Bill Harry.

"The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia"The Beatles 1963-1970

BILL HARRY. THE PAUL MCCARTNEY ENCYCLOPEDIA

I Am Your Singer
A track on the Wild Life album, with Paul and Linda alternating on
the vocals, with acoustic guitar sounds in the background. The
number was later recorded by David Cassidy.
There were plans to issue it as the B-side of 'Love Is Strange', as
a single release from the Wild Life album, but the idea was
abandoned.
Paul and Linda performed it on a New York radio station in December
1971 and on Wings' European tour of 1972. They dedicated the song to
their respective fathers.
I Can't Write Another Song
A home demo that Paul recorded at his Rude Studio in 1979 playing
acoustic guitar and using a drum machine. It is also known as
'Believing'. The number was heard on the Oobu Joobu radio series.
I Do
A track from the Driving Rain album. The number lasts for 2 minutes
and 56 seconds. David Leonard, who overdubbed orchestral samples
onto the track, also mixed it.
I Don't Want To See You Again
A number Paul wrote specially for Peter and Gordon. This was the
third number he had given to the duo, although it was the least
successful of the Lennon and McCartney numbers they recorded. Norman
Newall produced it. The Beatles never recorded this number, although
Paul is likely to have given Peter and Gordon a demo disc of it. The
record was issued in Britain on Columbia DB 7356 on 11 September
1964, but failed to register in the charts. It was issued in America
on Capitol 5272 on 21 September 1964 and reached No. 19 in the
charts.
It was also the title of the Peter and Gordon album issued in
Britain on Friday 11 December 1964 on Capitol ST 2220. The album
also contained another Paul McCartney composition, 'Nobody I Know'.
The number was also included on the duo's In Touch With Peter And
Gordon album, issued on Friday 18 December 1964 on Columbia 33SX
1660.
It was reissued as a single in America on 1 May 1967 on Capitol
Starline 6155, with another McCartney composition, 'Woman', on the
flipside.
I Got Love
One of a number of compositions Paul wrote while on holiday in
Jamaica in January 1995. It remains unreleased.
I Got Stung
A track from the Run Devil Run album lasting 2 minutes and 40
seconds. A former hit for Elvis Presley, it was penned by Aaron
Schroeder and David Hill and recorded at Abbey Road Studios on
Monday 1 March 1999 with Paul on lead vocal and bass guitar, Dave
Gilmour on electric guitar, Mick Green on electric guitar, Pete
Wingfield on piano and Ian Paice on drums.
This was a number which Elvis had recorded soon after he got out of
the army. Paul initially wasn't keen on the number, but it grew on
him because he liked the intro to the number so much.
I Got Up
A Suzy and the Red Stripes track, recorded in Paris in November 1973
with Paul, Linda, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch and Davey Lutton.
Linda added her vocals to the track on 20 March 1998 at Paul's home
studio in Hog Hill shortly before her death. Paul added final
overdubs in July 1998 and the track was finally included on the Wide
Prairie album.
I Lie Around
A number penned by Paul and sung by Denny Laine which was issued as
the flipside of 'Live and Let Die' in 1973. It was the only single
by Wings on which Paul didn't sing lead vocals.
I Lost My Little Girl
The first number Paul ever wrote. He was fourteen years old and it
was shortly after the death of his mother. This was the number that
Paul first played to John Lennon and probably set the seal on their
idea of becoming a songwriting partnership.
Paul could be heard busking the number while he was working at home
in the late 1970s on a bootleg tape and in a brief part of his
interview with Melvyn Bragg for the South Bank Show.
He performed it in public for the first time on Friday 25 January
1991 when he appeared before a studio audience for the MTV show
Unplugged, asking the audience to gather round and listen to the
first song he wrote. It was then included as track two on his Paul
McCartney: Unplugged - The Official Bootleg release.
I Owe It All To You
A number penned by Paul, lasting 4 minutes and 50 seconds, which was
included on the Off The Ground album.
I Saw Her Standing There
A song Paul thought up when he was driving home from a concert in
Southport and wrote in the living room of his Forthlin Road house in
September 1962 under the working title of 'Seventeen'. John was
present and made a small contribution although the song is generally
considered as one mainly written by Paul.
Paul was to say, 'Originally the first two lines were "She was just
seventeen, Never been a beauty queen." When I played it through the
next day to John, I realised that it was a useless rhyme and so did
John. John came up with "You know what I mean", which was much
better.'
Paul was to admit that he took the bass line from the Chuck Berry
number 'I'm Talking About You', commenting, 'I played exactly the
same notes as he did and it fitted our number perfectly. Even now,
when I tell people about it, I find few of them believe me.
Therefore I maintain a bass riff doesn't have to be original.'
John himself was to comment on the song in a Playboy interview;
That's Paul doing his usual good job of producing what George Martin
used to call a potboiler. I helped with a couple of the lyrics.'
