Rolling Stone McCartney Interview - "Paul McCartney Looks Back" - Aug. 10, 2016*

An idea (erm...a fantasy, really) I had some time and threads ago... Smaller venues, forget about the fireworks and Jet, bring in some strings and horns and revisit these classics! Some time for banter, here and there some guests. Far mor in the atmosphere of the "Unplugged"-album!

 

I have to see him live one day, and that goes for all the other artists I love from his era. Major props to Paul for not only continuing to tour and release music, but challenging himself and steping out of his element in the process. I also love how unlike another rock legend (who will go unamed) he is adamant about educating himself on newer genres, artists and sounds. Great interview.

 

Quite right. I apologize.

I guess your post made me think of Yuseff's (Cat Steven's) shows a couple of years ago. Very small venues, sky high prices, nothing but VIPs (for the most part) in the audiences. I personally lost a lot of respect for him over that. When you don't tour for 35 years, to only play for the uber rich and privileged is an insult to the rest of your fans.

I agree that Macca is a bit of a different story. He's been touring for years. So presumably anyone who has wanted to see him play arenas probably has been able to do that. You admitted as much that availability would probably be the long pole in the tent. Tix might start in the $5K range, but reselling (both legal and illegal) would probably push that price up to many multiples of that. Ultimately, it might only be VIPs (people with unlimited cash and personal assistants, industry connections, etc.) who could get them.

 

It's interesting that this has been brought up. I was recently thinking about how contemporary the sound of New is, and wondered whether in 10, 20, 30 years or more, it will be seen as dated sound wise as some people think Press to Play is now. (For the record I love Press to Play and 1980s production generally).

 

Despite having a soft spot for Press To Play, I thought it sounded dated the day it came out. Paul was trying too hard to be hip and current (imo) and -- here's the rub -- the songs weren't up to the task. Other albums (like Peter Gabriel's So or George's Cloud 9) also screamed "Eighties!" but they were better albums, so they pull it off 30-ish years later.

As much as NEW sounds "contemporary" I don't think it's trying too hard to be "2013" -- it's an album with many styles on it, but it isn't overwhelmed by any techniques that threaten to fall out of favor at a moment's notice. If anything, because of Paul's continued use of his vintage gear, favorite studios, and pet recording tricks, NEW sounds like a fresh take on several of the periods from Paul's ever present past. "I Can Bet" has an extremely Wings-y synth solo; "New" itself is a present-day "Penny Lane"; and "Road" always struck me as a revisit of the Press To Play sound (particularly "Pretty Little Head"), but stripped of the "dated" stuff and keeping the cool vibe.

 

I agree, and he even brought some nice modern Traveling Wilburys with Turned Out, some nice stadium rock with Queenie Eye, some folk/country with Early Days, hip-hop with Appreciate, some new wave/indie Save Us, and some other new flavors in the mix. What a record.

In my opinion, it will age very well, it still sounds amazingly fresh after close to 3 years!

 

To me "Road" sounds more like a very good "Electric Arguments"-outtake...

 

Glad that a Let it Be reworking is just a matter of doing it, and not anyone saying no never.

 

Hey, I love Press To Play (just picked it up on LP a couple of weeks ago, as a matter of fact; never owned the vinyl before), I just think where his attempt at fusing 'classic' McCartney sounds with 'modern' wasn't so successful on PTP -at least as far as the critics etc were concerned- he was able to do it much better on New.

Hell, I remember saying the exact same thing when New came out: "In twenty years are people going to be saying, 'Omigawd, New sounds soooooooo 2013!'?" I was actually listening to New on my way home from work this morning (possibly inspired by this very discussion?) and it struck me that, as great of songs as they are, some of the more 'basic' acoustic-based material like "Early Days" or "Hosanna" sorta clash with the more 'electronic' tracks like "Appreciate" in much the same way as some of the songs on Press To Play clash (i.e. "Footprints" vs "Pretty Little Head", let's say). I mean, I sorta get the idea that for whatever reason Press To Play is one of those Maccaalbums Paul would just as soon forget even existed but IMO New really is cut from the same cloth. I think his choice of working with multiple producers -contemporary guys like Ronson and Epworth as well as more 'old school' types like Giles and Ethan Johns- helped make the record what it was, very inspired thinking on Paul's part. I look forward to his upcoming LP because New is a helluva an act to follow...

 

I was thinking that NEW is so pleasant and exciting that I almost wish it would be Paul's last album. Not that I truly want him to stop recording, but that I think it was a fitting high note for him to end on (I wish it would have been at least one final #1 for him). Like you've said here, it's going to be a tough act to follow and I just wonder if he can have lightning strike twice in a row at this stage with another album.

