You Gave Me the Answer
| "You Gave Me the Answer" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Wings | ||||
| from the album Venus and Mars | ||||
| A-side | "Letting Go" | |||
| Released | 4 October 1975 (US) 18 October 1975 (UK) | |||
| Genre | Music hall[1] | |||
| Length | 2:15 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriters | Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney | |||
| Producer | Paul McCartney | |||
| Wings singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Venus and Mars track listing | ||||
13 tracks
| ||||
"You Gave Me the Answer" is a song by Wings. It was written by Paul McCartney and appeared on the album Venus and Mars.
Origin and recording
McCartney has occasionally paid tribute to his father, James, who led his own band in his youth, by writing "Music Hall numbers."[2] Other such songs from McCartney's catalogue include "When I'm Sixty-Four" and "Honey Pie".[3] To enhance the realism of this period pastiche, McCartney recorded his lead vocals through a filter that removed much of the lower-end frequencies to help emulate the sound of singing through a megaphone, the signature sound of Rudy Vallee.[4] This was a common recording technique during the 1920s, where singers like Vallee and Al Jolson had to compensate for the poor reception of primitive recording equipment at that time.[original research?]
In concert, McCartney often dedicated this song to Fred Astaire.[2]
Personnel
- Paul McCartney – vocals, bass, piano, string arrangement
- Jimmy McCulloch – electric guitar
- Joe English – drums, backing vocals
- Linda McCartney – backing vocals
- Tony Dorsey – string arrangement
- Michael J. Pierce – clarinet
- Vito Platomone – clarinet
- Carlos Klejman – violin
- Russell Joseph Bobrowski – violin
- Ronald B. Benko – trumpet
- John K. Branch – viola
- Harold Joseph Ballam – bassoon
- Bernard S. Richterman – cello
References
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Venus and Mars – Wings, Paul McCartney & Wings, Paul McCartney". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
- ^ a b Flippo, C. (1988). Yesterday: the unauthorized biography of Paul McCartney. Doubleday. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-385-23482-5.
- ^ Julien, O. (2008). Sgt. Pepper and the Beatles: It Was Forty Years Ago Today. Ashgate. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-7546-6708-7.
- ^ Kelly, Kate (20 September 2023). "How the Microphone Changed Music: No Way To Amplify Sound". americacomesalive.com. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
Singing bandleader Rudy Vallee ... used a megaphone to help amplify his voice over the sound of his band.
