| "Let Me Roll It" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byPaul McCartney and Wings | ||||
| from the albumBand on the Run | ||||
| A-side | "Jet" | |||
| Released | 15 February 1974 | |||
| Recorded | September–October 1973 | |||
| Studio | EMI Studios,Lagos, Nigeria | |||
| Genre | Blues rock | |||
| Length | 4:47 | |||
| Label | Apple | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Paul McCartney | |||
| Wings singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Band on the Run track listing | ||||
9 tracks
| ||||
"Let Me Roll It" is a song by the British–Americanrock bandPaul McCartney and Wings, released on their 1973 albumBand on the Run. The song was also released as theB-side to "Jet" in early 1974, and has remained a staple of McCartney's live concerts since it was first released.
The song's title was inspired by a quote fromGeorge Harrison's "I'd Have You Anytime", the opening track fromAll Things Must Pass.[1] According toUltimate Classic Rock contributor Nick DeRiso, John Lennon incorporated theriff from "Let Me Roll It" into his 1974 song "Beef Jerky".[2] DeRiso rated it as Wings' 7th greatest song.[2]
Alternatively,Rolling Stone's criticJon Landau,[3] saw the song as apastiche ofJohn Lennon's sound, particularly the riff and the use of tape echo on the vocals. McCartney, however, didn't intend the song to be a pastiche of Lennon. He did say the vocal "does sound like John. ... I hadn't realised I'd sung it like John."[4][1]
The song has sometimes been described as an answer or response to Lennon's song "How Do You Sleep?", a stinging attack on McCartney on the 1971Imagine album.[5] However,Philip Norman's authorized biographyPaul McCartney: The Life, recounts that in 1972 – after the release ofImagine and before the release ofBand on the Run — McCartney and Lennon met and "agreed that slagging one another off, on albums or through the music press, was stupid and childish." Norman quotes Lennon as saying thatBand on the Run was "a great album".[6]
"Let Me Roll It" was performed regularly by Wings during theirOver the World tour.[7] McCartney performed the song again during hisNew World Tour, and it has been a part of every tour since.[1] He has also included live versions of the song on several live albums, includingWings over America,Paul Is Live,Back in the U.S. (andBack in the World), andGood Evening New York City.[8]
According to authorBruce Spizer:[9]
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