It always seemed a no-brainer that a James Bond producer wanted to replace Paul McCartney with another singer. live and dieespecially when the title song of the 1973 Roger Moore classic became a big hit.
However, a story told by Beatles record producer George Martin and repeated by McCartney was that the 007 producer thought that what McCartney had recorded with his band Wings was just a demo and wanted a female voice. That’s what it means.
Now authors of an upcoming book, Alan Corzin and Adrian Sinclair, have unearthed an unpublished contract from a US university’s archives. This indicates that the Bond producers were always looking for McCartney in his opening credits for the film and another performer for his disco scene in the film.
Kohjin, music critic new york times For 38 years until 2014, he said: live and die I wanted to replace McCartney with a female singer. Martin has told that story many times. Paul picked it up many times. In fact, internal communications revealed that the contract always included the existence of his two versions of the song. ”
In his 1979 memoir, all you need is your ears, Martin recalled playing McCartney’s recordings to Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, who produced the Bond films. Like what you did, like the score, it’s such a great record. Tell me, who do you think should sing?” It completely blew me away. After all, he had a Paul McCartney recording that we made. And Paul McCartney is – Paul McCartney. But he was clearly treating it as a demo of his disc. “Don’t follow me. You’ve got Paul McCartney,” I said. I will not comply yet,” I said. “Look, we need a girl, right?”
In one interview, McCartney said: After the recording was done, they said to George, “Great, great demo.
Award-winning documentary maker Sinclair said, “It became part of a collection of stories that George and Paul would tell over the years, and no one ever fixed it.”
Archival material, an internal communication between lawyers and others representing McCartney and Bond producer Eon Productions, “undermines the narrative and presents it in a very different light,” he said. added.
The contract reveals that McCartney’s father-in-law’s lawyer, Lee Eastman, had negotiated with him $15,000 (£6,430 at the time) for writing the song. live and die With his then-wife Linda. Further financial arrangements, including publishing rights, earned him about $50,000 at his 50% of net income.
In one of the documents, Ron Kass, former head of Eon’s hired Beatles label Apple Records, wrote to Saltzman: live and dieHe and his musical group Wings perform the title song under the opening titles. ”
Cojin said: One version was to have Wings playing during the film’s opening titles and closing credits. There is a live version of the song performed on the club scene by soul singer BJ Arnau. When I saw those documents, I couldn’t help but think it was just a misunderstanding.
“Martin wouldn’t have been familiar with the terms of the deal, but Paul certainly would have. He had no reason to think anyone would see the contract.”
It is in the study of their book, The McCartney Legacy: Volume I: 1969-1973described as the most in-depth look into McCartney’s creative life beyond The Beatles. It reflects that
I have asked McCartney for comment.