Apple 3415

Producer: Paul McCartney

Track listing: Band on the Run / Jet / Bluebird / Mrs. Vandebilt / Let Me Roll It / Mamunia / No Words / Helen Wheels / Picasso's Last Words Drink to Me) / Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five

April 13, 1974
4 weeks (nonconsecutive)

With two albums under their belt -- 1971's Wild Life and 1973's Red Rose Speedway — Paul McCartney must have felt that he had hit his stride with his post-Beatles combo Wings. The band had just scored a number two hit with "Live and Let Die," the theme to a James Bond film. Then something went wrong. Denny Seiwell and Henry McCullough opted to leave the group on the eve of the band's trip to Nigeria to record a new album.

"It was going to be a normal Wings album, but then our drummer and guitarist never showed up — left us in the lurch at the last minute," McCartney told Vic Garbarini in Musician. "It was literally an hour before we were getting into the plane to go on this trip to Africa ... so we ended just the three of us in Lagos, and I played a lot of the stuff myself."

Singing, handling bass, drums, some guitars, and producing was no problem for McCartney, as he had already proven on his self-titled solo effort, yet the Band on the Run sessions, held at Ginger Baker's studio in Lagos, would offer other challenges. McCartney and his wife were held up at knife-point. And to add insult to injury, McCartney was accused by local musicians of attempting to rip off their music. But in spite of this adversity, McCartney and his group somehow managed to produce what many call his finest post-Beatles effort.

For inspiration, McCartney turned to some of his ex-bandmates and acquaintances. The line, "If we ever get out of here" in "Band on the Run," for example, was inspired by George Harrison, who used the phrase out of frustration during an Apple Records board of directors meeting. "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" was the result of a dinner McCartney had in Jamaica with Dustin Hoffman. The actor, who was in the middle of filming Papillon, asked McCartney how he wrote songs and proceeded to hand him a copy of Time magazine with Picasso's obituary. Hoffman watched in amazement as McCartney crafted a song about the late artist.

Some of the sounds were also inspired ired by McCartney's former mates. The track "Let Me Roll It" was reminiscent of John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band. "My use of tape echo did sound more like John than me," McCartney admitted in his fan newsletter Club Sandwich. "But tape echo was not John's territory exclusively! And you have to remember that, despite the myth, there was a lot of commonality between us in the way that we thought and the way that we worked."

Two other songs, "Jet" and "Helen Wheels," were written about subjects closer to home. "Helen Wheels," which was a top 10 hit in January 1974, was named after the singer's Land Rover, which he affectionately referred to as"hell on wheels." Another top 10 hit, "Jet," was named after the McCartney's black Labrador puppy.

Band on the Run, aided by the one- two punch of "Helen Wheels" and "Jet," strode to the pole position in its 17th week on the chart, becoming McCartney's third post-Beatles Number One solo album. Less than two months later, the title track topped the Hot 100.

Perhaps more importantly to McCartney, the album got the thumbs-up from one of his harshest critics. Lennon told Rolling Stone that "Band on the Run is a great album. Wings is almost as conceptual a group as Plastic Ono Band is. Wings keeps changing all the time. I mean the backup men for Paul. It doesn't matter who's playing, you can call them Wings, but it's Paul McCartney music. And it's good stuff."

THE TOP FIVE
Week of April 13, 1974

1. Band on the Run, Paul McCartney & Wings
2. Greatest Hits, John Denver
3. Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield
4. Court and Spark, Joni Mitchell
5. Love Is the Message, MFSB

Welcome to Number 1 Albums, the web version of The Billboard Book of Number One Albums, originally published in 1996 by Billboard Books/Watson-Guptill. A few quick notes to visitors…

You may notice that the dates begin in 1956. Obviously I haven’t been posting that long, but I thought it would be best to post using the actual dates that the albums went to Number One so that the titles appear in the proper chronological order. I plan to post all the albums featured in the book, 423 in total, ending with the Beatles Anthology 1 in 1995, and occasionally add entries ...

Columbia 41355

Producer: Brendan O’Brien

Outlaw Pete / My Lucky Day / Working on a Dream / Queen of the Supermarket / What
Love Can Do / This Life / Good Eye / Tomorrow Never Knows / Life Itself / Kingdom of
Days / Surprise, Surprise / The Last Carnival / The Wrestler

February 14, 2009
1 week

It took the Boss -- with a couple of historic TV appearances -- to end Taylor Swift’s
eight-week run at the top. Released on the heels of his high-profile appearances at the
“We Are One” concert in honor of President Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jaunary 18
and his half time performance with the E Street Band at Super XLIII on February 1,
Bruce Springsteen’s Working on a Dream sold 224,000 copies in its first week. It gave
Springsteen his ninth Number 1 album and dethroned Swift’s Fearless from the summit.

