In 1971, drummer Denny Seiwell, and ex-Moody Blues guitarist and singer Denny Laine, joined Paul McCartney and wife Linda McCartney to record Paul's third post-Beatles project. The result was Wild Life, the first project to credit Wings. The band name is said to have come to McCartney as he was praying in the hospital while Linda was giving birth to their second child together, Stella McCartney. Paul McCartney recalled in the film Wingspan that the birth of Stella was "a bit of a drama"; there were complications at the birth and that both Linda and the baby almost died. He was praying fervently and the image of wings came to his mind. He decided to name his new band "Wings".
In 1972, McCartney returned to touring, mounting an impromptu tour of UK universities and small European venues (with the group driving around in a van), playing no Beatles numbers. He scored hits with the relatively light singles "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and "Hi Hi Hi" (the latter getting in trouble with the BBC for alleged drug references).
In early 1973, McCartney repeated this pattern, adding ex-Spooky Tooth guitarist Henry McCullough, and re-christening the band Paul McCartney and Wings for the album Red Rose Speedway which yielded the first big Wings hit, the romantic ballad "My Love". That same year, McCartney filmed his first American TV special James Paul McCartney, which was savagely criticised by noted rock journalist Lillian Roxon. Wings also recorded the hit theme song to the James Bond film Live and Let Die, which reunited McCartney with producer George Martin. Over the years, this has remained one of the most memorable of all Bond songs and is always an exciting part of McCartney's concert performances (often played to fireworks).
Following the release of Speedway, Denny Seiwell and Henry McCullough left the band, leaving the McCartneys and Denny Laine to cut their next album at EMI's recording studio in Lagos, Nigeria, recording what turned out to be their breakthrough album, Band on the Run.
The album went to #1 and spawned a half-dozen hit singles including the rockers "Jet" and "Helen Wheels", the acoustic ballad "Bluebird", and the dynamic title track a suite of movements recalling side 2 of Abbey Road. Moreover Band on the Run enjoyed very positive critical reception, and did much to restore McCartney's somewhat damaged post Beatles image. It also included the heavy "Let Me Roll It", which was seen as an affectionate impersonation of John Lennon's solo style.
After this, Jimmy McCulloch and Geoff Britton, lead guitar and drums respectively, joined the band, now rechristened Wings again. The first recording session with the new members was held in Nashville and produced the rocky non-album single "Junior's Farm". The new lineup then moved to New Orleans to create the album Venus and Mars (1975), followed by a return to Nashville for Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976); both albums took top chart positions. During this time, Joe English replaced Britton on drums. Speed of Sound represented a substantial departure from the Wings template in that each member of the band sang at least one song, including Linda ("Cook of the House").
Also during this period, Wings embarked on a very successful and theatrical world tour, documented in the triple-live LP set Wings Over America, which included a late 1975 tour of Australia, McCartney's first visit there since the Beatles' epoch-making Antipodean tour in June 1964. McCartney still mostly shied away from the Beatles catalogue; only five such numbers were typically included in the American shows. Laine sang lead vocal for several songs and McCulloch for one, to emphasize that Wings was more than just a backing band for McCartney. One of the Seattle concerts from the American leg of the 1975/76 world tour was filmed and later released as the concert feature Rockshow (1980). Further hits followed with the singles "Silly Love Songs" and "Let 'Em In".
Also in 1976, McCartney inaugurated Buddy Holly Week in London, founded on what would have been Holly's 40th birthday and marked with an annual celebrity party; his lifelong passion for the music of this rock'n'roll pioneer was also reflected in his acquisition of Holly's publishing catalogue. Ever the astute businessman, McCartney also cannily bought the rights to an off-Broadway musical he had seen in America, and this investment reaped huge returns when the musical was adapted into the smash-hit feature film Grease.
After the world tour, McCartney took a break, but this period produced both the most obscure and the most successful records he has made. During 1977 he released the peculiar, unpromoted and little-known album Thrillington, an orchestral re-make of the earlier Ram album, issued under the pseudonym Percy "Thrills" Thrillington, followed by single version of a live recording of "Maybe I'm Amazed". Later in the year, the band recorded their next album in the Virgin Islands.
At the end of 1977, McCartney released the ballad "Mull of Kintyre", an ode to the Scottish Mull of Kintyre coastal region he had made his home in the early 1970s. Its broad appeal was maximised by a pre-Christmas release, and it became a massive international hit, dominating the charts in Britain, Australia and many other countries over the Christmas/New Year period and becoming one of the biggest selling UK singles of all time.
McCartney released the album London Town in 1978. During the recording of the album in May, 1977, both Joe English and Jimmy McCulloch parted ways with Wings (McCulloch died of a heroin overdose in 1979). Though still released as a Wings album, the band was again reduced to Paul, Linda and Laine and a host of studio players. The album was a major commercial success, reaching #2 on the charts, but featured a markedly softer-rock, synth-based sound and yielded only minor UK hits in "With a Little Luck" and "Girlfriend" (the former was a big hit in the US).
In 1979, Wings released the singles "Goodnight Tonight", "Getting Closer", and "Wonderful Christmastime" and the album Back to the Egg, a critical and commercial failure and the last McCartney project released under the Wings moniker, with McCartney returning to solo billing on future recordings.
In November and December of 1979, Wings performed their final tour of the UK, climaxing with a massive rockestra all-star collection of musicians in London in aid of UNICEF and Kampuchean refugees. This final version of the band included guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Steve Holly, who had joined the group in 1978. During this tour the live version of "Coming Up" was recorded, this being their final US #1 hit the following year.
Wings continued to demo some more tunes during 1980/1981, but following a disastrous aborted Japanese tour, they fell apart.
