Current Paul McCartney news thread (interviews, articles, miscellaneous)

Hey folks,

For a long time, I've thought it would be nice if we had one ongoing thread to capture the various MINOR news items about Paul McCartney. Obviously a new album, archive reissue, or major tour are things that merit their own threads, as discussion would be rampant! However, when Paul hits the news with something that's less significant - like new interviews, or receiving awards, or rumors of new recordings - wouldn't it be nice to have one place to go to post that stuff? If he's done, say, ten major interviews over the course of a year, and discussed things like his plans for a new album in each, wouldn't it be preferable to have all those comments in a single thread for ease of doing research on the comments?

Well, that's what this thread is designed for, but it will only work if some of the most active Beatle fans here choose to make it work. I'm talking about you, @Arnold Grove, @5th-beatle, @theMess, @Sean Murdock. @Glenn Christense, @daveidmarx, @etcetera, and so forth. PLEASE consider when you see a new article/interview thread about moving it to this thread and closing the other one (hopefully some Gorts would help out on this approach).

With that said, I'm going to try to get caught up with some of the major pieces from the last year or so, and any help would be appreciated. Today, there's a new follow-up to the Rolling Stone piece that ran a week or so ago, primarily focusing on Paul's soundchecks:
Paul McCartney Talks VIP Soundcheck Shows: 'It's a Tribal Ritual' »

NOTE: to those who may be tempted to complain about "another McCartney thread", my intent is to create FEWER threads, with more information. So there!

I'm now going to try to backtrack and include some of the other interviews and lesser news items from the past several months in successive posts.

 

There's already a good thread on the larger Rolling Stone article, but for posterity, let's re-attach that interview link here:
Paul McCartney Looks Back: The Rolling Stone Interview »

 

Here's a half-hour interview with NPR from June 2016:
Paul McCartney On Songwriting: 'You Never Get It Down' »

And the BBC "Mastertapes" interview from a few weeks prior:


Along with another interview from Noisey:
A Pure Conversation with Paul McCartney | NOISEY »

 

Or this: Paul McCartney Listens to Kanye While Cooking

Paul McCartney Listens to Kanye While Cooking »

 

The first rumors about an upcoming album with Greg Kurstin in the producer chair, from February 2016:
Paul McCartney bags Adele’s 25 producer Greg Kurstin for new album »

Something from the NY Times, from last week:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/arts/music/paul-mccartney-beatles-tour-interview.html?_r=0

An article about the "music emojis" he created for Skype, earlier in 2016:
Skype and Sir Paul McCartney help you share the love – - Skype Blogs »

Was everyone aware that Paul was recently named the most successful albums act of all time by the UK's Official Album Chart last month?
Paul McCartney named UK’s most successful albums act »

 

Exactly. Remember folks starting a thread about Paul trying to catch a shirt at an NBA game awhile back? Not thread-worthy!! But throw it in here. Same with stuff like when he couldn't get into that Grammy after-show party earlier this year:
Paul McCartney -- DENIED at Grammy Party ... 'How VIP Do We Gotta Get?' (VIDEO) »

 

Apparently Paul showed up for Tony Bennett's 90th birthday party recently:
Tony Bennett's 90th birthday party was one for the ages »

 

Semi-related. Lots of Beatle (and McCartney) content in this Rolling Stone Giles Martin interview that I somehow missed earlier this month:
George Martin's Son Talks Father's Genius, Soundtracking Beatles' 'Love' »

 

Or the letter he sent to Prince looking for cash for LIPA:
Handwritten letter from Paul McCartney to Prince sells for nearly $15K at auction »

 

A not-too-impressive article from Rolling Stone on the setlist for the current One On One tour:
Inside Paul McCartney's Summer-Tour Set List »

An article on the VR (Virtual Reality) videos Paul's done recently:
Bringing Storytelling Back to Music with Paul McCartney and VR »

A somewhat amusing "brush with fame" regarding Paul:
I fell asleep on a train – when I woke up, Paul McCartney was there »

 

Thanks MrJinks! Great idea.

