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52 Years Ago, Paul McCartney’s Demos for His Most Famous Album Were Stolen and He Had To Start Over
After The Beatles broke up, Paul McCartney‘s next projects had a hard time taking off at first. McCartney’s first two solo albums, McCartney and RAM, were disparaged by critics and fans, and the first album from his next band, Wings, titled Wild Life, didn’t do much better. When he first formed the band, McCartney was determined to build it from the ground up. He took the band on tour around England, but instead of playing stadiums or theaters, they visited university halls. McCartney shared in his documentary, Man on the Run, that they would show up with no notice and offer to play, charging only 50 pennies at the door. At the end of the day, they had bags of change as payment for their hard work.
In 1973, a little over a year after the release of Wild Life, the band put out Red Rose Speedway, which did considerably better. It was a commercial success, though it received mixed reviews. Seeing how his effort was paying off, McCartney decided to change things up for the next album. But he couldn’t have known how many obstacles he’d have to face.
The Unconventional Process of Making This Iconic Album
In 1973, Paul McCartney wanted to shake things up for Wings’ next album. So, he asked for a list of all the studios that EMI had around the world. He saw that there was a studio in Lagos, Nigeria, and thought it was the perfect place to record a groundbreaking album. He imagined being surrounded by African musicians, being inspired by their rhythms, and immediately booked studio time there. The troubles began before they even arrived in Lagos.
The night before they were supposed to depart, McCartney received a call from drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist Henry McCullough. They informed him that they were leaving the band. Immediately, McCartney was incensed. They had no time to find replacements, so they either had to postpone or make the record with only three members: McCartney, his wife Linda, and guitarist Denny Laine. McCartney decided to go to Lagos just the three of them, and make “the best album you’ve ever heard,” to show Seiwell and McCullough what a mistake they had made.
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When they arrived in Lagos, McCartney quickly realized that it wouldn’t be as glamorous as he’d imagined. The studio was only half-built, and the place where they were staying wasn’t very safe. Still, they made the best of it, recording during the week and immersing themselves in Nigerian culture and music on the weekends. Musician Fela Kuti in particular made a huge impact on McCartney, although at first, Kuti was wary of McCartney’s band, thinking he was in Lagos to exploit African music. However, once McCartney showed him the tracks, he realized it wasn’t the case, and they had a good relationship.
The Band on the Run Demos Were Stolen From Him
After getting through the complications of losing almost half his band, they settled into a nice dynamic. Paul McCartney took over playing drums for the entire album, and Denny Laine and Linda McCartney supported him, playing as many instruments as needed. They only brought in session musicians for a couple of tracks, managing most of the songs between just the three of them. But during the first few weeks of recording, the band encountered yet another big setback. In Man on the Run, Paul McCartney shares that one night, while he and Linda were walking back from the studio (through a zone that they were warned wasn’t safe at night), they saw a car pulling up next to them. The couple were robbed at knifepoint, and while they didn’t have that many valuables on them, Paul McCartney was carrying the demo tapes and the handwritten lyric sheets of the early Band on the Run tracks.
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McCartney shared that they later realized how lucky they were to make it out alive, especially because Linda McCartney started arguing with the muggers, yelling at them not to hurt him. When they made it back into the studio, McCartney was, of course, very upset about the situation, but it was just another one of the many hurdles they had to overcome since deciding to make the album. So, they quickly got back to work, redoing the demos from scratch, and the result was one of McCartney’s most iconic albums. Band on the Run was released in November 1973, and to this day it’s Wings’ most successful album. It made it to number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom, but ironically, although it was the first album since the breakup of The Beatles to receive critical acclaim, in Man on the Run, Paul McCartney can be heard saying that, for the first time in his career, he didn’t care if people liked it, because he loved it.
Man on the Run premieres on Prime Video on Feb. 27.