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With a Little Luck

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"With a Little Luck"
Single by Wings
from the album London Town
B-side"Backwards Traveller"/"Cuff Link"
Released17 March 1978
Recorded10 May – November 1977[1]
Studio
Genre
Length
  • 5:45 (full-length version)
  • 3:13 (radio edit version)
Label
SongwriterPaul McCartney
ProducerPaul 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

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"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.[5] 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.[6]

"With a Little Luck" was released on 17 March 1978 in the US and a week later on 24 March in the UK[7] as the first single from the album and reached No. 1 in the United States[8] and Canada,[9] and No. 5 in the UK.[8][10] 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

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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.[11] Cash Box said that "the lead vocals and harmonies are smooth and soothing" and praised the hooks.[12] Record World called it "a light, whimsical song about life's mysteries."[13] Chris Ingham praised the song as one of the best on the album, stating it was "full of the most sensitive pop synthesizer touches."[14] Tom Waseleski of the Beaver County Times regarded "With a Little Luck" as having "more substance" than McCartney's other soft rock tracks.[15]

Music video

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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.[16]

Personnel

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Chart performance

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Later releases

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"With a Little Luck" was released as two versions: 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 (1978), the UK & Canada version of All the Best! (1987) and the deluxe edition of Wings (2025), while the radio edit version appears on the US version of All the Best!, Wingspan: Hits and History (2001), Pure McCartney (2016), The 7" Singles Box (2022) and the single-disc edition of Wings.[26][27][28]

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

References

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  1. ↑ "With a Little Luck (song)". The Paul McCartney Project.
  2. ↑ Doyle, Tom (28 July 2026). "Every Paul McCartney Album Ranked". Mojo. Retrieved 6 August 2026. ...along with the synth pop wonder of With A Little Luck.
  3. ↑ "How Paul McCartney Found Hope Amid Second Wings Split". 20 March 2023.
  4. ↑ 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...
  5. ↑ Bowen, Mark (2009). McCartney Solo: See You Next Time (1st ed.). Lulu.com. p. 83. ISBN 978-140-929879-3.
  6. ↑ Luca Perasi, Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013), L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-88-909122-1-4, pp.157–158.
  7. ↑ Kozinn, Allan; Sinclair, Adrian (2024). The McCartney Legacy Volume 2: 1974–80. New York City: Deyst. p. 724. ISBN 978-0-06-300075-9.
  8. 1 2 "Paul McCartney singles". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  9. 1 2 "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 3 June 1978. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  10. ↑ "Official Charts: Paul McCartney". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. 1 April 1978. p. 87. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 1 April 1978. p. 22. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  13. ↑ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 1 April 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  14. ↑ Ingham, C. (2009). The Rough Guide to the Beatles (3rd ed.). Penguin. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-4053-8445-2.
  15. ↑ Waseleski, T. (12 April 1978). "Paul McCartney: His Return to Basics is Perfect". Beaver County Times. p. B-14. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  16. ↑ Miles, Barry; Badman, Keith, eds. (2001). The Beatles Diary After the Break-Up: 1970-2001 (reprint ed.). London: Music Sales Group. ISBN 9780711983076.
  17. 1 2 "Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 8 January 2022 – via Imgur.com.
  18. ↑ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 17 June 1978. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  19. ↑ "Wings Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  20. ↑ "Adult Contemporary Music Chart". Billboard. 27 May 1978. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  21. ↑ "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.
  22. ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly – Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  23. ↑ "Top 100 1978 – UK Music Charts". uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  24. ↑ "Pop Singles" Billboard 23 December 1978: TIA-18
  25. ↑ "Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles". Cash Box. 30 December 1978. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  26. ↑ Perasi, Luca (2023). Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970–1989. Milan: L.I.L.Y. Publishing. pp. 274–275. ISBN 978-88-909122-9-0.
  27. ↑ "'The 7" Singles Box' – Out 2 December 2022". PaulMcCartney.com. 10 November 2022. Archived from the original on 25 May 2026. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  28. ↑ Skinner, Tom (9 September 2025). "Wings announce self-titled anthology collection". NME. Archived from the original on 9 September 2025. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
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