Paul McCartney Releases “Band On The Run” Without Orchestral Overdubs From Wings’ New 50th Anniversary Reissue
Wings, Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles group, went through a few different lineups, but the band was always basically a trio. Now, McCartney is the last surviving member of that core trio. His wife Linda died of breast cancer in 1998, and his old bandmate Denny Laine passed on Tuesday after a fight with interstitial lung disease. In a eulogy for Laine, McCartney wrote, “Denny was a great talent with a fine sense of humour and was always ready to help other people.”
By sheer coincidence, the day that Denny Laine died was the 50th anniversary of Band On The Run, Wings’ most popular album. McCartney was already making plans for a 50th-anniversary reissue of Band On The Run, and it’s coming out early next month. Most editions of that reissue will include an “underdubbed” mix of the record, with all of its orchestral overdubs removed. In a press release, McCartney says, “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.”
Today, McCartney has shared the underdubbed version of the title track from Band On The Run. The changes aren’t earth-shattering, but the song really does sound different in this context. Check out the underdubbed and regular versions of “Band On The Run” below.
The 50th-anniversary edition of Band On The Run is out 2/2.