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Table of Contents
Music History Events: albums released December 5
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Albums released December 5:
• 1967 – BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD – ‘Buffalo Springfield’ (USA)
• 1973 – PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS – ‘Band on the Run’ (USA)
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• 1973 – PINK FLOYD – ‘A Nice Pair’
• 1975 – BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS – ‘Live!’
• 1976 – JEAN MICHEL JARRE – ‘Oxygene’ (FRA)
• 1980 – THE BLUES BROTHERS – ‘Made in America’
• 1981 – BLACK FLAG – ‘Damaged’
• 1983 – ACCEPT – ‘Balls to the Wall’
• 2000 – RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE – ‘Renegades’
• 2000 – OST – ‘O Brother Where Art Thou?’
• 2000 – ALICE IN CHAINS – ‘Live’
• 2000 – ROGER WATERS – ‘In the Flesh – Live’
• 2003 – KELIS – ‘Tasty’
• 2005 – PAUL CARRACK & SWR BIG BAND – ‘Winter Wonderland’
• 2006 – DRAKE BELL – ‘It’s Only Time’
• 2006 – FRANK ZAPPA – ‘The Mofo Project Object’
• 2011 – AVALANCH – ‘Malefic Time: Apocalypse’
• 2012 – YNGWIE MALMSTEEN – ‘Spellbound’
• 2014 – THE SMASHING PUMPKINS – ‘Monuments to an Elegy’
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LP ‘Band On The Run’
On December 5, 1973, “Band on the run & Wings” third album and Paul McCartney’s fifth after his separation from the Beatles, was released in the United States (it appeared in the United Kingdom two days later).
With two albums on the market, Paul seemed to have found the formula with his new group, Wings. They had just achieved a No. 2 in the Hot100 with the main theme of the James Bond film “Live and let die”. They were preparing to record a new album, whose recording was going to be made in the studios that EMI owned in Lagos (Nigeria).
The difficulties began when shortly before the trip, two members of the group, Henry McCullogh and Denny Seiwell decided to abandon the project… “The drummer and guitarist in my band left us stranded at the last minute,” McCartney told Musician, “it literally happened an hour before we got on the plane, so eventually only Denny Seiwell and engineer Geoff Emerick accompanied us to Lagos and I recorded the drum and guitar parts myself.”
His ability as a multi-instrumentalist had already been demonstrated on his first solo album “McCartney”, so it was not a big problem, but new obstacles awaited them in Nigeria. First, the couple suffered a robbery at knife point in which a bag containing lyrics and cassette demos of the songs was lost. This did not discourage them and Paul, Linda, Denny, and Geoff went ahead with the project despite the difficulties they also encountered in the Lagos studios, due to the age and precariousness of the recording equipment.
A few days later, in the middle of recording, Paul seemed to be voiceless and out of breath, and everyone feared that he was the victim of a heart attack. It turned out to be a bronchial spasm caused by excessive smoking. To make matters worse, the local artists, led by Fela Kuti, accused them of stealing their music. Paul had to invite him into the studio, where he showed him that his recordings contained no African music at all. Ginger Baker would later invite the ex-Beatles to record at her ARC studio in Ikeja, a suburb of Lagos. There, the song “Picasso’s last words” would be recorded.
Having overcome all obstacles, after seven weeks of work they managed to produce what for many is McCartney’s best album with Wings. It reached No. 1 on the album charts in the United States, the United Kingdom, and several other countries, including Spain.
The title of the album and the song that opens it, “Band on the run”, one of the musical collages that McCartney was so fond of, referred to the tribulations that the band suffered from the beginning of the project. It contains the phrase “If we ever get out of here”, an expression that George Harrison did not stop exclaiming in the harsh and unpleasant meetings with his lawyers during the negotiations to dissolve the quartet.
The inspiration for other songs on the album came from the couple”s domestic environment, such as ‘Jet’, the name of one of the puppies of his Labrador or ‘Helen wheels’, a single not contained in the original album that appeared a few weeks later, which referred to the name given to the Land Rover jeep that McCartney owned on his farm in Scotland, ‘Hell on wheels’.
‘Picasso’s’ last words’ was the result of a meeting in Jamaica between the musician and actor Dustin Hoffman, at that time immersed in the filming of ‘Papillon’. During a luncheon, Hoffman asked McCartney what system he used to compose songs, to which Paul replied that he did not know. I would just pick a topic and get started. Dustin dared him to compose one instantly and showed him a Time Magazine article about Picasso’s death and his last words before he died: ‘Drink for me!’ Astonished, Dustin witnessed how in a few moments, Paul composed the song.
The cover photo featured several personalities who were all friends of McCartney, such as actors James Coburn and Christopher Lee. It was the last album released under the Apple Records label. A little over a year later, the album received a Grammy and in 1999 a special extended edition was released commemorating the 25th anniversary of its release that included ‘Helen wheels’. Again, in 2010 it was republished with bonus tracks, such as ‘Country dreamer’, unpublished sound documents and a DVD.
The comment that Paul probably appreciated the most was that of his biggest critic, his former colleague John Lennon, who said in one of his interviews with Rolling Stone the following: “Band on the Run is a great album. Wings is a concept group very similar to the Plastic Ono Band. Members can change, but no matter who plays in Wings, it will still be Paul’s music. And in this case, it’s good music.“
Paul McCartney & Wings – Band On The Run (Full Album)
‘Picasso’s last words (Drink to me)’
‘Nineteen hundred and eighty-five’
Personnel According to Bruce Spizer:
Band members Paul McCartney – lead and backing vocals; bass, acoustic and electric guitars; piano, keyboards; drums, percussion Linda McCartney – harmony and backing vocals; organ, keyboards; percussion Denny Laine – harmony and backing vocals; co-lead vocals (“No Words” and “Picasso’s Last Words”); acoustic and electric guitars; percussion
Additional personnel
Howie Casey – saxophone on “Jet”, “Bluebird” and “Mrs. Vandebilt” Ginger Baker – percussion on “Picasso’s Last Words” Remi Kabaka – percussion on “Bluebird” Ian Horne, Trevor Jones – backing vocals on “No Words” 3 uncredited session musicians – saxophones on “Jet” Tony Visconti – orchestrations Geoff Emerick – sound engineer