This week's classic album is 'Band on the Run' by Paul McCartney & Wings
It’s the album's 50th anniversary, and now we have a new version that’s been ‘underdubbed’
Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles career began with high expectations and disappointing results, at least as far as the critics were concerned. Perhaps those first four albums - McCartney entirely solo, Ram1 with Linda, Wildlife and Red Rose Speedway with Wings - require critical reappraisal in the light of his output in the decades since. They undoubtedly suffered compared to McCartney’s work with The Beatles, but what wouldn’t?
Wings began to grow flight feathers in the last days of The Beatles. McCartney wanted The Beatles to be a band again - a proper, working, rock band, playing gigs and going on tour. Most of all, he wanted them to work. Enthusiasm for this was lacking from John, George and Ringo (who was always wary of the food he might be served). Then, of course, The Beatles fell apart entirely and there was no group to go on the road, egg and chips or not. The rooftop gig had to suffice. McCartney, though, retained his enthusiasm for playing live - as he has ever since - and he needed a band, so Wings were recruited.
Underdubbed, as a concept, bears similarities with the Let It Be Naked project. They both strip an album we know and love back to essentials. But there’s one crucial difference. Phil Spector was commissioned to rescue a failing album, and as he never knowingly passed a kitchen sink without adding it to a mix, Let It Be became strong-laden, busy, and the ‘new phase’2 Beatles album was out of phase.
Band on the Run, though, was not a failing project, despite the difficulties (see below). It was always intended to record the basic tracks in Lagos and bring them back to London for completion. So, here there are gaps left for sax solos, horns, string sections and more. Releasing this Underdubbed version is an exercise in deepening McCartney’s released archive with an indication of how Band on the Run came together. This version of Band on the Run says, even through adversity, this is what can be achieved. It deepens my appreciation of an already fine album. The Naked version of Let It Be feels more like re-rescuing a rescue that failed.
“This is Band On The Run in a way you’ve never heard before. When you are making a song and putting on additional parts, like an extra guitar, that’s an overdub. Well, this version of the album is the opposite, underdubbed.” - Paul McCartney3
Wings barely existed as a group when they assembled to travel to Lagos to begin Band on the Run. In 1972 they toured British university campuses as a five-piece band - Paul and Linda, plus Denny Laine (we received the sad news of his passing recently - your music lives on, Denny), Henry McCullough (also RIP), and Denny Saiwell. At the end of the tour, amid dissatisfaction about payment, and Linda’s place in the band, McCullough and Saiwell quit. Paul’s abilities as a multi-instrumentalist4, meant the booked sessions could still go ahead. Arrival in Nigeria brought further problems, with the studio being below par, a mugging including the theft of lyric books and recorded demos, and health problems.
A side note about drumming, because it’s notable how good McCartney’s playing is here. Of course, this led me to think about John Lennon’s claim that Ringo wasn’t even the best drummer in The Beatles. The problem with that is - he never said it.5 Even so, The Beatles did have another good drummer - so Wings making an album without their drummer wasn’t an issue. That said, I’m now imagining how Band on the Run might have sounded with Ringo on drums. Yet I shouldn’t go there, because McCartney’s early post-Beatles career was constructed to move on from that legacy. Later, of course, he would do much more with the Beatles songs and archives. It’s sufficient to say, now, that Underdubbed allows McCartney’s drumming to become more prominent and show he could have had a career as a drummer.
The strings, arranged by Tony Visconti, were added on return from Lagos. If George Martin wasn’t going to be used - McCartney still wanted to establish himself post-Beatles - then Visconti was a great choice. The strings add power and impact to Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five, for example. Other overdubs such as Howie Casey’s saxophone on Bluebird create a summery, jazzy atmosphere, and the sense of a much fuller production.
The Underdubbed mixes form a great album because here we have the strongest set of McCartney songs since The Beatles finished. McCartney is capable of playing everything necessary; when the powerful electric lead guitar of Denny Laine is added, together with excellent harmonies from Linda, Underdubbed ranks alongside McCartney’s best work. The polish back in the UK ensured its status as a classic album.
Listening now, after the familiar version of Band on the Run has had 50 years to burn into my memory, I do mentally fill in the gaps. Do these tracks need the extra layers, or do I believe they do because that’s what I expect to hear? I’ll never know, but McCartney’s judgement was for more overdubs and that’s good enough for me.
“Band on the Run is a great album. If anyone ever puts down McCartney in your presence, bust him in the snoot and play him this. He will thank you for it afterwards.” - Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 19/01/1994.
Are there other albums that might benefit from having some overdubs removed? How does Band on the Run Underdubbed sound to you? Do leave a comment!
TRACKS
Band on the Run
Band on the Run / Jet / Bluebird / Mrs. Vandebilt / Let Me Roll It / Mamunia / No Words / Helen Wheels / Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me) / Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five (Note: the new reissue adds Helen Wheels - not included on the original album)/
Band on the Run (Underdubbed Mixes)
Band on the Run / Mamunia / No Words / Jet / Bluebird / Mrs. Vandebilt / Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five / Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me) / Let Me Roll It
MUSICIANS
Paul McCartney – vocals, lead, rhythm, acoustic and bass guitars, drums, piano, keyboards, percussion.
Linda McCartney – organ, keyboards, percussion, vocals
Denny Laine – rhythm, lead, acoustic and bass guitars, keyboards, percussion, vocals
Additional personnel
Howie Casey – saxophone
Ginger Baker – percussion
Remi Kabaka – percussion
Tony Visconti – orchestrations
Ian and Trevor – backing vocals
Geoff Emerick – Producer and Sound Engineer
LP returns with another Gems playlist at the end of the week; a Glimpse of a classic album early next week, and a new Immersion (plus playlist) for paid subscribers. I’m beginning to receive albums to review, too, so look out for additional posts over the next couple of weeks.
Enjoy the music,
Ian
Plus the amazing Thrillington, an instrumental version of Ram although much different sounding and not released until 1977.
The original sleeve blurb described Let It Be as a ‘new phase’ Beatles album, referencing the back-to-basics studio style. More interestingly - a sleeve blurb? Wouldn’t it be interesting if LPs usually came with a description on the back cover, like a book?
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/paul-mccartney-wings-underdubbed-band-on-the-run/ (accessed 05/02/2024)
According to Snopes, this is a line from a radio comedy https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/john-lennon-ringo-best-drummer/ (accessed 05/02/2024)
It’s an even better album than I remembered it being. Loving it, yes. I love how Paul pushed through when it works have been much easier to abandon the project, but that’s Macca all over. A lesson to us all.
LIB Naked on vinyl? Guaranteed at some point. Please!
Fav track (most people hate it) “No Words (For My Love)” off Band on the run. It’s just a great pop song, full stop.