"C Moon" is a song written by

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

and

Linda McCartney Linda Louise, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, cookbook author, and activist. She was the keyboardist and harmony vocalist in the band Paul McCartney and Wings, Wings tha ...

and performed by

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

. It was released as a double A-side with " Hi, Hi, Hi" in 1972. The single reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart and since "Hi Hi Hi" was banned by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, "C Moon" received much airplay in the United Kingdom. In the United States, "C Moon" did not appear on any of the major record charts.

Lyrics and structure

The title "C Moon" was inspired by lyrics in the song "

Wooly Bully "Wooly Bully" is a song originally recorded by rock and roll band Sam the Sham, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1964. Based on a standard 12-bar blues progression, it was written by the band's frontman, Domingo "Sam" Samudio. It was released as ...

" by

Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs Domingo Samudio (born February 28, 1937), better known by his stage name Sam the Sham, is a retired American rock and roll singer. Sam the Sham is known for his camp robe and turban and hauling his equipment in a 1952 Packard hearse with maroon ...

. McCartney said, "There's a line in ooly Bullythat says, 'Let's not be L7.' Well, L7, it was explained at the time, means a square—put L and 7 together and you get a square... So I thought of the idea of putting a C and a moon together (a half-moon) to get the opposite of a square. So 'C Moon' means cool, in other words." The recording includes a missed-cue intro that was kept in the released version. The song is in the key of C and is in 4/4 time. The performers change instruments from their usual places. Guitarist

Henry McCullough Henry Campbell Liken McCullough (21 July 1943 – 14 June 2016) was a musician and singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland. He was best known for his work as a member of Spooky Tooth, the Grease Band and Paul McCartney and Wings. He al ...

plays drums and tambourine, guitarist

Denny Laine Brian Frederick Hines (29 October 1944 – 5 December 2023), known professionally as Denny Laine, was an English musician who co-founded two major rock bands: the Moody Blues and Wings. Laine played guitar in the Moody Blues from 1964 to 1966 ...

plays bass, and drummer

Denny Seiwell Denny Seiwell (born July 10, 1943) is an American drummer and a founding member of the rock band Wings. He also drummed for Billy Joel and Liza Minnelli and played in the scores for the films ''Waterworld'', ''Grease 2'', and '' Vertical Lim ...

plays

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African ...

and

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

. The song was recorded around the same time as "Hi, Hi, Hi", in September 1972.

Releases

The song was included on the Paul McCartney compilation albums '' All the Best!'' (1987) and '' Wingspan: Hits and History'' (2001) and as a bonus track on the 1993 remastered CD of ''

Red Rose Speedway ''Red Rose Speedway'' is the second studio album by the English-American Rock music, rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, Wings, although credited to "Paul McCartney and Wings". It was released through Apple Records on 4 May 1973, preceded by its ...

'', as part of ''

The Paul McCartney Collection ''The Paul McCartney Collection'' is a series of 16 remastered Compact disc, CDs by Paul McCartney of his solo and Paul McCartney and Wings, Wings albums, with most adding bonus tracks. The albums in the collection were released separately, with ...

''. It was also included on '' The 7" Singles Box'' in 2022.

Personnel

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

–

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

– harmony and backing vocals *

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

–

, cornet *

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

References

Sources

* * {{authority control 1972 songs 1972 singles Paul McCartney and Wings songs Apple Records singles Songs written by Paul McCartney Songs written by Linda McCartney Song recordings produced by Paul McCartney Music published by MPL Music Publishing Reggae rock songs