during the mid-1970s. McCulloch remained in Wings until 1977 and died in September 1979 at the age of 26.

Wings in Nashville, 1974

The Nashville sessions of June and July 1974 were part of a broader period of activity for Wings following the enormous commercial success of Band on the Run, released in December 1973. That album — recorded in Lagos, Nigeria, under difficult circumstances after two members of the band quit on the eve of the sessions — had restored McCartney’s critical standing and reached number one in both the UK and US.

The Nashville trip allowed McCartney to explore a different musical environment, working with local session players and absorbing the country and roots influences that had always been part of his musical vocabulary. The sessions produced material that would surface across several different releases over the following years, from the Country Hams single to Linda’s posthumous album.

Nashville, Tennessee — where Wings held two sessions at Sound Shop Studio on 11 July 1974, recording 'Bridge Over The River Suite', 'Wide Prairie', and 'Send Me The Heart'.

On This Day in Beatles History

Date: 11 July 1974
Artist: Wings (Paul McCartney)
Studio: Sound Shop Studio, Nashville, Tennessee
Producer: Paul McCartney | Engineer: Ernie Winfrey
Bridge Over The River Suite: Completed; released as B-side of 'Walking In The Park With Eloise' by The Country Hams (UK: 18 Oct 1974; US: 2 Dec 1974)
Wide Prairie: Saxophone and trumpet overdubs added; released on Linda McCartney’s posthumous album Wide Prairie (1998)
Send Me The Heart: Recorded with Buddy Emmons on pedal steel; released on Denny Laine’s Japanese Tears (1980)
Incident: Jimmy McCulloch walked off the session, returned drunk, threw a bottle at the control room glass, and was ejected by Buddy Killen

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Frequently Asked Questions

What did Wings record in Nashville on 11 July 1974?

Wings held two sessions at Sound Shop Studio, recording 'Bridge Over The River Suite' (completed), adding overdubs to 'Wide Prairie' for a Linda McCartney solo project, and recording Denny Laine’s 'Send Me The Heart'.

What is Bridge Over The River Suite?

'Bridge Over The River Suite' is a Wings instrumental that began as 'Mood Music' during the Red Rose Speedway sessions in 1972. It was released as the B-side of 'Walking In The Park With Eloise' by The Country Hams in October 1974.

Who are The Country Hams?

The Country Hams was a pseudonym used by Paul McCartney and Wings for the release of the 'Walking In The Park With Eloise'/'Bridge Over The River Suite' single in 1974.

What happened to Wide Prairie?

'Wide Prairie' was recorded for a Linda McCartney solo project. It was eventually released on her posthumous album Wide Prairie in 1998, compiled by Paul McCartney after Linda’s death.

What happened with Jimmy McCulloch at the Nashville session?

McCulloch walked off the 'Send Me The Heart' session, returned drunk, and threw a Coca-Cola bottle at the control room glass. Studio owner Buddy Killen ejected him. The incident added to tensions within the band.

Who was Buddy Emmons?

Buddy Emmons was one of Nashville’s most celebrated pedal steel guitarists, widely regarded as one of the finest players of the instrument. He played on the 'Send Me The Heart' session on 11 July 1974.