Bill Harry.

"The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia"The Beatles 1963-1970

BILL HARRY. THE PAUL MCCARTNEY ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kahne, David
An American record producer, the A&R head of Warner Brothers
Records, who has worked on albums with a range of artists including
Tony Bennett, the Bangles, Fishbone, Sugar Ray and Sublime. Paul
chose him to produce his Driving Rain album in 2001.
Commenting on the album, Kahne said, 'It's a more aggressive record,
definitely. It's got real energetic guitar songs. They're all orig
inal and there's a lot of power there. I think he really loved doing
that because he hadn't done it in a while.'
Kaleidoscope
A BBC Radio 4 programme. Paul went to Broadcasting House on Monday
16 September 1991 to be interviewed live on the programme discussing
Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio. Parts of the programme were
repeated later that day.
Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey
A medley which Paul sang, utilising Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's
'Kansas City' and Little Richard's belter 'Hey Hey Hey'. The Beatles
recorded the track for the Beatles For Sale album on 18 October
1964. Recalling the session, Paul said, 'John always used to egg me
on. He used to say, "Come on, Paul, knock the shit out of 'Kansas
City'," just when the engineers thought they had a vocal they could
handle.'
The number 'Kansas City' was originally known as 'K.C. Loving' and
had originally been a single by Little Willie Littlefield in
December 1952. Under his real name of Richard Penniman, Little
Richard had penned 'Hey Hey Hey' and he recorded the two songs as a
medley in 1959, which is what inspired the Beatles to add the number
in their repertoire.
A live version of the number lasting 3 minutes and 54 seconds was
recorded live in Kansas City on 31 May 1993 and included on the Paul
Is Live album.
Karate Chaos
A number recorded during Wings' sessions for Venus And Mars, and
inspired by Geoff Britton, Wings drummer and a karate champion.
However, Geoff left the group during the recording sessions for the
album and was replaced by Joe English, which is probably why this
number was never released.
Keep Coming Back To Love
A number written by Paul and Hamish Stuart and recorded at The Mill
At Hog Hill Studios in Paul's Sussex home during the Off The Ground
sessions in 1992. Julian Mendelsohn produced it. The song was five
minutes in length.
Keep Under Cover
First recorded as a studio demo at Park Gate Studios, Sussex in
August 1980, the number was eventually recorded during sessions in
Montserrat on 7 and 8 December 1980 when Stanley Clarke added bass
to the track. It was included on the Pipes Of Peace album.
Kellys, The
A husband and wife domestic team who Paul hired when he moved into
Cavendish Avenue. Mrs Kelly was the housekeeper and her husband
acted as butler and manservant.
Paul had never employed a housekeeper before and had engaged her as
an experiment.
They were a live-in couple who worked for Paul for two years, but he
had to fire them in January 1967 when they sold their story of life
at Cavendish Avenue to an Australian magazine.
However, Paul did provide her with a handwritten reference, which
read:
'Mrs Kelly worked for me and was a very capable and trustworthy
housekeeper. She is an excellent cook and generally very efficient.
'Paul McCartney.'
She sold the reference in 1993 for £250.
At the time, Paul was to say, 'Mr and Mrs Kelly are looking for
another place and I'm getting another couple to replace them. There
have been disagreements over the running of the household. I haven't
asked them to leave instantly because that would be unrea sonable.'
A Mr and Mrs Mills replaced them.
Kenwright, Bill
A major West End theatrical producer, Bill attended Liverpool
Institute at the same time as Paul. He commented: 'I first knew Paul
when we travelled on the same bus to school. He always used to wear
a big over coat with a huge fur collar. We were both keen on acting
and on one occasion were both in crowd scenes in a school production
of Saint Joan.'
Bill briefly flirted with a career as a singer before turning to
acting; he appeared in the TV soap Coronation Street before becoming
successful as a theatrical producer.
Kicked Around No More
A number recorded during the Off The Ground sessions which was later
used as an extra track on a Hope Of Deliverance CD.
King, Larry
The famous host of CNN's Larry King Live. King interviewed Paul and
Heather for an hour on 12 June 2001.
Commenting on the current music scene, Paul said, 'I like some of
the Eminem stuff because it's kind of clever. I like the rhythm, I
like the attitude, and I can imagine if I was a young kid now, I'd
like that.' On his musical heroes, he noted, 'Little Richard is
fantastic, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, all of them. And then the
next wave was Motown, Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson and Nat King
Cole.'
