Interview for RollingStone • Monday, May 16, 2011

Interview

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This is the first interview Paul McCartney talked about what would become his “Kisses On The Bottom” album. He also hinted at a “heavier rock” album being worked on, but it’s unclear, in retrospect, what project he was mentioning.

It’s shaping up to be a big year for Paul McCartney. On May 6th, McCartney, 68, announced he had gotten engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Nancy Shevell. And in an L.A. studio a month earlier, he began making another dream come true: He started recording an album devoted to covers of pop standards from the pre-rock years. “It’s my dad’s style of music,” he says. “I’ve wanted to do that kind of thing forever, since the Beatle days. But then Rod [Stewart] went mad on it. I thought, ‘I have to wait so it doesn’t look like I’m trying to do a Rod.’”

Working with an orchestra in Capitol Studios, McCartney quickly knocked out nearly a dozen tracks, including a handful with Diana Krall and her band. But he’s keeping the titles under wraps for now: “They’re just songs I admire,” he says. “I’m trying to steer away from the obvious ones.” McCartney also cut several of his own new songs in a similar vein — even singing into a microphone used by Nat “King” Cole. “It’s get-home-from-work music,” he says of the LP, tentatively scheduled for release early next year, following additional sessions in London. “You put it on and get a glass of wine.” […]

And that’s not all: McCartney is also writing material for what he calls a “heavier rock” album. He has yet to pick a producer, but he says a recent conversation with Dave Grohl about how he recorded Foo Fighters’ latest LP in his garage lit a fire. “It sounds quite wacky, but it keeps it fresh,” McCartney says. “I love that — you get a crazy idea and go with it. You never know — I may run into a garage to make this other album.”