In 1973, Paul McCartney, his wife Linda, and the rest of Wings travelled to Lagos, Nigeria, to record what would become one of their most celebrated albums, Band on the Run. What was meant to be an adventurous and creative retreat in an exotic location quickly turned into a blend of excitement, fear, and unexpected challenges. One of the most harrowing events of the trip was when Paul and Linda were mugged at knifepoint, but the story of their time in Lagos also involves legendary figures like Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and drummer Ginger Baker.
The Decision to Record in Lagos
After the Beatles disbanded, McCartney sought to carve out a new identity for himself as a solo artist. By the early 1970s, Wings had already produced a few albums, but McCartney wanted to push boundaries and create something more unique. Rather than recording in traditional locations like London or New York, McCartney opted for Lagos, Nigeria. He envisioned the trip as a chance to draw inspiration from Africa’s vibrant musical culture.
However, Paul’s arrival in Lagos didn’t go as smoothly as planned. The first thing he saw in the local papers was headlines of Fela Kuti, one of Africa’s most influential musicians, accusing McCartney of “coming to steal the black man’s music.” This was a bold accusation from a man who was not just a musician but also a political activist and vocal critic of Western influence in Africa. Kuti feared that McCartney’s presence in Nigeria was an act of cultural appropriation.
Fela Kuti’s Confrontation and Newfound Friendship
Rather than letting the accusations fester, McCartney decided to address them head-on. He called Fela Kuti and invited him to the studio to hear what he was working on, determined to prove that his recordings were nothing like Afrobeat or any other African music. This gesture helped to clear the air, and what followed was a legendary meeting between two musical giants.
In McCartney’s own words:
“Fela] came over with his 30 wives and a studio full of ganja. He was one wild cat, he used to have a bottle of whiskey in which was marinating a pound of pot… in the whiskey. We turned out to be real good friends, he got it, he said ‘no you’re not doing that’ [stealing African music.”
McCartney’s transparency reassured Kuti that he wasn’t there to exploit African music. Instead, they bonded over their shared love for music and creativity. Ginger Baker, who had set up a studio in Lagos and was a close friend of Kuti, was also present during the recording sessions. McCartney recalled, “Ginger Baker was there, he was his big friend.”
Their newfound friendship led to an invitation to Fela’s legendary club, The Afrika Shrine, located outside Lagos. The Afrika Shrine was a cultural hub where Kuti regularly performed and where political activism mixed with music. It was not a place for the faint-hearted, especially for foreign visitors.
A Night at The Shrine
McCartney’s visit to The Shrine turned into one of the most memorable nights of his time in Lagos. He recounted the experience vividly in an interview:
“Fela invites us to his club which was outside Lagos, the Afrika Shrine. This was a few of us, little white people, me and a couple of friends. So we go out there and I say, ‘let’s not smoke any pot.’ Cause it’s pretty crazy, we’re out in the jungle and it’s pitch black.”
Sitting alongside Fela, McCartney and his group were immersed in the deep rhythms of Afrobeat, surrounded by the dark, pulsating energy of the Nigerian jungle. As the night wore on, the atmosphere became even more surreal when one of Fela’s men approached.
“So we’re sitting there with Fela [at The Shrine] and one of Fela’s guys comes up, he’s crouching and he’s got a packet of Rothmans cigarettes. They’re all joints. He goes, ‘You want one of these?’ I say, ‘no thanks,’ so he carries around and gets to Ginger Baker who says ‘Yeah man! Sure!'”
This exchange prompted an outburst from Fela that has since become legendary. “Then Fela shouts, ‘Ginger Baker! The only man I know never refuse a smoke!'”
It was at that moment that McCartney changed his mind: “So I go, ‘A-ha! Ok, I’ll have one of those.'”
What followed was an intense experience. McCartney admitted, “Man. I tripped out. It was so strong. It was stronger than anything I’ve ever had, I don’t know if there was something in it. But in the end it was a good night.”
