| Mary Had a Little Lamb | |
| Cover: | Mary Had a Little Lamb by Wings front cover.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Caption: | Picture sleeve |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Wings |
| B-Side: | Little Woman Love |
| Released: | 19 May 1972 (UK)5 June 1972 (USA) |
| Recorded: | March 1972 |
| Genre: | Children's music |
| Length: | 3:30 |
| Label: | Apple |
| Producer: | Paul McCartney |
| Prev Title: | Give Ireland Back to the Irish |
| Prev Year: | 1972 |
| Next Title: | Hi, Hi, Hi |
| Next Year: | 1972 |
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" is a song written by Paul and Linda McCartney and released as a non-album single by the British–American rock band Wings in March 1972. It is based on the traditional nursery rhyme of the same name.
At the time, some observers such as Roy Carr and Tony Tyler of New Musical Express presumed the song was recorded by McCartney in response to the BBC ban of his previous single, the political "Give Ireland Back to the Irish",[1] but McCartney has denied this, saying that it was a sincere effort to write a song for children.[2] In fact, the song was written before "Give Ireland Back to the Irish", as a demo of the song can be heard during an interview recorded for radio station WRKO in December 1971.[3] For the front and rear cover and the labels, two illustrations by Clara Miller Burd were used.[4]
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" was released as a single on 19 May 1972 in the UK, moved back from its original planned date of the 5th.[5] The record was released in the US on 5 June.[6] On 25 May, the band mimed a performance of the song for BBC TV's Top of the Pops TV show.[5]
The song was attacked by several contemporary rock critics, with one commenting that McCartney had "fallen to tripe" of this genre. However, some critics suspected this immediate change in musical direction to be a deliberately ironic musical manoeuvre.[7] Cash Box said of it that "the nursery rhyme we all know and love gets a bouncy treatment."[8] Record World said it was "the familiar nursery rhyme set to a fine McCartney melody."[9] It reached the top 10 in the UK, peaking at number nine.[10] Some US radio stations also played 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 number 28 in the US.[11]
It was also included on The 7" Singles Box in 2022.[12]
| Chart (1972) | Peakposition | |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Go-Set National Top 40[13] | 17 | |
| Canadian RPM Top 100[14] | 41 | |
| Japanese Oricon Singles Chart | 41 | |
| UK Singles Chart[15] | 9 | |
| US Billboard Hot 100[16] | 28 | |
| US Cash Box Top 100 | 48 | |
| US Record World Singles Chart | 38 |