The Beatles included the number in their repertoire between 1962 and
1964, including their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on 16
February 1964.
The Beatles recorded the number on 11 February 1963 and it was the
opening track of their debut album Please Please Me and was issued
in America as the flipside of 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' on 13
January 1964. It is also to be found on the Star Club recordings.
John Lennon performed the song with Elton John on stage at Madison
Square Garden on 28 November 1974 and Paul was to perform it at the
Prince's Trust Concert in 1986.
A version of this number lasting 3 minutes and 20 seconds was
included on the Tripping The Live Fantastic album. It was recorded
live at the Forum, Montreal, Canada on 9 December 1989 during the
1989/90 World Tour.
/ Survive
An album by Adam Faith, his first for more than a decade, on which
Paul plays synthesiser on three tracks: 'Change', 'Never Say
Goodbye' and 'Goodbye' and provides backing vocal, along with Linda,
on 'Star Song'. The album was issued in America on 2 September 1974
on Warner Brothers BS 2791 and in Britain on 20 September 1974 on
Warner Brothers � 56054. A single from the album, 'Star Song', was
issued in Britain on 6 December 1974 on Warner Brothers � 16482.
I Wanna Be Your Man
A song mainly written by Paul, with a little help from John.
The number had originally been written with Ringo Starr in mind, as
they wanted to give him a song to sing on each album.
Paul said, 'We wrote "I Wanna Be Your Man" for Ringo because we
wanted him to have a song on our album. "I Wanna Be Your Man" was
trying to give Ringo something like "Boys", an up-tempo song he
could sing on the drums. "I wanna be your ma-an", that little bit is
nicked from "Fortune Teller", a Benny Spellman song. We were quite
open about our nicks.'
The number hadn't actually been completed when Andrew Loog Oldham
bumped into John and Paul one day and asked if they had a number
suitable for the Rolling Stones to record, although Paul's version
is slightly different.
Paul said, 'We were in Charing Cross Road, where we often used to go
to window-shop at the guitar shops and daydream. Dick James was on
the Charing Cross Road and we'd go to his office and daydream on the
way. Coming out of his office one day, John and I were walking down
Charing Cross Road when passing in a taxi were Mick and Keith. They
shouted from the taxi and we yelled, "Hey, hey. Give us a lift," and
we bummed a lift from them. So there were the four of us sitting in
a taxi and Mick said, "Hey, we're recording. Got any songs?" and we
said, "Ah, yes, sure. We've got one. How about Ringo's song, you
could do it as a single."'
Paul's version differs from other details of how the number came
about. The occasion was 10 September 1963 and John and Paul had been
at the Variety Club lunch at the Savoy Hotel where they'd received
an award as Top Vocal Group of the Year.
In Jermyn Street they bumped into Rolling Stone manager Andrew Loog
Oldham who told them he was on his way to a Stones rehearsal,
although the group were having difficulty finding suitable material
for their second single.
The two of them went with Oldham to Studio 51 where the Stones were
recording and completed the number in about ten minutes. It proved
to be a hit for the Stones and, many years later, a minor hit for
the Rezillos when it reached No. 71 in the British charts on 18
August 1979. The Beatles version was included on With The Beatles in
Britain and Meet The Beatles in the States.
A live version of the number lasting 2 minutes and 37 seconds was
recorded during the sound check of the Paramatta concert in Sydney,
Australia on 29 March 1993 and included on the Paul Is Live album.
I Will
A track on The Beatles double album. Paul commented, 'I wrote quite
a few songs in Rishikesh. I was doing a song "I Will" that I had as
a melody for quite a long time. But, I didn't have lyrics to it. I
remember sitting around with Donovan, and maybe a few others. And I
played him this one and he liked it and we were trying to write some
words. We kicked around a few lyrics. I kept searching for better
words and I wrote my own set in the end, very simple words, straight
love-song words, really. I think they are quite effective.'
There were actually 67 takes of this number, recorded at Abbey Road
Studios on 16 September 1968.
Paul said that it was a love song dedicated to Linda.
I Would Only Smile
A Wings track with the original line-up of Denny Seiwell and Henry
McCullough which Denny Laine included on his album Japanese Tears,
It was composed by Laine and recorded in 1973.
I'll Be On My Way
A number penned by Paul early in his career that was recorded by
Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas in 1963 and appeared on the flipside
of their chart-topper 'Do You Want To Know A Secret?' Although the
Beatles didn't record the number, they performed it on the BBC radio
show Side by Side on 24 June 1963.
Paul was to comment, 'It's a bit too June-moon for me, but these
were very early songs and they worked out quite well.'
I'll Follow The Sun
An early composition by Paul that eventually surfaced on the Beatles
For Sale album and EP, the American Beatles '65 album and the 1977
Love Songs.
