Interview for the 2024 "Got Back" tour book - Getting one on one with Paul ahead of hitting the road

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You’re now over two years into the Got Back tour, which has so far spanned four continents and delighted hundreds of thousands of people with a set list bigger and more varied than ever. How has it been for you so far?

Paul McCartney: Great! You work on the setlist over time and you finally feel you get it to a place where it’s working well. That’s how we all feel on the tour now – and it looks like the audiences agree!

The previous leg of the tour ended last December, so there’s a bit of a gap before the next run. How are you going to prepare ahead of these new shows?

We always take a few weeks to rehearse with the band to get up to speed. and then a couple more weeks to work with the production, lighting, sets, videos, etc. So that’s what we’re going to do this time, because there’s so much involved now. With The Beatles. we just had one guy really, Mal Evans, and he didn’t need to do that much regarding our performance. But now there are so many people involved, so I like to take it nice and easy and give it a couple of weeks for the band and the roadies and all the technicians to just remember what we’re doing, remember how it all goes.

It is now 35 years since you first started touring solo after Wings. In that time, you’ve played well over 500 concerts. What were your ambitions when you first set out in 1989 and have you fulfilled them all yet?

The ambition is always to have a good time, and to play well for an appreciative audience. The surprise is how enthusiastic the audience members can be, because their enthusiasm reaches us on stage, encourages us to play better all the time.

Has what you’ve seen in the audience from where you’re standing changed much in that time?

Well, I always expected the audience would be the same age as me, but as things have gone on, they’ve gradually gotten younger and younger. It’s a great surprise and pleasure now to see the young faces out in the audience having a great time and reflecting their energy back onto us.

You like to throw surprises into the mix – for example, you warmed up for your Glastonbury 2022 headline slot with a last-minute gig the night before at the nearby Cheese & Grain, and then at the end of last year, you played the tiny Clube de Choro ahead of your first big concert in Brasilia, while in Australia you invited some fans into soundcheck for an impromptu Q&A. Are these surprises as much for your own enjoyment as that of the fans? Why do you like doing them?

Yeah, it’s always nice to make a change in your routine. And so little clubs, like the ones you mentioned, are always very exciting because you see the whites of your audience’s eyes and you experience the fun of a gig as if you’re at a party. We love it. It always livens things up a bit.

With so many well-loved songs, you can never really go wrong choosing your setlist because someone is always going to love what they’re hearing. But at the smaller shows when you can really see people’s reactions, has it ever inspired you to change things up, or affect the mood of a show?

No, I think we choose the setlist for a small show to reflect the party-like atmosphere that happens when you play those shows. It’s always exciting. We almost feel as if we’re in the audience.

Is the feeling you get from playing live now the same as when you were starting out playing for tiny audiences?

Right back? Before Hamburg and all that? No, the thing is then no water had gone under the bridge, so you didn’t know how you were going to be received, and you didn’t know if the band that was on before you was going to play all the same songs that you’re going to play! And you were young and inexperienced, so it was a bit more nerve-wracking. I think now that we’ve got used to doing it and that we know that there are plenty of songs that people know, it gives you more confidence, and you realise that people will come now to see you specially, so there’s no need to be nervous.

Do you still get the same buzz when you play live though?

Oh yeah. It’s equally as good, but the actual practicalities are completely different. When we first started out we were plugging the bass and guitars into one amp, and worry that we might get an electric shock off the microphone. These days it’s much more professional. and you’ve even got your own amp, so you don’t have to share it! It is a completely different kind of experience, but the buzz of playing to an audience is actually even better as you feel a bit more secure than you did when you were starting out.

As an artist, you’ve always embraced new technology, and pushed things forward in the studio. On stage, however, it’s the human experience that is at the fore of your shows – there are no backing tracks, it’s just you in the band. The physical energy and connection with your audience is overwhelming, is that important to you, and how do you keep connecting with people again and again in such a genuine and organic way?

