Band on the Run
Encyclopedia
Band on the Run is an album by Paul McCartney & Wings
, released in 1973. It was Wings' third album. It became Wings' most successful album and remains the most celebrated of McCartney's post-Beatles albums. It was 1974's top-selling studio album in the United Kingdom and Australia, and revitalised 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 #418 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
. A contemporary review by Jon Landau
in Rolling Stone
described the album as "the finest record yet released by any of the four musicians who were once called the Beatles."
It was the last McCartney album issued on the Apple Records
label.
and "Live and Let Die
" - the featured song for the James Bond
movie of the same name - Wings began contemplating its next album. Paul
and Linda McCartney
began writing new songs at their Scottish retreat soon after concluding their 1973 tour.
Bored with recording in the United Kingdom, they wanted to go to an exotic locale. After asking EMI
to send him a listing of all their 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 August 8, 1973 departure for Nigeria. This left just the core of the band - Paul, Linda and Denny Laine - to venture to Lagos, along with former Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick
.
Upon arriving in Lagos, the band discovered a country in stark contrast from their visions of paradise. The country was run by a military government, with corruption and disease running rampant. The studio, located on Wharf Road in the suburb of Apapa
, was ramshackle and underequipped. The control desk was faulty and there was only one tape machine, a Studer 8-track. The band rented houses near the airport in Ikeja
, an hour away from the studio. Paul, Linda and their three children stayed in one while Denny Laine, Geoff Emerick and Wings' two roadies stayed in another.
The band established a routine of recording during the week and playing tourist on the weekends. Paul temporarily joined a country club where he would spend most mornings. The band would be driven to the studio in the early afternoon where recording would last into the late evening and sometimes early morning. To make up for the departed band members, Paul would play drums and lead guitar parts with Denny playing rhythm guitar and Linda adding keyboards.
More incidents would plague Wings' Lagos stay. While out walking one night against advice, Paul and Linda were robbed at knifepoint. The assailants made away with all of their valuables and even stole a bag containing a notebook full of handwritten lyrics and songs, and cassettes containing demos for songs to be recorded. On another occasion, Paul was laying down a vocal track when he began gasping for air. According to Geoff Emerick, Sound Engineer for the album: "Within seconds, [Paul] turned as white as a sheet, explaining to us in a croaking voice that he couldn't catch his breath. We decided to take him outside for some fresh air...[but] once he was exposed to the blazing heat he felt even worse and began keeling over, finally fainting dead away at our feet. Linda began screaming hysterically; she was convinced that he was having a heart attack...The official diagnosis was that he had suffered a bronchial spasm brought on by too much smoking. " Another incident was the confrontation with local Afrobeat
star and political activist Fela Ransome-Kuti who publicly accused the band of being in Africa to exploit and steal African music after their visit to his club. Ransome-Kuti even went to the studio to confront McCartney who played their songs for him proving that they contained no local influence whatsoever. Later on drummer and former Cream
member Ginger Baker
invited the band to record their entire album at his place, ARC Studio in Ikeja. Though not wanting the invitation, Paul agreed to go there for one day. The song "Picasso's Last Words" was recorded at ARC with Baker contributing a percussive tin of gravel.
Recording of the album was completed by the third week of September and the McCartneys hosted a beach barbecue to celebrate the end of recording. They flew back to England on 23 September 1973 where they were met by fans and journalists. In October, two weeks after the band's return to London
, final overdubs and orchestral tracks were added and the album was finished at George Martin
's AIR Studios (George Martin was not present).
"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
, US distributor for Apple Records
, slotted "Helen Wheels" into the album although it was never McCartney's intention to do so. While "Helen Wheels" is not included on UK 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 US editions of the CD starting with the initial Columbia Records
release in 1984. Early versions of the Capitol release fail to mention "Helen Wheels" on the label or the CD insert, making the song a "hidden track
".
