Released as a single in April 1974 in the US and in June 1974 in the UK, it topped the charts and sold over a million copies in 1974 in the United States, and reached number 3 in the United Kingdom. An international success, it has become one of the band’s most famous songs.
A medley of three distinct musical passages that vary in style, /”Band on the Run/” is one of McCartney’s longest singles at 5:09. The song was partly inspired by a comment that George Harrison had made during a meeting of the Beatles’ Apple record label. The song-wide theme is one of freedom and escape, and its creation coincided with Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr having parted with manager Allen Klein in March 1973, leading to improved relations between McCartney and his fellow ex-Beatles.
The original demos for this and other tracks on Band on the Run were stolen shortly after Wings arrived in Lagos, Nigeria, to begin recording the album. With the band reduced to a trio consisting of McCartney, his wife Linda, and Denny Laine, /”Band on the Run/” was recorded at EMI’s Lagos studio and completed at AIR Studios in London.
In a 1973 interview with Paul Gambaccini, McCartney stated that the lyric /”if we ever get out of here/” was inspired by a remark made by George Harrison during one of the Beatles’ many business meetings. McCartney recalled: /”He was saying that we were all prisoners in some way [due to the ongoing problems with their company Apple] … I thought it would be a nice way to start an album./” McCartney added, referring to his inspiration for /”Band on the Run/”: /”It’s a million things … all put together. Band on the run – escaping, freedom, criminals. You name it, it’s there./”
In a 1988 interview with Musician magazine, McCartney noted the drug busts experienced by musicians of the late 1960s and early 1970s as an inspiration for the /”Band on the Run/
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