Paul McCartney was frustrated.

He was putting together his 1975 album “Venus & Mars” with Linda and Wings, and he was working on a song he had high hopes for–and he wasn’t the only one.

It seemed that everyone he played it for on piano thought it was fantastic. But in the studio, Paul was having one heck of a time trying to get the right mix.

Something was missing.

He called in Dave Mason to lay down some extra guitar tracks, which helped…but the song still needed…something.

Someone suggested that adding a saxophone might work, so Paul called in  sax legend Tom Scott.

In less than a half-hour, Tom had arrived at the studio, grabbed some headphones, and while they played the track for him, he ad-libbed a few solos. 

When he was done,”Listen To What the Man Said” had become a GREAT song!  

Tom was shocked because he didn’t know they recorded him!  He begged tPaul to let him try again, but after a few more takes, Paul decided the original ad libs were EXACTLY what was needed….Except for one last thing: He asked the studio engineer to record and add a kiss from Linda. Done…and Done!

When the song was released (first on “Venus & Mars” and then as a single), the critics went nuts, calling it, “sweet and lovely,” “deliciously catchy,” “artful and sensitive,” “buoyant and optimistic,” “likeable and hummable,” and on and on and on.

It topped the Hot 100 in the US and Canada, and it reached #6 in the UK.

So thanks to help from Dave Mason and Tom Scott… “Listen To What the Man Said”  was the “Great Song of 1975 Paul McCartney “always knew it could be!