" and the title track "Band on the Run
", Band On The Run was a major success. It reached #1 in the US on three separate occasions, 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 find a new guitarist and drummer, and to integrate them into the band before beginning new recordings.
In early 1975, Paul McCartney & Wings won the Grammy award for "Best Pop Vocal Performance By a Duo, Group or Chorus" for Band on the Run. 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. On this version, "Helen Wheels" was track 8, between "No Words" and "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)". In May 2007, the album was made available through the iTunes Store
.
The 8-track tape version of this album has the distinction of being one of the few 8-tracks that is arranged just like the record album. The song "Bluebird" is divided in two parts, but the rest of the songs are complete. It was also released in quadrophonic. In 1996, it was released on 5.1 Music Disc
.
The album continues to be regarded positively even if not universally regarded as substantive. The Allmusic review cites some of the songs as being excellent and the album overall as "enjoyable" while concluding that it is a "triumph of showmanship." And the Rolling Stone
review of the 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition notes that "the real action still lies in the original LP's revved-up pleasures".
against the gable end wall of the stable block in Osterley Park
, Hounslow
. It depicts the now iconic view of Paul, Linda and Denny plus six other well-known people dressed as convicts caught in the spotlight of a prison searchlight. They are:
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.
Released to coincide exactly twenty-five years after the album began to take off in March 1974 after a slow start, the package includes an extra disc of live renditions of songs throughout the years, as well as brief new renditions by McCartney. Spoken testimonials are also included from such luminaries as McCartney himself, late wife Linda
(to whom this retrospective release is dedicated), Denny Laine
, Dustin Hoffman
(the inspiration behind "Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)"), and some of the celebrity faces on the cover, namely Christopher Lee
and James Coburn
who was in Britain at the time filming The Internecine Project.
For this one occasion, McCartney released the package according to the original US release, with "Helen Wheels" in the line-up. It was left out of most editions of Band on the Run.
Disc 2: Bonus Materials
/Concord Music Group
on 2 November 2010 as the first release in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection. It was released in multiple formats:
Disc 2: Bonus Tracks (Special, Vinyl and Deluxe Editions)
Disc 3 (Deluxe Edition)
This disc contains an audio documentary of the album originally produced for its 25th Anniversary reissue in 1999. See "Disc 2: Bonus Materials" in "Re-release" section of this page for track listing.
DVD (Special and Deluxe Editions)
Bonus DVD (Special Edition sold only at Best Buy)
Best Buy's version of the new "Band on the Run" reissue adds a fourth disc with a bonus DVD to the 2 CD/1 DVD version package.
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....
, released in 1973. It was Wings' third album. It became Wings' most successful album and remains the most celebrated of McCartney's post-Beatles albums. It was 1974's top-selling studio album in the United Kingdom and Australia, and revitalised 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 #418 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
. A contemporary review by Jon Landau
Jon Landau
Jon Landau is an American music critic, manager and record producer, most known for his association in all three capacities with Bruce Springsteen.He is currently the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....
in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
described the album as "the finest record yet released by any of the four musicians who were once called the Beatles."
It was the last McCartney album issued on the Apple Records
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968, as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston...
label.
Background and recording
After the success of Red Rose SpeedwayRed Rose Speedway
-Additional tracks:-Original LP Recording:Originally planned as a double album, this is the tracklisting from the acetates of the early incarnation of the album dated 13 December 1972...
and "Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die (song)
"Live and Let Die" is the main theme song of the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die and was performed by Paul McCartney & Wings for the movie soundtrack and appears on the soundtrack album. The song was one of Wings' most successful singles, and the most successful Bond theme to that point...
" - the featured song for the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
movie of the same name - Wings began contemplating its next album. Paul
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...
and Linda McCartney
Linda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
began writing new songs at their Scottish retreat soon after concluding their 1973 tour.
