Recording: Mull Of Kintyre by Wings – 9 August 1977

Tuesday 9 August 1977 | Spirit of Ranachan Studio, Low Ranachan Farm, Campbeltown, Scotland
Producer: Paul McCartney | Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Mark Vigars

On 9 August 1977, Wings continued recording ‘Mull Of Kintyre’ at the Spirit of Ranachan Studio at Low Ranachan Farm near Campbeltown, Scotland. The basic track had been laid down the previous day by Paul McCartney and Denny Laine alone. This session was devoted primarily to recording the bagpipes and drums, performed by the 14 members of the Campbeltown Pipe Band.

The Campbeltown Pipe Band

McCartney described how the collaboration with the local pipe band came about:

“The pipes on the track are the local pipes band, the actual Kintyre pipers. They all live there now. They are all farmers, farmers’ sons and an ex-copper from Glasgow. They are a nice bunch. We had done the song so I gave them a tape and a fellow came up to my house with his bagpipes. He was going to play them but he decided it would be a bit too loud indoors so we went out into the garden and he starts tuning up. I took my guitar out and found out what key he was in, ‘cause I don’t know anything about bagpipes. I still don’t, actually. So we worked it out, I gave him a tape, he went back, rehearsed it with his lads and then came up a couple of weeks later. I said, ‘Are you having any problems with it?’ They said, ‘No, no problems.’”

— Paul McCartney

The pipers were: pipe major Tony Wilson, pipe sergeant Dougie Lang, John McGeachy, Ian McKerral, Archie Coffield, John Lang Brown and David McIvor. The drummers were: drum sergeant Campbell Maloney, Ian McKenzie, David Hastie, Jimmy McGeachy, bass drummer Tommy Blue, and tenor drummers Ian Campbell and John McCallum.

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The Recording

Engineer Geoff Emerick used ten Neumann KM84 microphones to record the bagpipes, which took around three takes to capture. The microphones were then repositioned outside the Spirit of Ranachan Studio to record the drums. The drum overdub began at around 10pm, with the players double-tracking their performance.

With the recording complete, Wings’ roadie Trevor Jones arrived with a wheelbarrow containing McEwan’s beer, Famous Grouse whisky, Coca-Cola and lemonade. The young Mary and Stella McCartney served as the evening’s waitresses. The party continued until 1am, when the Pipe Band’s minibus arrived to take them back into Campbeltown — though some musicians were reportedly found comatose on the farm the following morning.

McCartney was initially sceptical about releasing the song as a single:

“When we finished it, all the pipers said, ‘Aye, it’s got to be a single, that.’ It was up to them, really, to do it. I thought it was a little too specialised to bring out as a single, you would have to bring out something that has something with more mass appeal. But they kept saying, ‘Oh, the exiled Scots all over the world. It’ll be a big single for them.’ Yet I still thought, ‘Yeah, well, but there’s maybe not enough exiled Scots,’ but they kept telling me, after a few drinks.”

— Paul McCartney

The pipers’ instinct proved correct. Released in November 1977, ‘Mull Of Kintyre’ became the first single to sell over two million copies in the UK, topping the charts for nine weeks and becoming the best-selling UK single of 1977.

Pay and Legacy

McCartney subsequently received criticism after it emerged that, despite enormous global royalties, the musicians had been paid just a standard union rate of £350, plus £30 for appearing in the song’s video. He later sent a bonus cheque of £200 to each performer. The success of ‘Mull Of Kintyre’ also enabled the Campbeltown Pipe Band to record and release their own music.

Pipe master Tony Wilson reflected on the experience in 1978:

“All the boys are proud to have played on the record. McCartney’s a genius. The pipes are part of Scotland and there is nothing new in that… Paul’s song has done wonders for Kintyre but we won’t be earning royalties from the song. We were paid as session musicians for the job. We did the job and got paid for it and that’s that.”

— Tony Wilson, 1978, Pipe Master, Campbeltown Pipe Band

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Key Facts

Low Ranachan Farm, Campbeltown,