My Love (Paul McCartney and Wings song)

"My Love"
Single by Paul McCartney and Wings
from the album Red Rose Speedway
B-side "The Mess (Live at The Hague)" (recorded on 21 August 1972)
Released 23 March 1973 (UK)
9 April 1973 (US)
Format 7" single
Recorded March 1972
Genre Rock, pop
Length 4:07
Label Apple Records
Writer(s) Paul McCartney
Linda McCartney
Producer(s) Paul McCartney
Certification Gold (RIAA 6 July 1973)[1]
Wings chronology
"Hi, Hi, Hi"
(1972)		 "My Love"
(1973)		 "Live and Let Die"
(1973)

"My Love" is a love song written by Paul McCartney to his first wife Linda. The ballad was a number one single and the most successful track from the Paul McCartney and Wings 1973 album Red Rose Speedway.

Recording

The song was recorded live with an orchestra at Abbey Road Studios with Richard Hewson conducting: according to his recollections, a large number of takes were performed, as the guitar solo was different every time.[2] It contains a guitar solo by the Northern Irish guitarist Henry McCullough, then part of the Wings line-up. McCartney said in 2010 about the solo:[3]

“ I'd sort of written the solo, as I often did write our solos. And he walked up to me right before the take and said, 'Hey, would it be alright if I try something else?' And I said, 'Er… yeah.' It was like, 'Do I believe in this guy?' And he played the solo on My Love, which came right out of the blue. And I just thought, Fucking great. And so there were plenty of moments like that where somebody's skill or feeling would overtake my wishes. ”

Chart performance

"My Love" was also released as a single in March 1973, reaching number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 9 on the UK Singles Chart.[4][5] It also went to number 1 on the Easy Listening chart for three weeks.[6] Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1973. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies.[7]

Weekly charts

Chart (1973) Peak
position
Australia KMR 5
Canada RPM 2
Japan 39
Norway 7
Netherlands 12
New Zealand (Listener)[8] 3
UK 9
US Billboard Hot 100[9] 1
US Billboard Adult Contemporary 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1973) Rank
Australia[10] 24
Canada[11] 30
US Billboard Hot 100[12] 5

Music video

A promo for the song was shot with the band surrounded by smog in a den with a ceiling window. This promo used an alternate McCartney lead vocal, not heard on any other release of the song. Recent remasters of this promo use the standard album version.

Later release

The song also appeared on the Wings compilation album Wings Greatest (1978), and later on the Paul McCartney compilation albums All the Best! (1987), Wingspan: Hits and History (2001) and Pure McCartney (2016). Live versions appear on Wings over America (1976), Back in the World (2002) and Good Evening New York City (2009).

Cover versions

"My Love" has been covered by several vocal artists, including Nancy Wilson, Johnny Gill, Cher, Brenda Lee, Cass Elliott, Margie Joseph, Salena Jones, Mina, Shinehead, Andy Williams, Warren Hill, and Dottie West. There have also been three jazz instrumental cover versions, by Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones, Pieces of a Dream (from 1996 album The Best Of Pieces of a Dream),[13] and Michael Lington (from 2004 album Stay With Me).[14][15]

Harry Connick Jr. covered the song on the 2014 covers album The Art of McCartney.

In 2011, Corinne Bailey Rae released a cover of the song on The Love E.P.

In 1974 Lincoln Mayorga included an instrumental version on his LP Lincoln Mayorga & Distinguished Colleagues – Volume III, on the esoteric audiophile label Sheffield Lab, naming the track "The Perfect Song".

An instrumental of the song can be heard during Monica and Chandler's wedding in the American sitcom Friends.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "RIAA Gold and Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
  2. ↑ Luca Perasi, Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013), L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-88-909122-1-4, p.87.
  3. ↑ Doyle, Tom, ed. (October 2010). "Starting over," (Paul McCartney: How I Survived … the Beatles.)". Mojo (magazine). Bauer Media Group (203): 76.
  4. ↑ "Paul McCartney singles". allmusic. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  5. ↑ Rice, Tim; Paul Gambaccini; Jo Rice (1995). British Hit Singles. London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-85112-633-2.
  6. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 163.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  9. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  10. ↑ "Australian Chart Book". Austchartbook.com.au. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  11. ↑ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.100214&type=2&interval=24&PHPSESSID=dtlhqtcdftn9t40n27r4hds2h0
  12. ↑ "Top Pop Singles" Billboard December 29, 1973: TA-28
  13. ↑ "The Best of Pieces of a Dream". Allmusic.com.
  14. ↑ "Stay with Me overview". Allmusic.com.
  15. ↑ "Stay with Me overview". Allmusic.com.
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