Post by Dawn on Sept 30, 2005 10:21:59 GMT -5
Beginning with the next Roundtable post, I will be featuring some great albums that I have discovered in the past few years through recommendations made by you guys here on the Click. 
This is an album I featured as a Classic Rock Album of the Day during the brief time I posted on ML after YL shut down, but since this is such a popular album here on the Click, I wanted to revisit it here.
Band on the Run
Paul McCartney & Wings
Released November 30, 1973 UK / December 5, 1973 US
The track listing:
1. Band on the Run
2. Jet
3. Bluebird
4. Mrs. Vanderbilt
5. Let Me Roll It
6. Mamunia
7. No Words
8. Helen Wheels
9. Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)
10. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
This was the most successful of the Beatles’ solo works, and is generally critically regarded as being among McCartney’s best efforts. It was recorded in Lagos, Nigeria in September and October ’73, during a most tumultuous time for the band. Wings members Henry McCullough and Denny Seiwell had quit the band just prior departing for Africa, and Paul’s troubles were further aggravated when he and Linda were victims of a mugging and he faced hostility from local musicians who were suspicious of his motives. But amidst all the chaos, some great music emerged.
This was the first McCartney album I owned. I bought the LP at a small independent record shop that I used to go to quite often to look for used singles and LPs – even bought some 8 tracks there!
This is a strong album throughout, with solid songwriting and production. The beautiful acoustic numbers, Bluebird and Mamunia, are a nice contrast to rockers like Mrs. Vanderbilt. Let Me Roll It is an interesting number much in the style of some of John Lennon’s early solo work, and is said to have been a kind of peace offering to him after all the bitterness between them in the years following the breakup of the Beatles.
I remember hearing Jet on the radio when it was current, and it has always been a favorite of mine. Interestingly, it’s one of only a handful of ‘70s songs that got occasional play on the mostly top 40-oriented station I listened to most often as a teen.
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five is an excellent track, and one I wish had been included on the Wingspan collection. I remember playing the 45 on one occasion when I was in grade school – I think this would have been around ’77 - and thinking how weird it would be to actually be in the year 1985 – that year seemed impossibly far in the future at the time! LOL It’s my second favorite Macca song, edged only by…
Band on the Run. Though I had heard and liked many other songs prior to it, when I heard this on the car radio in the spring of ’74 at age 5 1/2, I absolutely loved it immediately as I had no other. To this day, I’m not sure why that song stood out so much for me – something about the chord sequence, or melody, or possibly the unique three-part construction – but it’s an outstanding song, and after 31(!) years, is still my all-time favorite. I think this song marks the point in my life that I became an avid listener and beginning collector of music, and that defined a big part of who I am today.
What are your thoughts on this album?
This is an album I featured as a Classic Rock Album of the Day during the brief time I posted on ML after YL shut down, but since this is such a popular album here on the Click, I wanted to revisit it here.
Band on the Run
Paul McCartney & Wings
Released November 30, 1973 UK / December 5, 1973 US
The track listing:
1. Band on the Run
2. Jet
3. Bluebird
4. Mrs. Vanderbilt
5. Let Me Roll It
6. Mamunia
7. No Words
8. Helen Wheels
9. Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)
10. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
This was the most successful of the Beatles’ solo works, and is generally critically regarded as being among McCartney’s best efforts. It was recorded in Lagos, Nigeria in September and October ’73, during a most tumultuous time for the band. Wings members Henry McCullough and Denny Seiwell had quit the band just prior departing for Africa, and Paul’s troubles were further aggravated when he and Linda were victims of a mugging and he faced hostility from local musicians who were suspicious of his motives. But amidst all the chaos, some great music emerged.
This was the first McCartney album I owned. I bought the LP at a small independent record shop that I used to go to quite often to look for used singles and LPs – even bought some 8 tracks there!
This is a strong album throughout, with solid songwriting and production. The beautiful acoustic numbers, Bluebird and Mamunia, are a nice contrast to rockers like Mrs. Vanderbilt. Let Me Roll It is an interesting number much in the style of some of John Lennon’s early solo work, and is said to have been a kind of peace offering to him after all the bitterness between them in the years following the breakup of the Beatles.
I remember hearing Jet on the radio when it was current, and it has always been a favorite of mine. Interestingly, it’s one of only a handful of ‘70s songs that got occasional play on the mostly top 40-oriented station I listened to most often as a teen.
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five is an excellent track, and one I wish had been included on the Wingspan collection. I remember playing the 45 on one occasion when I was in grade school – I think this would have been around ’77 - and thinking how weird it would be to actually be in the year 1985 – that year seemed impossibly far in the future at the time! LOL It’s my second favorite Macca song, edged only by…
Band on the Run. Though I had heard and liked many other songs prior to it, when I heard this on the car radio in the spring of ’74 at age 5 1/2, I absolutely loved it immediately as I had no other. To this day, I’m not sure why that song stood out so much for me – something about the chord sequence, or melody, or possibly the unique three-part construction – but it’s an outstanding song, and after 31(!) years, is still my all-time favorite. I think this song marks the point in my life that I became an avid listener and beginning collector of music, and that defined a big part of who I am today.
What are your thoughts on this album?
Awesome! I call this a "mini-rock-opera." Tells a good story that really kicks in when it gets to the main part. It's very similar to "Venus & Mars."
Anyway, it's a real rocker! Love the "ho... hey-ho" bit.
I agree with you that it is definitely a classic, one of my all-time favorite albums.