Paul recalled, 'I wrote that in my front room in Forthlin Road. I
was about sixteen. I seem to remember writing it just after I'd had
the 'flu. I remember standing in the parlour, with my guitar,
looking out through the lace curtains of the window, and writing
that one.'
The Beatles recorded it on 18 October 1964.
In his Playboy interview, John Lennon was to comment, 'That's Paul
again. Can't you tell? I mean - "Tomorrow may rain so I'll follow
the sun." That's another early McCartney, you know, written almost
before the Beatles, I think. He had a lot of stuff.'
I'll Give You A Ring
A song by Paul, which Wings recorded at Abbey Road Studios on
Thursday 15 August 1974 during their sessions for the documentary
'One Hand Clapping'. It remained unreleased until June 1982 when it
was issued as the flipside to 'Take It Away'.
I'll Keep You Satisfied
A number by Paul which Billy J Kramer &c the Dakotas recorded on 22
July 1963 and released as a single in the UK onl November 1963 on
Parlophone R 5073 with 'I Know' on the flipside. It was issued in
America on Liberty 55643 on 11 November 1963. It was also the title
of Kramer's EP, issued in Britain on 20 March 1964 on Parlophone GEP
8895. The four tracks were: Til Keep You Satisfied', 'I Know',
'Dance With Me' and 'It's Up To You'. The Beatles never recorded the
number.
I'm Carrying
A track from the London Town album, penned by Paul, which lasted 2
minutes and 44 seconds.
It was issued as the flipside of the 'London Town' single in August
1978.
Inspired by a former girlfriend of Paul's, it was recorded in the
Virgin Islands on 5 May 1977. George Harrison said it was his
favourite track on the album. An unusual instrument, a sort of
souped-up synthesiser called a 'gizmo' is featured. This was
invented by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, former members of 10cc.
I'm Down
A composition by Paul, recorded by the Beatles on Monday 14 July
1965 and issued as the flipside of the 'Help!' single. It was also
included on the Rock and Roll Music and Rarities compilations. The
group performed the song on their 'Ed Sullivan' television
appearance in September 1965 and on their 1965 and 1966 world tours
when they often closed their concert performances with it.
Paul was to say, 'I could do Little Richard's voice, which is wild,
hoarse and a screaming thing. It's a funny little track and, when
you find it, it's very interesting. A lot of people were fans of
Little Richard, so I used to sing his stuff, but there came a point
where I wanted one of my own, so I wrote "I'm Down".'
He was to add, '"I'm Down" was my rock-'n'-roll shouter. I ended up
doing it at Shea Stadium. It worked very well for those kind of
places, it was a good stage song.'
I'm Looking Through You
A song of lost love that Paul penned following a row he had with his
girlfriend Jane Asher, ironically writing it in the music room of
the
Asher house in Wimpole Street. Jane was in Bristol appearing with
the Old Vic. Initially he just wrote a verse and a chorus that the
Beatles taped in October 1965 during their Rubber Soul sessions. The
Beatles re-recorded it on 6 and 10 November and overdubbed the
vocals on 11 November 1965.
Paul was to say, 'My whole existence for so long centred around a
bachelor life. I didn't treat women as most people do. My life
generally has always been very lazy and not normal. I knew I was
selfish. It caused a few rows. Jane went off to Bristol to act. I
said, "OK then, leave, I'll find someone else." It was shattering to
be without her. That's when I wrote "I'm Looking Through You" - for
Jane.'
The number first surfaced on the 1965 Rubber Soul album and has also
been featured on the 1978 The Beatles Collection and the 1980 The
Beatles Box. There was an interesting version of the number sung by
Vincent Price to the accompaniment of spectral figures in a spoof
horror edition of The Muppet Show.
I'm Partial To Your Abracadabra
Paul's contribution to the Ian Dury tribute album, a remake of
Dury's New Boots And Panties called Brand New Boots And Panties.
Produced by Laurie Latham, Paul was backed by Dury's original band
the Blockheads. The CD single was issued in April 2001. The album
cover was designed by Peter Blake of Sgt Pepper cover fame.
I'm The Urban Spaceman
A single by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, penned by Neil Innes and
produced by Paul McCartney under the name Apollo � Vermouth. It was
issued in Britain on Friday 11 October 1968 on Liberty LBF 15144 and
in America on Wednesday 18 December 1968 on Liberty 66345. 'Canyons
Of Your Mind' was on the flipside. It was reissued in America on
Monday 19 July 1971 on United Artists UA 50809.
It was the first track on the album Urban Spaceman, issued in
America on Monday 9 June 1969 on Imperial 12432 and in Britain on
the album I'm The Urban Spaceman on Sunset SLS 50350 on Friday 7
September 1973.
The number was also included on the 1970 compilations Progressive
Heavies and The Beast Of The Bonzos.
I've Got A Feeling
The combination of two separate songs, one by Paul, one by John.