 

Here's another lengthy interview piece from the run-up to Pure McCartney in June:
A magical history tour with Sir Paul McCartney »

And, of course we can't forget that Paul will be in the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie in a cameo:
‘Pirates Of The Caribbean 5’ Spoilers: Paul McCartney Joins Cast To Shoot Extra Scenes »

Ok - that's a start. I hope some of you might share my interest in consolidating these "minor" stories in one place, ESPECIALLY if these interviews hint at what he's recording.

 

Good idea for a thread-really.

 

Good idea , Eric, err.. mrjinks!

Here's a very important video by Paul that is way more important than any music news of a new album, or tour, etc.

In fact I started an Off Topic thread about it years ago because the video has been around for awhile, but something this important regarding Paul needed to be moved immediately into this thread for your posterior mrjinks.Oops! I mean,I mean,..for posterity.

 

I knew I could count on you for the important stuff, Glenn!

I missed one of the more important recent interviews above. This one, with the Washington Post, where he discussed working on new material and the upcoming Flowers reissue:

Singing with Gaga, a new box and jelly bean memories: Paul McCartney returns »

 

What a great idea! It is about time that we started a thread like this, and it will mean that there will be less short and arguably needless McCartney threads in future.

I will definitely make sure to post any minor news here in future; often in the past I have just posted it in other then popular McCartney threads, even if the subject off-topic, but now I have somewhere to post that sort of information.

Well done with collecting so much of this years news already. I am sure that knowing us, this will be the most popular thread on the forum in the not too distant future.

 

This part of the interview was painful for me to read, because it seems like Paul has given up on performing these two songs (I hope that I am wrong):

''There are a couple of songs – it's not that I don't want to do them. We've rehearsed them. But I just couldn't make 'em work. Or they sounded more like records than live songs. "The Back Seat of My Car" [on 1971's Ram] – I always thought that would be good. "Uncle Albert" ["Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey," also on Ram] – I thought that might be nice. We tried "Back Seat of My Car," and it just seemed a bit complicated.

Ironically, that period for you – the early solo and Wings records - was supposed to be about getting back to making records that were less complicated, away from the structure and detailed arrangements of Beatles songs.

You know what? It could have just been the day at the rehearsal – I didn't get it. Some of them I persevere with. "I can sing this. I'm just singing it badly." I keep on it and eventually crack it: "I'm glad I got it." But a song I just can't get right – I just go, "**** it, don't need to do it."

It was also interesting to hear that Bowie asked Paul why he didn't play 'Love Me Do' at his concerts; I am certainly glad that it has been added to the set list.

 

Good idea for a thread.

Do we have such a thread for the Beatles in general? I'm uploading a bunch of clippings and some fanzine articles I saved from the '70s before they completely fall apart and would be happy to share if such a thread exists.

 

Thanks!

I just hope it can get some support from those who frequent Beatle threads (and some gorts), so that it will serve its purpose. When "New" was just a rumor, the forum had limitations on threads (roughly 1000 posts), and so the thread on that album ran to part 17 or something crazy. There would be little articles in RS about Paul recording "Hosanna" or something, and then about "Secret Life of a Party Girl" in some other outlet and then something about "Struggle" somewhere else, but it became very difficult to keep track of the sum total of the comments. You'd have a vague "I think I remember reading something about that" feeling, but not know where to go look for the source comment - frustrating, for me at least. Already there have been a couple other comments about his current recordings - I know Rusty said something in an interview - but I can't remember where that comment was. Grrr.

It might be tough to have an ongoing "Beatles in the News" thread, but I'd certainly support that idea!

 

I know exactly how you feel, especially regarding the never ending 'New' thread. I often remembered reading something, and then referring to it, but when people would ask me where I found certain information, it was almost impossible to find.

By the way, is this the Rusty interview you meant?

Rusty Anderson Afternoon Playing Guitar For Home Fans - Concert Guide Live.com »

''My focus lately has been with my own group, and obviously playing with Paul McCartney, which takes up a lot of time. As a matter of fact, we’re going to be doing some recording coming up here soon for Paul’s new record. No shortage of things to do, which is good.”

 

another excellent reason to open a beatles related forum.

 

That someone so musically gifted as Paul McCartney gets so much out of listening to Kanye West makes me suspicious. If he was not so hip...

 

i know

 

But I'm trying to MINIMIZE new threads on McCartney by making this a go-to "utility" thread, so that those of you who complain about "yet another McCartney thread" won't have to see so many - isn't that a GOOD thing?