“Because the guy’s got a knife, he’s fairly persuasive!”: How Paul McCartney survived a mugging - and a mutiny - to create his solo masterpiece

Paul with Linda and Denny Laine.

High drama and dogged determination were defining factors in the creation of Band On The Run, the 1973 album by Paul McCartney and Wings which remains the most celebrated of his post-Beatles works.

By 1973 he had released two solo albums, McCartney (1970) and Ram (1971) as well as two with Wings: Wild Life (1971) and Red Rose Speedway (1973). But none of these attracted the kind of critical acclaim received by his former bandmates John Lennon and George Harrison.