Bored with recording in the United Kingdom, they wanted to go to an exotic locale. After asking EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
to send him a listing of all their international recording studios, Paul happened upon Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
and was instantly taken with the idea of recording in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
Alongside the McCartneys, guitarist and pianist Denny Laine
Denny Laine
Denny Laine is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist, and lead singer of The Moody Blues' 1965 debut album "The Magnificent Moodies"; and, later, best known for his role as co-founder of Wings...
, lead guitarist Henry McCullough
Henry McCullough
Henry McCullough Henry McCullough Henry McCullough (born Henry Campbell Liken McCullough, 21 July 1943, Portstewart, Northern Ireland is an Irish guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, who has played guitar in such bands as Sweeney's Men, Spooky Tooth, Paul McCartney & Wings, and The Grease Band. He...
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 August 8, 1973 departure for Nigeria. This left just the core of the band - Paul, Linda and Denny Laine - to venture to Lagos, along with former Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick
Geoff Emerick
Geoffrey Emerick is an English recording studio audio engineer, who is best known for his work with The Beatles' albums Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road...
.
Upon arriving in Lagos, the band discovered a country in stark contrast from their visions of paradise. The country was run by a military government, with corruption and disease running rampant. The studio, located on Wharf Road in the suburb of Apapa
Apapa
Apapa is the major port of the city of Lagos, Nigeria, and is located to the west of Lagos Island, across Lagos Harbour. It is also one of Nigeria's 774 Local Government Areas.- Overview :...
, was ramshackle and underequipped. The control desk was faulty and there was only one tape machine, a Studer 8-track. The band rented houses near the airport in Ikeja
Ikeja
Ikeja is an outer-ring suburb of the city of Lagos and capital of Lagos State. It is also one of Nigeria's 774 Local Government Areas . The Murtala Mohammed International Airport is located there...
, an hour away from the studio. Paul, Linda and their three children stayed in one while Denny Laine, Geoff Emerick and Wings' two roadies stayed in another.
The band established a routine of recording during the week and playing tourist on the weekends. Paul temporarily joined a country club where he would spend most mornings. The band would be driven to the studio in the early afternoon where recording would last into the late evening and sometimes early morning. To make up for the departed band members, Paul would play drums and lead guitar parts with Denny playing rhythm guitar and Linda adding keyboards.
More incidents would plague Wings' Lagos stay. While out walking one night against advice, Paul and Linda were robbed at knifepoint. The assailants made away with all of their valuables and even stole a bag containing a notebook full of handwritten lyrics and songs, and cassettes containing demos for songs to be recorded. On another occasion, Paul was laying down a vocal track when he began gasping for air. According to Geoff Emerick, Sound Engineer for the album: "Within seconds, [Paul] turned as white as a sheet, explaining to us in a croaking voice that he couldn't catch his breath. We decided to take him outside for some fresh air...[but] once he was exposed to the blazing heat he felt even worse and began keeling over, finally fainting dead away at our feet. Linda began screaming hysterically; she was convinced that he was having a heart attack...The official diagnosis was that he had suffered a bronchial spasm brought on by too much smoking. " Another incident was the confrontation with local Afrobeat
Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk and chanted vocals, fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularised in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who gave it its name, who used it to...
star and political activist Fela Ransome-Kuti who publicly accused the band of being in Africa to exploit and steal African music after their visit to his club. Ransome-Kuti even went to the studio to confront McCartney who played their songs for him proving that they contained no local influence whatsoever. Later on drummer and former Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
member Ginger Baker
Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith. He is also known for his numerous associations with World music, mainly the use of African influences...
invited the band to record their entire album at his place, ARC Studio in Ikeja. Though not wanting the invitation, Paul agreed to go there for one day. The song "Picasso's Last Words" was recorded at ARC with Baker contributing a percussive tin of gravel.
Recording of the album was completed by the third week of September and the McCartneys hosted a beach barbecue to celebrate the end of recording. They flew back to England on 23 September 1973 where they were met by fans and journalists. In October, two weeks after the band's return to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, final overdubs and orchestral tracks were added and the album was finished at George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
's AIR Studios (George Martin was not present).
