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"Ho, hey ho!": how McCartney recorded the song 'Mrs Vandebilt'

How did McCartney record Mrs Vandebilt? The difficulties Wings faced when writing Band on the Run in faraway Africa.

The history of the composition that conquered Soviet music lovers

Paul McCartney is a renowned musician, producer and writer from the city of Liverpoolon the north-west coast of the United Kingdom. He is a founding member of the British rock band "The Beatles"who made a splash around the world in the 1960s. McCartney also 16 times won a prestigious music award "Grammys.".

In 1973, after graduating "Mrs Vandebilt" Western critics characterised it as a silly song with rather primitive lyrics. The composition was considered with the ex-Beatle's failed experiment. For this reason it was not popular in either the US or the UK. However, opinions were quite contradictory. В Soviet Union "Mrs Vandebilt" straight away was a hit.

Paul McCartney, our time
Paul McCartney, our time

In 2008before the Kiev show, there was an internet poll survey: what post-Beatles song Ukrainian fans would most like to hear at the concert. What was Paul McCartney's surpriseWhen the most votes were cast for "Mrs Vandebilt", which the musician so rarely included in his concert programmes. McCartney began his Kiev concert by announcing the song in Ukrainian: "We were asked to sing this song.". Since then, the musician has been performing 'Mrs Vandebilt' more frequently.

The story of the song's creation

In August 1973. McCartney decided to record the album in a special place - a remote African city Lagoswhich is the home of a British record company. EMI. There, in south-west Nigeria, the musician faced a host of challenges that made the trip turn out . real adventure.

Wings with Paul McCartney.
Wings with Paul McCartney.

It all started before the musician left for Nigeria. Shortly before the trip, the band "Wings." Two members - a guitarist and a drummer - left the band. Thus, there were only two members in the band just two musiciansIn addition to McCartney's wife Linda, who is a backing vocalist. The bandleader, however, is in no way kept his spirits upbut, on the contrary, he said he could handle it. and with such a sparse line-up. Fortunately, Paul not only owns a bass guitar, but can also play drums and guitar.

As a result, the musician's risky move turned out to be a success. The three members played so well that the famous drummer of the Kate Moon expressed his admiration.

What's the basis such an unusual choice to record an album? McCartney himself states that the reason was to find new emotions and impressionsand presumably more flexible schedules and freedom. Perhaps this is the trip the musicians remembered for a long time. Indeed, these were not all the difficulties that awaited the post-Beatles collective.

Group wings
Wings

Immediately after arriving Lagos, the musicians discovered that Nigeria had happened in the military coupand the recording studio was. atrocious. Humid and sweltering weather during the daytime meant that the team had to work at night. But the ordeal doesn't end there either. McCartney and his wife survived the robbery.

One night, a couple decided to take a walk in a quiet and peaceful looking city. During the walk, the couple discovered that they were being followed by a car with a man travelling in it. five armed thugs. With a knife to Paul's throat, the criminals took all the money, jewellery, camera and even tapes of an early version of the album "Band on the Run". Linda shouted desperately about the thugs dealing with McCartney from the "The Beatles". It was McCartney's fame saved him from being killed that night.

This event made edits to the song "Band on the Run"adding a special emotional colouring and a single line, "If I ever get out of here, thought of giving it all away."which translates to "I wish I could get out of here someday, even if I have to give it all up."

Regarding the title of the song. "Mrs Vandebilt"We are talking, of course, about the Vanderbilt dynasty - the most famous American millionaires, whose ancestors came from Holland. The Vanderbilts themselves McCartney admittedthat Mrs Vanderbilt knows nothing, except that she was a very wealthy person, so in the text she probably represents the wealthy in general.

It's easy to guesswhat's in the title "Mrs Vandebilt" missing letter "r". Whether this is done out of cunning or is a trivial error of inattention, it is difficult to say, but it is safe to assume that McCartney did it in order to avoid any claims by the of the Vanderbilt family.

Already in the first lines of the song, the concept of indifference was evident, urging the to drop everything and move far away from civilisation. to a primitive quiet place. This statement in the song is taken with a certain degree of ironiesgiven the location of the musicians during the recording of the album.

It is also worth noting that the first lines "Mrs Vandebilt" are a direct quote from the famous English comedian Charlie Chester. In his rendition it sounded as follows: "Living in a tent in the jungle is better than living in a bungalow - you don't have to pay rent". Loud laughter at the end of the composition, moving into choral singing is also a reference to Chester.

The latest edits to the album were made by the collective "Wings." when I got back from Nigeria. В "Mrs Vandebilt" the saxophone part of Howie Casey was added. The album title literally translates as "Gang on the run." and the cover is done appropriately titled. It depicts musicians as criminals and other celebrities, including the Christopher Leeknown for his roles as Dracula and Saruman from Saruman. "Lord of the Rings."

Paul McCartney and wings album cover "band on the run"
Album cover of "Band on the run" by Paul McCartney and Wings.

Despite the frequent division of opinion on the issue of of early post-Beatles work Paul McCartney, this album was well-received by all. A special praise is worth mentioning John Lennonwho had a complex character.

"Band on the Run" quickly became popular in the musicians' homeland. Already in 1974. It was the second best-selling album in the UK, and a year later was awarded the prestigious "Grammys." in the category for best pop song.

As mentioned earlier, "Mrs Vandebilt" particularly popular in England with the United States unusedIn the Soviet Union, however, music lovers loved the refrain "Ho, hei-ho! However, in the Soviet Union, music lovers liked the refrain "Ho, hey-ho!" very much, and some time after the release of the song, a cover was recorded by a band "The Merry Men."which goes by the name "Our Queen.". Other covers from Russian-speaking bands were later released.

 

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