Live and Let Die BOTB Showdown
Welcome to BOTB 2021 round 11! Until Labor Day, I’m operating on summer mode in Blogosphere and will do only one battle per month on the first. I’m continuing my James Bond theme song battles. Today, I’m featuring the 8th movie in the series, Live and Let Die (1973). Roger Moore starred for the first time as 007 in this production. The beautiful Jane Seymour earned international fame playing a Bond girl as the tarrot reader, “Solitaire”.
Live and Let Die was a collaboration between Paul, his wife – Linda, and George Martin. Paul McCartney & The Wings opened the Bond flick with the first true rock and roll theme song. It was a success in the UK charting #9 and peaked at #2 on US charts for three weeks.
I wasn’t very happy with most of the vocal covers I listened to but narrowed it down to two semi-acceptable versions. I can’t even imagine either being used for Bond movie so try to not think about that, base your decision on the artist’s version along.
No introduction is needed for either of my contenders but I purposely want to you to listen to Guns N’ Roses first. Go ahead hit play.
GNR did a good job. Their hard rock flavor is present which isn’t a bad thing, making GNR rendition a bit edgier. Will this be a turn off or turn on?
I spotted Billy Joel on the list of possibilities. It made sense that he might cover a McCartney song. Let me know what you think of Joel’s version.
Billy did a good job, too. I picked up on his signature vibes in his cover. Is this enough to carry him to victory? I don’t know but I’m asking you to cast your vote for your favorite artist. Just drop a line in comments telling me who you prefer, Guns N’ Roses or Billy Joe and if you want you go into as much detail as you want for the reason you voted for your pick. There’s absolutely no wrong way to do this, folks, except to NOT participate. You don’t have to know beans about James Bond, the theme songs, nothin’! Base your vote on what you hear now. 😉
Who gets your vote? Will it be Guns N’ Roses or Billy Joe?
I invite you to visit other BoTBers with showdowns.
- ailovemusic (Amy) — 1st
- The Doglady’s Den (Debbie) — retired member, active voter
- Jingle Jangle Jungle (Mary) — 1st
- Mike’s Ramblings — 1st & 15th
- STMcC Presents BoTB (Stephen, BoTB Manager) — retired member, active voter
- The Sound of One Hand Typing (John) — 1st & 15th
- Tossing It Out (Lee) — 1st & 15th
Polls close July 7th at noon (EST)
Next week, same time slot I’ll be back to announce the winner in this round, so be sure to mark your calendar to see if your favorite artist wins in this showdown. Have a summertastic day! X💋X💋, Cathy
37 Comments
Michael Todd
So much for Billy Joel here… I thought I had all of his music tracks, but no… This one eluded me.
A vote for Billy.
Mike
Guns and Roses get my vote!
Cathy Kennedy
Thanks, Mike! I have you down for GUNS N’ ROSES!
diedre
Always liked the song, though I’ve never seen the movie. One of the few songs I liked by any member of the Beatles, once the band broke up. Billy Joel was unremarkable. He’s better at Piano Man. I really didn’t expect much from Guns N Roses, but they pulled it off good enough for my vote ‘-)
Good battle, Cathy!
Cathy Kennedy
Diedre,
I’ll put you down for GUNS N ROSES, my dear. It’s always so nice to have you join the battle fun!
Rain Frances
I will always love the Wings version much better! I’m a GNR fan of course, but sometimes Axl’s voice drives me nuts lol! 🙂 Hope you’re enjoying your summer dear friend! 🙂
Cathy Kennedy
Rain,
Yes, I’m enjoying my somewhat relaxing summer break. I can’t stay away from my blog or the Internet so I am happily preparing future music related posts to help alleviate the work load when I do return to full swing. Thanks for dropping by to cast a vote for GNR, my friend!
Kinga K.
I adore Guns N’ Roses ❤
Cathy Kennedy
Kinga,
I so appreciate you taking time from your summer vacation to vote for GUNS N’ ROSES, my dear!
-Eugenia
It’s Guns N Roses for me Cathy! Have a great weekend! 😘
Cathy Kennedy
Eugenia,
Gotcha down for GUNS N’ ROSES, my friend. Thanks for playing along!
-Eugi ☕️
😊
csuhpat1
Sir Paul gets the vote here.
Cathy Kennedy
Hey Patrick,
It’s great having you play along but just so you’ll know Sir Paul isn’t eligible in this election. I believe I failed to mention that in my post but hey, maybe what you’re telling me is no can come close to the original and with good reason. Maybe, I need to start including write-ins in my battles just to see what happens. 🙂
messymimi's meanderings
Um, is it okay that i really didn’t much like either one? Don’t get me wrong, Billy Joel is one of my favorite artists of all time, but his voice just wasn’t right for this song. GNR didn’t impress me, either.
If you end up with a tie from everyone else, i’ll go with GNR (sorry, Mr. Joel!).
Cathy Kennedy
Mimi,
It looks as if this battle is going to end in a tie so your vote while it’s important won’t be needed to determine a winner but I sure do appreciate the help. 🙂
Arlee Bird
Oops! Looks like my comment went into your spam folder. Maybe you can release it so it can live and won’t die.
Arlee Bird
The G & R vocals bothered me. He’s such a whiner.
Billy Joel is very similar to McCartney so I think his style fits better and I prefer the instrumental back-up better.
A vote for Billy Joel.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Cathy Kennedy
Lee,
I don’t know why WP is holding your comment with the link. Thanks for flagging my attention, though. I’m getting pretty good to watch for these sorts of things. I have you down for BILLY JOEL, my friend.