John's song was called 'Everybody Had A Hard Year', Paul's was 'I've
Got A Feeling'. It was decided that they would collaborate and make
the two separate songs into one, with it probably being the last
true collaboration between the two writers. The Beatles taped the
number at Abbey Road at three separate sessions and the number was
featured in the Let It Be album and film.
I've Had Enough (single)
A song recorded in the Virgin Islands for the London Town album. It
was issued as a Wings single on Parlophone R6020 on Friday 16 June
1978 in Britain, but only reached No. 42 in the chart. In America it
was released on Monday 12 June on Capitol 4594 and reached No. 25 in
the charts.
'Deliver Your Children' was the flipside.
It was also released in Germany on EMI Electrola 1C600-61260.
I've Had Enough (promotional film)
The promotional film for this record featured new Wings members
Laurence Juber and Steve Holly, although neither of them had played
on the track.
I've Just Seen A Face
A folk-rock number. The Beatles taped this song by Paul on Monday 14
June 1965, the same day they recorded 'I'm Down' and 'Yesterday' and
it was included on the Help! album. Paul later revived it for Wings'
1975/76 World Tour.
Its original working title was 'Auntie Gin's Theme' and the George
Martin Orchestra actually recorded it under this title when he
issued his Help! album in America.
Paul wrote the number in the Asher's Wimpole Street house and
commented, 'I think this is totally by me. It was slightly country
and western from my point of view. I was quite pleased by it. The
lyrics work. It keeps dragging you forward, it keeps pulling you to
the next line.'
lachimore, Ian
A pseudonym Paul assumed when friends wanted to contact him by
letter in order to differentiate them from the vast fan mail that
came his way.
See 'Pseudonyms'.
If I Were Not Upon The Stage
A number composed by Sutton/Turner/Bowsher. Paul's version of this
number, lasting only 36 seconds, was included on the Tripping the
Live Fantastic album. It was recorded live at the Riverfront
Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio on 12 Februaryl990 during the 1989/90
World Tour.
If You Wanna
A track from the Flaming Pie album which Paul originally began
composing when he had a day off in Minneapolis during his New World
Tour in May 1993. He then had Steve Miller record it with him. Paul
also produced the number, which lasted 4 minutes and 38 seconds.
Geoff Emerick and Jan Jacobs, assisted by Keith Smith, engineered
it.
Recording began on 11 May 1995 with Paul on lead vocal, drums, bass
guitar, electric guitar and 12-string acoustic guitar. Steve Miller
provided harmony vocal and electric piano and electric guitar.
If You've Got Trouble
A number that Paul mainly wrote which was recorded on Thursday 28
February 1965. It was originally intended for Ringo to sing as a
contribution on the Help! album. Only one take was made and it was
not included in the final selection and remains unreleased.
In Spite Of All The Danger
The first original composition ever recorded by the group who were
to become the Beatles. The Quarry Men recorded it on 12 July 1958 at
Percy Philips's studio at 53 Kensington, Liverpool. The group at the
session were Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Colin
Hanton and John Lowe.
They recorded two songs that day, Buddy Holly's 'That'll Be The Day'
and 'In Spite Of All The Danger' which was credited as a
Harrison/McCartney composition. Paul sang lead on the latter.
They could only afford one copy of a two-sided shellac disc between
them and Philips was to wipe out the tape.
The disc was passed around to each member for a while and ended up
in the hands of Lowe, who put it in a drawer and forgot about it for
a number of years. When he eventually realised its potential value,
Lowe put it up for auction, but Paul prevented its sale and then
bought it from Lowe for an undisclosed sum.
Paul had both sides placed on a master disc at Abbey Road Studios.
The master tapes were then taken to Orlake pressing plant in
Dagenham where Paul ordered two dozen copies to be produced in
shellac at 78 rpm.
'In Spite Of All The Danger' was included on The Beatles Anthology 1
CD.
Indeed, I Do
One of a number of home recordings made by Paul in 1971 and 1972.
This was a demo track with Paul on acoustic guitar and himself and
Linda on vocals.
India
Paul wasn't really as enthusiastic about the Indian influences of
the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Ravi Shankar as George was, although
he went along with the others on their forays into meditation and
also decided to travel to Rishikesh with Jane Asher and remained
there for five weeks.
When the two returned on Tuesday 25 March 1968, they were
interviewed at London airport.
A reporter asked Paul how he felt after five weeks of meditation.
Paul said, 'Yes, yes, I feel a lot better, except for the flight,
you know. That's quite long. I'm a bit shattered, but the meditation
is great!' He then mentioned the meditation: 'You sit down, you
relax, and then you repeat a sound to yourself. It sounds daft, but
it's just a system of relaxation, and that's all it is. There's
nothing more to it. We meditated for about five hours a day in all.
Two hours in the morning and maybe three hours in the evening, and
then, for the rest of the time, we slept, ate, sunbathed and had
fun.'
