| "With a Little Luck" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byWings | ||||
| from the albumLondon Town | ||||
| B-side | "Backwards Traveller"/"Cuff Link" | |||
| Released | 20 March 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 10 May – November 1977[1] | |||
| Genre | Synth-pop,yacht rock[2][3] | |||
| Length | 5:45 (full-length version) 3:13 (radio edit version) | |||
| Label | Parlophone (UK) Capitol (US) | |||
| Songwriter | Paul McCartney | |||
| Producer | Paul McCartney | |||
| Wings singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"With a Little Luck" is a single by the bandWings from their 1978 albumLondon Town. It reached number 1 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart in May 1978.
"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 boatFair Carol, which had been fitted with a 24-track studio, for the albumLondon Town. The album, which had the working titleWater Wings was released in March 1978 as the band's seventh album.[4] During these recordings, Wings' lead guitaristJimmy McCulloch and drummerJoe English had recorded tracks but had left, returning the band to the three-piece line-up which had recordedBand on the Run in 1973. McCartney played electric piano, bass and synthesiser in the song; English was likely on drums, whileDenny Laine andLinda McCartney helped with some keyboards.[5]
"With a Little Luck" was released in March 1978 as the first single from the album and reached No. 1 in the United States[6] and Canada,[7] and No. 5 in the UK.[6][8] While it was at the top of the charts in the US, McCartney announced the new Wings line-up featuring lead guitaristLaurence Juber and drummerSteve 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.
Billboard described "With a Little Luck" as an "optimistic and celebrative" midtempo pop song that it expected to be one of McCartney's most commercially successful songs.[9]Cash Box said that "the lead vocals and harmonies are smooth and soothing" and praised thehooks.[10]Record World called it "a light, whimsical song about life's mysteries."[11] Chris Ingham praised the song as one of the best on the album, stating it was "full of the most sensitive pop synthesizer touches."[12] Tom Waseleski of theBeaver County Times regarded "With a Little Luck" as having "more substance" than McCartney's other soft rock tracks.[13]
The song'smusic video, directed byMichael Lindsay-Hogg, aired in the UK on 9 May 1978, as part ofGranada Television'sPaul, a music show hosted byPaul Nicholas.[14]
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"With a Little Luck" was included on the compilation albumWings Greatest (1978) and the Paul McCartney compilation albumsAll the Best! (1987),Wingspan: Hits and History (2001) andPure McCartney (2016). There are two versions of the song: the full-length version, which runs 5:45, and apromotional radio edit version, which runs 3:13 (as it cuts out, among other things, the entire instrumental interlude). The full-length version is included onWings Greatest and the UK & Canada version ofAll the Best!, while the radio edit version appears onWingspan,Pure McCartney and the US version ofAll the Best!
The song was featured in the closing credits of the 1979 filmSunburn starringFarrah Fawcett,Charles Grodin andArt Carney.
..."With a Little Luck" is the rare yacht-rock hit that was recorded on an actual yacht...
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link).Cash Box magazine.
