Paul McCartney announces Band On The Run 50th anniversary editions

Paul McCartney and Wings’ 1973 album Band On The Run is to be reissued in expanded form on 2 February 2024.

Subtitled the 50th Anniversary Edition, the album will be issued in several formats, including three physical editions, each of which includes the US version of Band On The Run with the additional track ‘Helen Wheels’.

Two vinyl editions – single LP and double disc – will be half-speed mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. The two-disc version will include previously-unheard “Underdubbed Mixes”, which were prepared by engineer Geoff Emerick on 14 October 1973. The rough mixes were used by arranger Tony Visconti to prepare his orchestral score, and are presented in the sequence on the original analogue tapes.

There will also be a two-CD edition which contains the same tracks as the double-LP version, plus a double-sided poster.

Band On The Run has also been mixed in Dolby Atmos by Giles Martin and Steve Orchard, and will be available digitally.

Here’s the press release:

Paul McCartney & Wings
Band on the Run 50th Anniversary Edition
Featuring Previously Unreleased “Underdubbed” Mixes
Coming 2 February 2024

50 years to the week of its original release, MPL and UMe announce the expanded 50th anniversary edition of Paul McCartney & Wings’ iconic Band On The Run, due 2 February 2024.

A fixture of all-time greatest album lists for decades, the multiple GRAMMY-winning #1 smash was originally released in December of 1973. Featuring the immortal title track, worldwide hit ‘Jet’, the wistful ‘Bluebird’, long-time live staple ‘Let Me Roll It’, the multi-faceted ‘Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me)’ and climactic closer ‘Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five’, Band On The Run is undoubtedly Wings’ most successful and celebrated release ever.

The 50th anniversary edition of Band On The Run will be available in a variety of formats, beginning with the essential 1LP. This special vinyl edition was cut at half speed using a high-resolution transfer of the original master tapes from 1973 by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, London. The single vinyl album configuration mirrors the US tracklist, which features the song ‘Helen Wheels’ and includes a Linda McCartney Polaroid poster.

The 2LP vinyl edition features the original US album, remastered at half speed, and a second LP titled “Underdubbed” Mixes Edition, housed in a premium slipcase. The set also includes two Linda McCartney Polaroid posters.

A 2CD format will feature the original US album, “underdubbed” mixes, and a double-sided fold-out Polaroid poster taken by Linda McCartney. Band On The Run (Underdubbed) will also be released digitally.

Speaking about the “underdubbed” version, Paul 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.”

Band On The Run (Underdubbed) presents Band On The Run’s nine classic songs for the first time without any orchestral overdubs, available digitally. The previously unreleased rough mixes were created by Geoff Emerick, assisted by Pete Swettenham at AIR Studios, on 14th October 1973. The tracklist, newly ordered as detailed below, mirrors the original analog tapes discovered in the MPL archives.

Finally, Band On The Run will also be available in Dolby ATMOS for the first time, newly mixed by Giles Martin and Steve Orchard.

Tracklist

2LP / 2CD Tracklist
Disc One – Band On The Run

1. Band On The Run
2. Jet’
3. Bluebird
4. Mrs Vandebilt
5. Let Me Roll It
6. Mamunia
7. No Words
8. Helen Wheels
9. Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me)
10. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five

Disc Two – Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes)

1. Band On The Run
2. Mamunia
3. No Words
4. Jet
5. Bluebird
6. Mrs Vandebilt
7. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five
8. Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me)
9. Let Me Roll It

1LP Tracklist

1. Band On The Run
2. Jet
3. Bluebird
4. Mrs Vandebilt
5. Let Me Roll It
6. Mamunia
7. No Words
8. Helen Wheels
9. Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me)
10. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five

Digital Formats – Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes) Tracklist

1. Band On The Run
2. Mamunia
3. No Words
4. Jet
5. Bluebird
6. Mrs Vandebilt
7. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five
8. Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me)
9. Let Me Roll It