Paul McCartney & Wings' legendary 'Band On The Run' album to be rereleased

Paul's Epic #1 Album From 1973 Will Be Available In Multiple Configurations Featuring Remastered Rare Bonus Audio & Video Content With Special Exclusive Packaging

Available November 1st in the UK November 2nd in the US


MPL and the Concord Music Group are pleased to announce the re-release of Paul McCartney & Wings’ iconic Band on the Run. Heralded as one of the greatest albums of all time, the GRAMMY winning, smash # 1 album - originally released December of 1973 - yielded the immortal title track and world-wide hit “Jet” becoming Wings’ most successful and celebrated album ever.

Paul personally supervised all aspects of the Band on the Run reissue. The remastering work was done at Abbey Road using the same team who recently remastered the complete Beatles’ catalog.

Band on the Run will be available in a variety of formats originating with the single disc digitally remastered, essential 9-track standard edition. The 3 disc (2CD, 1 DVD) special edition features nine bonus audio tracks (including the top 10 smash “Helen Wheels”), rare footage of the McCartneys in Lagos and behind-the-scenes at the famous album cover shoot, original Band on the Run promotional video clips, the One Hand Clapping television special (highlighted by studio performances filmed at Abbey Road in 1974) all with beautifully enhanced packaging. Collectors will be especially thrilled by the 4 disc (3CD, 1 DVD) deluxe edition which adds an extraordinary 120-page hard bound book containing many unseen and unpublished photos by Linda McCartney and Clive Arrowsmith, album and single artwork, downloadable hi-res audio versions of the remastered album and bonus audio tracks, a full history of the album complete with a new interview with Paul and expanded track by track information for all four discs. The deluxe edition also includes a special Band on the Run audio documentary (originally produced for the 25th Anniversary edition.) The original remastered album and bonus audio content will also be issued in a 2 disc 180gm audiophile vinyl edition that comes with an MP3 download of all 18 tracks. Lastly, the standard and deluxe versions of Band on the Run will be available digitally worldwide.

The musical achievement of Band on the Run is nearly matched by the amazing story behind its creation. Intrigued with recording abroad in the summer of 1973, McCartney searched for a list of studios around the world. Spotting one in the remote location of Lagos, Nigeria, he became enthralled with the idea of recording in Africa. Days before departure, lead guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Denny Seiwell quit the band leaving the entire project to the three core members, Paul, his wife Linda McCartney and band-member Denny Laine (along with recording engineer Geoff Emerick). Recorded in August and September of 1973 (with further work done at AIR Studios in London in October 1973), they persevered through a tumultuous, yet creatively invigorating 2 month recording process battling difficult studio conditions, oppressive heat and a dangerous mugging at knife point. The thieves made off with the demo tapes (among other valuables), forcing the band to record the entire album from memory.


Band on the Run triumphed both critically and commercially. The album topped the US album chart 3 separate times, won a Grammy and went on to sell more than 7 million copies. Upon the release of Band on the Run, then Rolling Stone reviewer Jon Landau famously gushed, “The finest record yet released by any of the four musicians who were once called The Beatles.”

Paul is currently playing five songs from the album on his ‘Up and Coming Tour’. Live favorites over the last 8 years of touring have included “Jet”, “Band on the Run” and “Let Me Roll It”. In 2008 when Paul played a free outdoor show to over 500,000 people in Kiev, a Ukrainian poll listed “Mrs Vandebilt” as their all time favorite Paul McCartney song. It’s been included in the set ever since. At the start of this tour Paul added “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five” to the set.

Band on the Run marks the first release from the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, an ambitious reissue program that encompasses 40 years of cherished, classic material from the most successful songwriter and recording artist in music history. It’s also the initial physical release of the recently announced agreement between McCartney’s MPL and Concord Music Group to globally market and distribute Paul’s venerated solo and Wings catalogue.

