Live and Let Die (Paul and Linda McCartney)

Recording: October or November 1972 Location: AIR Studios, London Release: June 1973, single

 

Through the recording of many soundtracks with the Beatles (A Hard Day’s Night, Help!,

Magical Mystery Tour, Let It Be) and the little-known soundtrack of The Family Way

(1966) – in which for the first time Paul had experimented with symphonic music –

McCartney was well acquainted with this kind of musical language.

When in 1972 Paul was commissioned to write the soundtrack for the upcoming new

James Bond film Live and Let Die, it wasn’t hard for him to come up with a theme song .

Curiously, it was the second time that Paul was approached for a Bond film, as in 1971

McCartney was asked to write a track for Diamonds are Forever, which failed to materialize.

Paul immediately realized the opportunity in terms of sales and popularity: getting

Wings’ name and music out through the cinema channel was a unique opportunity to

increase fans and give the group high visibility.

Paul often says that good songs never take long to come to light and “Live and Let Die” is

a perfect example. Writing and recording the song, which became the greatest success of

all the Bond themes, only took a few days. The story goes that after the assignment,

McCartney read Fleming’s book on Saturday, wrote the tune the next day and recorded it

in the studio the following week.

“Live and Let Die” was a real turning point for McCartney: not only it confirmed Wings’

recent success but it also marked the return to working with George Martin as producer

for the first time since the breakup of The Beatles.

Once again, McCartney had to recognize Martin’s talent as producer and arranger: after

he wrote the song, Paul sat down at the piano with George, playing the track and giving

him suggestions for the arrangement just as in the old days.

As he had done for “Penny Lane”, McCartney sang the main theme to Martin and

suggested the instruments he wanted, leaving him to score the orchestra.

Wings recorded the track most likely at the end of October or during the first week of November. Paul said in an interview to New Musical Express released on November 16th: “We’ve just done something with George – just the other week. We recorded a track for the next James Bond film called ‘Live and Let Die’.”

The final take, that took “just a couple of days”[1] was recorded live in studio. Denny Seiwell: “We were at AIR Studios with a 40-piece orchestra. We knew well our parts and had a few rundowns with the orchestra, and it took only a few takes to get the master. I remember finishing the track in about three hours. The percussion was done by Ray Cooper, he played the tympani part and also a duck call on the reggae bit.... Great fun!”[2]

Mark Berry, today a well-known producer and working as a tea-boy at the time, recalls: “They had a 63 piece orchestra in there and I felt like I had emptied every ashtray known to man before the end of that one! I set up mikes and I put the charts that George Martin wrote onto the stands of the various musicians and I put the first violin charts where the viola charts were!”[3]

Berry: “Bill Price and Geoff Emerick engineered it. If I remember correctly, McCartney’s vocal was done in two or three takes and it was a very fast session… I remember saying, ‘Wow, that’s it?’ ‘cause with other musicians it takes hours to do the vocals.”[4] The result was a striking and atmospheric recording, that is considered one of McCartney’s most history-making tracks.

Together, McCartney and Martin built the song as two experienced film-makers, mixing pathos, tension and pure action. “Live and Let Die” marches majestically, combining in a three minute pop song an incredible number of tricks, melodic ideas and musical themes.

The opening verse with an intriguing piano chord sequence that accompanies McCartney’s voice – backed by Linda and Denny’s “ghostly” vocals – makes it a fascinating and timeless classic. Laine may have played bass as in “My Love”. Next to the explosive central theme – that goes straight to the heart of Bond's adventures (someone noticed a similarity to a passage from “Belshazzar’s Feast” by William Walton, certainly well-known to Martin…)[5] – in the middle section Paul put in a reggae digression (composed by Linda), almost a divertissement that softens the song’s dramatic and impelling feeling.

A real show of prowess, in which McCartney skillfully combines his different vocal registers, mixing his melodic gift with his screaming voice. After the song was recorded, Martin brought it to the producers and went to great lengths to convince them that what they’ve heard was the real track and not a demo version: George had insisted – with good reason – to have McCartney both as author and performer of the song.

But it wasn’t a whim. In terms of both sales and critical acclaim, “Live and Let Die” was an important success: it went straight to #2 in America – where it was certified Gold, for sales of over one million copies – and #9 in the United Kingdom, and took home a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists in 1973. Finally, it obtained an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song Written for a Motion Picture.

McCartney premiered the song during the James Paul McCartney TV special and he performed it on the 1973 Wings' British Tour.

In the following years, “Live and Let Die” became a staple of McCartney’s concert repertoire, cleverly enriched by an amazing backdrop of fireworks, strobe lights and other stage magic. The song returned popular when McCartney included it in the 1989-90 Paul McCartney World Tour, giving Guns‘n’Roses the opportunity to record it as a hit cover, that climbed to #5 on the British charts in 1991.

“Live and Let Die” is included in several albums: the single version can be found on Wings Greatest, All the Best! and Wingspan and there are five different live versions.

The first, on Wings Over America, is taken from the 1976 US Tour; the second is included on Tripping the Live Fantastic! from the 1989-90 Paul McCartney World Tour. The track also appears on Paul Is Live! from the 1993 New World Tour. The song was also included in the 2002/03 Drivin' Tour and then in Back In The US /Back In The World, as well as in tour performances in 2007, 2008 and 2009 – another version is on Good Evening New York City (2009) – in the 2010 Up & Coming Tour, in the 2011-12 On The Run Tour and in the 2013/14 Out There! Tour.

Musicians:

Paul McCartney vocals, piano, bass (?), electric guitar (?), percussion (?) • Linda McCartney backing vocals • Denny Laine backing vocals, bass (?), electric guitar (?) • Henry McCullough electric guitar • Denny Seiwell drums, percussion (?) • Ray Cooper tympani, duck-call, percussion (?) • Unknown musicians strings, horns

 

 

 

[1] P. Gambaccini, cit, p.71. The first day they recorded the basic track and the orchestra, the following was dedicated to overdubs.

 

[2] Interview courtesy of Denny Seiwell, 14/11/2011.

 

[3] Interview courtesy of Mark Berry, 23/02/2013.

 

[4] Ibid.

 

[5] A recording of “Belshazzar’s Feast” won a Grammy in 1973 for Best Choral Performance, Classical.