Band on the Run
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| Band on the Run | |||||
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| Studio album by Paul McCartney & Wings | |||||
| Released | 7 December 1973 | ||||
| Recorded | September-October 1973, Lagos, Nigeria | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 44:17 | ||||
| Label | Apple Records/EMI | ||||
| Producer | Paul McCartney | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
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| Paul McCartney & Wings chronology | |||||
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Band on the Run is an album by Paul McCartney & Wings, released in 1973.[1] McCartney's fifth album since the breakup of The Beatles (and Wings' third), it became Wings' most successful album and remains the most celebrated of McCartney's post-Beatles albums.[2] It was 1974's top-selling album, and revitalized McCartney's critical standing.
In 2000 Q magazine placed Band on the Run at number 75 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 418 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. A contemporary review by Jon Landau in Rolling Stone (issue #153) described the album as "the finest record yet released by any of the four musicians who were once called The Beatles".[3]
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[edit] Background
After the success of Red Rose Speedway and "Live And Let Die" - the new James Bond theme song - Wings began contemplating its next album. Paul and Linda McCartney, bored with recording in the UK, wanted to go to an exotic locale. After asking EMI to send him a listing of all its international recording studios, Paul happened upon Lagos in Nigeria and was instantly taken with the idea of recording in Africa. Alongside the McCartneys, guitarist and pianist Denny Laine, lead guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Denny Seiwell also were set to go. However, a few weeks before departing in late August, McCullough quit Wings in Scotland; Seiwell followed suit the night before the departure. This left just the core of the band -- Paul, Linda and Denny Laine -- to venture to Lagos, along with former Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick, who was needed to record the basic tracks due to the primitive state of the Lagos studios, which Wings had failed to realize prior to planning the trip.
While there, both the McCartneys were mugged at knifepoint, were accosted in the studio by legendary musician Fela Kuti for fear that Paul was plagiarizing African music (fears which McCartney quickly assuaged by playing Kuti the recorded music), and were persuaded to record at Ginger Baker's studio in Lagos (where he lived at the time) by Baker himself once he heard that the McCartneys were in town. During this time, only the recording of the ensuing album's backing tracks, which generally featured Paul on lead guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, bass and drums and Denny on rhythm guitar, keyboards and bass, took place, as Emerick came to realize that EMI Lagos lacked such basic features as high-end vocal microphones.
In October, after the band's return to London, final overdubs and orchestral tracks were added and the album was finished. "Helen Wheels" was released as a non-album single at the end of the month, becoming a worldwide Top 10 by the end of the year. As Band On The Run was being prepared for release, Capitol Records, which distributed the Apple Records label in the United States, slotted "Helen Wheels" into the album - although it was never McCartney's intention to do so. The 1993 international CD reissue of the album - without the single interrupting the album's line-up - confirms this. Although "Helen Wheels" was not included on British versions of the Band on the Run CD (except as a bonus cut on the 1993 "The Paul McCartney Collection" edition of the CD), it has always been included on American editions of the CD (starting with the Columbia Records release of 1984).
[edit] Release
Band on the Run was issued that December to glowing reviews. The commercial reaction was slow, with the album gradually inching its way up the charts, but by the spring of 1974, bolstered by the hits "Jet" and the title track "Band on the Run", Band On The Run was a large success. It reached #1 in the US on three separate occasions, a first, and eventually went triple platinum. In the UK, it spent seven weeks at the summit that summer, becoming the top selling British album of 1974. Its lingering success was also beneficial in allowing Wings the time to locate a new guitarist and drummer, and to integrate them into the band before beginning new recordings.
In early 1975, Band on the Run won the Grammy award for "Best Pop Vocal Performance By a Duo, Group or Chorus."
The lead track, "Band on the Run" generally set the pace for the rest of the album. To tie back in with the album's title, the final track, "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" (also known as "1985"), fades into the "Band on the Run" chorus, to close off the album.
In 1993, Band on the Run was remastered and reissued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series with "Helen Wheels" and its b-side "Country Dreamer" as bonus tracks.
In 1999, a special 25th Anniversary Edition was released.
In May 2007, the album was made available through the iTunes Store.
