To celebrate 50 years since the film's release we've got together with our friend and James Bond authority Neil Alcock for an episode on Live and Let Die. As we'll hear, the theme song by Wings represented a gear shift and a new direction for Bond themes, away from big band singers and towards rock. Was Paul McCartney instructed to write elements into the song to fit the film's theme?
We also talk about Bond and the Beatles as British cultural exports of the 1960s, and the connections between them, and we discuss George Martin's score, how that came about, and the elements of it that made a break with the Bond scores of the past.
Links
Watch Live and Let Die online, or just wait for the next bank holiday and stick on ITV4
Buy Neil's excellent book, HITCHOLOGY: A Film-by-Film Guide to the Style and Themes of Alfred Hitchcock
The article we mention on the debunking of the "they didn't want Paul to sing it" story
The Wings performance from the 1973 James Paul McCartney TV special, with Paul's exploding piano
The picture of George Harrison wearing a 007 T-shirt:
Cover versions of Live and Let Die
As discussed, there are a few of these.
BJ Arnau's version, performed in the Harlem club in the film:
The Guns n' Roses version:
The Byron Lee and the Dragonaires version:
The Chrissie Hynde version (in which she removes the hanging preposition):
With apologies in advance, the Geri Halliwell version: