espite the many movie themes the James Bond series had generated, only Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" had reached the Billboard Top 10, peaking at #8 in 1965. However, Paul McCartney's group Wings gave it their best shot, generating the highest-charting James Bond theme yet. Ironically, though, the former Beatle almost missed the chance to record it.

A highlight of his tenure with Wings and a fan favorite that's normally included in his concert setlist, Paul McCartney's explosive James Bond theme "Live And Let Die" was featured on the movie's 1973 soundtrack, which first charted on July 28, peaking at No. 17 and remaining on the charts for 15 weeks.

While The Beatles were in the midst of breaking up, Paul McCartney embarked on a solo career with his #5 single, "Another Day." But he soon found himself missing the dynamics of collaborating, and for his next hit he teamed with his wife, Linda, for the #1 single "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey." Expanding the concept, he recruited Denny Laine and Denny Seiwell in 1971 to form the group Wings. This band went all the way to #1 with the 1973 hit "My Love." The group's next single came courtesy of the James Bond movie Live And Let Die.

John Barry had scored most of the Bond films, but former Beatles' producer George Martin took over the reins for Live And Let Die. He asked McCartney if he could put something together for a theme, but when Martin delivered the demo of Paul's song the studio didn't realize the goldmine it had. Martin recalled in his autobiography All You Need Is Ears, "Paul McCartney had been asked to write a song for the film Live And Let Die, and I orchestrated and recorded it for him. After the producers, Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli and Harry Saltzmann, had heard it, I got a call from Harry's assistant, Ron Cass, saying that they would like to meet me.... [Harry] sat me down and said, 'Great. Like what you did. Very nice record. Like the score. Now tell me, who do you think we should get to sing it?' That took me completely aback. After all, he was holding the Paul McCartney recording we had made. And Paul McCartney was... Paul McCartney. But he was clearly treating it as a demo disc."

Although Thelma Houston was suggested as a singer, McCartney's version ultimately won out. Entering the charts at #69, the highest debut of the week, "Live And Let Die" took only six weeks to reach the runner-up position, doing battle with Maureen McGovern ("The Morning After"), Diana Ross ("Touch Me In The Morning"), and Stories ("Brother Louie") in an attempt to reach #1, but to no avail. Nonetheless, the song earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Song, which it lost to "The Way We Were." It also found a fan in a 10-year-old boy from Indiana named William Bailey who, under the name W. Axl Rose, took the song back to the pop charts in 1992 when the version he had recorded with his band, Guns N' Roses, peaked at #33.

- Christopher G. Feldman, The Billboard Book of No. 2 Singles, Billboard, 2000.

 

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