"Let 'Em In" is a song by Wings from their 1976 album '' Wings at the Speed of Sound''. It was written and sung by

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 ...

and reached the top 3 in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. It was a No. 2 hit in the UK; in the US it was a No. 3 pop hit and No. 1

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

hit. In Canada, the song was No. 3 for three weeks on the pop chart and No. 1 for three weeks on the MOR chart of ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' magazine. The single was certified Gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for sales of over one million copies. It can also be found on McCartney's 1987 compilation album, '' All the Best!'' A demo of the song, featuring

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 ...

on lead vocal, was included as a bonus track on the Archive Collection reissue of '' Wings at the Speed of Sound''.

Content

The song starts with the sound of a V. & E. Friedland Maestro Westminster Chime

doorbell A doorbell is a signaling device typically placed near a door to a building's entrance. When a visitor presses a button (control), button, the bell rings inside the building, alerting the occupant to the presence of the visitor. Although the ...

, an

electro-mechanical Electromechanics combine processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Electromechanics focus on the interaction of electrical and mechanical systems as a whole and how the two systems interact with each ...

doorbell with a unique "vibrato resonating" feature, before the rhythm begins. The lyric namechecks several famous people, between friends and relatives of McCartney who, without a justified reason, knock on the door or ring the bell of his house and he exclaims "Let 'Em In". They include McCartney's paternal aunt Gin, his brother

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, and Linda McCartney's brother John. Phil and Don of

the Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close-harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, ...

are named (the duo covered " Keep A-Knockin'" on their self-titled album), along with

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

, who is said to have hung his " Ninety-five Theses" on a church door, but, according to McCartney, the name here refers to Martin Luther King. An Uncle Ernie is also named, being the character

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

sang in the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

's recording of

the Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

, '' Tommy''. "Let 'Em In" is also notable for the false fade out, which, however, becomes loud for the last two notes of the song. The song makes use of the

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 ...

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 ...

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

, including a

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

solo, and

wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch ...

s, featuring

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

s, as well as backup vocals from Linda and other members of Wings. The 7-inch single version is an edit of the album version. The UK and US pressings of this edit are alike.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that it was a "better, more substantial tune han 'Silly Love Songs'"">Silly_Love_Songs.html" ;"title="han 'Silly Love Songs">han 'Silly Love Songs'"and that "McCartney's voice is at its best, and the rhythm of this one is dangerously addictive." ''Record World'' said that "with a loping beat and a brisk military drum sound, this should be another chapter in McCartney's success story."

Personnel

– vocals, piano, backing vocals *

Jimmy McCulloch James McCulloch (4 June 1953 – 25 September 1979) was a Scottish musician best known for playing lead guitar and bass as a member of Paul McCartney's band Wings from 1974 to 1977. McCulloch was a member of the Glasgow psychedelic band One i ...

– bass *

– backing vocals, military drums * Joe English – drums *

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 ...

– backing vocals * Howie Casey, Thaddeus Richard, Steve Howard, Tony Dorsey – flutes, horns

Release

The song was released worldwide as a 7" single, except in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

where it was released as 12" single (the first-ever McCartney 12") with both sides labelled "Special Disco Mix". It was included on the compilation album '' Wings Greatest'' (1978), as well as the Paul McCartney compilation albums '' All the Best!'' (1987), '' Wingspan: Hits and History'' (2001) and '' Pure McCartney'' (2016).

Track listings

; 7" single (R 6015) # "Let 'Em In" – 3:42 # "Beware My Love" – 6:05 ; 12" single (2C 052-98.062 y) # "Let 'Em In" (Special Disco Mix) – 5:08 # "Beware My Love" (Special Disco Mix) – 6:05 *A Released in France only.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

* During the 1976 Miss America pageant, MC Bert Parks performed a memorable rendition of the song. * The song was covered in 1977 by

Billy Paul Paul Williams (December 1, 1934 – April 24, 2016), known professionally as Billy Paul, was an American soul music, soul singer, known for his 1972 Record chart, No. 1 single "Me and Mrs. Jones". His 1973 album and single ''War of the Gods (alb ...

, substituting a list of notable African-American figures such as

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

in lieu of the people named in the original. This version reached No. 91 on the ''Billboard'' Soul chart, and No. 26 on the UK charts. * "Guess Who's Knockin'", a song written by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and released by

The New Power Generation The New Power Generation, also known as the NPG, was the backing band of musician Prince from 1990 to 2013. They were replaced by 3rdeyegirl as his backing band in 2013. In 2015, the New Power Generation reunited as Prince's backing band for ...

on initial pressings of the 1993 '' Goldnigga'' album, references "Let 'Em In" without credit. *

used lyrics from "Let 'Em In" in 2003 on "English Garden" from '' Ringo Rama''.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1976 songs 1976 singles Capitol Records singles Cashbox number-one singles Music published by MPL Music Publishing Paul McCartney songs Songs written by Linda McCartney Songs written by Paul McCartney Song recordings produced by Paul McCartney Billy Paul songs Paul McCartney and Wings songs