Paul McCartney releases special ‘Red Rose Speedway’ merchandise collection to mark album’s 50th anniversary

Legendary Beatles musician Paul McCartney has marked the 50th anniversary of his Red Rose Speedway album by announcing a collection of merchandise. Red Rose Speedway is the second studio album by the British–American rock band Wings and Paul McCartney. It was released in the UK on 4 May 1973 and features singles including ‘When the Night’, ‘My Love’, ‘Big Barn Bed’ and ‘Little Lamb Dragonfly’.

Paul took to Instagram on the album’s anniversary to post outtakes from the cover shoot. The images taken by his late wife Linda show Paul in front of a motorbike engine with a red rose in his mouth. Paul wrote: “Happy 50th birthday ‘Red Rose Speedway’ On this day in 1973, Wings’ iconic second album #RedRoseSpeedway was released in the UK! Swipe across to see outtakes from the album cover shoot in London.”

Last month saw the release of a limited edition half-speed mastered vinyl edition of the album, which was made available for Record Store Day 2023, days before the album’s original release date. Now, the Beatle has followed up with a clothing collection for fans. Alongside the vinyl, other merchandise items include long and short sleeve t-shirts, mugs, a tote bag and stickers. All items can be purchased via merch.paulmccartney.com.

Red Rose Speedway peaked at number 5 on the UK Albums Chart and number 1 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart in the US, while ‘My Love’ topped the US Billboard Hot 100. The album received a mixed response at the time of its release but has steadily grown to become much loved by fans.

Speaking about Red Rose Speedway in an interview, Paul McCartney said: “It sounds more professional to me. It sounds like it’s putting in more effort, but it’s less rebellious than Wild Life. I’m very proud of ‘My Love’. This was early days for me and Linda, so it’s a love song to her really. One of the things I was proud of, funnily enough, was that it charted. It sort of did very well. [The ‘My Love’ single reached number one in the US!]”