Band On The Run book
The fiftieth anniversary of Paul McCartney & Wings landmark album “Band on The Run” was late last year but has been celebrated this year with official as well as unofficial releases.
Official limited edition poster
Universal Music released a half speed mastered version of the album, like they have with Paul’s previous fiftieth anniversary albums. In addition they released an “underdubbed” version of the album in early mixing stages. Official merch has been touted by the Paul McCartney store. Bootleggers have also been busy with their celebrations, both Misterclaudel and HMC have released Band On The Run spin-offs, based on Geoff Emerick’s tapes from the sessions, which were sold by auction last year. Now, here comes the book!
Press release: Released on 19 April 2024, Paul McCartney & Wings: Band on the Run. The Story of a Classic Album by Luca Perasi (L.I.L.Y. Publishing) tells the story of the most popular and successful Paul McCartney album. “This record has just celebrated fifty years and it doesn’t look its age,” says the author, who in 2022 was credited in the booklet of Paul McCartney’s compilation The 7” Singles Box for additional research with the MPL team. “It’s the only album within McCartney’s career which has outlived all the fashions. I thought it was worth dedicating an entire volume to that. Starting from the spring of 1973, when Wings were at the peak of their success, we go through the departure of two members of the group, we see what happened in Lagos, we delve into the songs, and we deal with the success of Band on the Run and its impact in terms of popular culture.”
The volume, enriched by colour images and featuring an exclusive interview by the author with Pete Swettenham, assistant engineer to Geoff Emerick at AIR Studios in London, tells of McCartney’s masterpiece in an engaging way. “I wanted an historical book but with a touch of narrative at the same time, which allows readers to immerse themselves into the epic adventure of this album,” says Luca Perasi. “It seemed to me the best way to launch this new series, Milestones, dedicated to some of the most important albums in rock history.”
Based on archive material and on many contemporary statements by the people who participated in the sessions, the book analyses in detail all the songs, their vocal and instrumental parts (with a special focus on the role of the drums), takes a look at the equipment used for the recordings and tries to debunk some of the myths that were always part of the narrative of the album. What really was stolen from Paul in Africa? Music tapes? When did the robbery take place? And what happened when they were recording at AIR Studios in London? A must for all Paul McCartney fans and rock music lovers alike.
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I hope they do’nt forget to write about good old Denny Laine. His contributions to WIngs are often overlooked.