In 1973 Paul McCartney had something to prove, after drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist Henry McCullogh left Wings just before the band left for Lagos to record their new album. Paul had worked the group into a well-oiled machine, following the end of The Beatles and now the band had to pick up the pieces and record what would be their biggest hit.
Band on the Run was Paul McCartney & Wings third album and Paul’s final on Apple Records, the label formed by The Beatles when they wanted to expand into publishing, and because of the departure of Seiwell and McCullough, McCartney, his wife Linda and Denny Laine had to record as a threesome. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, as the studio was in poor quality, and Nigeria was a tense environment, as Paul and Linda were robbed, losing a bag of song lyrics and demo tapes. The band went back to England to finish the album, and shoot the now infamous album cover that featured the McCartneys, Laine and six celebrities dressed as convicts, and posed being caught by a prison searchlight.
McCartney wanted the album to sell on its own, like Zeppelin did in those days, but the release was modest, which forced Wings to release singles. Luckily, both “Jet” and the title song were massive hits and pushed the album to the top of the charts, becoming the top-selling album of 1974. Band On The Run, brought McCartney back in a big way, becoming his most successful album, and reinvigorating his career with a massive tour, making him the final Beatle to achieve big success outside of the band.