[edit] Cover
The cover of Band on the Run is also noteworthy. The cover photo was taken on 28 October 1973 against a garden wall in Osterley Park, Brentford. It depicts the now well-known shot of Paul, Linda, and Denny plus six other celebrities dressed as convicts caught in the spotlight of a prison searchlight. They are:
- Michael Parkinson (journalist and UK chat-show host)
- Kenny Lynch (singer, actor and comedian)
- James Coburn (Hollywood actor)
- Clement Freud (gourmet, raconteur, Member of Parliament, Just a Minute panellist and grandson of Sigmund)
- Christopher Lee (UK actor, best known for roles in Hammer Horror films and as Saruman in the Lord Of The Rings film trilogy)
- John Conteh (Liverpool boxer who later became World Light-Heavyweight champion)
References to the cover were to be made later by McCartney himself (in the video for "Spies Like Us", along with Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd) as well as others (such as the movie poster for the Dreamworks' animated film Madagascar, which depicts the main characters standing against a wall in a pose strikingly similar to the original "Band on the Run" photo).
[edit] Track listing
All tracks written by Paul and Linda McCartney, except where noted.
- "Band on the Run" – 5:10
- "Jet" – 4:06
- "Bluebird" – 3:22
- "Mrs. Vandebilt" – 4:38
- "Let Me Roll It" – 4:47
- "Mamunia" – 4:50
- "No Words" (Paul McCartney, Denny Laine) – 2:33
- "Helen Wheels" - 3:34 (United States and The Paul McCartney Collection only)
- "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" – 5:50
- "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" – 5:27
[edit] Bonus track
- "Country Dreamer" - 3:08 (The Paul McCartney Collection only)
Studio - 3. Band on the Run, September - October 1973.[Apple Records/EMI] 7 December 1973, [Capitol Records] remastered 1999. Disc Two.
2.1. Band On The Run (Nicely Toasted Mix) 1 12 2.2. Band On The Run (Original) 2 172.3. Band On The Run (Barn Rehearsal - 21st July 1989) 4 59 2.3. Band On The Run (Barn Rehearsal - 21st July 1989) 4 59 2.4. Mamunia. 4 22 2.5. Bluebird (Live Version Australia 1975) 0 55 2.6. Bluebird 0 23 2.7. No Words. 1 24 2.8. No Words - Band On The Run. 1 47 2.9. Jet (Original From Picasso's Last Words) 2 55 2.10. Jet (Berlin Soundcheck 3rd September 1993) 3 52 2.11. Clive Arrowsmith (Dialogue) 1 44 2.12. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five.3 24 2.13. Mrs Vanderbilt. 2 10 2.14. Let Me Roll It - (Cardington Rehearsal 5th February 1993) 3 52 2.15. Mrs Vanderbilt. 2 25 2.16. Helen Wheels (Crazed) 5 32 2.17. Band On The Run (Strum Bit) 1 01 2.18. Picasso's Last Words. 4 22 2.19. Picasso's Last Words (Acoustic Version) 1 11 2.20. Band On The Run (Nicely Toasted Mix) 0 42 2.21. Band On The Run (Northern Comic Version) 0 36
[edit] Personnel
- Paul McCartney – lead, rhythm and bass guitars, drums, piano, keyboards, percussion, vocals
- Linda McCartney – organ, keyboards, percussion, vocals
- Denny Laine – rhythm, lead and bass guitars, keyboards, percussion, vocals
[edit] Additional personnel
- Howie Casey – saxophone
- Ginger Baker – percussion
- Remi Kabaka – percussion
- Tony Visconti – orchestrations
- Ian and Trevor – backing vocals
- Geoff Emerick – Producer and Sound Engineer
[edit] Chart positions
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Billboard Pop Albums | 1 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | "Band on the Run" | Billboard Pop Singles | 1 |
| 1974 | "Helen Wheels" | Billboard Pop Singles | 10 |
| 1974 | "Jet" | Billboard Pop Singles | 7 |
[edit] Certifications
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| RIAA – USA | Gold | December 20, 1973 |
| BPI – UK | Gold | January 1, 1974 |
| RIAA – USA | Platinum | June 4, 1974 |
| BPI – UK | Platinum | May 1, 1975 |
| RIAA – USA | Platinum | November 27, 1991 |
| RIAA – USA | Double Platinum | November 27, 1991 |
| RIAA – USA | Triple Platinum | November 27, 1991 |
[edit] Notes
- ^ McGee, Garry. p. Page numbers needed
- ^ McGee, Garry. p. Page numbers needed
- ^ Landau, Jon. Wings:Band on the Run review, Rolling Stone #153, 1974-01-31. Retrieved: 11 June 2006.
[edit] References
- McGee, Garry “Band on the Run: A History of Paul McCartney and Wings", Taylor Trade Publishing, 28 April 2003, ISBN 0-87833-304-5
| Preceded by John Denver's Greatest Hits by John Denver |
Billboard 200 number-one album April 13 - April 19, 1974 June 8 - June 21, 1974 July 6 - July 12, 1974 |
Succeeded by Chicago VII by Chicago |
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