Live and Let Die (song)



"Live and Let Die" is the main theme song of the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die, written by Paul and Linda McCartney and performed by Wings. It was the most successful Bond theme to that point, charting at No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart.

Commissioned specifically for the movie, it reunited the former Beatle with the band's producer, George Martin, who produced the song and arranged the orchestra. It has been covered by several bands, with the Guns N' Roses version being the most popular cover. Both the McCartney and the Guns N' Roses versions were nominated for Grammy Awards. In 2012, McCartney was awarded the Million-Air Award from Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), for more than 4 million performances of the song in the US.

Background and recording
Even before Tom Mankiewicz had finished writing the screenplay to Live and Let Die, producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli invited Paul McCartney to write the theme song. McCartney asked to be sent a copy of Ian Fleming's novel. "I read it and thought it was pretty good. That afternoon I wrote the song and went in the next week and did it ... It was a job of work for me in a way because writing a song around a title like that's not the easiest thing going."

Originally, producer Harry Saltzman was interested in having Shirley Bassey or Thelma Houston perform it instead of Wings. Martin said McCartney would allow the song to be used in the movie only if Wings was able to perform the song in the opening credits. A second version of the song, performed by B. J. Arnau, also appears in the film. Arnau's performance originally was meant for the group Fifth Dimension. The Arnau version of the song appears on the soundtrack album as a component in a medley that also contains two George Martin-composed instrumental pieces, "Fillet of Soul – New Orleans" and "Fillet of Soul – Harlem". It was also released by RCA Records as a single in late June 1973.

Wings recorded "Live and Let Die" during the sessions for the Red Rose Speedway album, in October 1972. The song was recorded at AIR Studios, with Ray Cooper providing percussion instruments.

Release and aftermath
The song "Live and Let Die" was previewed in the 1973 television special James Paul McCartney, which aired on 16 April in the United States and 10 May in the United Kingdom. In the segment, McCartney and Wings were shown performing the song in his studio while clips of the film were shown, before the film's US theatrical release on 27 June.

The single reached No. 1 on two of the three major US charts, though only reached No.2 on the US Hot 100 for three weeks. It was kept from the No.1 spot by three different acts: Maureen McGovern, Diana Ross, and Stories. "Live and Let Die" also peaked at No. 9 in the UK. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies.

Sales of the single release and of the sheet music were "solid." The sheet music used the line "in this ever-changing world in which we live in" as part of the opening verse of the song. In the Washington Post interview more than 30 years later, McCartney told the interviewer, "I don't think about the lyric when I sing it. I think it's 'in which we're living', or it could be 'in which we live in', and that's kind of, sort of, wronger but cuter," before deciding that it was "in which we're living."

"Live and Let Die" was not featured on a McCartney album until the Wings Greatest compilation in 1978, and was included again on 1987's All the Best!, 2001's Wingspan: Hits and History, and in 2018 as a restored bonus track on a reissue of Red Rose Speedway. The entire soundtrack also was released in quadrophonic.

United Artists promoted the song in trade advertisements for Academy Award consideration, though producer Broccoli opposed the marketing tactic as unnecessary. The song became the first James Bond theme song to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song (garnering McCartney his second Academy Award nomination and Linda her first). In the Academy Award performance of the song, entertainer Connie Stevens dressed in a "silver-lamé outfit" with a Native American-looking headdress "descended from the ceiling" and then was "variously lifted and tossed about" by dancers dressed in various colours until she left the scene. The song lost to the eponymous theme song from the musical film The Way We Were.

In Wings' live performances of the song, the instrumental break featured flashpots and a laser light show. McCartney has continued to play the song on his solo tours, often using pyrotechnics. "Live and Let Die" is the only song to appear on all of McCartney's live albums (except for the acoustic-based Unplugged.)

Following the 9/11 attacks, the song was placed on Clear Channel's list of inappropriate song titles.

The song was included in the movie Shrek The Third (2007) and on its soundtrack. The song was featured in Kung Fu Hustle, in an epic fighting scene through the streets of Hong Kong choreographed to the song.

Personnel

 * Paul McCartney – lead vocals, piano
 * Linda McCartney – backing vocals, keyboards
 * Henry McCullough – lead guitar
 * Denny Laine – backing vocals, bass guitar
 * Denny Seiwell – drums
 * Ray Cooper – percussion
 * George Martin – orchestral arrangement

Parody
In 1984, McCartney asked "Weird Al" Yankovic when he was going to parody one of his songs. In 1992, Yankovic asked for permission to put his parody "Chicken Pot Pie" on an album (as a courtesy; legally, he did not need permission). McCartney denied the use because he is a vegetarian and did not want to promote the consumption of meat. Yankovic, a vegetarian himself, said he respected the decision; however, he has performed the song live.

Guns N' Roses version
"Live and Let Die" was released as the second single from Use Your Illusion I album and the fourth out of all the Use Your Illusion singles. A music video was made in November 1991 featuring the band playing live on stage and showing old pictures. The video also was made shortly before Izzy Stradlin's departure, and it is the last video where he appears. It charted at No. 20 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The song was nominated for "Best Hard Rock Performance" during the 1993 Grammy Awards.

Track listing

 * 1) "Live and Let Die" – 2:59
 * 2) "Live and Let Die" (Live) – 3:37
 * 3) "Shadow of Your Love" (Live) – 2:50

Personnel
Guns N' Roses Additional musicians
 * W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, keyboards, programming, backing vocals
 * Slash – lead guitar, 6-string bass
 * Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar
 * Duff McKagan – bass
 * Matt Sorum – drums
 * Dizzy Reed – trumpet
 * Shannon Hoon – backing vocals
 * Johann Langlie – programming
 * Jon Thautwein – horn
 * Matthew McKagan – horn
 * Rachel West – horn
 * Robert Clark – horn