Mentioning the Beatles, he said, 'People say, "Are you going to
reunite?" and stuff like that. But for me, if we were on stage, the
three of us, there'd be someone missing. I'd look over there and
there'd be someone missing and that'd be John.'
On his relationship with Yoko Ono he said, 'We don't get along. But
some people you may be destined to not become great buddies with. So
it's not that we don't get along, just we don't talk much. We talk
if we have to. I don't ring up and say: "Hey, Yoko, what's
happening, babe?" We don't do that.'
He mentioned his book Blackbird Singing, and a poem he'd written
when thinking about John Lennon, '"Here Today" is a song I wrote
after John died. I was just thinking about him and remembering the
good times and not so good times and having an imaginary conversa
tion with him. What happened was that on the day that John got shot,
there was this horror that someone we loved could just be mown down.
At the end of the day, after all the tears and all the newscasts and
all the pundits, who said: "John Lennon was ..." and I'd really said
nothing, the phrase that came to me was "jerk of all jerks". So I
ended up writing a poem about it.'
Paul was to create an image of King that he included in his exhibi
tions of paintings, prints and photographs.
For his portrait of Larry King, Paul snapped pictures of King during
his interview with him on the Larry King Live show, using his
wrist-watch camera. The original photographic print was used as one
of 28 deliberately grainy shots that appeared on the cover of Paul's
Driving Rain album, released in November 2001.
Paul then turned the image into a portrait in its own right by
enlarging the print several times and painting a wash of light
colour over it.
King's Dock
A site in Liverpool, near to the famed Pier Head and Liver
Buildings, where Paul performed a historic concert on Thursday 18
June 1990 as part of his World Tour.
A press release regarding the appearance was issued on 23 May
headed: 'Paul McCartney Announces UK "Thank You" Shows'.
It read:
Paul McCartney is going home to Liverpool with his record-breaking
world tour - as a personal 'thank you' to the people he says 'are so
special to me'.
Paul is to stage the biggest rock show ever seen on Merseyside,
taking a massive 240ft-wide, lOOft-high stage to his home town on
Thursday 28 June. His 140-minute show will feature 15 Beatles songs
and new material especially for Liverpool.
It will be the first time in 11 years that Paul - currently on an
all-sold-out, year-long tour - will have played in the city that
matters so much to him.
In the same week, Paul will also play in another of his favourite
towns, Glasgow, on Saturday 23 June.
'It's all a home-coming for me,' Paul said today.
'There's just certain cities in the world that you try to play
because the people there are so special.
'I've travelled everywhere but I've never found anyone to beat the
people I grew up with. Obviously, Liverpool means a lot to me and
the people there always will do. But we always had a great welcome
in towns like Glasgow too.
'It's because of the people, they're working-class people and they
are the sort I get off on - they're canny lads and I can relate to
'em.'
Paul had initially planned to play Liverpool and Glasgow earlier in
the year, when his World Tour did a record-breaking eleven shows at
London's Wembley Arena, but he was unhappy that the only venues
available were too small.
The people from Liverpool and Glasgow really got behind us when I
started off in this business with the Beatles. I wanted to say thank
you properly to them,' he said.
'We've been taking this show all around the world, playing huge
gigs, and yet it looked as if I would have to scale it all down �
take out some of the lights and the video screens and special
effects - to get in the halls available in Liverpool and Glasgow at
the time.
'And that would have been disappointing to me, I didn't want to take
this really big gig across America and then do a crummy little show
in Liverpool.'
It was Paul who personally found the open-air Liverpool site for the
critically-acclaimed show that last month set a new rock and roll
attendance record - when Paul played to 180,000 fans at Rio De
Janeiro's Maracana Stadium.
He drove around Liverpool and spotted the ideal site for the new
show - the arena, King's Dock, Liverpool. The Glasgow gig -at the
Arena, Scottish Exhibition Centre, Queen's Dock - is a similar
open-air venue. Both shows are supported by TDK.
'Both shows are by the water, which I like. Both shows are by docks,
which used to fascinate me as a kid, and both should be a good
laff,' he said.
'I'm really looking forward to seeing all those fans again - for me
it's Get Back to Glasgow and Let It Be Liverpool.'
Paul last played Liverpool in November 1979, during Wings' last UK
tour.
For this new show, the McCartney band will be Linda and Paul, 'Wix'
Wickens on keyboards, Robbie Mclntosh and Hamish Stuart on guitars
and Chris Whitten on drums.
'They're a fairly silly lot and that's one of the attractions of
going out on the road with this group, because we have a good time.
It's a bit of a party,' said Paul.
