“Band on the Run” is a contender for best post-Beatles album by any of the Fab Four. It’s full of solid songs beyond the monster hits, especially this grinding number that sounds just like a John Lennon song to everybody on Earth but McCartney. The draggy tempo, the tape-echo vocals, the short, biting guitar licks — c’mon. McCartney has always played innocent. He conceded he “sang it like John,” but claimed not to have realized it until others pointed it out to him. Uh-huh. The title phrase is from a George Harrison lyric on “All Things Must Pass,” making this perhaps the best post-Beatle example of cross-Beatle pollination. It’s also very close to a solo album, with McCartney playing bass, drums and much of the lead guitar.
