"My Love" | ||||
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Single by Paul McCartney and Wings | ||||
from the album Red Rose Speedway | ||||
B-side | "The Mess (Live at The Hague)" (recorded on 21 August 1972) | |||
Released | 23 March 1973 (UK) 9 April 1973 (US) |
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Format | 7" single | |||
Recorded | March 1972 | |||
Genre | Rock, pop | |||
Length | 4:07 | |||
Label | Apple Records | |||
Writer(s) |
Paul McCartney Linda McCartney |
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Producer(s) | Paul McCartney | |||
Wings chronology | ||||
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"My Love" is a love song written by Paul McCartney to his first wife Linda. The ballad was a number one single and the most successful track from the Paul McCartney and Wings 1973 album Red Rose Speedway.
The song was recorded live with an orchestra at Abbey Road Studios with Richard Hewson conducting: according to his recollections, a large number of takes were performed, as the guitar solo was different every time. It contains a guitar solo by the Northern Irish guitarist Henry McCullough, then part of the Wings line-up. McCartney said in 2010 about the solo:
"My Love" was also released as a single in March 1973, reaching number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. It also went to number 1 on the Easy Listening chart for three weeks.Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1973. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies.
A promo for the song was shot with the band surrounded by smog in a den with a ceiling window. This promo used an alternate McCartney lead vocal, not heard on any other release of the song. Recent remasters of this promo use the standard album version.
The song also appeared on the Wings compilation album Wings Greatest (1978), and later on the Paul McCartney compilation albums All the Best! (1987), Wingspan: Hits and History (2001) and Pure McCartney (2016). Live versions appear on Wings over America (1976), Back in the World (2002) and Good Evening New York City (2009).