Former bandmates of the late Rock & Roll Hall of Fame musician, Denny Laine, will release a new tribute version of one of Laine’s signature songs, Time To Hide, to coincide with what would have been Laine’s 80th birthday, October 29. The song, released under the artist name McDonald’s Farm, will feature Steve McDonald, Grant Roberts and Laine’s former Wings bandmate Steve Holley. Through the magic of digital recording technology, it will also feature Laine on harmonica taken from the last time he performed on stage with them. Laine sadly passed away in December 2023.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame musician, Denny Laine played a major role in not one, but two key groups in British Rock history.  As a founding member of The Moody Blues, Laine was known for the group’s first number 1 hit, Go Now in 1965.  Denny Laine then spent most of the 1970’s as part of Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles band, Wings, which yielded numerous hit songs. One of which was the McCartney-Laine composition, Mull of Kintyre, which went on to become the biggest selling single in the UK for many years.

Time To Hide was originally released on the 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound, and was the first Wings song written solely by Denny Laine. The band performed it live during their 1976 Wings Over the World Tour, and the song was later re-released on the triple-disc live album Wings Over America.

In 2023, as Denny Laine was experiencing health issues and an extended hospital stay, a benefit concert was being planned at Liverpool’s famous Cavern Club by Laine’s former bandmates when he sadly passed away that December. Their band, McDonald’s Farm, are a resident band at the Cavern and this is the venue where they had played their last gigs with Denny in 2007. The benefit concert went ahead on 19th February 2024 as a tribute, at which point the idea to re-record Time To Hide was put in motion. Steve and Grant approached former Wings drummer Steve Holley, who had no hesitation in agreeing to play drums on the track. The single was finished a week later.

Inspired by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr’s decision to include John Lennon and George Harrison on the last Beatles single, Now and Then, Steve and Grant reached the conclusion that nobody could play the harmonica better than Denny, so the audio from their final 2007 performance together was able to be incorporated so that Denny could be part of this special single too.

When producing the accompanying music video, the assistance and generosity of Paul McCartney’s company, MPL Communications, was invaluable in allowing the use of both photos and video footage of Denny with Paul and Linda McCartney from his time in Wings. This was combined with footage from Denny’s later years playing with Steve and Grant at London’s Marquee Club and The Old Trout in Windsor (sadly no longer there). To complete Time To Hide, the cover artwork was created by world famous artist Shannon MacDonald. It captures the man, the musician, and the vision of Denny in a spectacular new painting.

Time To Hide is a gesture of love and affection from Denny’s friends and fellow musicians, not only towards Denny but to his wife Elizabeth and his family, as well as fans of his music around the world. All proceeds from sales of the song will go towards Denny’s estate.  The single will be available on all streaming services beginning October 29, 2024. It will be accompanied by the B side, Harold Raffie, written by Steve McDonald, from the upcoming album No Time To Hide, released through Paperback Records.

For more information, visit Mcdonaldsfarmband.com