Since I started in the very early days of The Beatles that’s how we’ve always done it. We play songs that we like to the audience and hope that they like it too. So it is a very human experience. When you get that kind of thing going. it’s like you’re one big family. And I’m a family man!

This leg sees you starting off In South America. Do you enjoy playing there?

Yes. I love South America. We’re all looking forward to having a rollicking good time. The audiences are fabulous.

Yes, South American fans are notoriously passionate and vocal. What sets these fans apart from elsewhere in the world?

Latin blood!

Last year culminated with a return visit to Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium, where in 1990 you set a world record for the biggest ever concert audience. On this visit, you were awarded for the international artist who has sold the most concert tickets in Brazil ever. How did it feel to revisit the landmark location, and receive that honour?

It was fantastic on both points. Maracana has very special memories for us. And even though it was bigger than it is these days, the atmosphere and the energy of the crowd is incredible, so it always feels fantastic. We always have a great time.

What is your memory of that record-breaking 1990 concert?

I think the memory before the concert was the weather. Because like most people you go to Brazil, and you expect the weather to always be fantastic. But of course there’d be no plants if there was no water. And that week, there was a lot of water. It rained actually right up until we got on the stage. So my main memory was really just wondering whether we were going to even be able to play the show because of the rain, but we had faith. I said, “It’s going to be great.” and sure enough. it was. I did get a few reports that there were people making love in the audience, which I thought was rather nice. Except I just didn’t see!

Mexico City is another city you seem to have a love affair with, as you’re returning there again on this leg. Your 2012 concert in Zocalo Square was a monumental moment that saw over 400,000 take to the streets. Can you believe moments like that actually happen in your career?

Yeah. but almost no. Because they are fantastic events. At first, you don’t even know what Zocalo Square is, but then your team will say. “Well, here’s pictures of it.” You look at it and go. “Wow.” And then you say, “Yeah, now we’re going to be a free show.” So people from anywhere who normally can’t get tickets – you know, there’s people out in the countryside – will be able to come in, as it’s now just a bus ride. So in a way, it’s kind of hard to believe that we’ve been through such amazing things like that. But once you’ve done it, it’s a great notch on your belt. It’s just, “Wow, did we really do that?” The answer is yes, you did.

In the hours before every show you perform in a foreign country, you take lessons in that country’s language backstage. How is it possible to concentrate when you know you’ve got a stadium full of people waiting to see?

Well, I want to be able to communicate with the people in the stadium, so I always try and learn some local phrases that will amuse and entertain the local people and us into the bargain. I like languages. And so, even though it is a little extra homework, I still love to be able to communicate.

You’re known for getting out in the cities in which you play, especially places you haven’t been for a while. For example, it’s 10 years since you last played in Peru, and now you’re heading to Lima again. Why is it important for you to get out and about whilst on tour? What do you like best about new and unfamiliar places?

Well, the original idea is to get some fresh air, because most of the time we’re always on an airplane, or in a car, or backstage, or in a hotel. Getting out and about means that you get some good fresh oxygen, and also get a better picture of the city you’re playing. Sometimes you see the most unexpected things. Once, when we were in Japan, my wife Nancy and I were bicycling in Tokyo, and we rode around a local park. Suddenly, we heard a familiar song. I could hear someone playing my song, ‘Come On To Me’. We followed the sound, and it was a guy teaching the song’s guitar part to a local girl. So we just hovered, and spent the next five minutes watching him. He was very good and he got it right!

Speaking of getting out and about, this summer you were spotted at Taylor Swift’s concert in London. Similarly, last year you saw Beyonce live in concert and also went to see U2 at The Sphere in Las Vegas. When you watch these stunning big presentations, does that give you inspiration for your own shows?

Yeah, I think anytime you watch a live show, it reminds you of how your audience feels, and so it’s always an encouragement. In truth, one of the big reasons is that Nancy is a big fan of live music . So we enjoy going together, to feel the vibe.

