Live and Let Die James Bond song

Q: Who sang the Bond theme tune Live and Let Die?

Upon release, Live and Let Die was the most successful Bond theme up to that point, reaching No. 1 on two of the three major US charts (though it only reached No. ... Live and Let Die (song).

Q: What is the song at the end of James Bond No Time to Die?

Hans Zimmer - Final Ascent (Single Edit / From No Time To Die Soundtrack) - YouTube.

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

Inhaltsverzeichnis Show

Background and recording
Release and aftermath
Officially appears on
Who sang the Bond theme tune Live and Let Die?
What movie is Live and Let Die song in?
Which Bond was in Live and Let Die?
What is the song at the end of James Bond No Time to Die?

“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 Paul’s band Wings. It was one of the group’s most successful singles, and 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 and credited to Paul and Linda McCartney, it reunited the former Beatle with the band’s producer, George Martin, who both produced the song and arranged the orchestral break. It has been covered by several bands, with Guns N’ Roses’ version being the most popular. Both McCartney’s and Guns N’ Roses’ versions were nominated for Grammys. 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. Saltzman, who had previously rejected the chance to produce A Hard Day’s Night, decided not to make the same mistake twice and agreed. 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“.
Wings recorded “Live and Let Die” during the sessions for the Red Rose Speedway album, in October 1972. The song was taped at A.I.R. Studios, with Ray Cooper providing percussion instruments.
Release and aftermath
The single reached No. 2 in the United States and No. 9 in the United Kingdom. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies. Although McCartney’s previous single, “My Love“, had been credited to ‘Paul McCartney & Wings’, the label of the “Live and Let Die” single credited the performing artist simply as ‘Wings’. On the soundtrack album, however, the song was credited to ‘Paul McCartney & Wings’ and was credited as such in the opening titles to the film. “Live and Let Die” was the last McCartney single on Apple Records that was credited only to ‘Wings’.
“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! and 2001’s Wingspan: Hits and History. The entire soundtrack also was released in quadrophonic.
“Live and Let Die” was 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), but lost to the theme song from 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 when playing outdoor and indoor venues. “Live and Let Die” is the only song to appear on all of McCartney’s live albums (except for the acoustic-based Unplugged)
Lyrics
Comments have been made over the years about the lyrics that ambiguously are either “this ever-changing world in which we live in” or “this ever-changing world in which we’re living“. The “in which we live in” version has been cited as being redundant and/or improper grammar. When asked about the lyrics, McCartney responded that he doesn’t remember for sure himself, but that he thinks it is “in which we’re living“.
Following the attacks on 11 September 2001, the song was placed on Clear Channel’s list of inappropriate song titles. […]
Parody
In 1984, McCartney asked “Weird Al” Yankovic when he was going to parody one of his songs. A couple of years later, 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 didn’t want to promote the eating of meat. Fellow vegetarian Yankovic said he respected the decision; however, he has performed the song live. […]

From The Beatles Bible:

The film producers found a record player. After the record had finished they said to George, ‘That’s great, a wonderful demo. Now when are you going to make the real track, and who shall we get to sing it?’ And George said, ‘What? This is the real track!’ – Paul McCartney

From “The Beatles: Off The Record 2 – The Dream is Over: Off the Record“, by Keith Badman:

Paul (during the film ‘s production at Pinewood Studios in Iver, Buckinghamshire) “I’m really chuffed to be doing the theme for Roger. I think he’ll be great in the Bond role and l’m working on the right music for him. I’m also doing two or three songs for the film. Maybe we’ll be using music played by Wings. I’m not sure about writing the whole film score — We’ll just have to see how it goes… I read the Live And Let Die book in one day, started writing that evening and came on the next day and finished it by the next evening. I sat down at the piano, worked something out and then got in touch with George Martin, who produced it with us. Linda wrote the middle reggae bit of the song. We rehearsed it as a band, recorded it and then left it up to him… I wouldn’t have liked it if my music was going to replace John Barry’s, that great ‘James Bond’ theme. I know I’d miss that. I go to see him turn round and fire down the gun barrel. Our bit comes after he’s done that and after the three killings at the beginning. I’m good at writing to order with things like that. I’d like to write jingles really, I’m pretty fair at that, a craftsman. It keeps me a bit tight, like writing to a deadline, knowing I’ve got two minutes three seconds with a definitive story theme.”
Paul, shortly after the film’s release in July, “I enjoyed not being able to get into the cinema in Jamaica because it was sold out. You know, I told the guy at the door, ‘But I wrote the bloody tune!’ But the man said, ‘No use, man. Get out'”

