Live and Let Die (film) and orchestrated the "James Bond Theme", was unavailable during production. Broccoli and Saltzman instead asked Paul McCartney to write the theme song. Since McCartney's salary was high and another composer could not be hired with the remainder of the music budget, George Martin, who had been McCartney's producer while with The Beatles, was chosen to write the score for the film. "Live and Let Die", written by McCartney along with his wife Linda and performed by their group Wings, was the first true rock and roll song used to open a Bond film, and became a major success in the
Live and Let Die (novel) and SMERSH—an arm of the Russian secret service—all of which are threats to the West. Bond becomes involved in the US through Mr Big's smuggling of 17th-century gold coins from British territories in the Caribbean. The novel deals with the themes of the ongoing East-West struggle of the Cold War—including British and American relations, Britain's position in the world, race relations and the struggle between good and evil. As with "Casino Royale", "Live and Let Die" was broadly well received by the critics. The initial print run of 7,500 copies quickly sold out and a second print run was ordered