In addition to touring, you filled the last couple of years with other fantastic projects – new music, keeping yourself busy with a new adventure from Grandude, the titular character of your children’s books, plus the incredible award-winning book The Lyrics, and now the 1964: Eyes Of The Storm book and exhibition. Do you need constant distraction and projects? Can you be bored?

I don’t get bored easily. I always can find something to do. We always used to say if you’re bored, you’re boring. There is always something, and if worst comes to worst, I’ll just go out for a walk. You know, there is always something. And I can always pick up an instrument – or switch on the telly and watch my favourite shows!

Your latest book and exhibition, 1964: Eyes Of The Storm, which started in London and is now showing in both the US and Japan, takes fans on an incredible visual journey through a historical and culturally impactful period of time, where one can tangibly see the world changing as they progress through the
pictures. When you discovered these, what kind of journey did you go on as you looked through them all again?

It was kind of a magical mystery journey. First of all. because I thought l’d lost all these pictures. I knew l’d taken them. I had a vague memory of having taken them. But from then on, I didn’t know what happened to them. Luckily, I’ve got a great bunch of people in my office, some of whom deal with the archival side of what I do, and they’ve done an amazing job. These photos l’d taken in the 60s show up, and with my photo expert, Sarah Brown, we started to look through them. She said, “l’ve been talking to the National Portrait Gallery and they’re interested to see them. Do you mind if I show them these?” So they got involved, and from then on, it was just great fun. We would have meetings where we get out all the photos. and we’d say. “This one should be printed big, this one’s okay at that size, what about this one here? Wow!” We selected all the photos, decided the sizes, the frames, and then there were meetings about all the details, like even selecting the wall colour behind them. So it was a fascinating journey for me to see what went on in a big exhibition like this. I think the National Portrait Gallery really did me proud. It was a magical journey.

You always like to move forward in everything you do, but recent projects seem to be taking stock a bit more – ‘Now And Then’, The Lyrics, Get Back, the concept of McCartney Ill and 1964: Eyes OfThe Storm all in a way celebrate what came before. Do you have a different relationship with your past now than you did say 10 years ago?

Yeah, I think so. The Beatles thing, particularly with Peter Jackson’s Get Back, that’s really awakened memories of how we recorded together. Because after a long time it’s not that you forget, it’s just that you don’t remember you don’t have an occasion to remember. So when something like that happens with the film, it’s really beautiful and I love it. It’s like, “Wow,here l am in a room with these guys,” and, “Oh yeah, that’s how we used to record.”

“Oh yeah, I did used to bully them, but I was only trying to get them to work. So it’s not bullying. it’s cajoling! That’s really been very nice for me to remember things like that. I mainly remember my relationships with the guys. That’s the main thing that happens: you just are reminded. And the more time goes by the fonder your memories are. You go, “Oh, that was great. l remember that.” So then that leads me on- I go, “Well, l remember hitchhiking with George… And again, doing The Lyrics book, all these little stories came out: “Oh, I hitchhiked to Paris with John. It’s sweet remembering these things, they’re sweet memories.

Can those moments in history inspire your next steps? For example, did the 50th anniversary of McCartney in 2020 inspire McCartney Ill, or could watching Get Back make you think about future studio collaborations?

I’m always on the lookout for ideas. Or, it’s not so much on the lookout: my mind is open to ideas, so if I hear a song that I think is really great, I think, “Oh yeah, it would be great to do a song in that style.” Listening to old rock and roll records also brings back the spirit of the music that first turned me on to rock and roll. That may mean that I’II want to go in and do a rock and roll track that day, or I’ll look at the old things I’ve been meaning to finish and think. “Oh, I could rock and roll with that. I’m in the mood for that now.” These things put you in moods. I’m always looking, noting down little phases that occur, thinking: “Oh, that might be quite good. That might work in a song.” So again, I’ve got millions of little fragments! I mean, in my pocket now I’ve got little bits of paper that l think I must get around to putting them somewhere. They’re just little ideas, a little phrase. I’m always on the lookout, just because I love it. I enjoy it so much that I don’t think I’d like a time when I was disinterested.

