The album that Paul McCartney wanted to record in Nigeria because he wanted somewhere exotic and it turned out to be the best of his solo career

The album Gang on the run From Paul McCartney and the Wings has just been reprinted in a new expanded version, coinciding with the celebration of its fiftieth anniversary.

It is the most successful album of McCartney’s career outside of the Beatles. He won three Grammy Awards -two in 1975 and one in 2012 with its deluxe edition-, as well as reaching number 1 in the United States and the United Kingdom. It was also the best-selling studio album of 1974 in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Gang on the run is the third studio album by rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, released on November 30, 1973. It was Paul’s fifth album after leaving the Beatles in April 1970..

Although sales were initially modest, his performance was aided by two hit singles, Jet AND Gang on the run. Other songs on the album are Mrs. Vandebilt, Bluebird, let me roll, nineteen eighty-five AND The Last Worlds of Picasso.

Even today Paul continues to play many songs from this album live, such as Spin me, Nineteen Eighty-Five, Jet and naturally Gang on the run.

A frenetic recording

In 1973, three years after the breakup of the Beatles, Paul McCartney had still not regained his artistic credibility or found praise from music critics for his post-Beatles work.

After completing a successful tour of the UK with his band Wings in July 1973, he planned his third album as a means of re-establishing himself following the mixed reception given to wild animals AND Red Rose Autodrome.

Keen to record outside the UK, he asked the record company EMI to send him a list of all their international recording studios. He selected Lagos in Nigeria and He was attracted to the idea of ​​recording in Africa.

In August, the band, consisting of McCartney and his wife Linda, former Moody Blues guitarist and pianist Denny Laine, Henry McCullough on lead guitar and Denny Seiwell on drums, began rehearsing for the new album at the band McCartney’s Scottish farm .

During a practice session, McCullough and McCartney argued and McCullough resigned and Seiwell followed a week later, the night before the band flew to Nigeria. This left only McCartney, Linda and Laine to record in Lagos, with the help of former Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick. Therefore, Paul played bass, drums, percussion and most of the lead guitar parts.

McCartney had chosen Lagos because he felt it would be an exotic, glamorous place where he and the band could sunbathe on the beach during the day and record at night. The reality was different: after the end of the civil war in 1970, Nigeria was ruled by a military government, with corruption and contagious diseases.

The study was of poor quality and the conditions were tense and difficult. The McCartneys were robbed at knifepoint and they lost a lot of song lyrics and demos.

After the band’s return to England, final overdubs and additional recordings took place in London, primarily at AIR Studios.

Other accidents

One day, Paul was overdubbing a vocal track when he ran out of breath. According to Emerick: “Within seconds, he turned white as a sheet, explaining in a hoarse voice that he couldn’t catch his breath.”

She added: “We decided to take him outside for some fresh air, but once exposed to the scorching heat he felt even worse and started to collapse, eventually collapsing at our feet. Linda began screaming hysterically, convinced that Paul was having a heart attack.“.

The official diagnosis was that he had had bronchial spasm caused by excessive smoking.

Another incident was the collision with Fali Kutilocal pioneer of the Afrobeat genre and political activist, who publicly accused the band of being in Africa to exploit and steal African music following their visit.

Kuti went to the studio to confront McCartney, who played him his songs to prove that they contained no local influence.

A famous cover

The album cover photograph was taken in Osterley Park, West London, on 28 October 1973 by photographer Clive Arrowsmith. from a concept by the Hipgnosis and McCartney studio.

The photo shows the McCartneys, Laine and six other figures dressed as inmates and posing as if they were under prison lights. The six celebrities are: Michael Parkinson, Kenny Lynch, James Coburn, Clement Freud, Christopher Lee and John Conteh. Arrowsmith said the photo used for the cover was one of four that he found acceptable out of 24 taken during filming.

The low focus power meant everyone had to hold still for two seconds for a correct exposure, which was made difficult because the photographer and subjects were supposedly in a “haze of substance” after a party thrown by Paul McCartney.

The new anniversary edition

Followers of the former Beatles member will be able to enjoy a new vinyl version of the albummade from the original tapes recorded at the Abbey Road studio in London in 1973 and which will contain the song Elena Wheels along with a poster featuring Polaroid photographs of Linda McCartney.

Furthermore, a further edition will be published with two vinyls, one with the American version of the album and the other with the mixes underdubbedthat is, without the orchestral additions of the original album.

“This is Gang on the runin a way never heard before”, underlined McCartney himself regarding the new edition for the fiftieth anniversary of the album.

While vinyl is the primary release of the album reissue, it will also be available on CD and digital, for the first time with Dolby ATMOS audio, mixed by Giles Martin and Steve Orchard.