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"With a Little Luck"
Single by Wings
from the album London Town
B-side	"Backwards Traveller"/"Cuff Link"
Released	20 March 1978
Recorded	10 May – November 1977
Genre	Synth-pop, yacht rock
Length	5:45 (full-length version) 3:13 (radio edit version)
Label	Parlophone (UK) Capitol (US)
Songwriter(s)	Paul McCartney
Producer(s)	Paul McCartney
Wings singles chronology
"Mull of Kintyre" (1977) "With a Little Luck" (1978) "I've Had Enough" (1978)

"With a Little Luck" is a single by the band Wings from their 1978 album London Town. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1978.

Writing, recording and release

"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 boat Fair Carol, which had been fitted with a 24-track studio, for the album London Town. The album, which had the working title Water Wings was released in March 1978 as the band's seventh album. During these recordings, Wings' lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Joe English had recorded tracks but had left, returning the band to the three-piece line-up which had recorded Band on the Run in 1973. McCartney played electric piano, bass and synthesiser in the song; English was likely on drums, while Denny Laine and Linda McCartney helped with some keyboards.

"With a Little Luck" was released in March 1978 as the first single from the album and reached No. 1 in the United States and Canada, and No. 5 in the UK. While it was at the top of the charts in the US, McCartney announced the new Wings line-up featuring lead guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Steve 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.

Reception

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. Cash Box said that "the lead vocals and harmonies are smooth and soothing" and praised the hooks. Record World called it "a light, whimsical song about life's mysteries." Chris Ingham praised the song as one of the best on the album, stating it was "full of the most sensitive pop synthesizer touches." Tom Waseleski of the Beaver County Times regarded "With a Little Luck" as having "more substance" than McCartney's other soft rock tracks.

Music video

The song's music video, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, aired in the UK on 9 May 1978, as part of Granada Television's Paul, a music show hosted by Paul Nicholas.

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – vocals, bass guitar, synthesizer, keyboards
• Linda McCartney – keyboards, backing vocals
• Denny Laine – keyboards, backing vocals
• Joe English – drums

Chart performance

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "With a Little Luck" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Later release

"With a Little Luck" was included on the compilation album Wings Greatest (1978) and the Paul McCartney compilation albums All the Best! (1987), Wingspan: Hits and History (2001) and Pure McCartney (2016). There are two versions of the song: the full-length version, which runs 5:45, and a promotional radio edit version, which runs 3:13 (as it cuts out, among other things, the entire instrumental interlude). The full-length version is included on Wings Greatest and the UK & Canada version of All the Best!, while the radio edit version appears on Wingspan, Pure McCartney and the US version of All the Best!

The song was featured in the closing credits of the 1979 film Sunburn starring Farrah Fawcett, Charles Grodin and Art Carney.

References

1. "With a Little Luck (song)". The Paul McCartney Project.
2. "How Paul McCartney Found Hope Amid Second Wings Split". 20 March 2023.
3. Sheffield, Rob (6 March 2024). "The 100 Best Beatles Solo Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 April 2024. ..."With a Little Luck" is the rare yacht-rock hit that was recorded on an actual yacht...
4. Bowen, Mark (2009). McCartney Solo: See You Next Time (1st ed.). Lulu.com. p. 83. ISBN 978-140-929879-3.
5. Luca Perasi, Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013), L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-88-909122-1-4, pp.157–158.
6. ^ "Paul McCartney singles". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
7. ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 3 June 1978. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
8. "Official Charts: Paul McCartney". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
9. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. 1 April 1978. p. 87. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
10. "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 1 April 1978. p. 22. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
11. "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 1 April 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
12. Ingham, C. (2009). The Rough Guide to the Beatles (3rd ed.). Penguin. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-4053-8445-2.
13. Waseleski, T. (12 April 1978). "Paul McCartney: His Return to Basics is Perfect". Beaver County Times. p. B-14. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
14. Miles, Barry; Badman, Keith, eds. (2001). The Beatles Diary After the Break-Up: 1970-2001 (reprint ed.). London: Music Sales Group. ISBN 9780711983076.
15. ^ "Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 8 January 2022 – via Imgur.com.
16. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 17 June 1978. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
17. "Wings Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
18. "Adult Contemporary Music Chart". Billboard. 27 May 1978. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
19. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending May 20, 1978". Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Cash Box magazine.
20. "Image : RPM Weekly – Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
21. "Top 100 1978 – UK Music Charts". uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
22. "Pop Singles" Billboard 23 December 1978: TIA-18
23. "Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles". Cash Box. 30 December 1978. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2018.

External links

• Lyrics from Paul McCartney's official site
• Paul McCartney – With a Little Luck on YouTube

• 1978 singles
• 1977 songs
• Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
• Cashbox number-one singles
• Capitol Records singles
• Music published by MPL Music Publishing
• Music videos directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
• Parlophone singles
• Paul McCartney songs
• RPM Top Singles number-one singles
• Song recordings produced by Paul McCartney
• Songs written by Paul McCartney
• Paul McCartney and Wings songs