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TL;DR:

  • Paul McCartney said one Wings song was the ultimate tribute to Linda McCartney.
  • The song featured a solo he did not initially plan for the track.
  • The tune was a No.1 hit in the United States and considerably less popular in the United Kingdom.
Stella McCartney, Paul McCartney, and Linda McCartney in black-and-white
Stella McCartney, Paul McCartney, and Linda McCartney | Michael Putland/Getty Images

Paul McCartney said one Wings song was his ultimate love song for Linda McCartney. He discussed what it was like writing that song during the early days of their relationship. Subsequently, he said his focus on love songs triggered some backlash.

Paul McCartney said 1 of Wings’ songs was easy to write because of his feelings about Linda McCartney

During a 2001 interview with Billboard, Paul discussed his track “My Love.” “See, ‘My Love’ was my definitive one for Linda, written in the early days of our relationship, and that came easily,” he said.

“We had an interesting moment on the session where we were going to cut it live at Abbey Road Studios, and the guitar player [Henry McCullough] came over to me right before the take — we knew what we were going to do as a band, and the orchestra was arranged — and he said, ‘Do you mind if I try something different on the solo?'” Paul added. Paul trusted McCullough’s instincts and was impressed with the solo McCullough added to “My Love.”

The backlash to love songs inspired ‘Silly Love Songs’

Paul said his focus on love songs triggered backlash. “But over the years people have said, ‘Aw, he sings love songs, he writes love songs, he’s so soppy at times,'” Paul recalled.

“I thought, ‘Well, I know what they mean, but, people have been doing love songs forever,'” he said. “I like ’em, other people like ’em, and there’s a lot of people I love — I’m lucky enough to have that in my life. So the idea was that ‘you’ may call them silly, but what’s wrong with that?” He said these feelings inspired him to write the massive hit “Silly Love Songs.”

How Paul McCartney and Wings’ ‘My Love’ performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“My Love” became a huge hit. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for four weeks, staying on the chart for a total of 18 weeks. The tune appeared on the album Red Rose Speedway. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for three weeks and remained on the chart for 32 weeks altogether. It was the first Wings album to reach the top 10 in the U.S.

According to The Official Charts Company, “My Love” was far less popular in the United Kingdom. There, “My Love” peaked at No. 9 and lasted 11 weeks on the chart. On the other hand, Red Rose Speedway peaked at No. 5 in the U.K. and remained on the chart for 16 weeks. Red Rose Speedway became Wings’ first album to reach the top 10 in the U.K.

“My Love” is a classic ballad and it wouldn’t exist without Linda.

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