Editing Band on the Run (section)

== Background ==

{{quote box|quote= Paul thought, 'I've got to do it, either I give up and cut my throat or [I] get my magic back.'<ref name="Schaffner p 165">Schaffner, p. 165.</ref>|source= – Linda McCartney to ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]'' magazine|width=25%|align=left|style=padding:8px;}}
By 1973, three years after the [[break-up of the Beatles]], [[Paul McCartney]] had yet to regain his artistic credibility or find favour with music critics for his post-Beatles work.<ref name=IBT/><ref>{{cite book|first=Chris |last=Ingham |chapter=Introduction: Ten Years After |page=14|editor-last=Hunt |editor-first=Chris |year=2005 |title=NME Originals: Beatles – The Solo Years 1970–1980|location=London|publisher=IPC Ignite!}}</ref> After completing a successful [[Wings 1973 UK Tour|UK tour]] with his band Wings in July 1973,<ref>Doggett, p. 208.</ref> he planned their third album as a means to re-establish himself after the mixed reception given to ''[[Wild Life (Wings album)|Wild Life]]'' and ''[[Red Rose Speedway]]''.<ref name=Allmusic/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avclub.com/article/with-band-on-the-run-paul-mccartney-escaped-the-be-200811|title=With ''Band On The Run'', Paul McCartney escaped The Beatles' shadow|first=Noah|last=Cruickshank|date=14 January 2014|work=[[The A.V. Club]]|access-date=3 January 2016|archive-date=20 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220125100/http://www.avclub.com/article/with-band-on-the-run-paul-mccartney-escaped-the-be-200811|url-status=live}}</ref>

Keen to record outside the United Kingdom, McCartney asked [[EMI]] to send him a list of all their international recording studios. He selected Lagos in Nigeria and was attracted to the idea of recording in Africa. In August, the band – consisting of McCartney and his wife Linda, ex-Moody Blues guitarist and pianist [[Denny Laine]], [[Henry McCullough]] on lead guitar, and [[Denny Seiwell]] on drums – started rehearsals for the new album at the McCartneys' Scottish farm. During one rehearsal session, McCullough and McCartney argued, and McCullough quit.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FtuGwO2sY9cC&pg=PA48|page=48|title=Band on the Run: A History of Paul McCartney and Wings|first= Garry|last= McGee|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|date= 1 January 2003|isbn=9780878333042}}</ref> Seiwell left a week later, the night before the band flew out to Nigeria.<ref name="perasi_2013">{{cite book|last1=Perasi|first1=Luca|title=Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013)|date=2013|publisher=L.I.L.Y. Publishing|location=Milan|isbn=978-8890912214|page=101|edition=First}}</ref> This left just McCartney, Linda and Laine to record in Lagos, assisted by former Beatles engineer [[Geoff Emerick]]. McCartney had chosen Lagos, as he felt it would be a glamorous location where he and the band could sun on the beach during the day and record at night; the reality, however, was that, after the end of a [[Nigerian Civil War|civil war]] in 1970, Nigeria was [[Nigerian military juntas of 1966–79 and 1983–98|run by a military government]], with corruption and disease commonplace.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gzl1lBFXKhQC&pg=RA2-PT584|page=584|title=The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations|author=James E. Perone|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date= 17 October 2012|isbn=9780313379079}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/band-on-the-run-1213-2011.aspx|title=Band on the Run: The Harrowing Story Behind Wings' Classic Album|first=Russell|last=Hall|date=14 December 2013|publisher=gibson.com|access-date=1 January 2015|archive-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230061457/http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/band-on-the-run-1213-2011.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

It was McCartney's last album released on Apple Records.