| "Mary Had a Little Lamb" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Picture sleeve | ||||
| Single byWings | ||||
| B-side | "Little Woman Love" | |||
| Released | 19 May 1972 (UK)5 June 1972 (USA) | |||
| Recorded | 27 March 1972 | |||
| Studio | Olympic Sound Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Children's music | |||
| Length | 3:30 | |||
| Label | Apple | |||
| Songwriters | Paul McCartney,Linda McCartney | |||
| Producer | Paul McCartney | |||
| Wings singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" is a song written byPaul andLinda McCartney and released as a non-album single by the British–American rock bandWings in May 1972. It is based on the traditional nursery rhymeof the same name.
At the time, some observers such asRoy Carr andTony Tyler ofNew Musical Express presumed the song was recorded by McCartney in response to theBBC ban of his previous single, the political "Give Ireland Back to the Irish",[1] but McCartney has denied this, saying that it was a sincere effort to write a song for children.[2] In fact, the song was written before "Give Ireland Back to the Irish", as a demo of the song can be heard during an interview recorded for radio stationWRKO in December 1971.[3] For the front and rear cover and the labels, two illustrations byClara Miller Burd were used.[4]
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" was released as a single on 19 May 1972 in the UK, moved back from its original planned date of the 5th.[5] The record was released in the US on 5 June.[6] On 25 May, the band mimed a performance of the song forBBC TV'sTop of the Pops TV show.[5] Four different promotional films were also shot in June, each with a different setting labelled "barn", "countryside", "psychedelic" and "desert."[7]
The song was attacked by several contemporary rock critics, with one commenting that McCartney had "fallen to tripe" of this genre.[8] However, some critics suspected this immediate change in musical direction to be a deliberately ironic musical manoeuvre.[9]Cash Box said of it that "the nursery rhyme we all know and love gets a bouncy treatment."[10]Record World said it was "the familiar nursery rhyme set to a fine McCartney melody."[11] It reached the top 10 in the UK, peaking at number nine.[12] Some US radio stations also played the pop/rock B-side, "Little Woman Love".Apple Records in the US even revised the picture sleeve for the single to credit both sides by name (see reverse cover), but the single still failed to rise above number 28 in the US.[13]
It was also included onThe 7" Singles Box in 2022.[14]
According to The Paul McCartney Project:[15]
| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| AustralianGo-Set National Top 40[16] | 17 |
| CanadianRPM Top 100[17] | 41 |
| JapaneseOricon Singles Chart | 41 |
| New Zealand (Listener)[18] | 13 |
| UK Singles Chart[19] | 9 |
| USBillboardHot 100[20] | 28 |
| USCash Box Top 100[21] | 48 |
| USRecord World Singles Chart[21] | 38 |
