Band on the Run

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Professional reviews
Band on the Run

Studio album by Paul McCartney & Wings
Released	7 December 1973
Recorded	September-October 1973, Lagos, Nigeria
Genre	Rock
Length	41:05
Label	Apple Records/EMI
Producer(s)	Paul McCartney
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (C+) link Rolling Stone (not rated) link
Paul McCartney & Wings chronology
Red Rose Speedway (1973)	Band on the Run (1973)	Venus and Mars (1975)

Band on the Run is an album by Wings, released in 1973.^[1] McCartney's fifth album (or Paul McCartney & Wings' third), it became his most successful album since the demise of The Beatles and the most celebrated of his solo 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.

1 Background
2 Release
3 Cover
4 Track listing
5 American track listing
6 Personnel
- 6.1 Additional personnel
7 Charts
8 Certifications
9 Notes
10 References

[edit] Background

After the success of Red Rose Speedway, "Live And Let Die" - the new James Bond theme song - was released as the next "Wings" single (without McCartney's name in the artist credit) and became a worldwide smash. It was at this juncture that Paul and wife Linda McCartney began contemplating their next album. Bored with recording in the UK, they really wanted to challenge themselves and Wings by going to some exotic locale. 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 Denny Laine was set to go, as well as lead guitarist Henry McCullough, and drummer Denny Seiwell. However, a few weeks before departing in late August, McCullough quit Wings in Scotland; with Seiwell following suit the night before the departure, this left just the core of the band, Paul, Linda and Denny Laine, to venture to Lagos alone.

While there, both the McCartneys were mugged at knifepoint, and 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 the man himself, once he heard that the McCartneys were in town. It was a most action-packed time, clearly, and one which only saw the recording of the ensuing album's backing tracks.

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, who distributed The Beatles' Apple Records label there, 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.

[edit] Release

Band on the Run was issued that December to positively glowing reviews, with even the staunchest McCartney detractors calling it stellar. The songs were instantaneous, fresh, and vital, and they were instrumental in making McCartney the most successful ex-Beatle. 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 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. Uniquely 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"'s chorus, to close off the album. The latter song and another on the album, "Let Me Roll It", are taken by some fans as answers to "How Do You Sleep?", John Lennon's earlier scathing attack on McCartney.

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] In retrospective reviews, Q magazine placed the album at #75 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever, and it was ranked #418 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[4]

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.

[edit] Cover

The parodied cover of the film Madagascar

The cover of Band on the Run is also noteworthy. Shot on 28 October 1973, 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 horror films and as Saruman in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy) and John Conteh (Liverpool boxer who later became World Light-Heavyweight champion). The picture was taken against a garden wall in Osterley Park, Brentford. 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 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 Inspired by Paul and Linda's dog
"Bluebird" – 3:22
"Mrs Vandebilt" – 4:38
"Let Me Roll It" – 4:47
"Mamunia" – 4:50 An Arabic word for "safe haven" which McCartney happened upon while on holiday in Marrakesh and the name of a hotel there.
"No Words" (P. McCartney, Denny Laine) – 2:33 This song was begun by Denny Laine and finished by McCartney
"Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" – 5:50 Inspired by actor Dustin Hoffman's suggestion to McCartney to compose a song on Pablo Picasso's death. Features Ginger Baker on shakers. Includes snippets from "Jet" and "Mrs Vandebilt"
"Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" – 5:27 Includes as finale a snippet from "Band on the Run"

[edit] American track listing

This variation of the album was released by EMI subsidiary Capitol Records in the United States, and remains the American version.

"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" – 2:33
"Helen Wheels" – 3:44
"Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" – 5:50
"Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" – 5:27

[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, vocals

[edit] Additional personnel

Howie Casey – saxophone
Ginger Baker – percussion
Remi Kabaka – percussion
Tony Visconti – orchestrations
Ian and Trevor – backing vocals

[edit] Charts

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