With such a long and distinguished career, there’s forever another significant anniversary to celebrate. This summer, for instance, marked 60 years since the release of the A Hard Day’s Night movie, which captured the sheer hysteria of Beatlemania at its peak – no doubt a terribly exciting time for you. Does your work now incite that same level of excitement as when everything was so fresh and new to you?

Yeah, I think so. A lot of people say this, but I genuinely do feel that it’s amazingly lucky to have been some Iittle Liverpool guy, living on a housing estate, wondering what I was going to do in the future, to becoming this famous guy that I now am. AII along the way there was always something that kind of interested me, so I think the spirit of enjoyment is always there. I’m very lucky. I always think, “Oh yeah, I can’t wait to get in the studio and have a go at that track,” or, “I can’t wait to get back to my guitar” because I’d thought of a chord sequence that could work. There’s so much fascinating stuff in life that I’m fascinated.

Does that relate also to your motivation? You could have retired after The Beatles changed the world in the ’60s, but you went on to do it again in each subsequent decade. What keeps you going ?

l think it’s just because I’m very interested in life, and the things within it. I think that’s always been the motivation. As a kid it might mean I take a bus for a few stops and get off and then listen to what people were talking about, or make a little drawing of something. I always found that the stuff around you can be very fascinating. I’m from the working class Liverpool people, and I met some of the smartest people there and heard some of the best jokes, heard some great wise attitudes to life, so that was the motivation then; just the enjoyment of what’s going on. That has obviously changed over the years, because I’m no longer getting the bus in Liverpool, but now I’m maybe driving my own car to the studio, it’s the same kind of thing, but the details are different. But the feeling of thinking there is something around the corner that could be really interesting is the same.

You have so many songs to choose from when it comes to forming set lists, and each from such a distinct phase of your career, that it must be so difficult to know where to start. Do current events play a part? For example, recent reissues, a spike in streaming numbers of a particular track, or your song appearing in a movie?

Yeah, it has an impact on me. If I see a movie and then hear one of my songs in it. I think: “Oh, I should do that one.” Sometimes it will give me the impetus to actually look at that song and think of doing it. It may even just be someone says to me, “Oh, I love that song of yours,” and you go, “Oh…” They love it enough for me to think, “Yeah, I should do that. just for you.” There are songs that some people say, “Oh, I love that one,” and it makes a difference. That’s always happened. One of my own Wings albums, I’ll be thinking, “Well, it didn’t do too well, so maybe it wasn’t that good,” and then you find some kids are playing the hell out of it saying, “This is a great album,” so it gets me back into it.

While you were on tour last year, The Beatles enjoyed a global smash Number One single with ‘Now And Then’. How does it feel to know that the love for The Beatles is still out there and enduring?

Incredible, especially when you consider that we thought we might last 10 years when we were The Beatles. And actually, we thought that was being a bit optimistic! So all these years later, it is wonderful to see how the music has lasted, and the effect that it’s had on people all around the world.

Could you be tempted to try playing ‘Now And Then’ live?

We’ll see!

Since the last leg ended, you’ve been doing some recording in the studio. Do you ever think about road testing a new song?

Yeah, but new songs are sort of an interesting phenomenon because to do a new song, you have to lose an old song, and in our case, that’s very difficult to do. You realise most of the time that people seem to enjoy hearing songs that they know. It’s always fun to try, but we don’t do it too often.

Have you ever considered the notion of devoting a concert to one particular album or theme? You could perform only songs by The Fireman, or reproduce Chaos And Creation In The Backyard in its entirety?