The reporter said, 'One Indian MP accused the camp where you stayed
as being an espionage centre, and you, in fact, of being a spy for
the West.'
This amused Paul, who replied, 'Yes, it's true. Yes, we are spies.
The four of us are spies. Actually, I'm a reporter and I joined the
Beatles for that very reason. The story is out next week in a paper
which shall be nameless.'
The reporter asked Jane whether she'd gone to India for a holiday or
to meditate, and she said, 'Oh, to meditate.' When asked what effect
it had on her and whether this was her first big meditation
experience, she replied, 'Yes, I think it calms you down. It's hard
to tell because it was so different, you know, the life out there.
It'd be easy to tell now that I'm back, or when we're doing ordinary
things, to see just what it does.'
When Paul was asked if he'd actually seen any examples of the
extreme poverty that existed in India, he replied, 'Yes, oh yes. I
don't equate it, you know, because it's nothing to do with it, you
know. The idea is to stop poverty at its root. You see, if we just
give handouts to people, it'll just stop the problems for a day, or
a week, you know. But, in India, there's so many people, you really
need all of America's money to pour into India to solve it, you
know, and then, they'll probably go back the next year, and just lie
around, you know. So, you've got to get to the cause of it and
persuade all the Indians to start working and, you know, start doing
 things. Their religions, it's very fatalistic, and they just sit
down and think, "God said, this is it, so it's too bad to do
anything about it." The Maharishi's trying to persuade them that
they can do something about it.'
One good result of the Indian trip was the number of songs written
by the individual Beatles. Paul said that they'd written twenty
songs when they were in Rishikesh.
In later years, Paul began to visit India to holiday. Whilst in Goa
in January 2001 he wrote 'Lonely Road', 'I Do' and 'About You',
which became tracks on the Driving Rain album. Another track on the
album shows an India influence, 'Riding To Jaipur'.
On Friday 11 January 2002 Paul and Heather arrived in southern India
to enjoy a vacation at the Coconut Lagoon hotel, in Kumurakom, but
on Monday 14 January they were discovered by the local press and
decided to leave, also cancelling the next step of their holiday,
which was to have been at the Ashtamudi Resorts.
Indica Books & Gallery
A specialist bookshop and art gallery, launched in March 1965 by
Barry Miles, Peter Asher and John Dunbar, trading under the business
name MAD. It was situated at No. 6 Mason's Yard, next door to the
Scotch Of St James club, which was frequented by the Beatles.
As all three were friends of Paul, he gave them £5,000 to help
build
shelves, buy book stock and pay wages. He also designed the
bookshop's wrapping paper and helped in the shelf-building and
decorating.
The bookshop was situated upstairs and the gallery downstairs. The
bookshop was later moved to 102 Southampton Row, which also housed
International Times where Paul had helped to decorate the office.
It was on 9 November 1966 that John Lennon turned up at the gallery,
on the invitation of Dunbar, for the exhibition 'Unfinished
Paintings And Objects', by Yoko Ono.
Ingrained Funkiness
An unreleased number recorded by Paul and his daughters Heather and
Stella in his Sussex studio in November 1992 as part of a surprise
Christmas present for Linda.
Inner City Madness
A track on the Tripping The Live Fantastic album, which lasts for 1
minute and 23 seconds. It was composed by Paul, Stuart, Mclntosh,
Wickens and Whitten and was recorded during the soundcheck at the
NEC International Arena in Birmingham, England on 2 January 1990
during the 1989/90 World Tour.
Internet, The
Paul has taken an interest in utilising the Internet and has made
several on-line 'Netcasts'. His first on-line chat took place at the
Bishopsgate Memorial Hall, London on Saturday 17 May 1997, which was
organised by VHI as part of 'Paul McCartney Week' during which Paul
answered fifty questions which had been put to him by fans.
Here is a transcript, although there are some gaps due to parts of
the netcast becoming inaudible:
Question: Picked up the Oobu Joobu CD this morning. Will there be
more editions?
Paul: Ahhh, yeah. That was released as a radio show, but in England,
we're releasing it as the B-side of the singles - that is probably
the best place to get hold of it at the moment.
Question: It is known that you paint for relaxation. Do you ever
plan to exhibit or sell your paintings?
Paul: I've been painting for about fourteen years now. I didn't
really want to exhibit because of the sort of thing that people say
like, 'Oh he's just a singer that paints a bit' and I have had
offers from people who have said, 'I'll give you a show', but I
said, 'but you haven't seen my paintings yet,' and they've replied,
'doesn't matter'. But funnily enough I am going to get an exhibition
this year in Germany so this will be my first exhibition ever.
Question: How do you feel about teenagers buying your CDs rather
than modern ones.
Paul: I feel very good about that, Lisa. Very good indeed.
