Paul McCartney released one of his most celebrated albums on this day in 1973, but recording it proved to be costly as he was ‘nearly killed’ while working on the record
An album which veteran songwriter Paul McCartney released on this day in 1973 saw The Beatles member “nearly killed”. After leaving the Fab Four, McCartney would embark on a string of successful solo albums and also formed another group, Wings. McCartney will release a book detailing his experiences in the Denny Laine and Linda McCartney-featuring band later this year.
While Wings would stick together for a decade and provide McCartney with some of his best-known songs, like ‘Jet’ and ‘Live and Let Die’, making one of the band’s biggest albums proved to be a death-defying experience. McCartney and the band recorded what would be their most critically acclaimed release, releasing it on this day in 1973.
The Beatles songwriter has spoken openly about the dangerous time making ‘Band on the Run’, the Wings album which would offer audiences hits like ‘Let Me Roll It’ and ‘Mrs. Vandebilt’.
Wings opted to record the album at EMI’s studio in Lagos, Nigeria, which proved troublesome from the get go when the band’s instruments were stolen.
The Höfner bass guitar McCartney had used all through his time in The Beatles was stolen at the time, though he was reunited with it at a show in Manchester, 50 years later.
McCartney recalled: “We were told not to walk on the streets alone, but you get told that in every dangerous country.
“Being madcap rock ‘n’ rollers, Linda [McCartney’s wife and Wings member] and I decided, ‘What do they know? Since it’s such a lovely night, we’ll walk home.’ So we got robbed.
“We ran back to the place we were staying at and got under the blankets until morning, thinking: ‘Have they followed us?’ We got into the studio the next day, and the studio manager said: ‘You’re lucky you’re white. If you were black they would have killed you because they would worry that you would recognise them.
“If they thought you could have identified them to the police, they would have finished you off.’ So yeah, we lost the tapes, but because we had been doing them so recently I remembered them.”
In an incident recalled by Geoff Emerick, the sound engineer alleged Linda McCartney had stepped in to prevent the Wings troupe from being killed. She is said to have told the knife-wielding men: “Don’t kill him – he’s Beatle Paul!”
It was not just the locals which nearly killed McCartney, as according to the songwriter he was “fainting dead away” during one session in the studio because of the heat.
Emerick recalled: “Within seconds, he 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, which probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, because once he was exposed to the blazing heat he felt even worse and began keeling over, finally fainting dead away at our feet.”
Despite the health woes and horrid conditions, ‘Band on the Run’ remains a fond part of McCartney and Wings’ discography. A Reddit post praising the album saw many consider it a peak of McCartney’s career.
One user wrote: “A genius songwriter and master craftsman at the top of his game. He’s incredible.” Another added: “Sheer joy in listening to that album!
Source: Mirror
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