In 1975, Paul McCartney and Wings scored a massive hit with a song that almost never made it out the door.
"Listen to What the Man Said" became the band's third No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, helping solidify Wings as far more than simply McCartney's post-Beatles side project.
Ironically, McCartney himself initially had doubts about the song.
While in New Orleans recording the track for the 1975 album Venus and Mars, McCartney reportedly felt uncertain about the arrangement and wasn't convinced the song was working. Despite its upbeat melody and breezy sound, he worried it lacked the energy needed to become a standout single.
Producer Geoff Emerick and others around him, however, believed the song had undeniable charm and encouraged McCartney to trust it. McCartney knew it needed a little something extra, and he called in a favor from jazz musician Tom Scott.
"Someone said 'Tom Scott lives near here.' We said, yeah, give him a ring, see if he turns up, and he turned up within half an hour!" recalled McCartney in the books, Paul McCartney in His Own Words. "There he was, with his sax, and he sat down in the studio playing through. The engineer was recording it. We kept all the notes he was playing casually. He came in and I said 'I think that's it.' He said 'Did you record that' I said yes, and we listened to it back. No one could believe it, so he went out and tried a few more, but they weren't as good."
McCartney's instinct to enlist Scott for a last-minute sax solor paid off.
Built around a warm groove, layered harmonies and a joyful message about love and optimism, "Listen to What the Man Said" connected immediately with listeners.
"I really liked what Tom Scott did on there," McCartney said in a 1988 interview. "We just went for it live." The song ultimately became McCartney's favorite from those New Orleans recording sessions.
By the mid-1970s, McCartney was still navigating life after The Beatles, with critics often comparing every new release to his earlier success. Wings had already produced hits, but "Listen to What the Man Said" represented a major turning point, proving the band could consistently dominate the charts on its own terms.
The song's success also helped launch Venus and Marsinto becoming one of Wings' most commercially successful albums.
Decades later, "Listen to What the Man Said" remains one of McCartney's most beloved post-Beatles songs, a timeless rock classic born from uncertainty, instinct and a willingness to trust the music even when its creator wasn’t entirely sure about it at first.
Related: 1971 Soft Rock Classic, Banned by Some Radio Stations, Became a No. 1 Hit
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