Question: You are still breaking boundaries and trying new projects
- but what do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
Paul: My children - it's basically that. It's not easy to have good
kids when you are in a high-profile show business thing like I am
and Linda and I reckon that is our greatest achievement.
Question: Sir Paul, where do you keep your knighthood medal?
Paul: By the side of the bed.
Question: Who took all the wonderful photographs that accompany the
new album?
Paul: Thanks for asking that Marsie. It was actually Linda that took
all those wonderful photos.
Question: I wouldn't go veggie for health reasons, but you make a
good point about the animal rights. When did you go vegetarian?
Paul: Approximately twenty years ago, after eating leg of lamb one
Sunday.
Question: What do you do when you have free time, Paul?
Paul: One of my favourite hobbies is to make trails in the woods.
There are a lot of woods where I live and Linda and I like horse
riding. So I go out and make trails - it's the complete opposite of
what I do for a living.
Question: I loved your concert in Buenos Aires in 1993. When are you
going to come back?
Paul: Well, at the moment there are no plans for a tour but we all
enjoyed being in Argentina, we had a great time. So, if we do come
back someday, we'll stop there again. You were a great audience by
the way.
Question: Hello Paul, I have a question for you: do you wear boxers
or briefs?
Paul: Steady on, Rosie! Luckily we are on the Internet so I can't
show you! You wouldn't believe the answer actually. I'll stay
enigmatic on that one.
Question: How many Hofner basses do you own? Is the one you have now
the original Beatles bass?
Paul: Yeah, I have one main one that I use and a backup. But in the
sixties a couple of them got nicked, as we say in England. Nicked,
which is stolen.
Question: Didn't one get sold?
Paul: One did, but they said I'd played it a lot but I managed to
prove I didn't.
Question: Do you believe mankind can save itself - or do we need
divine intervention?
Paul: I don't know about divine intervention, but I think we are
always in the need of divine help. All we can do is get serious and
tell our politicians that we want a future and make sure they listen
- I think it is possible, with a little divine help.
Question: Will you and George and Ringo ever record together again?
Paul: We don't know, really. We had some ambitions to after 'Free As
A Bird' and 'Real Love', but it didn't come to anything. The nearest
we got is, Ringo and I record on the new album together. So we will
have to wait and see.
Question: Is it true that there was a notebook of fifty unrecorded
songs written by you and John that were accidentally thrown away?
Paul: No. There was a book, and to tell the truth, we used to
exaggerate. There was never fifty songs in it but we used to tell
people we had fifty songs in it because it sounded much better.
There was probably five or six - and I do believe somewhere I've
still got that book. It has got 'Love Me Do' in it and a couple of
very early songs that we didn't really want to develop. So somewhere
... It was a school exercise book.
Question: Do you plan to record any songs from that time that you
didn't record?
Paul: I don't know. Sometimes you think about it, but you find
yourself writing a new song and you always favour that.
Question: How were you introduced to Steve Miller?
Paul: I think it goes back to the original session at Olympic
studios where we'd had an argumentative Beatles meeting and the
session got cancelled due to a business thing. Steve was in the
studio and we asked if a studio was free and he and I stayed up all
night making the track called 'My Dark Hour'.
Question: Which three human qualities do you respect most?
Paul: I think honesty is probably top, I think kindness is next,
then humour third. It's difficult to pull three out of a hat.
Question: Did you or Frank Clarke play the bass on 'Penny Lane'?
Paul: Get serious man. It was I and not said Frank Clarke!
Question: What is the greatest gift?
Paul: That's a hard question. Tolerance of other people, perhaps.
Question: What happened to the 27-minute version of 'Helter
Skelter'?
Paul: We edited it for the original version, I think. I'm not
absolutely sure. When you make these songs, you don't keep track of
the different versions. I'm sure it exists somewhere. EMI has
probably still got it.
Question: What is yours and Linda's greatest love?
Paul: Our main love is horse riding. Linda was a great rider in her
teens and she actually rode in Madison Square Garden when she was
about sixteen I think. So she taught me how to ride.
Question: I'm fourteen and became a fan when I saw Help! Will you
possibly do another movie with that kind of humour?
Paul: Ummm. I think what you saw in Help! was Beatles humour, caused
by the four of us together. So it would be difficult to do that
again. I like the sense of humour, though. Possibly it might happen
one day.
Question: Do you have anything planned for the anniversary of Sgt
Pepper?
Paul: No I don't actually. The thing with being in the Beatles is
that we were so busy making the music we never kept track of the
dates, it is more the fans do that. So I am always surprised it's
the thirtieth anniversary. It feels about three years ago to me.
Question: I'm from the Ukraine. Are you going to come to see us in
the future?
Paul: Well, one of my ambitions has always been to play in Russia
and sing 'Back In The USSR'. There are a lot of people who go there
to sing it. I'd like to do that myself, but no plans just yet.
Question: Is Linda doing another cookbook?
