Wings - Band On The Run: why not get a competent drummer?

Gave a spin to the most lauded of Wings' LPs today, which I know pretty much by heart, but was struck by two things:

I) how weak it is on side 2. Manunia and Picasso's Last Words are both super-dreary and make everything seem twice as long, and No Words isn't strong enough to redeem the second side, so it's a long slog to the final track, (which is one of Macca's best).

But more pertinently, ii) any ear for drumming can tell that Paul's work throughout is barely above amateur, and brings down the tracks quite considerably. The bass is high in the mix to hide most of the slipshod drumming, but there're bits that are just awful (the drumming on Let Me Roll It is just crap). All credit to the engineers for even being able to salvage enough to work on a record.

So, there're Wings, in Lagos, with Ginger Baker round the corner and a bunch of very able drummers, or the option of replacing the drums back in the UK. Why did Paul want to keep such a second-rate performance? Surely it wasn't just his ego? Help me out, Wings fans!

 

The drumming is not flashy, but the tempo is solid. I've listened to this record many times intent on finding the bad passages. Not too many real bad sections.

 

Paul's drumming on Band On The Run displays restraint,
inventiveness and he plays for the song.

There is not a thing wrong with his drumming on
this album.

 

I never had a problem with the drumming----however, I always felt the sound of the drums were terribly lacking.

 

Keith Moon rated it.
Good enough for me.

 

I'm a huge McCartney fan, but I agree that BOTR is overrated.

I think at that time he was still attached to the idea that Wings was a band. When Denny and Henry left at the last minute, he didn't have time or the energy to audition new band members. Especially when he could make a record with the remaining Wings. I imagine there was some sense of 'oh yeah, well we can do it on our own...' as well. And he probably didn't want Ginger Baker in his band.

He certainly can play the drums - Dear Prudence and Back in the USSR prove that. But any sloppiness in the BOTR production, I suspect, has more to do with production decisions (and cough cough too much smoke) than his ability.

 

He wasn't making a Steely Dan record.

 

In all the years that I've heard this album I've never once thought there was a problem with the drumming.

"Mamunia" is a beautiful song, and "No Words" is the closest thing to a Beatles song on the album IMHO. The only track that I find to be a drag is "Mrs. Vandebilt."

 

I would not go as far as asserting that Paul's drumming is inventive, but it certainly worked for his material and recordings. This was not an album where the drumming is an obvious deficiency. It is a well produced, well-rounded album.

 

He's not even the best drummer in Wings!

 

I previously asked a similar question.

Should McCartney have used Ginger Baker on Band On The Run sessions?

 

Don t see the problem - wasn t Paul the best drummer in the Beatles.
On a more serious note- the drums on Band on the Run are good fir what their aim was- serving the songs. BOTR is not a perfect album no album is. But it s pretty close actually- a real classic.

 

Can't say the drumming has ever stood out as being weak. This is classic 70s rock. Inventive, melodic and a very tight album. Possibly the best solo Beatles album ever done.

 

The idea of Ginger Baker throughout Band On The Run makes me feel ill.

Great drummer, but no, what Paul does is right for the album.

 

I respectfully disagree with everything you said except for the praise of Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five. The only issue I have with listening to the album today is that two of the songs have been overplayed so much on the radio that I feel the need to skip them. The rest of the tracks are some of my all-time favorites by anybody.

 

Inventive in the fact that his some of his ideas aren't
the first thing that an actual "drummer " would think of.

Stevie Wonder is the same way when he was playing
drums on his albums. Groove and swing factor in also.

 

It largely has to do with the circumstances of recording in Lagos, The Macs weren't on friendly terms with the locals and they couldnt have just hired a drummer, especially with Fela not being in his corner. The locals didnt like Ginger Baker at first either. He of course does a cameo on the album but I doubt it would have been an easy situation if he was involved as the full drummer.

 

I don't hear anything wrong with the drumming on Band on the Run. It's not anything to write home about, but it sounds fine to me.

 

It rocks as it is.

 

I'd say the drumming is strictly competent, not great, but better than the McCartney LP. I'm not that crazy about the 2 songs you listed either.

 

Opinions, opinions....

 

What else is a message board for?

 

I really like No Words. If "Let Me Roll It" was Paul's "John" song, No Words was his and Denny Laine's "George".

Otherwise, I never had any issues with the drumming. It fit the material well.

 

It's not flashy or anything like that, but I don't know why it seems like crap to you. I think it's fine, and it fits the context well. The drumming seems pretty Ringo-inspired, really, and Ringo is one of my favorite drummers.

Maybe you'll think that I don't know what I'm talking about, but I'm a professional drummer (as well as bassist and keyboardist) who has been playing for 50 years and working for more than 40.

 

Yes indeed, the one thing that kept BOTR from being a true McCartney classic was the amateurish drumming!

Fortunately, Paul learned from his embarrassing mistake, and years later he would bring in two of the finest British drummers around to record: Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel's drummer from 1977-86) and Phil Collins. The resulting album, Press To Play, of course went on to be a critical and commercial smash, thanks mostly to the standout drum tracks... While today BOTR is regarded as a "what could have been" fiasco.