"Helen Wheels
Helen Wheels
"Helen Wheels" is a song by Paul McCartney & Wings. The song was named after Paul and Linda McCartney's Land Rover, which they nicknamed "Hell on 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
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, US distributor for Apple Records
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968, as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston...
, slotted "Helen Wheels" into the album although it was never McCartney's intention to do so. While "Helen Wheels" is not included on UK versions of the Band on the Run CD (except as a bonus cut on the 1993 "The Paul McCartney Collection
The Paul McCartney Collection
The Paul McCartney Collection is a 16 volume set of reissues by Paul McCartney of his solo and Wings albums, with most adding bonus tracks. The discs in the collection were released separately in most of the world, with half appearing on June 7, 1993, and the remainder on August 9 of the same year...
" edition of the CD) it has always been included on US editions of the CD starting with the initial Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
release in 1984. Early versions of the Capitol release fail to mention "Helen Wheels" on the label or the CD insert, making the song a "hidden track
Hidden track
In the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
".
Release and reception
Band on the Run was issued to mostly positive 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 "JetJet (song)
"Jet" is a song by Paul McCartney & Wings from their album Band on the Run. The song peaked at number 7 in both the British and American charts on 30 March 1974. Along with "Helen Wheels" and "Junior's Farm", it is another McCartney song where his primary inspiration for composing the song arose in...
" and the title track "Band on the Run
Band on the Run (song)
"Band on the Run" is the title song from Paul McCartney & Wings' acclaimed Band on the Run album. The single sold one million copies in 1974 in the United States, where it reached number 1, and it went to number 3 in the United Kingdom...
", Band On The Run was a major success. It reached #1 in the US on three separate occasions, 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 find a new guitarist and drummer, and to integrate them into the band before beginning new recordings.
In early 1975, Paul McCartney & Wings won the Grammy award for "Best Pop Vocal Performance By a Duo, Group or Chorus" for Band on the Run. 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. On this version, "Helen Wheels" was track 8, between "No Words" and "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)". In May 2007, the album was made available through the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
.
The 8-track tape version of this album has the distinction of being one of the few 8-tracks that is arranged just like the record album. The song "Bluebird" is divided in two parts, but the rest of the songs are complete. It was also released in quadrophonic. In 1996, it was released on 5.1 Music Disc
5.1 Music Disc
The DTS Music Disc , DTS Audio CD or 5.1 Music Disc is an audio Compact Disc that contains music in surround sound format. It is a predecessor of DVD Audio. Physically, it conforms to the Red Book standard, except for the way the music is encoded on the CD...
.
The album continues to be regarded positively even if not universally regarded as substantive. The Allmusic review cites some of the songs as being excellent and the album overall as "enjoyable" while concluding that it is a "triumph of showmanship." And the Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
review of the 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition notes that "the real action still lies in the original LP's revved-up pleasures".
Cover
The cover photo was taken on 28 October 1973 by photographer Clive ArrowsmithClive Arrowsmith
Clive Arrowsmith is a London-based photographer.He has worked for many fashion publications and is one of only a few photographers, including Brian Duffy who have twice been given the commission to shoot the Pirelli Calendar. He currently shoots advertising, celebrity, beauty and fashion...
against the gable end wall of the stable block in Osterley Park
Osterley Park
Osterley Park is a mansion set in a large park of the same name. It is in the London Borough of Hounslow, part of the western suburbs of London. When the house was built it was surrounded by rural countryside. It was one of a group of large houses close to London which served as country retreats...
, Hounslow
Hounslow
Hounslow is the principal town in the London Borough of Hounslow. It is a suburban development situated 10.6 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It forms a post town in the TW postcode area.-Etymology:...
. It depicts the now iconic view of Paul, Linda and Denny plus six other well-known people dressed as convicts caught in the spotlight of a prison searchlight. They are:
- Michael ParkinsonMichael ParkinsonSir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...
