Wings was a folk rock

Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...

 band from the late sixties (not to be confused with the band Wings

Wings (band)

Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....

 later formed by Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

). The band members were veterans from an assortment of other sixties bands. Initially, the band was made up of Oz Bach of Spanky and Our Gang

Spanky and Our Gang

Spanky and Our Gang was an American 1960s folk-rock band led by Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane. The band derives its name from Hal Roach's popular Our Gang comedies of the 1930s...

 on bass, Pam Robins of Serendipity Singers sang, and on guitar Eddie Simon, younger brother of Paul Simon

Paul Simon

Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...

 of Simon & Garfunkel. Before their first and only album was recorded, Eddie Simon was replaced with Jim Mason who co-wrote the Peter, Paul and Mary

Peter, Paul and Mary

Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...

 song "I Dig Rock and Roll Music

I Dig Rock and Roll Music

"I Dig Rock and Roll Music" is a song recorded in 1967 by the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. The writing credits are given as Stookey-Mason-Dixon. Stookey is the "Paul" of Peter, Paul and Mary. "Mason" is musician and producer Jim Mason. "Dixon" is Dave Dixon, who was later a popular air...

". Also playing in the band was keyboardist Steve Knight

Steve Knight (musician)

Steve Knight is an American musician best known as the keyboardist for Mountain, a rock band of the early 1970s.Knight was born in New York to artist parents. From 1938–1950, his family lived in Woodstock, New York. In 1950, his father became a professor at Columbia University and moved the...

, who later joined Mountain

Mountain (band)

Mountain is an American hard rock band that formed in Long Island, New York in 1969. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Leslie West, bassist Felix Pappalardi and drummer N. D. Smart, the band broke up in 1972 before reuniting in 1974 and remaining active until today...

, Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....

 drummer Jerry Peloquin, and guitarist Jack McNichol.

History

In the summer of 1968, the band began played as an opening act for Big Brother and the Holding Company

Big Brother and the Holding Company

Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their...

 and Sly & the Family Stone

Sly & the Family Stone

Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...

. They soon signed to the record label ABC Dunhill Records

Dunhill Records

Dunhill Records was started by Lou Adler, Al Bennett, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts in 1964 as Dunhill Productions, originally for the purpose of releasing Johnny Rivers recordings on Imperial Records. It became a record label in 1965 and was distributed by ABC Records...

 and recorded their only album at Sunset Sound with producer Steve Barri

Steve Barri

Steve Barri is an American songwriter and record producer.Early in his career Barri was a staff writer with Dunhill Records. He frequently collaborated with P.F. Sloan, and the partners were responsible for the success of The Grass Roots and contributed largely to the band's first album...

.

The band's name comes from a small slip of paper that was sent to Jim Mason with the word Wings written on it.

They had hoped to replace the Mamas & the Papas

The Mamas & the Papas

The Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...

, but the band split before the end of the year. Only the song General Bringdown made a mark on the charts.