From what I am hearing it seems Paul may be leaning too much on younger or modern popular artists for assistance on this upcoming project, and if that's true I hope he doesn't.

 

Right!? I can't even imagine him making something better than NEW, I am sure he is capable of it, but NEW was more inspired that anything since RAM, that's why, in my opinion, it's a very consistent album because it sounds like to me he had one clear vision and went for it.

But on that, I was so enamored by NEW because I wasn't sure he could beat Chaos & Creation, but the thing about Choas it's my "cheer up man, listen to Paul deal with his sadness" sort of thing and although it's too a complete work, it's missing some energy. Same with Memory although it's got more punch than Chaos.

I wasn't sure NEW could add up, but it did for sure! So we'll see.

I thought that when it first came out, I thought it very much could be his last hoo-ra! If it went #1, it would have been a perfect send off to one hell of a pop career, and I thought he'd be too old by this time for some reason. But oh well he's making another(and thank goodness for it)

I'm wondering about the new assistance too, it worries me a bit. I'm excited about Greg Kurstin because I loved what he brought to the table with Adele 25. But getting lyrical ideas from Kanye, I don't know where he'll end up with that. Kanye is very talented I believe, but who knows what Paul could take from it. I guess time will tell.

 

Sure, I could see it that way too. But the first time I heard "Road," after the intro when the drums kicked in, two words popped into my head -- or, rather, one word twice: "Hillmen, Hillmen..."

 

Just because he said he was OK with it to a reporter doesn't mean he's saying the same thing in an Apple board meeting. The bottom line is, the film hasn't been released on DVD/Bluray yet, and there's no way that he really feels like it might have come out already after all this time. Classic Macca dodge. "Oh, isn't it out already?" More worrying to me is the sentiment that, yeah, we have Beatles stuff in the vault, but is it worth releasing?

 

I don't see his answer as a dodge at all. In fact, he was pretty darn direct. A classic Macca dodge would have been to change the subject entirely without giving any new info or his actual view. When he said, "I keep thinking we've done it. We've talked about it for so long," he's simply saying they've talked in circles about this but the discussion has gone no where. His second comment makes crystal clear that HE wants it out and that he is not the holdup. "The objection should be me. I don't come off well." But he's not stupid. He's not going to tell Rolling Stone who the holdup is. And maybe there is no one person holding it up. Maybe at different times, different folks have resisted. But I don't see his answer as dodging the question at all.

I also thought his answer about what's in the vault is honest. He makes fairly clear that he -- and no doubt the other 3 members of Apple -- don't think much of it is worth releasing. Whether fans like his response or not, he gave his direct opinion.

 

I think in the past he has said that he'd like to see Carnival of Light released - so there's at least one other thing that he thinks is worth releasing

 

I don't think he's working on lyrics with Kanye... I think the person who originally posted about the article misinterpreted that.

The article says: "He dissects his recent collaborations with Kanye West and mentions that he was "looking at some lyric ideas" for his next album. "I can write all over the place. I've got a lot of ideas on the go.""

Kanye and his new album are two separate topics of conversation, IMO.

 

I misinterpreted the article myself

Although I didn't think he has working on lyrics with Kanye, I assumed he meant he was soaking the Kanye experiences in to use as inspiration for new lyrics. But I see, they are two different statements. Thanks for that, it's a relief

 

Maybe "dodge" was the wrong word, but he was certainly being more coy than direct. "What about Let It Be, Paul?" "Oh, that's not out yet? I keep thinking we've done it..." Please. And no, of course I don't expect him to reveal who or what the hold up is, but to say "I have no idea" isn't exactly direct either. That WAS a dodge.

 

Why can't Paul just do an interview for Playboy, like Lennon did?

 

Lovely interview.
Paul knows he comes across not too well in Let It Be, but thinks it should be out there anyway.
He made his peace with Yoko a long time ago, and i think he is being genuine when he says she is a mate.

 

Am i the only one who can't open that link?

 

Opens fine for me.

 

I don't remember going wild over Paul flubbing the lyrics of Penny Lane and starting over. I remember he started with the second verse, got stuck and stopped the song. It was during the New World Tour in Paris, 1993.

 

Macca's allowed to have an off album. He's had a much longer and stellar career than Gabriel.mand he keeps trying.

 

I like Paul's attitude here too. But no matter what anyone involved thinks about Let It Be, the movie is history. You can't - or shouldn't - sweep that under the rug and pretend it never happened. And besides, everyone knows what occurred near the end. I really feel that a good dose of warts for The Beatles is a good thing. These days there seems to be a brand of marketing of love, love, love, happy, happy, happy by Apple when it comes to The Fab Four. As if there cannot ever be anything offbeat or even remotely downbeat to them, to make them more human.