Interview for RollingStone • Monday, May 16, 2011
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- Album This interview has been made to promote the Kisses On the Bottom Official album.
Interview
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.”