Happy Birthday to Sir Paul McCartney! In 2016 we asked the ex-Beatle if he could imagine touring at 80! 'People say age is a number. It’s a big number the older you get. But if it doesn’t interfere, I’m not bothered. You can ignore it. That’s what I do.'
It’s an extraordinary moment – but McCartney, 74 and currently on his latest tour of American arenas and stadiums, is never far from a performance.
In his London office, McCartney is surrounded by his roots and history – there is Beatles and Wings memorabilia, and a vintage jukebox loaded with 78s by Fats Domino, Wanda Jackson and Elvis Presley – but he mostly speaks of his songwriting and the stage in the present tense. He dissects his recent collaborations withand 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.
In the Beatles, I was very much the guy who pushed it. It’s a damn good job I did. No one would have got off their asses to come out from the suburbs into the city to makeA lot of the things we did in Hamburg were instigated by me, then taken up by the other guys. We worked in this little beer hall where nobody came in. There was a sign that said beer, 1.50 marks or something. You’d see students come in and go, “Ooh, can’t afford it.” They were looking for something cheaper.
We don’t have a veto. But we made it clear that we like it to be treated tastefully – “If that’s possible, sir.” They can be great offers monetarily, but we draw the line on some things, like a gas-guzzling car. I personally wouldn’t do McDonald’s, just because of my [vegetarian] beliefs.show [in Las Vegas] was nearly that. George knew this Cirque du Soleil guy and took me to see a show. I was blown away. I was sold on the idea [of a Beatles production].
It’s a mirage. I see the little band I always knew. You’ve got Mick, Keith and Charlie, who were always there, and Ronnie – he’s earned his Stone-ness. I see a good little rock & roll band – not as good as the Beatles [What potential did you see in 1963, when you and John gave them “I Wanna Be Your Man” to record? It was the Stones’ first Top 20 single in the U.K.
To do new material – that’s taking it one step further. This is what I am saying about the Beatles things – these ideas just arrive. I don’t necessarily sit around thinking of them. That’s a new idea that’s just arrived. You proposed it. And we might take it up. We had a few afternoons at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The only deal I made with Kanye was that if it doesn’t work, we won’t tell anyone. I didn’t know his system. I’d heard things like, “He’s got a room full of guys working on riffs, and he walks around going, ‘I like that one.’ ” It reminded me of Andy Warhol, these artists who use students to paint their backgrounds and things. It’s a well-used technique. I thought, “I don’t know how I’m going to fit into that, but let’s see. Here goes nothing.
No. I don’t think it could be. At some point, you have to realize, some things just can’t be. John and me, we were kids growing up together, in the same environment with the same influences: He knows the records I know, I know the records he knows. You’re writing your first little innocent songs together. Then you’re writing something that gets recorded. Each year goes by, and you get the cooler clothes. Then you write the cooler song to go with the cooler clothes.
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