Mary B
This wasn’t so bad… I thought I’d be voting for Billy Joel, but as many pointed out, it seems he tried too hard on this song. And toward the end, it started sounding quite sloppy. GNR was a bit more put together with their sound, and therefore they get my vote.
Cathy Kennedy
Mary,
Joel does an okay job but my artist choices weren’t the best for this showdown. However, I really thought Billy would get more votes than he’s gotten, though. I put GNR down for you, my friend!
Birgit
I dislike Guns N’ Roses and was all set to vote for Billy until Billy tried so hard to sound gutteral that he sounded like he was constipated. It was too slow in spots as well and the whistling threw me off so I have to vote for Guns N’ Roses. I can’t believe i am writing that. 🙂
Cathy Kennedy
Birgit,
Sometimes it’s just a matter of picking the least of obnoxious or offending artist in a battle. I’ll put you down for GUNS N’ ROSES as reluctant voter if that helps to soothe things. lol
John Holton
It was easy for me to stay impartial in this one, because I can’t stand either Guns ‘n Roses or Billy Joel. That said, I liked G’nR better, so they get my vote.
Cathy Kennedy
John,
How is I managed to pick two artists this round that so many folks aren’t keen about. I thought this battle would go one way but instead has gone completely the opposite. GNR gets another vote!
Brian Frum
We saw him do it live in Atlanta and it was amazing, the pyrotechnics went off on the Live and Let Die part.
Cathy Kennedy
Brian,
Oh snap, you saw Paul McCartney! That had to be mega cool. Thanks for stopping by for a visit, furriend!
Stephen T. McCarthy
HiYa, CAThy! It’s That You!
As I know I’ve said before, I’ve never seen a single James Bond movie. (Not my film style.) But I do dig some of the Bond theme songs, including this one.
Easy, easy — VERY easy vote from me for BILLY JOEL. I don’t like the guy personally, and some of his music also irritates me. But I DO think he did a pretty good job with this song.
And Guns ‘N Roses… well, the less said about them the better. They would rank extremely high on my list of ‘All-Time Most Overrated Rock Bands’. (U2, however, would be at the top o’ dat list.)
I hope you has a nice ‘n’ fun July 4th, my friend! Stay safe and stay… away from firecrackers!
;^D
~ D-FensDogG
Cathy Kennedy
Hey Stephen,
Yep, this is Cathy! 😀 I don’t know anything about Billy Joel the man. In the 80s I really liked his songs but I found over the years I’ve grown less drawn to his music. I have you down for BILLY JOEL. Thanks for taking time to stop by to vote, my friend!
Nicole/DVArtist
Hi Cathy, I am so far behind in comments. I have to go with the original version of this song. First I don’t care for the song and then to hear it from 2 different artists really hurts my ears. I don’t like the guttural sound of G &R and BJ sounds like he is straining. Just my opinion.
Cathy Kennedy
Nicole,
Don’t worry about being behind on visits or comments. CAAC is open 24/7, so stop by anytime it suits you. As for the battle. Sometimes it’s hard to choice when you don’t like the song or the artists or both. What I try to do in a case as such I go with the singer who’s the least bad. lol I appreciate your efforts to try to vote and your time for visiting, dear friend.
songbird1329
How do you improve upon perfection? Sir Paul….
I have never been a fan of Guns N’ Roses. They do a credible job on the instrumental part, but I am not impressed with the vocals.
I am a real Billy Joel fan, as you know. I don’t like that he slowed the tempo of the song, but otherwise…
My vote goes to Billy.
Cathy Kennedy
Robin,
I somehow knew you’d pick BILLY! 🙂
Sandee
Guns N’ Roses has by vote. I always love the theme songs from the fabulous James Bond movies. This is one of my favorites.
Have a fabulous day, Cathy. Love and hugs. ♥
Cathy Kennedy
Sandee,
Live and Let Die is a great Bond theme song and is one of my favorites, too. I have you down for GUNS N’ ROSES, my dear!
Thomas Anderson
Hi, Cathy!
Happy July and BOTB Thursday, dear friend! I hope you are having a super week.
I enjoyed your battle and predict another close race to the July 7 finish line.
On version #2 by Billy Joel, the arrangement was similar to the original. However, it sounded to me like Billy was trying too hard to put grit into the vocal, and I didn’t care much for the whistling part. Overall it’s a good and faithful cover.
I need to disagree with you, Cathy, because I can indeed imagine the hard rock version of “Live And Let Die” by Guns N’ Roses being used as the theme of a modern movie remake. Today more than ever, movie audiences demand big screen spectacle, intensity in visuals and sound, and the GNR band delivers the latter on their cover. The moment Guns pulled the trigger at the 30 second mark of the song and started blasting me with hard stuff, I was hooked, and thoroughly enjoyed the rockin’ ride from that point on. I vote for GNR!
Thank you very much for the mewsical entertainment, dear friend Cathy. Enjoy your Thankful Thursday and have a great month!
Cathy Kennedy
Tom,
I didn’t like Billy Joel’s grit, either. You made a good argument in favor of GNR as a modern James Bond theme song artist. I really didn’t think about today’s audience, my mind was stuck in the past and what we grew up enjoying but you’re 100% GNR heavier vibe is more suited for this generation. I knew before I read who you you voted for who I suspected you would go with and I was right. Guns N’ Roses gets the first vote in this battle. Have a safe and fun Independence Day weekend, my friend!