Paul McCartney and Wings reveal details of 50th anniversary edition of ‘Band on the Run’
Paul McCartney and Wings have announced plans to reissue Band on the Run to celebrate the album’s 50th anniversary.
The group’s third album was initially released in 1973 and became a best-selling record in many countries, including the United Kingdom, in 1974. Furthermore, Band on the Run is still the most commercially successful LP created by McCartney since The Beatles split. It was also nominated for ‘Album of the Year’ at the Grammy Awards.
The new expanded edition, set for release on February 2nd, 2024, of Band on the Run is set to be available in a series of new formats such as vinyl, CD, digital and Dolby ATMOS formats.
The anniversary release is set to include ‘Underdubbed’ mixes created by Geoff Emerick and Pete Swettenham at Air Studios in 1974, which have never previously been heard by the general public.
In a new statement, McCartney said: “This is Band On The Run in a way you’ve never heard before. When you are making a song and putting on additional parts, like an extra guitar, that’s an overdub. Well, this version of the album is the opposite, underdubbed.”
Earlier this year, former Wings member Denny Laine said to Billboard of the album: “I know why it was appreciated so much. Because it had a certain feel. It was basically just me and Paul doing the backing tracks.”
He continued: “And it was more of a relaxed approach to doing an album than if you’re going in with a band and there are all these parts. We were thrown into that as a last resort because two of the guys didn’t come to Lagos.”
Meanwhile, McCartney’s other group, The Beatles, recently scored their first number-one single in 54 years with new release ‘Now and Then’. The track, released on November 2nd, became the first track by the Fab Four to top the chart since ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ in 1969.
The gap between number one singles marks another landmark achievement for The Beatles, who have eclipsed a record set by Kate Bush in 2022 when ‘Running Up That Hill’ landed at the top spot.
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