Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the Run

For many years I had never heard the album in its entirety. As a kid I was enthralled with "Band on the Run" and loved the guitar riff from "Let Me Roll It," and really liked "Helen Wheels," which apparently wasn't meant to be on the album - but in North America it was included. "Jet" still remains a song that I like and detest in equal measure. I'm not sure why. It's likely a holdover from my distaste for Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets" from that same year, and hearing Jet in a song triggered my gag reflex.

Who knows, I can also see I'm starting this off by wandering off topic. Let me see if I can wrestle this to the ground and try and get things back on track. Back in '73 I can't really claim to have had the deepest musical knowledge, but I can unequivocally state that from my earliest memories I've been pretty obsessed with music. It's pretty rare for something not to be playing in the background, and while I haven't kept up with much of what passes for popular now, I take a lot of pleasure in finding things from my past that I haven't really been exposed to.

Band on the Run as an album as an album is something I'd never really spent time with. Not that I didn't want to, it just never happened. The closest I think I came to owning it was when I was in high school and found an 8-track copy at a thrift shop. When I brought it home it didn't play properly ... either that or there was an irritating track fade on a song I liked. Whatever the reason, I didn't keep the tape.

When my niece was in town a few months ago, she wanted to go music shopping as she has a soft spot for '90s bands and wanted to look for CDs. Being a good uncle (my words) I chauffeured her around to a few of my favourite haunts. The one shop I don't frequent as often has a lot of compact discs, but their record selection is priced according to what the owner sees on Discogs, which is irritating for me, but likely good for him. Anyway, he does have a 3-for-10 shelf, and I ended up dropping some coin. Among the albums I found was a really good-looking copy of Band on the Run that still had the cardboard insert and the poster.

Score.

Oh, and if you're wondering, my niece left with a decent assortment of discs. She has good taste. Even if she didn't get all that excited by the many recommendations made by her mum.

I found it interesting that the spine attributes the album to Paul McCartney, while the record label says "... & Wings." Yeah, we all know who drove the bus, but I always wanted to think it was a band effort.

The first side opens with the title track, and this song still gives me little shivers of pleasure. I love how it's structured, and how each part is seamlessly fitted together. I'm always surprised at how quickly those five minutes go by.

Oddly enough, "Jet" doesn't feel irritating at all as it plays through.

Nice.

"Bluebird" is a song that I waffle on. I want to think of it as a poor rehash of "Blackbird," but it's not. If anything this hints at the soft rock schlock Paul would later unleash with songs like "Silly Love Songs." I actually like it, and I also like Linda's backing vocals. I know she gets a lot of grief, but she's a big part of the song's charm.

"Mrs Vandebilt" is a song that feels more like '60s-era Paul, and while it feels like a filler track, I like hearing it whenever I play the album.

The first side closes with probably my favourite song on the album. "Let Me Roll It" is a song I never understood as a kid. I just liked it, and we used to sing it when we played kickball. Now, of course, I get how much Paul sounded like John on the vocals, but as to what it means, I have no idea, and I can't pretend to have any great insight into their relationship. I just like the song. Of course, nowadays we'd probably just call it a diss track.

The first side was awesome, and Denny Laine, who I always viewed as the band's secret sauce, was a big part of Wings. I can't speak to Linda's contributions, but the band was a trio, and as a third she must have done something to earn her spot. However, it is Paul who is the showcase. I mean, was there anything the guy couldn't play - and play well?

The second side always felt like a bit of a letdown, but there's a cohesiveness to the songs that makes it feel like an extended piece of music. From the opening track "Mamunia" and how it flows into "No Words," everything feels like a natural transition. Even the shoehorning of "Helen Wheels" before "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" works, although frankly I'd have switched it with "Mrs Vandebilt" from side one from a sequencing perspective. Really, though, after 50 years I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter.

It's weird to think there was a time when "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" was a song set a dozen years into the future, and now it's pushing three decades into the past. I still have no idea what it's about. Maybe it's about the lasting power of love. I do like how it ends with a fading refrain from the title track.

Band on the Run holds up remarkably well, and it's one of those albums I'm pretty happy to have in my collection.

Paul asked near the beginning, "I hope you're having fun." To which I can only answer, "Yes, it was fun."