(chat-show host and journalist) - Kenny LynchKenny LynchKenny Lynch, OBE is an English singer, songwriter, entertainer and actor from London. Lynch appeared in many variety shows in the 1960s...
(actor, comedian and singer) - James CoburnJames CoburnJames Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
(actor) - Clement FreudClement FreudSir Clement Raphael Freud was an English broadcaster, writer, politician and chef.-Early life:Freud was born in Berlin, the son of Jewish parents Ernst Ludwig Freud and Lucie née Brasch. He was the grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and the brother of artist Lucian Freud...
(columnist, gourmet, raconteur, Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, Just a MinuteJust a MinuteJust a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. Its first transmission on Radio 4 was on 22 December 1967, three months after the station's launch. The Radio 4 programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in 2003....
panellist and grandson of SigmundSigmund FreudSigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
) - Christopher LeeChristopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
(actor) - John ContehJohn ContehJohn Conteh is a British former boxer who was world light-heavyweight boxing champion.Conteh is one of Britain's most successful boxing champions. At his peak in the mid to late 1970s he was considered good enough that he was touted as a possible opponent of Muhammad Ali...
(LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
boxerBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
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
Spies Like Us (song)
"Spies Like Us" is the title song to the 1985 Warner Bros. motion picture of the same name, starring Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd and Donna Dixon. It was written and performed by Paul McCartney, and was a top-ten hit in the United States in early 1986, reaching #7 on the singles chart, making it...
", along with Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
and Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
) as well as others.
Track listing
25th Anniversary Edition (1999 re-release)
Band on the Run: 25th Anniversary Edition is a special extended edition of the album, which was released in 1999.Released to coincide exactly twenty-five years after the album began to take off in March 1974 after a slow start, the package includes an extra disc of live renditions of songs throughout the years, as well as brief new renditions by McCartney. Spoken testimonials are also included from such luminaries as McCartney himself, late wife Linda
Linda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
(to whom this retrospective release is dedicated), Denny Laine
Denny Laine
Denny Laine is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist, and lead singer of The Moody Blues' 1965 debut album "The Magnificent Moodies"; and, later, best known for his role as co-founder of Wings...
, Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
(the inspiration behind "Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)"), and some of the celebrity faces on the cover, namely Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
and James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
who was in Britain at the time filming The Internecine Project.
For this one occasion, McCartney released the package according to the original US release, with "Helen Wheels" in the line-up. It was left out of most editions of Band on the Run.
Track listing
Disc 1- The first disc features the original US version of the album.
Disc 2: Bonus Materials
- "Paul McCartney (Dialogue Intro)/Band On The Run (Nicely Toasted Mix)" - 1:12
- "Band on the Run (Original)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 1) - 2:17
- "Band on the Run (Barn Rehearsal - 21 July 1989)" - 4:59
- "Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 2)/Mamunia (Original)/Denny Laine (Dialogue)/Mamunia (Original)/Linda McCartney (Dialogue)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 3)" - 4:23
- "Bluebird (Live version - Australia 1975)" - 0:55
- "Bluebird (Original)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 4)" - 0:23
- "Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 5) /No Words (Original)/Geoff Emerick (Dialogue)" (Paul McCartney/Denny Laine) - 1:24
- "No Words (Original)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 6)/Tony Visconti (Dialogue)/Band On The Run (original)/Tony Visconti (Dialogue)" (Paul McCartney/Denny Laine)/(Paul and Linda McCartney) - 1:47