McCartney has insisted that the ticket prices be kept to a real
istic level and he will be donating money from the shows to local
charities.
In Liverpool, profits from the show will go to: Alder Hey Hospital's
75th Birthday Appeal, The Women & Children's Aid Centre, Kids In
Need & Distress (KIND), The Netherley Youth Trust, Sunnybank Appeal
(The Marie Curie Hospital), the Merseyside Play Action Group (MPAG)
and Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA).
In Glasgow, a substantial donation will be shared between: The
Yorkhill Children's Trust for sick children, Scottish Women's Aid
for battered wives, The Simon Community for the homeless and
destitute and Scotcare - a consortium of charities that incorporate
helping family conciliation, alcoholics, single parents, marriage
guidance and victim support schemes.
'It's just my way of giving a little back,' Paul commented.
There was a press conference backstage at the King's Dock prior to
the Liverpool concert, which began at 5.30 p.m.
Mark Featherstone-Witty took the stage to announce the campaign
for the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and was followed by
Vicky Roberts, chairperson of the Finance and Strategy Committee to
confirm that the City Council had approved plans to make the
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts a reality.
George Martin then appeared, saying, 'This is where it all began.'
He expressed his support for LIPA and said, 'Music, like love, is a
human emotion. Paul and the other boys knocked the world sideways
back then. Congratulations, Liverpool... do it again!'
He then introduced Paul, who began to answer questions from the
press.
When asked how he felt being back in Liverpool thirty years on, he
replied, 'I'm here often. It's just another visit. But to actually
be playing is unbelievable. Great.' When he was asked about the John
Lennon memorial concert which had taken place on the King's Dock on
5 May that year, he squirmed slightly, said he sent a video to it
'because John was a mate' but talking of the memorial concert itself
he said, 'I think John might not have liked it.'
There were numerous questions about the tour, his family, LIPA and
the fact that the Yale Bowl concert was cancelled. Paul said, 'I
won't go anyplace where I'm not wanted. Yale University was a
choice, but too many people in the city didn't want the noise.'
During the concert, which was attended by 50,000 people, Paul
performed a John Lennon medley of 'Strawberry Fields Forever',
'Help!' and 'Give Peace a Chance', the first time he had ever done
so and the first time he'd performed a solo Lennon composition in
public.
Seventy-five minutes of the concert performance was transmitted on
 BBC Radio One on 27 October. Film of the concert was included in the
documentary 'From Rio To Liverpool' and also in the Disney Channel
documentary 'Paul McCartney - Going Home'.
Following the show, Paul hosted a reception backstage at the concert
and the 150 guests included George Martin, Mike McCartney and family
and various friends, relatives and media personnel.
Kingdome, The
The venue in Seattle, Washington where Wings appeared on Thursday 10
June 1976 before an audience of 67,053 people. This created a world
record for a single act. Prior to the show, Paul was filmed during
an interview for 'Monday Night Special', a TV show which then aired
on Monday 14 June 1976. The Kingdome concert was filmed and part of
the performance is included in the 1980 film Rockshow. Footage from
this concert was also shown on Good Night America on Wednesday 28
June 1976 when Geraldo Rivera interviewed Paul; the clips from the
Kingdome concert were 'Band On The Run' and 'Yesterday'.
Paul made his final appearance at the Kingdome on Thursday 29 March
1990 when he opened the sixth leg of his World Tour there. He
arrived in Seattle on Wednesday 28 March and held a press conference
the following day. The Kingdome was demolished on 26 March 2000.
Klein, Allen
An American music entrepreneur and accountant who was president of
ABKCO Industries Inc. when he became business manager for John
Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison.
The son of a poor Jewish butcher, he was born in Newark, New Jersey
on 18 December 1931. He initially entered the show business world as
an accountant and was hired by artists such as Bobby Darin. He also
became a manager of Sam Cooke, the Shirelles and Bobby Vinton and
represented several 'British Invasion' groups such as the Rolling
Stones, Herman's Hermits, the Animals and the Dave Clark Five.
Klein had a reputation for playing hardball with record companies
and approached artists saying: 'Whaddya want? Money? You got it.'
Klein also arranged a deal in which the Rolling Stones received a
$1,250,000 advance against 25 per cent of the wholesale price of
their records - 75 cents per album. At the time the Beatles were
receiving only 15 per cent in Britain and 17.5 per cent in America.
Ironically, this led to Paul's becoming the first member of the
Beatles to suggest that Klein should act on their behalf, although
nothing came of that original suggestion.
