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TL;DR:

  • One of Paul McCartney’s songs was named after his Land Rover.
  • He felt the track was very British, which made it different from many other “road songs.”
  • The song became more popular in the United States than it was in the United Kingdom.
Paul McCartney in a car
Paul McCartney | McCarthy / Stringer

One of Paul McCartney‘s songs from his post-Beatles career was inspired by a car. In addition, the song was meant to evoke Britain. Notably, the tune appeared on American editions of one of Wings’ albums but not the British editions of the album.

1 of Paul McCartney’s songs was inspired by a car that the former Beatle liked to drive around Scotland

In the 1976 book Paul McCartney: In His Own Words, Paul discussed Wings’ single “Helen Wheels.” “Helen Wheels is our Land Rover,” he said. “It’s a name we gave to our Land Rover, which is a trusted vehicle that gets us around Scotland. 

“It takes us up to the Shetland Islands and down to London,” Paul added. “The song starts off in Glasgow, and it goes past Carlisle, goes to Kendal, Liverpool, Birmingham, and London.”

Paul McCartney discussed what made ‘Helen Wheels’ different from other road songs

In the 2015 book Conversations with McCartney, Paul explained why he was fond of the song “Helen Wheels.” “I like that because it’s a British road song and there’s not many of those around,” he said. “It’s always Route 66. How many songs have got Carlisle in them? And Birmingham, not Birmingham, Alabama. The M6 … Linda loved Scotland. 

“I still love setting off in London, going up the motorway, and you see the land change,” he said. “It’s like going all the way through America. We always cheer as we go over the border then around Loch Lomond. It’s got a lot of memories for me, that Land Rover with everything in the back, dogs, kids, us all up at the front, and me, driving on this epic journey.”

How ‘Helen Wheels’ performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“Helen Wheels” became a modest hit in the United States and the United Kingdom. The tune reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 13 weeks. “Helen Wheels” appeared on the U.S. version of Wings’ album Band on the Run. That album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for four of its 120 weeks on the chart. In the United States, Band on the Run became the most popular Wings album.

According to The Official Charts Company, “Helen Wheels” reached No. 12 in the U.K. and stayed on the chart for 12 weeks. The hit appeared on the Wings compilation album, Wingspan: Hits and History. The compilation reached No. 5 in the U.K. and stayed on the chart for seven weeks. “Helen Wheels” gained renewed attention when Def Leppard recorded the song for the cover album The Art of McCartney.

“Helen Wheels” was a hit for Wings and it might not exist without a certain car.

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