Though there have been cover albums by other artists, the ex-member of The Beatles insists his album 'wasn't going to be the direction that everyone else was taking.'
- Jan 20, 2012
AceShowbiz - Paul McCartney let his fans get up close and personal with his new songs during a press conference on January 19 in London. Not only did the 69-year-old musician stream the tracks from his upcoming album, "Kisses on the Bottom", but he also explained inspirations behind the music.
The former member of The Beatles shared to the press attending the event that he took inspirations from such legends as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin from the era that's rich of "style, music and intelligent art." The Brit also gushed about how he's so taken by Fred Astaire.
"Fred Astaire was just this fantastic character from that era, he's so elegant. Musically, his vocal style is very interesting...he had this little voice that I kind of wanted to get near, so I tried that and that became a little bit of a signature with this album," McCartney stated. "It's this era that I love."
Though he's been mulling over the idea of releasing the cover album for a long time, he restrained himself from rushing it, especially after learning that fellow artists Robbie Williams and Rod Stewart had just dropped a big-band classic compilation of their owns.
McCartney did not want to look like he jumped on their "bandwagon." Indeed, he did not do such thing because "the album wasn't going to be the direction that everyone else was taking." He explained, "The songs are not quite as well known as some of the songs that Rod's been doing."
In short, Mecca will take fans on a "deeply personal journey" to the classic era when he and bandmate John Lennon wrote big songs for the Beatles. "When we grew up, we had my dad's or in John's case, his mother's era that we were listening to, and then when we came to write rock and roll songs, this informed the rock and roll," he shared.
In the album due in the United States on January 7, he collaborated with Stevie Wonder in "Only Our Hearts," and joined forces with Eric Clapton in "My Valentine". He said, "The fact that I was working with great jazz musicians altered something. I don't know what's been altered, but it's really cool."
