Live And Let Die

A review of sorts in Kerrang! in December 1991:

ZODY: The worst thing Axl Rose ever did was have the therapy. If this is what the cure leads to, for fuck's sake stop taking the tablets! How anybody can think that Paul McCartney is hip, it's not even bad taste! That was a very bad mistake, Axl. What a turkey! How on earth he got Slash to agree to doing this I've no idea.

CAL: I've never been into 'em, and I don't like those styles of vocals at all. To me it sounded like the Barron Knights, with Slash playing guitar!

DAVE: What have the Barron Knights ever done to you?!

New quote from Slash:

"This is a song that we recorded as a present for Mr. Paul McCartney... And also because this Los Angeles critic was writing about all the James Bond songs [...] which ones were good... and how Paul McCartney's was the worst, pop, pussy type Bond song ever written. And I kind of thought "Well, if that's the case, maybe homeboy needs to hear it for five more fucking years! This is 'Live and Let Die'..."

(Axl Rose introduces 'Live and Let Die' during the Guns n' Roses show at The Forum, in Inglewood, CA, USA, July 30, 1991)



Starts around 16m05s on the video below

Article in Billboard, February 6, 1993:
-------------------------------------------

THEY'RE PLAYING MY SONG

“Live And Let Die,” written by Paul and Linda McCartney, was originally recorded by Wings in 1973. It also was featured in the 1973 James Bond film of the same name. In 1991, it was recorded by Guns N' Roses for the group’s “Use Your Illusion I” album on Geffen Records. EVAN LAMBERG, VP creative, East Coast, EMI Music Publishing, explains why GN'R chose the song.

Edited By Debbie Holley

Guns N’ Roses’ decision to record “Live And Let Die” did not stem from a publishing company “pitch.” Rather, according to Evan Lamberg, “[GN’R] just cut it. It’s not like they sought out permission to do this thing and got Paul McCartney’s blessing or anyone else’s,” nor did they have to. He cites the compulsory license as the reason why. “When a song is going to be recorded for commercial release for the first time— and only for the first time—the publisher retains the right to designate which act can record the number. Once a song is out commercially, anyone can cut the song without permission. All they have to do is call the publisher and the Harry Fox Agency, and the publisher is compelled to give them a license. As long as the melody or lyrics go unchanged, nothing can prevent a recording according to copyright law. ‘Live And Let Die’ is something about which Axl said, ‘I have to [record] this. This is my life summed up in these lyrics.’”

GN’R’s "Live And Let Die” is nominated for a Grammy in the best hard rock performance category. The song is published by MPL Communications Inc. (ASCAP) and EMI Unart Catalog Inc. (BMI), and administered by EMI Music Publishing.

From interview with Paul McCartney; The Boston Globe/The Spokeman's Review, May 9, 2000:

[...] But the peak was the symphonic "Live and Let Die," which Guns N' Roses later turned into a hit.

Says McCartney: "My kids would go to school and their friends would say, 'Oh, have you heard the new Guns N' Roses song?' My kids would say, 'Oh, my dad wrote that!' And they'd say, 'Get out of here!' Nobody believed it." [...]

Paul McCartney's "A Life in Lyrics" podcast (via Bang Showbiz, Nov. 12, 2023):
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For a while it was just Guns N’ Roses...' Paul McCartney lost ownership of Live and Let Die to cover version

Sir Paul McCartney's kids were taunted for claiming their dad wrote 'Live and Let Die' after Guns N' Roses covered his iconic James Bond theme.

The American hard rock band - fronted by Axl Rose - recorded a version of his 007 anthem for their 1991 album 'Use Your Illusion I', with the track remaining a fixture in their live sets.

Paul, 81, has now recalled how his kids would go to school and boast it was their dad who was responsible for creating the song only to be told they were lying.

Speaking on his 'A Life In Lyrics' podcast, he said: "I thought it was pretty good actually. I was more amazed that they would actually do it, this young American group.

"The interesting thing was my kids would go to school and they would go, ‘My dad wrote that.’ They’d go, ‘No he didn’t, it was Guns N’ Roses,’ so nobody would ever believe them. For a while it was just Guns N’ Roses."

The 'Get Back' singer was delighted that Guns N' Roses wanted to cover the song almost 20 years after he had recorded it with his late wife Linda and his band Wings and he insists he is always happy when other artists want to reinterpret his lyrics and music.

He said: "I was very happy that they had done it. I always like people doing my songs."

Paul had four children with photographer Linda; 60-year-old Heather - who he adopted when the couple married in 1969 - Mary, 54, Stella, 52, and James, 46. He also has 20-year-old Beatrice from his second marriage to Heather Mills.

'Live and Let Die' featured in the 1973 film of the same name, the eighth instalment in the 007 franchise and the first to star the late Sir Roger Moore as the suave British spy.

The Beatles legend admitted it had always been an ambition of his to record a Bond theme and follow in the footsteps of acclaimed artists such as Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Tom Jones and Nancy Sinatra.

Paul said: "It was always a sneaky ambition to write a Bond song because, in some ways, I like to see myself, one portion of myself, as a jobbing writer. You require a song for the queen’s wedding, I’m your man.

“The equivalent of that for a lot people is the Bond song. You’ve written a Bond song, it’s a bit of an accolade."

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/while-just-guns-n-roses-100000862.html