From The Beatles Bible:

The film producers found a record player. After the record had finished they said to George, ‘That’s great, a wonderful demo. Now when are you going to make the real track, and who shall we get to sing it?’ And George said, ‘What? This is the real track!’ – Paul McCartney

From “The Beatles: Off The Record 2 – The Dream is Over: Off the Record“, by Keith Badman:

Paul (during the film ‘s production at Pinewood Studios in Iver, Buckinghamshire) “I’m really chuffed to be doing the theme for Roger. I think he’ll be great in the Bond role and l’m working on the right music for him. I’m also doing two or three songs for the film. Maybe we’ll be using music played by Wings. I’m not sure about writing the whole film score — We’ll just have to see how it goes… I read the Live And Let Die book in one day, started writing that evening and came on the next day and finished it by the next evening. I sat down at the piano, worked something out and then got in touch with George Martin, who produced it with us. Linda wrote the middle reggae bit of the song. We rehearsed it as a band, recorded it and then left it up to him… I wouldn’t have liked it if my music was going to replace John Barry’s, that great ‘James Bond’ theme. I know I’d miss that. I go to see him turn round and fire down the gun barrel. Our bit comes after he’s done that and after the three killings at the beginning. I’m good at writing to order with things like that. I’d like to write jingles really, I’m pretty fair at that, a craftsman. It keeps me a bit tight, like writing to a deadline, knowing I’ve got two minutes three seconds with a definitive story theme.”
Paul, shortly after the film’s release in July, “I enjoyed not being able to get into the cinema in Jamaica because it was sold out. You know, I told the guy at the door, ‘But I wrote the bloody tune!’ But the man said, ‘No use, man. Get out'”

Paul McCartney in "Wingspan: Paul McCartney's Band on the Run":

As a songwriter it was always one of my ambitions to compose a James Bond film song. I realised it wouldn’t be easy but it appealed to me. Ron Kass, who had worked at Apple, knew the people at the film company and he asked if I would be interested in writing the theme for Live and Let Die. I said yes, and they sent me the lan Fleming novel and I read and liked it, and the next day I sat down to see if I could write the song. I got the fairly straightforward idea of ‘live and let die and live and let live’, and I also knew that I had to incorporate explosions. George Martin produced the session and wrote an arrangement for the middle, and Linda wrote the reggae bit. We recorded it with an orchestra and then George took it out to wherever they were filming, in the Caribbean somewhere. The producers listened to it and said, That’s a great demo, who’s going to make the real record?’ George had to tell them this was the real record. They had thought I was going to write it for someone else to sing.

From Sunday Mirror – Sunday 15 October 1972

Basically, it was done with Denny (Laine) on bass, Paul on piano, myself on guitar and Denny (Seiwell) on drums with a 40-piece orchestra on top which was done by… you know that guy that did all The Beatles stuff… George Martin. It was him that got the orchestra together and we just went in one day at 2 o’clock and rehearsed it till about 6 and recorded live at 7 after only three takes which was great. I think it’s a great single, you know, I really do. I mean a great rocker at heart but all the same it gets to me.
Henry McCullough – From interview for Sounds, April 14, 1973

Last updated on August 1, 2022

The book "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present", published in 2021, covers Paul McCartney's early Liverpool days, the Beatles, Wings, and solo careers, by pairing the lyrics of 154 of his songs with first-person commentaries of the circumstances in which they were written, the people and places that inspired them, and what he thinks of them now.

"Live And Let Die" is one of the 154 songs covered.

Lyrics

When you were young and your heart was an open book.
You used to say live and let live.
(you know you did, you know you did, you know you did)
If this ever changing world in which we live in, makes you give it a cry.
Say live and let die!

Live and let die!
Live and let die!
Live and let die!

What does it matter to ya.
When you got a job to do, you got to do it well,
You gotta give the other fellow hell

You used to say live and let live.
(You know you did, you know you did, you know you did.)
If this ever changing world in which we live in, makes you give it a cry.
Say live and let die!

Live and let die!
Live and let die!
Live and let die!

Officially appears on

Live And Let Die / I Lie Around

7" Single • Released in 1973

3:13 • Studio version • A

Paul McCartney : Bass (?), Electric guitar (?), Percussion (?), Piano, Producer, Vocals Linda McCartney : Backing vocals Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Bass (?), Electric guitar (?) George Martin : Producer Henry McCullough : Electric guitar Denny Seiwell : Drums, Percussion (?) Ray Cooper : Duck-call, Percussion (?), Tympani Bill Price : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer