Released in 1973, the album Band on the Run became Wings’ most-successful album, the top seller of 1974, and remains the most-celebrated of Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles albums. The title track has been featured in every McCartney/Wings compilation since and still figures prominently in his live shows. It was a #1 hit in the United States, and #3 in the U.K. WNEW penned it in at spot #211 on its 1991 Firecracker 500.
Bored with recording in the U.K., Paul and Linda McCartney began shopping around for a more exotic locale to lay down the tracks for the bands’ next effort, and finally settle on Lagos, Nigeria. Thus Wings became a band ‘on the run’, getting way out of town to get a little new work done. Unfortunately, they nearly ended up ‘on the run’ in other ways during the album’s production. From Wikipedia …
While there (in Lagos), 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 tracks).
The single, Band on the Run, was received warmly by critics but took a while to heat up commercially. When it did, however, there was no stopping it. It reached #1 in the U.S. on three separate occassions, eventually going triple platinum. Though McCartney had had some success with Wings previously, the reception of Band on the Run was a major vindication for him, proving once and for all that his value as an artist wasn’t inextricably linked to his association with the Beatles.
The original video below contains, appropriately, footage of McCartney and Wings on the road and in concert. After the jump, McCartney (with special guest Dave Grohl) does a short live set from this year that concludes with Band on the Run.