- "Jet (Original from Picasso's Last Words)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 7)/Jet (Original from Picasso's Last Words)/Al Coury (Dialogue)" - 2:55
- "Jet (Berlin Soundcheck - 3 September 1993)" - 3:52
- "Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 8)/Clive Arrowsmith (Dialogue)" - 1:44
- "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five (Original)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 9)/James Coburn (Dialogue)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 10)/John Conteh (Dialogue)" - 3:24
- "Mrs. Vandebilt (original) / Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 11) / Kenny Lynch (Dialogue)" - 2:10
- "Let Me Roll It (Cardington Rehearsal - 5 February 1993)"/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 12)" - 3:52
- "Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 13) /Mrs. Vandebilt (Background)/Michael Parkinson (Dialogue)/Linda McCartney (Band On The Run Photo Shoot) (Dialogue)/Michael Parkinson (Dialogue)" - 2:25
- "Helen Wheels (Crazed)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 14)/Christopher Lee (Dialogue)" - 5:32
- "Band on the Run (Strum Bit)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 15)/Clement Freud (Dialogue)" - 1:01
- "Picasso's Last Words (Original)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 16)/Dustin Hoffman (Dialogue)" - 4:22
- "Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me) (Acoustic version)" - 1:11
- "Band on the Run (Nicely Toasted Mix)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 17)" - 0:42
- "Band on the Run (Northern Comic Version)" - 0:37
2010 Re-release
The album was re-released by Hear MusicHear Music
Hear Music, also known as StarCon is the brand name of Starbucks' retail music concept and record label. Hear Music began as a catalog company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1990 before being purchased by Starbucks in 1999.-Concept:...
/Concord Music Group
Concord Music Group
Concord Music Group is a record company owned by Village Roadshow formed in 2004 by the merger of Concord Records and Fantasy Records. In 2005, the company acquired the classics and jazz label Telarc International. On December 18, 2006, Concord announced the re-launch of the soul label Stax;...
on 2 November 2010 as the first release in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection. It was released in multiple formats:
- A single CD featuring the original UK version of the album
- A 2-CD/1-DVD Special Edition which includes a CD and a DVD of bonus material in addition to the original album
- A 2-CD/2-DVD Special Edition sold only at Best Buy which includes a CD and two DVDs of bonus material in addition to the original album
- A 3-CD/1-DVD Deluxe Edition which has the aforementioned material as well as an audio documentary originally produced for the album's 25th Anniversary release. It comes with a 120-page hardbound containing photos by Linda McCartney and Clive Arrowsmith, a history of the album and additional material
- A 2-Disc Vinyl Edition containing the same audio material as the Special Edition
- High Resolution 24bit 96 kHz limited and unlimited audio versions of all 18 songs on the remastered album and bonus audio disc
Track listing
Disc 1- The first disc features the original UK version of the album.
Disc 2: Bonus Tracks (Special, Vinyl and Deluxe Editions)
- "Helen Wheels" - 3:46
- "Helen Wheels" was included on only the US edition of Band on the Run in 1973
- "Country Dreamer" - 3:08
- Released in 1974 as the B-side to "Helen WheelsHelen Wheels"Helen Wheels" is a song by Paul McCartney & Wings. The song was named after Paul and Linda McCartney's Land Rover, which they nicknamed "Hell on Wheels"....
" single
- Released in 1974 as the B-side to "Helen Wheels
- "Bluebird" (from One Hand Clapping) - 3:27
- "Jet" (from One Hand Clapping) - 3:56
- this is a different take of "Jet" than appears in the One Hand Clapping film
- "Let Me Roll It" (from One Hand Clapping) - 4:23
- "Band on the Run" (from One Hand Clapping) - 5:13
- this is a seemingly different take than appears in the One Hand Clapping film, featuring an alternate guitar solo.
- "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" (from One Hand Clapping) - 5:58
- "Recorded on 15 August 1974 at "Abbey Road Studios" with first Paul singing and playing the piano, solo, then Paul singing to a partial backing track of the original recording from 1973.
- "Country Dreamer" (from One Hand Clapping) - 2:14
- "Does not appear in the "One Hand Clapping" film on the DVDs included in the "Paul McCartney Archive Collection" "Special" and "Deluxe" Editions of the album.
