Mary Had a Little Lamb (Paul McCartney song)

"Mary Had a Little Lamb" is Wings' version of the traditional nursery rhyme. At the time, Paul McCartney claimed it was written in response to the BBC ban on their previous single, the political "Give Ireland Back to the Irish", but he has since denied this, asserting that it was a serious effort to write a rock song for children, who he felt were being tragically overlooked by the music industry.^[1] Wings lead guitarist Henry McCullough plays mandolin, and the McCartney children sing on the chorus. McCartney has claimed that record logs reveal that the song was recorded before "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" had been banned by the BBC. Engineer Tony Clark claims that the song was probably recorded in February or March;^[2] "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" was banned at the end of February.

The song was virulently attacked by rock critics at the time, although a few critics thought it to be deliberately ironic.^[3] It reached the top 10 in the UK, peaking at #9.^[4] However, many US radio stations chose instead to play the pop/rock B-side, "Little Woman Love". Apple Records in the US even revised the picture sleeve for the single to credit both sides by name (see reverse cover), but the single still failed to rise above #28 in the U.S.^[5]

The song was released as a single on 12 May 1972. It was included as a bonus track on the remastered version of Wild Life released in 1993.

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