With a Little Luck

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"With a Little Luck"
Single by Wings
from the album London Town
B-side"Backwards Traveller"/"Cuff Link"
Released20 March 1978
Recorded10 May - November 1977[1]
GenreSynth-pop, yacht rock[2]
Length5:45 (full-length version)
3:13 (radio edit version)
LabelParlophone (UK)
Capitol (US)
Songwriter(s)Paul McCartney
Producer(s)Paul McCartney
Wings singles chronology
"Mull of Kintyre"
(1977)
"With a Little Luck"
(1978)
"I've Had Enough"
(1978)

"With a Little Luck" is a single by the band Wings from their 1978 album London Town.

Writing, recording and release

"With a Little Luck" was written in Scotland and was Wings' follow-up single to the then best-selling UK Single of all time, "Mull of Kintyre." It was recorded in May 1977 in the Virgin Islands aboard the boat Fair Carol, which had been fitted with a 24-track studio, for the album London Town. The album, which had the working title Water Wings was released in March 1978 as the band's seventh album.[3] During these recordings, Wings' lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Joe English had recorded tracks but had left, returning the band to the three-piece line-up which had recorded Band on the Run in 1973. McCartney played electric piano, bass and synthesiser in the song; English was likely on drums, while Denny Laine and Linda McCartney helped with some keyboards.[4]

"With a Little Luck" was released in March 1978 as the first single from the album and reached No. 1 in the United States[5] and Canada,[6] and No. 5 in the UK.[5][7] While it was at the top of the charts in the US, McCartney announced the new Wings line-up featuring lead guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Steve Holley.

The single's b-side consists of the segue of two short tracks, "Backward Traveller"/"Cuff Link", also on the album, the first of which is a song and the second an instrumental that features a heavily synthesised guitar theme.

Reception

Beaver County Times regarded "With a Little Luck" as having "more substance" than McCartney's other soft rock tracks.[12]

Music video

The song's music video, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, aired in the UK on 9 May 1978, as part of Granada Television's Paul, a music show hosted by Paul Nicholas.[13]

Personnel

Chart performance

Later release

"With a Little Luck" was included on the compilation album Wings Greatest (1978) and the Paul McCartney compilation albums All the Best! (1987), Wingspan: Hits and History (2001) and Pure McCartney (2016). There are two versions of the song: the full-length version, which runs 5:45, and a promotional radio edit version, which runs 3:13 (as it cuts out, among other things, the entire instrumental interlude). The full-length version is included on Wings Greatest and the UK & Canada version of All the Best!, while the radio edit version appears on Wingspan, Pure McCartney and the US version of All the Best!

The song was featured in the closing credits of the 1979 film Sunburn starring Farrah Fawcett, Charles Grodin and Art Carney.

References

  1. ^ "With a Little Luck (song)". The Paul McCartney Project.
  2. ^ "How Paul McCartney Found Hope Amid Second Wings Split". 20 March 2023.
  3. .
  4. , pp.157-8.
  5. ^ a b "Paul McCartney singles". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 3 June 1978. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Official Charts: Paul McCartney". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  8. ^ "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. 1 April 1978. p. 87. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  9. ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 1 April 1978. p. 22. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 1 April 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  11. .
  12. Beaver County Times
    . p. B-14. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  13. .
  14. ^ a b "Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 8 January 2022 – via Imgur.com.
  15. ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 17 June 1978. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Wings Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  17. ^ "Adult Contemporary Music Chart". Billboard. 27 May 1978. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  18. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending May 20, 1978". Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Cash Box magazine.
  19. ^ "Image : RPM Weekly – Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  20. ^ "Top 100 1978 – UK Music Charts". uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  21. ^ "Pop Singles" Billboard 23 December 1978: TIA-18
  22. ^ "Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles". Cash Box. 30 December 1978. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2018.

External links