- "Zoo Gang" - 2:01
- Released in June 1974 as the B-side to "Band on the RunBand on the Run (song)"Band on the Run" is the title song from Paul McCartney & Wings' acclaimed Band on the Run album. The single sold one million copies in 1974 in the United States, where it reached number 1, and it went to number 3 in the United Kingdom...
" single in the United Kingdom - Theme from the UK TV series "The Zoo GangThe Zoo GangThe Zoo Gang was a 1974 ITC Entertainment drama series that ran for six one-hour colour episodes, based on the 1971 book of the same name by Paul Gallico....
"
- Released in June 1974 as the B-side to "Band on the Run
Disc 3 (Deluxe Edition)
This disc contains an audio documentary of the album originally produced for its 25th Anniversary reissue in 1999. See "Disc 2: Bonus Materials" in "Re-release" section of this page for track listing.
DVD (Special and Deluxe Editions)
- "Band on the Run" (music video)
- "Mamunia" (music video)
- Album promo
- Featuring "Band on the Run," "Mrs. Vandebilt," "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five," and "Bluebird"
- "Helen Wheels" (music video)
- Wings in Lagos
- Edit of mute black and white footage of a day out in Lagos during the recording sessions with a soundbed based on an alternative version of "Band on the Run"
- Osterley Park
- Edit of behind the scenes footage at the album cover photoshoot featuring all participants
- One Hand Clapping
- Documentary programme originally made for TV featuring studio performances filmed and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, August 1974
- Track listing:
- One Hand Clapping Theme
- JetJet (song)"Jet" is a song by Paul McCartney & Wings from their album Band on the Run. The song peaked at number 7 in both the British and American charts on 30 March 1974. Along with "Helen Wheels" and "Junior's Farm", it is another McCartney song where his primary inspiration for composing the song arose in...
- SoilySoily"Soily" is a song written by Paul McCartney which was performed by his band Wings, usually at the end of concerts as an encore. This song appeared while the Band on the Run demos were recorded, with McCartney on drums. At least seven takes were recorded in 1974 at Abbey Road Studios for inclusion...
- C MoonC Moon"C Moon" is a reggae song written by Paul and Linda McCartney and performed by Wings. It was released as a double A-side with "Hi, Hi, Hi" in 1972. With the ban of "Hi Hi Hi" in the United Kingdom, "C Moon" became a top five hit....
- Little Woman LoveLittle Woman Love"Little Woman Love" is a Wings song released as a B-side to the single "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on 12 May 1972. It was composed by Paul McCartney in 1970 and recorded during the Ram sessions but left of the album, then released as a single, although, in keeping with McCartney's practice at the...
- Maybe I'm AmazedMaybe I'm Amazed"Maybe I'm Amazed" is a song written by Paul McCartney that was first released on his McCartney album on 17 April 1970. The studio version from the album has never been released as a single. McCartney dedicated the song to his wife, Linda, who had helped him get through the break-up of The Beatles...
- My Love
- BluebirdBluebird (song)"Bluebird" is a song credited to Paul and Linda McCartney that was originally released on the Paul McCartney and Wings' album Band on the Run. According to author John Blaney, it was written during a vacation in Jamaica...
- Let's Love (previously unreleased)
- All of You (previously unreleased)
- I'll Give You a Ring
- Band On The RunBand on the RunBand on the Run is an album by Paul McCartney & Wings, released in 1973. It was Wings' third album. It became Wings' most successful album and remains the most celebrated of McCartney's post-Beatles albums...
- Live and Let DieLive and Let Die (song)"Live and Let Die" is the main theme song of the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die and was performed by Paul McCartney & Wings for the movie soundtrack and appears on the soundtrack album. The song was one of Wings' most successful singles, and the most successful Bond theme to that point...
- Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five
- Baby FaceBaby Face (1926 song)Baby Face is a popular song. The music was written by Harry Akst, the lyrics by Benny Davis. The song was published in 1926. That same year, Jan Garber had a number one hit with the song....
