Video: 'Wingspan Paul and Linda McCartney Documentary' (Wings Over Europe Tour at 38:19)

(Sunday, July 9, 1972, evening Central European Time; during the Wings Over Europe Tour) — Paul McCartney’s newly formed band, Wings, launched a tour of Continental Europe tonight before approximately 2,000 fans at the Centre Culturel de Châteauvallon in Ollioules, France.

With 25 shows in nine countries through Aug. 24, 1972, it was McCartney’s first performance in Continental Europe since The Beatles made a three-city swing through Germany in June 1966.

Wings’ lineup for the tour was Paul and Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Henry McCullough, and Denny Seiwell. The band, with the McCartney children and their road crew, loaded up in a brightly colored double-decker bus for the tour of the continent.

Video: '1972 07 09 Wings over Europe Launch. Paul and Linda McCartney'

The tour proceeded largely without incident, but on Aug. 10, 1972, in Gothenburg, Sweden, Paul and Linda McCartney were fined US$1,200 for possession of marijuana. Paul joked that the incident would “make good publicity” for the tour, in comments reported around the world at the time.

Following tonight’s opening show, Paul enthusiastically offered his view on the tour to Melody Maker reporter Chris Charlesworth, who naturally begins by asking him “why no British dates?”

Paul optimistically replied: “We will play there some time or other, but not right now. The audiences are very critical in Britain and we’re a new band just starting out – no matter what we’ve been through before. We have to get worked in before doing any big shows in Britain or America.”