Yeah, I often think about that, but because I know people are paying hard-earned money for my show, I have to look at what I think they would like to see in one of my shows. For the big main tour things, that’s sort of what we do: try and please the audience with what we think they like, but also slip a few in for ourselves. But yeah, I have often thought it would have to be its own show. It would have to be the deep fan/nerd show. where you could do B-sides and songs that never see the light of day and you never play. I’ll always be intrigued by that, but when you get out on tour and you go to somewhere like Knoxville, you figure that there will be a lot of mums and dad, kids and families and you have to tune your show to them if you want lo please them, if you want to send them home happy. There are some artists who just think, “No, I’m just going to do what l want,” and I think that’s okay to a point, but I’m very conscious of people spending hard-earned money, so I try and give them what I think they want. But yeah, the nerd show, definitely one of these days I must do it!

With the omnipresence of social media nothing can be a real surprise for a fan at a live show anymore. Can that be frustrating for you as an artist?

Yeah. I mean, on the first night we can pull some surprises, but then the minute that gets on social media… It’s like old comedians used to complain that their jokes got told, so the next people who saw them knew the jokes. I approach every show and every audience in a slightly different way depending on the location of the show, so I suppose that’s the way I change it up a little bit. You’ll see your set list published and we’ll go, “Right, we’re gonna change it!” We keep trying to be ahead of the guy who’s giving the game away, I would like it much better if people had no idea what they were coming to see, but the only answer to that is for us to make changes occasionally. So if he said, “They open up with this song,” we’ll go, “Let’s open up with a different song,” just to prove him wrong.

Getting back to Get Back, for the common viewer it was a captivating watch: like spying on four iconic geniuses at work. What did watching it trigger for you?

It was just really fantastic memories. The most important thing I think that I felt was that I warned Peter Jackson that I might not like this film, because it was connected with such an unhappy period with The Beatles breaking up shortly after. But he started messaging me saying: “It’s not like that at all!” So I grew more and more hopeful. When I actually saw the film I thought, “Wow!” There’s me thinking we had millions or arguments – well, I think the people on the housing estates in Liverpool had more arguments per day than we had in three months! It never gets really nasty, so that was kind of nice. It let me off the hook, because I was starting to think, “Oh no, I was really pushy and I bossed everyone around,” but when I look at the film it’s not like that at all: it’s me just making suggestions, or me trying to find out what we’re going to do, or where we’re going to play – me just trying to solidify the ideas that were flying around. There is nothing wrong with that. So I felt much better about that, and once I got over that, which was going to be the main hump to get over, I could just really enjoy remembering my relationship with these guys – how John and l just goofed around. And the clothes we wore were stunning! But it didn’t look hike an antique film, because Peter had renovated the film in such a way that it looked like it could have been filmed last week. It had a very beautiful unique quality to it. I just loved it. I just loved remembering how well I knew John, because I’d kind of been forced into forgetting with some of the dramas that went down after The Beatles broke up. It was just lovely to see how l’d say something and John would pick up on it and makes me fun of it. It is great though, because we were totally wacko. There’s me trying to perform ‘Let It Be’, and John is completely irreverent! He’s taking the piss! I forget what he says but it’s like he’s taking all the seriousness out of it, and I’ve still got to go and try and do a good take of ‘Let It Be’! All of that was what made The Beatles so special. I’d said to people after I’d seen the film, I said it’s a wonder we got anything done – we just messed around alI the time!

One of the clips that went viral from Get Back was of you composing the song ‘Get Back’ – pulling the rhythm, melody and lyrics out of thin air in front of our eyes.

One of the ways I work is just getting a feel of something – a rhythm, a sort of vague melody – and instead of sitting down and writing it, you can just keep goofing it, which is what I was doing there. Peter Jackson first of all sent me a message – he said: “Did you have ‘Get Back’ written before you went into Twickenham?” I wrote back to him. “No.” He said, “Well, look at this,” and he sent me the little bit of footage. I texted him back: “Peter, you’ve got the birth of ‘Get Back’.” So it was really exciting, because, again, I’d forgotten that’s how it happened. I’m not even playing chords. I’m just chunking on the bass the rhythm, and you start to hear a little melody. I felt excited for Peter, that in sifting through all of this 56 hours, he’d discovered like an archaeologist this little bit. It was lovely for him to check it out, and then it was lovely for me to watch how it happened.