Paul: Yes, she is at the moment. She is working on a cookbook, a
photography book, and an exhibition of stained glass in Switzerland.
She has a friend who mounts her photographs in stained glass, it's
an amazing process. That is happening later this year in
Switzerland.
Question: What was your legacy of the sixties?
Paul: I like to think it was promoting peace with the Beatles. We've
obviously had some long-term effect - and that was it.
Question: How long did you work on Flaming Pie?
Paul: It was made over a couple of years, while we were preparing
for The Beatles Anthology.
Question: Will you ever work with Wings again?
Paul: I don't know - it's an interesting thing - when I go out on
tour I guess I could call my band Wings, we didn't think to do that
with the last band but it may be something we'd do in the future.
Question: What do you really think of Oasis?
Paul: I like the fact that they play live. I think they sing well,
and, if they have to tribute anyone, I'm proud it's the Beatles.
Question: Have you thought about releasing a 'Paul McCartney
Anthology'?
Paul: I've never thought to do it, but after The Beatles Anthology
people have started to talk about a Wings retrospective. So I
suppose after that we could do a solo retrospective. No plans at the
moment, but who knows.
Question: What are you wearing right now?
Paul: I'm wearing a rather attractive ensemble, with a feather boa,
large wide-brimmed hat and nylon stockings - and boxer shorts.
That's the answer to that one!
Question: Who is playing the heavy guitar on Flaming Pie?
Paul: It's a few of us. Sometimes it's me, sometimes it's Steve
Miller, sometimes it's Jeff Lynne, and sometimes it's my son James.
Question: Do you listen to music when you paint? If so, what?
Paul: I don't actually. I think a lot of people do ... It's not
something I seem to need.
Question: If you were a fruit, which fruit would you be?
Paul: A great big watermelon.
Question: How has being knighted changed your life?
Paul: Not a lot really, except that it's a huge honour. We carry on
just as before. It is good that I get to make my girlfriend a Lady.
Question: Were there other John demos you were given by Yoko other
than 'Free As A Bird' and 'Real Love'?
Paul: Yes, there was a couple of tracks that were offered, but
because of the quality of the demos it's a difficult job. 'Free As A
Bird' and 'Real Love' were difficult records to make, although they
were enjoyable. But there were one or two ... one in particular that
I still have my eye on a little bit, but I'm not sure whether we'll
get around to it.
Question: What would you say is the biggest difference between music
in the US and the UK?
Paul: I'm not sure there is a huge difference. You have a lot of
live bands; so have we. You've got a lot of techno; so have we. I
suppose rap is the biggest difference. You are the home of rap.
We've got a few rappers over here. Though, actually, Jamaica is the
original home of rap.
Question: What Beatles song was the most difficult to write?
Paul: The only one John and I really had a problem with was 'Drive
My Car'. I had the original idea, but I had a bad set of lyrics that
were about golden rings and they were terrible, and we got stuck on
them. But we had a cup of tea and somehow we came up with the woman
that needed a chauffeur and we made it quite quickly after that. But
it was nearly a dry session.
Question: What was the first record you ever bought?
Paul: The first record, Chris, was 'Be-Bop-A-Lula' by the great Gene
Vincent.
Question: What is your favourite book?
Paul: I don't know - Foundation by Isaac Asimov, I like a lot. I
like Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. You'll have to give
me a few weeks on that one. There are so many choices I'd have to
whittle that down.
Question: I'm 28 and an owner of a multimedia company. What advice
can you give me about getting a lot of creative people to work
together.
Paul: Good humour - and staying on top of it yourself, thus letting
them know how it goes, and then, giving them their head.
Question: What was your reaction to the Beatles getting the Grammy
awards?
Paul: It's always great to get any award, and it was lovely after so
many years to get a Grammy as the four Beatles which is something
you would have said was completely impossible - but it happened.
Question: Is there any chance of you doing any more straight rock
and roll?
Paul: Yes, there is a chance. The last one I did, the Russian album,
was done very quickly over a couple of days. So there's every
chance. I actually recently compiled a list of my favourite rock and
roll songs with a view of doing that, but I haven't got around to it
yet. I've been busy.
Question: What is the single most important thing we can do to help
animals?
Paul: Go veggie. Because if you don't eat them, that sure helps
them.
Question: What is the most memorable thing a fan has done?
Paul: That's a difficult question. I can't immediately think of an
answer to that. Someone once tried to take a snippet of my hair
which didn't go down well at all.
Question: What is your favourite Elvis song?
Paul: I have a few, really. 'Jailhouse Rock' is a masterpiece. 'All
Shook Up' was always a great favourite. 'Love Me Tender' was
another.
Question: Are you planning any special events for the end of the
century?
Paul: No. Everyone keeps asking me this but I haven't even thought
what I am going to do. The thought that keeps occurring to me is
it's only if you count by Jesus's birth that there's even a
millennium going. I'm sure for the Chinese it's not the millennium.