Legacy
The longevity and success of Wings can be seen as something of a vindication for McCartney, whose early home-grown solo output, which often featured simpler songs and less lavish production than the Beatles received from George Martin, sometimes led to critical dismissal of his work as "lightweight" next to the seemingly more serious nature of his former bandmates' solo output. Though McCartney was the first Beatle to release a solo album after the official break-up of the band, it was John Lennon's early solo output which initially gained the lead in both critical opinion and commercial success, and George Harrison had scored a huge success with his 1970 triple-album solo debut All Things Must Pass. But by the mid-1970s, Lennon's solo career had run out of steam, and he had stopped recording; Harrison was also fading from view by this time, as by 1976 he had all but retired from recording and performing. As leader of Wings, however, McCartney was rising to a new peak of success. He became the only one of the four Beatles who continued to tour and record regularly in the years after their split.
Wings' 1977 single, "Mull of Kintyre"/"Girls School" is still the biggest-selling non-charity single in the UK (although Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" sold more, its sales include a reissue in aid of the Terence Higgins Trust) and it ranked fourth in the official list of best selling singles in the UK issued in 2002.
Let 'Em In
Paul McCartney & Wings Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Somebody's ringin' the bell
Someone's knockin' at the door
Somebody's ringin' the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let 'em in
Someone's knockin' at the door
Someone's knockin' at the door
Somebody's ringin' the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let 'em in, yeah, let 'em in
Sister Suzie, brother John
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Brother Michael, auntie Gin
Open the door and let 'em in, yeah
Sister Suzie, brother John
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Uncle Ernie, auntie Gin
Open the door and let 'em in, yeah
Someone's knockin' at the door
Somebody's ringin' the bell
Someone's knockin' at the door
Somebody's ringin' the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let 'em in, ooh yeah, let 'em in
Sister Suzie, brother John
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Uncle Earnie, uncle Lin
Open the door and let 'em in, yeah
Someone's knockin' at the door
Somebody's ringin' the bell
Someone's knockin' at the door
Somebody's ringin' the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let 'em in, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
The song "Let 'Em In" by Paul McCartney & Wings is an upbeat, catchy tune with simple yet unique lyrics. The song seems to be about welcoming people into your life, represented by the repeated phrase "someone's knockin' at the door, somebody's ringin' the bell." McCartney invites the listener to "do [him] a favor" and open the door to these people, suggesting that it is important to let others in and form connections with them.
The second half of the song lists specific individuals who McCartney wants to let in, including Sister Suzie, Brother John, Martin Luther, and Phil and Don. These people are likely representative of different types of individuals who might come into your life - family, friends, or even historical figures like Martin Luther. The chorus then repeats again, urging the listener to open the door and let these people in. Overall, the song's message seems to be about the value of connection and community, and the importance of welcoming others into your life.
Line by Line Meaning
Someone's knockin' at the door
Someone is attempting to enter the residence by knocking.
Somebody's ringin' the bell
Someone is attempting to enter the residence by ringing the doorbell.
Do me a favor
Please do a favor for me.
Open the door and let 'em in
Please allow the person or people knocking at the door to come inside.
Sister Suzie, brother John
Two people, Sister Suzie and brother John, are outside the door.
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Three people, Martin Luther, Phil, and Don, are outside the door.
Brother Michael, auntie Gin
Two people, Brother Michael and Auntie Gin, are outside the door.
Open the door and let 'em in, yeah
Please allow the people knocking at the door to come inside.
Sister Suzie, brother John
Two people, Sister Suzie and brother John, are outside the door.
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Three people, Martin Luther, Phil, and Don, are outside the door.
Uncle Ernie, auntie Gin
Two people, Uncle Ernie and Auntie Gin, are outside the door.
Open the door and let 'em in, yeah
Please allow the people knocking at the door to come inside.
Someone's knockin' at the door
Someone is attempting to enter the residence by knocking.
Somebody's ringin' the bell
Someone is attempting to enter the residence by ringing the doorbell.
Do me a favor
Please do a favor for me.
Open the door and let 'em in, ooh yeah, let 'em in
Please allow the person or people knocking at the door to come inside.
Sister Suzie, brother John
Two people, Sister Suzie and brother John, are outside the door.
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Three people, Martin Luther, Phil, and Don, are outside the door.
Uncle Ernie, uncle Lin
Two people, Uncle Ernie and Uncle Lin, are outside the door.
Open the door and let 'em in, yeah
Please allow the people knocking at the door to come inside.
Someone's knockin' at the door
Someone is attempting to enter the residence by knocking.
Somebody's ringin' the bell
Someone is attempting to enter the residence by ringing the doorbell.
Do me a favor
Please do a favor for me.
Open the door and let 'em in, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Please allow the person or people knocking at the door to come inside.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: PAUL MCCARTNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@user-pu5ht5yl3s
2024 any one?
@joebidet2050
1987 best year !
@darrylwaites7747
Sure. As good as the day it came out.
@josemazuez
I prefer today 😌
@SnowyZoe71
Still ❤
@olivierbindelle5645
Me
@RichardLucas
The energy of the music coming from Paul & Linda was so positive. Heard this as a small child, and at 51 it still shimmers like the light off of water.
@bb_binx
Isn't interesting how certain music can move us, when we are children. I know this did me too.
@JillKennedy-cw1wi
He sings it so particularly…there’s so much going on instrumentally…what anchors it this incredibly warm tone—literally singing your family inside.
@garyreid2178
This song has probably the most perfect tempo. It has room for everything in it. From the percussion, bass line, piano, flute and horns.This is what perfection sounds like.