This wild night in Lagos added another layer to McCartney’s adventure, one that blended music, culture, and the unexpected friendship with Fela Kuti. Despite the night’s unpredictability, the relationship McCartney forged with Kuti helped ease tensions and left a lasting impression on both men.
Paul and Linda McCartney’s Mugging in Lagos
While their nights at The Shrine were memorable, not every experience in Lagos was so lighthearted. One evening, after finishing a recording session at Ginger Baker’s ARC Studio, Paul and Linda decided to walk back to their apartment. They were suddenly confronted by a group of men who pulled out knives and demanded their valuables.
McCartney later recounted the terrifying incident: “They had knives, and we were told to give up everything. We were absolutely petrified. We didn’t argue, just handed over our bags and wallets. The worst part was when they took the cassettes.”
These cassettes contained demo recordings of Band on the Run, and losing them was a significant blow. However, neither Paul nor Linda was physically harmed during the encounter. Despite the shock of the mugging, McCartney decided to stay in Lagos and continue working on the album, albeit with heightened security and caution.
Then, after we had been in Lagos a couple of weeks, we were held up and robbed at knife point. Linda and I had set off like a couple of tourists, loaded with tapes and cameras, to walk to Denny’s house, which was about twenty minutes down the road. A car pulls up beside us and goes a little bit ahead. Then a guy gets out and I thought that he wanted to give us a lift. So I said, ‘Listen, mate, it’s very nice of you, thanks very much, but we are going for a walk.’ I patted him on the back and he got back in the car, which went a little way up the road. It stopped again and Linda was getting a bit worried. Then one of them, there were about five or six black guys, rolled down the window and asked, ‘Are you a traveller?’ I still think that if I had thought really quickly and said, ‘Yes, God’s traveller,’ or something like that to freak them out a bit, maybe they would have left us alone. But I said, ‘No, we are just out for a little walk. It’s a holiday and we are tourists,’ giving the whole game away. So, with that, all the doors of the car flew open and they all came out and one of them had a knife. Their eyes were wild and Linda was screaming, ‘He’s a musician, don’t kill him,’ you know, all the unreasonable stuff you shout in situations like that. So I’m saying, ‘What do you want? Money?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, money,’ and I handed some over. Shaking, we walked on home and we were just sitting down having a cup of coffee to try and recover our nerves and there was a power cut. We thought they had come back and cut the power cables. We had a lot of trouble sleeping that night and got back to the studio the next day to be told, ‘You’re lucky to be alive. If you had been black, they’d have killed you. But, as you’re white, they know you won’t recognise them.’ I wanted to call the police, but everyone said it would do no good there at all. With that we had to carry on and make the record, adding to the pressure, which we had already got. It seemed stuffy in the studio, so I went outside for a breath of fresh air. If anything, the air was more foul outside than in. It was then that I began to feel really terrible and had a pain across the right side of my chest and I collapsed. I could not breathe and so I collapsed and fainted. Linda thought I had died.
The Impact on Band on the Run
The experiences Paul McCartney and Wings had in Lagos shaped Band on the Run in ways they couldn’t have anticipated. The album’s themes of freedom, escape, and survival reflect the band’s time in Nigeria, with its mix of beauty, danger, and creativity. The title track, “Band on the Run,” in particular, seems almost prophetic, with its lyrics describing a daring escape.
Despite the hardships, including the mugging and tensions over cultural appropriation, McCartney remained resilient. He later spoke of how these challenges only made the album stronger. “We were in a foreign place, dealing with things we hadn’t expected, but that’s what made the album what it is. That’s what gave it its spirit.”
Band on the Run went on to become one of Wings’ most successful albums, both critically and commercially. Songs like “Jet,” “Bluebird,” and the title track remain iconic today, and the album is often seen as a defining moment in McCartney’s post-Beatles career.
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