In 1973, Paul McCartney and Wings released Band on the Run, an album that became one of McCartney’s greatest achievements after The Beatles. Before this, McCartney had put out several solo and Wings albums, like McCartney, Ram, Wild Life, and Red Rose Speedway.
While these albums had some success, they didn’t get the same praise as the solo work of his former bandmates, John Lennon and George Harrison. Everything changed with Band on the Run. The album, especially the title track, showed McCartney’s creativity and became a huge success.
McCartney wanted to try something different for this album. He decided to record in Lagos, Nigeria, after looking at a list of EMI studios around the world. He thought the location would be exciting and unusual. However, trouble began before they even left. The band’s guitarist, Henry McCullough, and drummer, Denny Seiwell, quit just before the trip. This left McCartney with only his wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine as the remaining members of Wings.
When they arrived in Lagos, they found the EMI studio was still being built. It didn’t even have proper recording booths, so they had to help create makeshift booths out of perspex and wood. Nigerian musician Fela Kuti also visited the studio, accusing McCartney of trying to steal African music, though they later resolved the misunderstanding. Former Cream drummer Ginger Baker, who lived in Lagos, was upset they weren’t using his studio, so McCartney recorded one song, “Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me),” at Baker’s studio to keep the peace.
The problems didn’t end there. McCartney collapsed one day, which Linda feared was a heart attack, but it turned out to be a bronchial spasm caused by smoking. Things got worse when Paul and Linda were mugged at knifepoint while walking back from a friend’s house. The thieves took several items, including demo tapes for the album. Paul had to recreate the stolen songs from memory, which ended up making the album even better because the second drafts were more polished.