Bonus DVD (Special Edition sold only at Best Buy)
Best Buy's version of the new "Band on the Run" reissue adds a fourth disc with a bonus DVD to the 2 CD/1 DVD version package.
- Band on the Run 2010 EPK
- Jet - taken from "Good Evening, New York City."
- Mrs. Vandebilt - taken from "Good Evening, New York City."
- Band on the Run - taken from "Good Evening, New York City."
Personnel
- Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir 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...
– vocals, leadLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, rhythm, acoustic and bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
s, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
. - Linda McCartneyLinda McCartneyLinda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
– organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, vocals - Denny LaineDenny LaineDenny Laine is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist, and lead singer of The Moody Blues' 1965 debut album "The Magnificent Moodies"; and, later, best known for his role as co-founder of Wings...
– rhythmRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, lead, acoustic, flamenco and bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
s, keyboards, percussion, vocals
Additional personnel
- Howie CaseyHowie CaseyHoward William "Howie" Casey is a British rhythm and blues and rock saxophonist. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as a member of Derry and the Seniors, the first rock and roll band from Liverpool to play clubs in Germany, and later, as leader of the renamed Howie Casey and the...
– saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846... - Ginger BakerGinger BakerPeter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith. He is also known for his numerous associations with World music, mainly the use of African influences...
– percussion - Remi KabakaRemi KabakaRemi Kabaka is a Nigerian drummer who has performed with Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood, John Martyn, Hugh Masekela, on Rhythm of the Saints by Paul Simon, Short Cut Draw Blood by Jim Capaldi and on Band on the Run by Paul McCartney. His London-based son, also called Remi Kabaka, provided the voice of...
– percussion - Tony ViscontiTony ViscontiAnthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
– orchestrations - Ian and Trevor – backing vocals
- Geoff EmerickGeoff EmerickGeoffrey Emerick is an English recording studio audio engineer, who is best known for his work with The Beatles' albums Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road...
– ProducerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and Sound Engineer
Chart positions
| Chart (1973–76) | Position | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... (top 60) |
1 | 124 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 | 116 |
| Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... n Kent Music Report Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998... |
1 | 103 |
| Norwegian Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... VG-lista VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... Albums Chart (top 20) |
1 | 45 |
| Japanese Oricon Weekly LP Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... (top 100) |
11 | 46 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1974) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
2 |
| U.S. Billboard Year-End Billboard Year-End Billboard Year-End charts are a cumulative measure of a single or album's performance in the United States, based upon the Billboard magazine charts during any given chart year. Billboard's "chart year" runs from the first week of December to the final week in November... |
3 |
Chart positions (reissues)
| Chart (1999) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Top Pop Catalog Albums Top Pop Catalog Albums Top Pop Catalog Albums is a fifty-position weekly albums chart produced by Billboard magazine which ranks the best selling catalog titles, regardless of genre. Billboard defines a catalog title as one that is more than eighteen months old and that has fallen below position 100 on the Billboard 200... |
1 |
| Japanese Oricon Weekly Chart | 56 |
| UK Albums Chart | 69 |
| Chart (2010) | Position |
| U.S. Top Pop Catalog Albums | 3 |
| UK Albums Chart | 17 |
| Japanese Oricon Weekly Chart | 25 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 29 |
| Dutch Mega Albums Top 100 MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
34 |
| European Top 100 Albums European Top 100 Albums The European Top 100 Albums chart is the European adaptation of the Billboard 200 albums chart. It was created in March 1984.The European Top 100 Albums, commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums shows the sales of an act in 19 European countries based on IFPI data.The European Top 100... |
46 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 47 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) | 89 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
96 |
Certifications
| Region | Provider | Certification Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
3× Multi-Platinum | 27 November 1991 |
| United Kingdom | BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Platinum | 1 May 1975 |
| France | SNEP Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
Gold | 1977 |