After the success of Red Rose Speedway and "Live and Let Die" - the
featured song for the James Bond movie of the same name - Wings
began contemplating its next album. Paul and Linda McCartney began
writing new songs at their Scottish retreat soon after concluding
their 1973 tour.
Bored with recording in the United Kingdom, they wanted to go to
an exotic locale. After asking EMI to send him a listing of all
their international recording studios, Paul happened upon Lagos in
Nigeria and was instantly taken with the idea of recording in
Africa.
Alongside the McCartneys, guitarist and pianist Denny Laine,
lead guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Denny Seiwell also were
set to go. However, a few weeks before departing in late August,
McCullough quit Wings in Scotland; Seiwell followed suit the night
before the August 8, 1973 departure for Nigeria. This left just the
core of the band - Paul, Linda and Denny Laine - to venture to
Lagos, along with former Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick.
Upon arriving in Lagos, the band discovered a country in stark
contrast from their visions of paradise. The country was run by a
military government, with corruption and disease running rampant.
The studio, located on Wharf Road in the suburb of Apapa, was
ramshackle and underequipped. The control desk was faulty and there
was only one tape machine, a Studer 8-track. The band rented houses
near the airport in Ikeja, an hour away from the studio. Paul,
Linda and their three children stayed in one while Denny Laine,
Geoff Emerick and Wings' two roadies stayed in another.
The band established a routine of recording during the week and
playing tourist on the weekends. Paul temporarily joined a country
club where he would spend most mornings. The band would be driven
to the studio in the early afternoon where recording would last
into the late evening and sometimes early morning. To make up for
the departed band members, Paul would play drums and lead guitar
parts whith Denny playing rhythm guitar and Linda adding
keyboards.
More incidents would plague Wings' Lagos stay. While out walking
one night against advice, Paul and Linda were robbed at knifepoint.
The assailants made away with all of their valuables and even stole
a bag containing a notebook full of handwritten lyrics and songs,
and cassettes containing demos for songs to be recorded. On another
occaision, Paul was laying down a vocal track when he began gasping
for air. According to Geoff Emerick, Sound Engineer for the album:
"Within seconds, [Paul] turned as white as a sheet, explaining to
us in a croaking voice that he couldn't catch his breath. We
decided to take him outside for some fresh air...[but] once he was
exposed to the blazing heat he felt even worse and began keeling
over, finally fainting dead away at our feet. Linda began screaming
hysterically; she was convinced that he was having a heart
attack...The official diagnosis was that he had suffered a
bronchial spasm brought on by too much smoking." Another incident
was the confrontation with local Afrobeat star and political
activist Fela Ransome-Kuti who publicly accused the band of being
in Africa to exploit and steal African music after their visit to
his club. Ransome-Kuti even went to the studio to confront
McCartney who played their songs for him proving that they
contained no local influence whatsoever. Later on drummer and
former Cream member Ginger Baker invited the band to record their
entire album at his place, ARC Studio in Ikeja. Though not wanting
the invitation, Paul agreed to go there for one day. The song
"Picasso's Last Words" was recorded at ARC with Baker contributing
a percussive tin of gravel.
Recording of the album was completed by the third week of
September and the McCartneys hosted a beach barbecue to celebrate
the end of recording. They flew back to England on 23 September
1973 where they were met by fans and journalists. In October, two
weeks after the band's return to London, final overdubs and
orchestral tracks were added and the album was finished at George
Martin's AIR Studios (George Martin was not present).
"Helen Wheels" was released as a non-album single at the end of
the month, becoming a worldwide Top 10 by the end of the year. As
Band On The Run was being prepared for release, Capitol Records, US
distributor for Apple Records, slotted "Helen Wheels" into the
album although it was never McCartney's intention to do so. While
"Helen Wheels" is not included on UK versions of the Band on the
Run CD (except as a bonus cut on the 1993 "The Paul McCartney
Collection" edition of the CD) it has always been included on US
editions of the CD starting with the initial Columbia Records
release in 1984. Early versions of the Capitol release fail to
mention "Helen Wheels" on the label or the CD insert, making the
song a "hidden track".