In his next studio installment, the former star of The Beatles will pay tribute to some 'classic standards' he grew up listening to in his childhood.
- Dec 20, 2011
AceShowbiz - Nearly five years after releasing his last solo studio album, Paul McCartney finally decides it's time for him to come back with a brand new one. The former member of The Beatles is eying to release the effort in the United States on February 7, 2012. To tide fans over, he offers an audio stream of a new song called "My Valentine".
The musician, who just finished an extended leg of his On the Run tour, believed it's about time the songs "me and John [Lennon] based quite a few of our things on" received the recognition they deserve. Thus, he will pay tribute to "the songs which inspired the songs" with the new album of those standards he grew up listening to in his childhood.
The Brit, who tied the knot with New Yorker Nancy Shevell in October 2011, will also fill the record with a couple of his new original compositions in the spirit of those classics. "When I kind of got into songwriting, I realized how well structured these songs were and I think I took a lot of my lessons from them," he explained.
"I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys - I just thought the songs were magical. And then, as I got to be a songwriter I thought it's beautiful, the way they made those song," he elaborated his statement about "those classic standards" where he took his inspirations from.
Determined to approach the record in a new and unique manner, 69-year-old Paul enlisted the help of Grammy Award-winning producer Tommy LiPuma and Diana Krall & her band. On top of that, he has also tapped guest appearances from two fellow music veterans Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder.
The album was recorded at the legendary Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, New York and London throughout 2011. The process was a new challenge for Paul since it's the first time ever he "performed exclusively in the vocal booth without no instrument - no guitar, no bass, no piano - which led to a vocal performance like no other in his career."
"It was very spontaneous, kind of organic, which then reminded me of the way we'd work with The Beatles. We'd bring a song in, kick it around, when we found a way to do it we'd say 'Okay, let's do a take now' and by the time everyone kind of had an idea of what they were doing, we'd learnt the song. So that's what we did, we did the take live in the studio," he gushed.
In addition to the "My Valentine" song, there is another new composition titled "Only Our Hearts" which is expected to make the cut to the upcoming CD. As for the "standards" content, he thought it's was important "to keep away from the more obvious song choices." "So many of the classic standards will be unfamiliar to some people," he said. "I hope they are in for a pleasant surprise."