Is your relationship with music the same now as it was when you were a fan growing up? Do you listen and play everyday?

Yeah, I do, in various ways – probably different from how l listened when I was a kid, just because the world is different. I would listen to a record on a little Dansette turntable, whereas now I happen to have a present that Capital Records gave us, which was a jukebox, and I have it in my little gym at home, so I can put on Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochrane, Professor Longhair, and it’s lovely to be taken back to that era. I’ve always got a guitar or a piano wherever I live. I take a guitar on holiday, because I like just sitting around when there’s nothing to do, or the telly is a bit boring, or you haven’t got a plan. You just sit around with a guitar. That’s how I always did it. And then something might arrive.

You celebrated the 20th anniversary of your touring band in 2022, having played your first show with Wix, Abe, Brian and Rusty back in 2002. What’s the secret to your success as a live band together?

They are very easy to get on with, and they are very good players. They have a very positive attitude to playing for audiences. I don’t expect dramas – now, that’s not to say that there was always drama in The Beatles or Wings – but this band, because we’ve been together so long now, we can just drop into a song easily. I think that just makes it easier. Sometimes you do think, “Well, a challenge and a drama would make it not as easy, but it might make it more exciting,” but I get plenty of excitement out of this band and the audiences.

Over the course of your time together, you’ve played in some unbelievable and incredible venues – to name just a few, there’s been Buckingham Palace, the Colosseum in Rome, the White House, the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York, Zocalo Square in Mexico City, the Budokan in Japan, the London Olympics opening ceremony, The Cavern in Liverpool, Abbey Road Studios in London, Grand Central Station… the list goes on and on – as do you! Is there a date that stands out from all your tours as special?

What immediately comes to mind is Zocalo, because it was a free concert and there were so many people there – something like 400,000. There was just this sheer amount of Mexicans: it was pretty mind-blowing. Then there’s the Colosseum – just being inside it the night before we did the big show for the people of Rome was mind blowing in a completely different way. You’re imagining Christians being fed to the lions, and here it is: you’re in the exact location where that happened. All these things create their own little excitements. The Cavern was where a lot of it began with The Beatles, so that’s nice to go back to – even though it isn’t the same venue anymore. The Queen’s backyard was great, especially after it when we were in the line-up and I happened to be standing next to the Queen. I said, “Wow, this was a great show!” She said, “Yes.” I said “Will we be doing this again next year?” And she said, “Not in my back garden!” I think she’d had enough by then! That whole list is all very exciting, and there are millions of others. That’s the other thing: there’s so many others you can name. All those surprises that happen on stage. I think that answers the question of why do l do it, what’s the motivation? All of that: the fact that there’s always something that can happen that you didn’t know was going to happen. Just the excitement of that, and it connects with people in such a profound, life-changing way. It really does. When someone comes up and says, “My kid/wife/mother was ill with cancer and is cured now because she listened to your music all the time,” it’s like, “Wow! I did not expect that side effect.” I’m just writing a little song and I hope it reaches somebody, and to realise that it reaches such distances, right into the hearts of people, is a very lovely thought.

You are returning to Paris this winter, which is where – back in January 1964 – The Beatles learned that ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ became the group’s first Number One single in the US. Does Paris hold a special place in your heart?

Yeah, I love Paris. As I mentioned, I first went there with John Lennon when he was 21 years old, right before The Beatles. We were complete unknowns. But we loved the vibe of the capital, and the people. We had been intending to hitchhike all the way from Liverpool down to Spain, but we enjoyed Paris so much that we stayed and spent all our money there!

The final date this year is in London, where this leg ends just one week before Christmas. How are you going to wind down and relax after the tour?

I’m going to take time off and go on holiday with my family. My kids and grandkids all love getting together, so it’s the way we like to relax.

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