McCartney’s new sound

There is not much that Paul McCartney has not accomplished. Aside from easily earning the Most Successful Composer and Recording Artist of All Time tag and creating the hit songs that come with it, he has some Grammys, some Brits, a Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II, a Kennedy Center Honor and the Gershwin Prize from President Barrack Obama and a Legion D’Honneur from President Francois Hollande of France. 

He is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who has a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame and an honorary doctorate in music from Yale.  As for his personal life, he has been widowed once, divorced once and now seems happily married to New York millionaire Nancy Shevell. He has five children, one of them Stella, the famous designer. Of course, he still looks very attractive. There is really not much that this former Beatle could ask for. 

So what does he do with his time? He writes and records music. I find it amazing that there is no let-up to his creativity or his desire to come up with as many songs as he can. And the great thing about it is that he sounds so happy doing so. There might not be another Yesterday in his output but who cares. He is constantly experimenting and his songs are such fun to listen to.

Fun rock is how I would describe McCartney’s latest release that is simply titled New. This is his follow-up to his wonderful Kisses On The Bottom, his Grammy- winning collection of old standards from two years ago. Although he has been around for quite sometime, that does not mean, that he intends to limit himself to the oldies. So he did New, the exact opposite with an all-new repertoire and four young producers. And what do you know? McCartney still has what it takes and New is one of his best ever.

I am sure listeners will notice that the songs, solid infectious efforts, have a lot of the Beatles and of Wings in them. But despite those throwbacks, there is also a freshness evident throughout. This is doubtless due to the producers whom he allowed to invade his space. He listened to them. He worked with them and the result is really New. Truth to tell, what I am thinking while listening is that I never thought I would be looking forward to the next album by this 71-year-old rocker. But I am. I can’t help it. New has made McCartney exciting again.

Solid is also how I would describe the music, a good many of the instruments performed by McCartney himself. And what energy this guy has.  His work in Queenie Eye, one of my favorite cuts, would put so many younger rockers to shame. It also helps that the song was produced by Paul Epworth who also worked on Adele’s 21 album. He also produced the exciting opener Save Us, plus the closer, Road.

DJ Mark Ronson who recorded Amy Winehouse, did New and the wistful ballad Alligator. Ethan Johns who did Kings of Leon, got the stripped down Hosanna and Early Days, two of the most beautiful songs in the album. And then there is Giles Martin, son of Beatles producer George Martin with On My Way To Work, Looking At Her, Appreciate, Everybody Out There and I Can Bet. 

Oh and did I say that there might not be a Yesterday in McCartney’s current work? I might have to rethink that because New has this hidden tune that Giles also produced and where Paul sings with a piano and it is so affecting.

Now when listening to New by McCartney, one cannot help but also think of the Old McCartney and The Beatles. After all, that was how a lot of the music and all those other things that resulted in a phenomenon, started. And Beatles news nowadays centers on the release of On Air — Live At The BBC Vol. 2, the album that compiles the live recordings that the Fabulous Four did for the UK radio station between 1963 and 1964. 

Like most British lads of the time the Beatles grew up listening to the music broadcasts of the BBC.  So it was quite a treat for them to be asked to perform live on national radio. That meant they were big, they had arrived. No wonder they did so many BBC shows.

On Air — Live At BBC Vol. 2 contains some of those numbers. This very special collection comes in a 2 CD and Vinyl LP package with 40 tracks, all of them digitally remastered and some of them unavailable anywhere else.  There are also on air interviews and speeches by John, Paul, George and Ringo also from various BBC broadcasts and a 48-page booklet of notes and gorgeous pictures. 

Among those that are heard for the first time since 50 years ago are The Beatles’ original song composed for a BBC show, Happy Birthday Dear Saturday Club; their version of the oldie Beautiful Dreamer; covers of I’m Talking About You and Memphis Tennessee by Chuck Berry; Lucille by Little Richard; The Hippy Hippy Shake by Chan Romero; I Got A Woman by Ray Charles; and Glad All Over and Sure To Fall by Carl Perkins.

And then there are some of the early hits. Words Of Love, Do You Want To Know A Secret, Anna (Go To Him), Please Please Me, Misery, Boys, Till There Was You, Roll Over Beethoven, P.S. I Love You, Please Mr. Postman, Devil In Her Heart, Sure To Fall (In Love With You), Twist And Shout, I Saw Her Standing There and others.