Paul McCartney's band Wings nearly collapsed in 1973 when two of its five members quit just as they were due to record a new album, yet the remaining trio pressed on and produced what became one of McCartney's finest post-Beatles works. Lead guitarist Henry McCullough walked out after a studio disagreement over a guitar part, and drummer Denny Seiwell then pulled out at the last minute before the planned recording trip, leaving only McCartney, his wife Linda and Denny Laine to carry the project forward.

Determined to press ahead, McCartney chose to record at an EMI-owned studio in Lagos, Nigeria, hoping for better conditions than an English autumn, but the sessions were plagued by torrential rain, primitive facilities, and a mugging in which he and Linda lost tapes of their recordings. Despite the setbacks and a severely reduced line-up, with Linda still a relative novice on her instrument, the sessions produced "Band on the Run", released at the end of 1973, which is widely regarded as a career highlight for McCartney.