McCartney Esquire interview

By |2022-09-04T18:04:31-07:00July 15, 2015|Paul McCartney|

Commenter @Hologram Sam posted this interview in a comment thread a couple of days ago, but after reading it, I thought it was interesting enough to surface on the front page. There's actually some freshness to the intro (who called Paul "the most Beatley Beatle of them all" and can I shake his/her hand?). This bit I found both fluid and fascinating because, well, what Beatlefan hasn't wondered what in blazes do they do all day?: "His touring routine is well established: breakfast, a workout, perhaps a massage, then meetings with his team. If the weather's clement and security conditions are favourable, a bike ride [...]

Krall does Paul: McCartney cover on “Wallflower”

By |2015-04-21T13:37:55-07:00March 9, 2015|Covers, Diana Krall, Paul McCartney, Uncategorized, Unreleased/Outtakes|

NANCY CARR * On her new album "Wallflower," Diana Krall covers "If I Take You Home Tonight," a song Paul McCartney wrote while working on "Kisses on the Bottom" but didn't release. (Not clear if he recorded a version.) I think the romantic ballad blends in seamlessly with the late 1960s to 1970s songs that make up the rest of Krall's album. Listen for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIKrLDyBmGc I can see why McCartney didn't use this on "Kisses," but why didn't he put it on "New"? To my ear it's far better than either "Hosanna" or "Looking At Her," which I think are the two [...]

McCartney as collaborator

By |2015-02-05T07:41:38-08:00February 5, 2015|Paul McCartney, Photos, solo|

Guess who Paul McCartney is collaborating with now? Yup, that's Lady Gaga. And yes, they are actually in the same room, not Photoshopped together. Apparently the past few weeks, which have seen the release of Kanye West's and McCartney's "Only One" and Rhianna's, West's, and McCartney's "Four Five Seconds" have only whetted Paul's desire to branch further out. No official word on what's coming out of the sessions with Gaga, but on Instagram February 1 she said "Had a beautiful session with Sir Paul McCartney and friends . . . Working on one of his many secret projects! Killer musicians, vibe, and [...]

McCartney’s mullet

By |2015-01-05T19:07:28-08:00January 5, 2015|Fashion, McCartney, Paul McCartney, Photos, Wings|

Sir Business-in-Front-Party-in-Back My latest internet rabbit hole, down which I can spend entirely too much time, is this  Tumblr site, which bills itself "Paul McCartney's Mullet Appreciation Blog." The site's owners, Christina and Hannah, are entirely too modest in their description: "This is not a quality blog. All I will do is post photos of Sir Paul. And his mullet. And occasionally his legs." [I've reached out to them via Tumblr; maybe C and H will tell us more about their mission of mercy.--MG] They post lots of great stuff, like this picture of John and Paul: Bangor University, [...]

Paul McCartney and Kanye West: “Only One”

By |2015-01-02T19:18:24-08:00January 2, 2015|Paul McCartney|

Paul McCartney and Kanye West at the Grammys in 2009. If this track's any gauge of what's to come, Paul McCartney and Kanye West is a match made in heaven. Kanye's singing, Paul's on the organ. According to Stereogum, "Kanye and Sir Paul started recording together early last year in a Los Angeles bungalow with McCartney improvising on keyboard and West improvising on vocals." Kanye says this about the lyrics of "Only One": “My mom was singing to me, and through me to my daughter.” The poignancy of that surely wasn't lost on McCartney.

Collector’s Edition by Stuart Tolley

By |2014-12-30T23:59:21-08:00December 1, 2014|books, Covers, Paul McCartney|

In the run-up to the holiday, I'm going to begin posting on some of the Beatle books that have been hurled over our e-transom in the last several months. This morning author Stuart Talley wrote to tell me about his book Collector's Edition, a roundup of the graphic and product design employed in limited-run collectibles. It looks like a fascinating book -- who wouldn't want a peep at The Vatican Secret Archives, for example, "hand-bound in the Vatican and produced in an edition of just 33 copies"? "One Man and His Dog......" by Paul McCartney But there's something of special [...]

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“Art of McCartney” tribute album mostly meh

By |2014-11-25T07:56:03-08:00November 25, 2014|Beatles tributes, Bob Dylan, Covers, Paul McCartney, Uncategorized, Wings|

NANCY CARR * The recently released "Art of McCartney" tribute album could have been--should have been--so much better. Lots of songs and lots of artists, many of them big names. But the album suffers from two major problems: the track list is weighted toward songs that have been covered a lot (often better than here), and too many of the performers stick so close to the original arrangements that at times the effect is Karaoke Night at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For example, both Billy Joel cuts, "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Live and Let Die," are virtual reenactments of [...]

Interview: McCartney Recording Sessions author Luca Perasi

By |2014-10-28T13:52:09-07:00October 28, 2014|books, Interviews, Paul McCartney, Wings|

"Groundbreaking and definitive" Here's a welcome sign that Paul McCartney's solo work is being looked at with new and appreciative eyes: Luca Perasi's Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013) catalogs all Paul's solo recording sessions in detail. Well, the first 44 years of his post-Beatles career, anyway. Among the book's revelations is just how often McCartney recorded songs he didn't release for years, or in some cases didn't release at all. In the course of his researches, Perasi interviewed over seventy people who have worked with Paul over the years, and the perspectives they give on the man and his work are invaluable. Better still, Perasi doesn't let his obvious affection for McCartney's [...]

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McCartney in Dallas: A World-Class Balancing Act

By |2014-10-16T14:02:28-07:00October 16, 2014|"New" album, Live, Paul McCartney, solo, Wings|

NANCY CARR • My favorite moment of Paul McCartney's October 13 show in Dallas was a visual grace note. At the end of a song, as a stagehand came forward to take McCartney's Hofner bass and give him a guitar, McCartney held the vintage instrument up and balanced it one-handed, headstock down, body up. He looked at it, and the audience, teasingly, as if he might really let it fall. Seeing him let that elegantly long-necked bass—the same one he was playing 50 years ago in A Hard Day's Night—sway in the air was an astonishment. After a breathless second, the Hofner [...]

Interview with Man on the Run author Tom Doyle

By |2014-09-24T11:02:26-07:00September 23, 2014|1970s, books, Interviews, Paul McCartney|

At this late date, it's a rare book that fundamentally redefines what I think of a Beatle and his work. But after reading Tom Doyle's Man on the Run, I'm hearing Paul McCartney's Seventies music in a whole new way -- not as tuneful, inoffensive AOR, or bargain-bin Beatles, but as a legitimate second act -- a bit like Dylan after the motorcycle crash. Doyle is just the right man for this job; a longtime contributor to the Beatles-crazy UK music mags MOJO and Q, the spine of Man on the Run was formed by a series of interviews he did with [...]

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