Band on the Run - Paul McCartney (1974) 1/29/22

One day, as the Beatles inched closer to breaking up, they were all suffering through an incredibly long, boring, contentious business meeting at Apple Records. Somewhere along the way, a frustrated George Harrison said, "If we ever get out of here..."

Pretty innocuous and forgettable, except Paul McCartney remembered the meeting--and the quote--and in late 1973 wrote and released a "Great Song" around it!

"Band on the Run" (from the album of the same name), starts with the lyric: "Stuck inside these four walls," and later puts George's quote to good use.

According to Paul, "Band on the Run" used fragments of several unfinished songs he'd been working on. This was the sort of "modular approach" to songwriting The Beatles had used on the "Sgt. Pepper's" album, which was inspired by the type of "jigsaw puzzle" writing and producing Brian Wilson used on The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations."

"Band on the Run" was recorded in Lagos, Nigeria, and is credited to Paul McCartney & Wings, but only Paul, Linda, and drummer Denny Laine appear on the cut.

Paul has said he wrote it as a protest against unfair marijuana laws, but later admitted the obvious: it was "sort of" about escaping from the Beatles.

Album sales started slowly, but thanks to singles like "Jet," which we highlighted back on 7/6/21 (See link below) and today's "Great Song," it eventually sold millions of copies, made Rolling Stone's list of the "Top 500 Albums of All Time," and in 2013, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

As for the single? In early 1974, "Band on the Run" became a Top 10 hit in 7 countries, reaching #1 in New Zealand, Canada, and the US. While most critics agree that it's one of Paul's best post-Beatles songs, virtually everyone agrees that "Band on the Run" is a "Great Song of the '70s!"

"Jet" (Blog entry): https://www.facebook.com/MichaelCuuuk/posts/366631158143671