Download a free preview of Paul McCartney's new CD/DVD set

Paul McCartney announces end of year European Tour

New European Tour Announced Including Paul's Only UK Date In 2009

Following a massive tour of the US this summer, Paul McCartney today announces his first European Tour since 2004. This December will see Macca play seven special arena shows across Europe, culminating with his first ever public performance at London's O2 Arena, which will be his only UK date of this year. Other firsts on this tour will include shows at Berlin’s O2 World venue and Dublin’s The O2. Paul's legendary live performances are a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience. The audience gets to re-live some of the greatest moments in music from the last 50 years, many of which have become the soundtrack to living.

Paul commences his tour in Hamburg – a city he is very familiar with. Incredibly, it's now 49 years since The Beatles historic visit, which created rock folklore and put Hamburg on the map as a musical Mecca for hundreds and thousands of music pilgrims over the years. This will be Paul’s first time back in Hamburg (as well as Arnhem, Cologne and Dublin) since his 2003 "Back In The World" tour. Meanwhile, the people of Berlin will get their first Paul McCartney concert in 16 years, since 1993's "New World Tour"! December will take Paul back to Paris for the first time since he played an intimate club show at the Olympia in 2007.

London's O2 Arena will host Paul's final show of 2009 where he will bring the year to an end on a high. This will be his ONLY live show in the UK this year! Paul’s last UK show was a massive sellout concert at Anfield Stadium in 2008. At the time the Liverpool Echo wrote, "If Anfield had a roof, Macca would have blown it off." The O2 Arena does have a roof so it’s set to be a massive night of excitement and rock n' roll Macca style! Although this is Paul's first public performance at the O2 Arena he is very familiar with the venue. In 2004, before the O2 Arena was up and running as the world’s greatest music venue, Paul used the Millennium Dome (as it was known then) for rehearsals for his massive stadium "04 Summer Tour" which ended with Paul headlining the Glastonbury Festival which has gone down in rock history as the greatest festival moment ever. Although his rehearsals at the Millennium Dome were meant to be top secret, he was soon rumbled when a near by resident complained about the rock n’ roll noise upsetting his cat!

Speaking about the tour, Paul said: "This is my chance to bring our current show home to where it all began. Starting in Hamburg, ending in London and rocking everywhere in between. I'm very much looking forward to ending the year on a high."

What a year 2009 has been for Paul. He kicked it off by teaming up with Dave Grohl to perform "I Saw Her Standing There" at the Grammys, where he was also nominated for two awards. In April, Paul performed in New York at the David Lynch Foundation's benefit concert, "Change Begins Within". He was joined on stage with Ringo Starr for a special finale. Paul also headlined the Coachella Festival (his first US festival appearance) and performed a show to mark the opening of The New Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, a gig which sold out in seven seconds, setting a new sales record with tickets selling at a rate of 600 a second. July 11th took Paul to Halifax, Nova Scotia for his first ever concert there, which took place on the Halifax Commons. The mayor of Halifax described the show as the largest and most exciting concert in its 260-year history.

Following Halifax, Paul embarked on a five-week tour of the US; 'Summer Live '09'. The tour commenced with the inaugural run of shows at New York's Citi Field Stadium, which was the site of the former Shea Stadium where The Beatles made history in 1965 when they played a concert that set the precedent for the modern day stadium rock show. Critics hailed the Citi Field performances, seen by over 120,000 people, as the concert experience of a lifetime. The tour concluded in Dallas on the 19th of August.

For those of you who won't be able to make it to one of the European shows this Christmas you can re-live the Macca magic with 'Good Evening New York City', a multi-disc CD/DVD featuring performances recorded at New York’s Citi Field from Paul's 'Summer Live '09' tour.

THE DATES IN FULL:
2nd December - Hamburg, Color Line Arena
3rd December - Berlin, O2 World
9th December - Arnhem, Gelredome
10th December - Paris, Bercy
16th December - Cologne, Koln Arena
20th December - Dublin, The O2
22nd December - London,The O2 Arena

London ticket details.
Tickets available from Monday 26th October:
Box Office: 0844 856 0202
24hr Credit Card Hotline: 0871 230 1103
www.ticketmaster.co.uk