The feat put Springsteen in a third-place tie with the Rolling Stones for the most chart-
toppers, behind only the Beatles (with 19) and Elvis Presley and Jay-Z (with 10 each).
Although the first-week tally of Working on a Dream marked a 33 percent drop from
Springsteen’s last chart-topper, 2007’s Magic, it still had to be considered a triumph of
sorts, given the general downturn of the American economy and the music business at the
time of its release.

On an artistic level, Springsteen felt -- and some critics agreed -- Dream topped a trilogy
of releases that marked a creative resurgence for the veteran rocker and his trusted E
Street Band. "I'll put The Rising, Magic and the new one against any other three records
we've made in a row, as far as sound, depth and purpose, of what they're saying and
conveying,” Springsteen told Rolling Stone’s David Fricke. “It's very satisfying to be able
to do that at this point in the road."

Recorded on days off from the band’s 2007-2008 tour, Working on a Dream had its
upbeat moments, celebrating the hope of Obama after the dire Bush years. Yet the album
was also bittersweet. Dream marked what were likely the final recordings featuring E
Street keyboardist Danny Federici, who died on April 17, 2008 from melanoma. In the
somber, album-closing “The Last Carnival,” Springsteen pays tribute to Federici by
singing, “We’ll be riding the train without you tonight/The train that keeps movin’.”

“The Wrestler,” which was tacked onto the album as a bonus track, was the theme song
for the Mickey Rourke-comeback vehicle of the same name. The song won a Golden
Globe for Best Original Song, but was surprisingly absent from the Oscar nominations.
The snub likely didn’t hurt Springsteen too much. A few weeks later, with Working on a
Dream perched atop the album chart, he was awarded a Grammy for Best Rock Song for
“Girls in Their Summer Clothes” from Magic. It was an honor Springsteen claimed he
didn’t even know he was nominated for until he opened the paper the following morning. 

THE TOP FIVE
Week of February 14, 2009

1. Working on a Dream, Bruce Springsteen
2. Fearless, Taylor Swift
3. I Am…Sasha Fierce, Beyonce
4. Dark Horse, Nickelback
5. 808s & Heartbreak, Kanye West

Big Machine Records 200

Executive producer: Scott Borchetta

Track listing: Fearless / Fifteen / Love Story / Hey Stephen / White Horse / You Belong to Me / Breathe / Tell Me Why / You're Not Sorry / The Way I Loved You / Forever & Always / The Best Day / Change

November 29, 2008
8 weeks (non-consecutive)

Breaking up ...

Jive/Zomba 40387

Executive producers: Larry Rudolph, Theresa LaBarbera Whites

Track listing: Womanizer / Circus / Out from Under / Kill the Lights / Shattered Glass / If U Seek Amy / Usual You / Blur / MMM Papi / Mannequin / Lace and Leather / My Baby / Radar

December 20, 2008
1 week

Circus, Britney Spears' fifth chart-topping album, couldn't have been more aptly titled. Even before the ...

Roc-A-Fella 1219802

Executive producers: Kanye West, Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua

Track listing: Say You Will / Welcome to the Heartbreak / Heartless / Amazing / Love Lockdown / Paranoid / RoboCop / Street Lights / Bad News / See You in My Nightmares / Coldest Winter



December 13, 2008
1 week

...

Music World Music/Columbia 719492

Executive producers: Beyonce & Matthew Knowles

Track listing: If I Were a Boy / Halo / Disappear / Broken-Hearted Girl / Ave Maria / Satellites / Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) / Radio / Diva / Sweet Dreams / Video Phone

December 6, 2008
1 week
...

