Little Woman Love
| "Little Woman Love" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) US revised picture sleeve | ||||
| Single by Wings | ||||
| A-side | "Mary Had a Little Lamb" | |||
| Released | 12 May 1972 | |||
| Recorded | 13 November 1970 – 21 January 1971 | |||
| Studio |
| |||
| Genre | Rockabilly | |||
| Length | 2:11 | |||
| Label | Apple | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Paul McCartney | |||
| Wings singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Little Woman Love" is a Wings song released as the B-side of the non album single "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on 12 May 1972 by Apple Records.[1]
History
The song that would eventually become "Little Woman Love" first emerged during an instrumental improvisation recorded by McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr on 3 January 1970 during the sessions for the Beatles' "I Me Mine", which was the group's final recording session.[2] McCartney would eventually compose the rest of the song, and recorded it during the sessions for McCartney's solo album Ram.[3] In keeping with McCartney's practice at the time, the composition was credited to Paul and Linda McCartney.
Beatle biographer John Blaney describes "Little Woman Love" as a "breezy rocker" with a rockabilly feel.[3] The song is unusual for Wings in that instead of Paul McCartney playing electric bass guitar, jazz musician Milt Hinton plays slap bass.[3]
Cash Box described it as a "'Lady Madonna'-ish rocker."[4]
Reception and charts
While "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was dismissed by the critics, it climbed to the top 10 in the United Kingdom.[5] In the United States, however, radio stations also played "Little Woman Love." As a result, the picture sleeve for "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was revised by Apple Records to have a separate listing for the flip side. The single reached number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.[6] On the Cash Box chart, which listed single sides separately, "Little Woman Love" only appeared for one week at number 95.[7]
Release
"Little Woman Love" was never released on an album until 1993, when it was included as a bonus track to Wild Life in The Paul McCartney Collection. It was included on the Special and Deluxe editions of Ram[8] and Red Rose Speedway. It was later included on The 7" Singles Box in 2022.[9]
Personnel
According to the author Luca Perasi:[10]
- Paul McCartney – lead and backing vocals, piano, acoustic and electric guitar
- Linda McCartney – backing vocal
- Hugh McCracken – electric guitar
- Denny Seiwell – drums
- Denny Laine – backing vocals
- Milt Hinton – double bass
Technical
- Paul McCartney – producer
- Tim Geelan – engineer
Notes
- ↑ McGee, Garry (2003). Band on the Run: A History of Paul McCartney and Wings. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-87833-304-2.
- ↑ Rui (29 October 2020). The Beatles - January 3rd, 1970 Jam Session. Retrieved 21 February 2025 – via YouTube.
- 1 2 3 Blaney, J. (2007). Lennon and McCartney: together alone: a critical discography of their solo work. Jawbone Press. pp. 45, 63. ISBN 978-1-906002-02-2.
- ↑ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 17 June 1972. p. 16. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- ↑ McGee 2003, pp. 239.
- ↑ "Paul McCartney singles". allmusic. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2015). The Comparison Book. Menonomee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 333. ISBN 978-0-89820-213-7.
- ↑ "Sir Paul McCartney 'RAM' tracklisting, reissue details revealed". paulmccartney.com. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
- ↑ "'The 7" Singles Box' – Out 2 December 2022". PaulMcCartney.com. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
- ↑ Perasi, Luca (2023). Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970–1989. Milan: L.I.L.Y. Publishing. pp. 112–113. ISBN 978-88-909122-9-0.
