[1] Like the Red Rose Speedway tracks "Get On the Right Thing" and "Little Lamb Dragonfly", "Big Barn Bed" was a leftover from the McCartneys' solo career.
A live version of "Big Barn Bed" was also included as the opening track in the James Paul McCartney television special, broadcast on 10 May 1973.
"[5] In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Lenny Kaye described the track as "captur[ing] McCartney's current approach as well as any", saying, "Neither verse nor chorus are anything much, but the song draws you slowly in with the same steady roll of traction demonstrated by that odd union of records which score heavily in the discotheque markets, reaching its peak with the endless repetitions of the chorus line in the end.
"[9] AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine includes "Big Barn Bed" among "the greatest songs" on Red Rose Speedway, but labels the track as "slight".
[11] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Dave Swanson rated "Big Barn Bed" as McCartney's 4th most underrated song, saying that it starts Red Rose Speedway "in wonderful fashion" and that "A seductive rhythm lures in the listener and the echo-laden vocals keep you hooked as a catchy-as-can-be chorus ices the cake.