Summit Entertainment/Chop Shop/Atlantic 515923

Executive producer: Livia Tortella

Track listing: Supermassive Black Hole [Muse] / Decode [Paramore] / Full Moon [Black Ghosts] / Leave Out All the Rest [Linkin Park] / Spotlight (Twilight Mix) [Mute Math] / Go All the Way (Into the Twilight) [Perry Farrell] / Tremble for My Beloved [Collective Soul] / I Caught Myself [Paramore] / Eyes on Fire [Blue Foundation] / Never Think [Rob Pattinson] / Flightless Bird, American Mouth [Iron & Wine] / Bella's Lullaby [Carter Burwell]

Columbia 88697 38378 2

Producer: Brendan O'Brien

Track listing: Rock N Roll Train / Skies on Fire / Big Jack / Anything Goes / War Machine / Smash 'N' Grab / Spolin' for a Fight / Wheels / Decibel / Stormy May Day / She Likes Rock N Roll / Money Made / Rock N Roll Dream / Rocking All the Way / Black Ice

BNA 734553

Producers: Kenny Chesney, Buddy Cannon

Track listing: I'm Alive / Way Down Here / Boats / Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven / Down the Road / Spirit of a Storm / Ten with a Two / The Life / Key's in the Conch Shell / Nowhere to Go, Nowhere to Be / That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)

Grand Hustle/Atlantic 512267

Executive producers: T.I.P., Jason Geter

Track listing: 56 Bars (Intro) / I'm Illy / Ready for Whatever / On Top of the World / Live Your Life / Whatever You Like / No Matter What / My Life Your Entertainment / Porn Star / Swing Ya Rag / Swagga Like Us / Slide Show / You Ain't Missin' Nothing / Dead and Gone



October 18, 2008
2 weeks

Nearly 40 years after Johnny Cash at San Quentin -- an album recorded at a California prison -- topped the chart, rapper T.I. scored his ...<< MORE >>

Warner Bros. 508732

Producer: Rick Rubin

Track listing: That Was Just Your Life / The End of the Line / Brocken, Beat & Scarred / The Day That Never Comes / All Nightmare Long / Cyanide / The Unforgiven III / The Judas Kiss / Suicide & Redemption / My Apocalypse



September 27, 2008
3 weeks

It takes a mix of chutzpah and business savvy for an act to break from the norm of releasing an album on traditional Tuesday street date. Metallica is an act that has both.

In order to have a simultaneous international release date, ...<< MORE >>

Def Jam

Executive producers: Demetrius Ellerbee and L.A. Reid

Track listing: The Recession (Intro) / Welcome Back / By the Way / Crazy World / What They Want / Amazin’ / Hustlaz Ambition / Who Dat / Don’t You Know / Circulate / Word Play / Vacation / Everything / Talkin’ It There / Don’t Do It / Put On / Get Allot / My President



September 20, 2008
1 week

Hip Hop is Dead, Nas proclaimed nearly two years earlier in the title of his own chart-topping album. His commentary on the genre was likely ...

Roadrunner 617938

Producer: Dave Fortman

Track listing: .Execute.  / Gematria (The Killing Name) / Sulfur / Psychosocial / Dead Memories / Vendetta / Butcher’s Hook / Gehenna / This Cold Black / Wherein Lies Continue / Snuff / All Hope is Gone

September 13, 2008
1 week

The album chart has seen its share of chart-topping ghouls over the years, from Alice Cooper in the ‘70s to Marilyn Manson in the ‘90s and beyond, but none are perhaps more ghoulish than Slipknot.

Emerging from Des Moines, Iowa in 1995, Slipknot quickly made a name for itself ...

Hollywood  1944

Producer: John Fields

Track listing: BB Good / Burnin’ Up / Shelf / One Man Show / Lovebug / Tonight / Can’t Have You / Video Girl / Pushin’ Me Away / Sorry / Got Me Going Crazy / A Little Bit Longer



August 30, 2008
2 weeks

In spite of their relatively young age, the Jonas Brothers were no overnight sensations when their third album, A Little Bit Longer, debuted on top of The Billboard 200.

Nick, the youngest of the brothers, first gained notice at the age of six and performed on Broadway ...<< MORE >>

Decca 011439

Executive producers: Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus

Track listing: Honey, Honey [Amanda Seyfried, Ashley Lilley &Rachel McDowall] / Money, Money, Money [Meryl Streep, Julie Walters & Christine Baranski] / Mamma Mia [Streep] / Dancing Queen [Streep, Walters & Baranski] / Our Last Summer [Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, Seyfried & Streep] / Lay All Your Love on Me [Dominic Cooper & Seyfried] / Super Trooper [Streep, Walters & Baranski] / Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) [Seyfried, Lilley & McDowall] The Name of the Game [Seyfried & Skarsgard] / Voulez-Vous [The Cast, Philip Michael, Baranski, Walters & Skarsgard] ...<< MORE >>