"Let Me Roll It" is a song by the British–American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, released on their 1973 album Band on the Run. The song was also released as the B-side to "Jet" in early 1974, and has remained a staple of McCartney's live concerts since it was first released.
| "Let Me Roll It" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Paul McCartney and Wings | ||||
| from the album Band 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 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Paul McCartney | |||
| Wings singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Band on the Run track listing | ||||
9 tracks | ||||
Origin
editThe song's title was inspired by a quote from George Harrison's "I'd Have You Anytime", the opening track from his critically acclaimed All Things Must Pass.[1] According to Ultimate Classic Rock contributor Nick DeRiso, John Lennon incorporated the riff 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 critic Jon Landau,[3] saw the song as a pastiche of John 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 1971 Imagine album.[5] However, Philip Norman's authorized biography Paul McCartney: The Life, recounts that in 1972 – after the release of Imagine and before the release of Band 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 that Band on the Run was "a great album".[6]
Live performances
edit"Let Me Roll It" was performed regularly by Wings during their Over the World tour.[7] McCartney performed the song again during his New 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, including Wings over America, Paul Is Live, Back in the U.S. (and Back in the World), and Good Evening New York City.[8]
Personnel
editAccording to author Bruce Spizer:[9]
- Paul McCartney – lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar, drums
- Linda McCartney – backing vocals, organ
- Denny Laine – backing vocals, guitar
References
editCitations
- ^ a b c "Let Me Roll It". The Beatles Bible. 23 October 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
- ^ a b DeRiso, Nick (27 April 2014). "Top 10 Wings Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ Landau, Jon (21 January 1997). "Band on the Run". Rolling Stone.
- ^ McCartney, Paul, Band on the Run: 25th Anniversary Edition, disc two, track 14
- ^ Womack, Kenneth (2014). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four. ABC-CLIO. p. 403. ISBN 9780313391729.
- ^ Norman, Philip (2016). Paul McCartney: The Life. Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316327992.
- ^ "uncut.co.uk".
- ^ "BBC - Music - Review of Paul McCartney's Good Evening New York City". BBC.
- ^ Spizer 2005, pp. 174–175.
Sources
- Spizer, Bruce (2005). The Beatles Solo on Apple Records. Orleans, LA: 498 Productions. ISBN 0-9662649-5-9.
External links
edit- Review of Let Me Roll It at The Beatles Bible