So I haven't any plans at the moment but I'll probably think of
something.
Question: In which key do you play 'Don't Get Around Much Anymore' ?
I really like it and would love to learn it.
Paul: E major, dude.
Question: Sir Paul, a lot of celebs are doing online stuff. Bowie's
single 'Telling Lies' was available only online, and now here you
are. Does the new medium excite you particularly?
Paul: To tell you the truth, I'm not an onliner. But I think I could
easily become addicted. The nearest I've become to being a computer
freak is the music program I used to write a recent large-scale
orchestral piece.
Question: Does your son James play on Flaming Pie?
Paul: Yes, on the track 'Heaven On Sunday'.
Question: What does 'Love Me Do' mean?
Paul: 'Love Me Do' means 'Love Me Do'.
Question: I am fifteen and I'm in a band. What does it take to
become famous?
Paul: Talent, dude.
Question: Paul, do you ever sit down and listen to old Beatles
albums? And, if so, how do they make you feel?
Paul: I do sometimes, yeah. And they make me feel great, because I
have so many great memories of that period and the guys.
Question: Did listening to your earlier work on the Anthology help
you with Flaming Pie?
Paul: Yeah, I think it did. It reminded me how simple and direct the
Beatles songs were, so I tried to be careful that all the songs on
the new album were simple and direct.
Question: Have you watched the whole ten hour Beatles Anthology
movie?
Paul: No, I haven't Heather.
Paul: Shall we just wind this up with one more?
Question: Is this your first time chatting online?
Paul: Yes, this is my first time chatting online and as we are going
to have to wind it up, I want to say thanks to all you computer
freaks out there for tuning in to this global hook-up. It's been a
blast.
In 2000 Paul also became a major Internet investor by buying an
undisclosed stake in Magnex Holdings pic, a company which has
created software allowing online purchases and sale of music and
other content that prevent unauthorised copying.
Is It Raining In London?
An unreleased number, which Paul co-wrote with Hamish Stuart. He
recorded it at Abbey Road Studios on Tuesday 15 December 1992. The
track is heard on the 1993 documentary 'Movin' On'.
It's For You
A composition by Paul. He gave the number to Cilia Black to record
in 1974. At the session, which took place on 2 July, Paul, together
with John Lennon, turned up and Paul played piano on the track. It
was released in Britain on Friday 31 July 1964 on Parlophone R 5162
and in America on Monday 17 August 1964 on Capitol 5258. Produced by
George Martin, it had 'He Won't Ask Me' on the flipside. It reached
No. 8 in the British charts.
It was also the title track on her EP 'It's For You', issued in
Britain on Parlophone GEP 8916 on Friday 23 October 1964. The other
tracks were 'He Won't Ask Me', 'You're My World' and 'Suffer Now I
Must'.
'It's For You' notched up advance orders of 200,000 copies, but
didn't top the charts as her two previous discs had, although it
made a respectable Top 10 entry. Cilia was to say, 'I couldn't keep
getting a number one every time, people'd think I was a freak.'
It's So Easy/Listen To Me
A Buddy Holly medley by Denny Laine, which Paul produced. It was
issued as a single in Britain on EMI 2523 on 3 September 1976 and in
America on Capitol 4340 on 4 October 1976. The flipside was another
Holly number, 'I'm Looking For Someone To Love'.
It's So Far Out It's Straight Down
A Granada Television documentary about the 'Counter-Culture'
thriving in London during the 1960s that was screened on Tuesday 7
March 1967. It included an interview with Paul, which he'd
prerecorded on Wednesday 18 January 1967.
During the interview he commented, 'I really wish the people that
look, sort of, in anger at the weirdos, the happenings, and at the
psychedelic freak-out, would instead of just looking with anger,
just look with nothing, with no feeling, and be unbiased about it.
They really don't realise that what these people are talking about
is something that they really want themselves. It's something that
everyone wants. You know it's personal freedom to be able to talk
and be able to say things, and it's dead straight. It's a real sort
of basic pleasure for everyone, but it looks weird from the
outside.'
It's You
An Alma Cogan single issued in Britain on Columbia DB 7390 on 30
October 1964. Paul played tambourine on the flipside, 'I Knew Right
Away'.
Ivor Novello Awards Luncheon
Paul attended the Ivor Novello Awards luncheon on Tuesday 4 April
1989. He received an award for his 'Outstanding Services to British
Music'.
During the presentation he recited a piece he composed for the
occasion called 'Ivor Novello Rap', saying:
This Ivor Novello was a pretty fine chap, But just one thing he
didn't know, was how to rap.
Cause if he was living in the present day, He'd have to think of
something to say. I think I know what it might just be, He'd say
whatever happened to the melody!
Ivory Impact
A double album by American pianist Roger Williams produced by Paul's
brother-in-law John Eastman in 1983 and containing several numbers
written by Paul.