When he read an interview Ray Coleman had conducted with John Lennon
saying that Apple was going bust, Klein seized the opportunity, and
contacted Apple by transatlantic call to arrange an appointment with
John. A meeting was eventually arranged for Klein to meet John and
Yoko at the Dorchester Hotel in London.
Ray Coleman was to say: 'When I interviewed John in January 1969, he
told me that Apple was "losing £50,000 every week and if it
carried
on like this we'll be broke in six months." My report that went
round the world's media caught the eye of Allen Klein, a New York
terrier in pop management who was then encouraged into Apple by
Lennon, Harrison and Starr with a brief to sharpen its activities.
Paul resisted this and rebuked me for reporting John's loose-tongued
admission of Apple's problems.'
The canny Klein had done his homework and at the meeting his
knowledge of the Beatles impressed John, who said: 'He knew all
about us and our music. I knew right away he was the man for us. I
wrote to Sir Joseph Lockwood that night. I said: "Dear Sir Joe: From
now on Allen Klein handles all my stuff." '
Describing that first meeting, John said: 'We were both nervous. He
was nervous as shit and I was nervous as shit and Yoko was nervous.
We met at the Dorchester. We went up to his room and we just went
in, you know. He was all alone. He didn't have any of his helpers
around, because he didn't want to do anything like that. He was
nervous � you could see it in his eyes. When I saw that, I felt
better. We talked to him for a few hours, and we decided that night,
"He was it!" He knows the lyrics to every fuckin' song you could
ever imagine from the twenties on! He not only knew my work, and the
lyrics that I had written, but he also understood them, and from way
back. He is a very intelligent guy. He told me what was happening
with Paul and George and Ringo. He knew every damn thing about us.'
Here is Paul's version of his first meeting with Klein: 'The very
first thing that made me suspicious about him was meeting him,
because he is a bit of a boy. I thought, OK, and treated it
ordinarily. It was nine o'clock, and we had been meeting all day, so
I said: "I think I'll go home to Linda," and everybody said: "Oh no,
man. How can you be so uncool? We are meeting this great guy and you
are going home." I thought: He's a businessman, and you don't do
business past nine o'clock at night, do you? The crunch was when we
came to discuss percentages. I thought: We are big stars now, and
Brian Epstein asked twenty per cent in the beginning. I even argued
with him then. I said: "Twenty? I thought that managers only took
ten per cent." He said: "No, it's twenty these days." So, I said:
"OK, maybe I'm not very modern." But, we were pretty unknown in
those days and Klein asked for the same. I said to the others:
"He'll do it for five. We are big boys now." Well, I thought we had
had a bit of success. So, there would be John, George and Ringo with
Klein and there would be me. I would be saying: "Listen, Allen, you
said that that was going to happen. Where is it now?" And he would
say: "Oh, well, we can't do it today. That was two weeks ago. We
could do it then." I think they were using this whole Eastman-Klein
bit, and playing me off against the others.'
Yet this is in contrast to another statement he made: 'We called in
Klein, which was John's idea. We needed top advice and Klein gave it
to us. The people who complain against him are mostly the people who
have come off second best in deals with him because he is such a
good negotiator.'
John Lennon was to say: 'Paul's criticisms of Allen Klein may
reflect his dislike of the man, but I don't think they are fair.
Klein is certainly forceful to an extreme but he does get results.
He didn't sew discord between us.'
It was the Stones who originally suggested Allen Klein to the
Beatles. The London group first met him on 24 August 1965 and within
four days he was co-managing the group with Andrew Loog-Oldham. Then
they shed Loog-Oldham in September 1967. However, like other
creative artists, they had their differences with Klein and on 30
July 1970 they informed him that neither he nor ABKCO Industries
Inc., nor any other company, had any authority to negotiate
contracts on their behalf in the future.
A person such as Klein, whose prime motivation seemed to be 'money'
and 'litigation', didn't appear to be the sort of person to consider
the creative or cultural needs of artists, which is why it was so
strange that creative artists signed with him, because, in a number
of cases, it ended in disaster.
Take the case of the film director Alejandro Jodorowsky. John Lennon
saw his film El Topo and he was so impressed he contacted Klein to
finance Jodorowsky's next film Holy Mountain. As a result, Klein
acquired the rights to El Topo and Holy Mountain. This did, indeed,
prove disastrous for Jodorowsky, as Klein destroyed the orig inal
negatives and prevented the films being shown.
In the 1990s, Jodorowsky issued a statement headed 'Jodorowsky vs.
Klein', the text of which read:
Allen Klein insists to prevent my movies from being shown. Now he's
trying to bring me into a trial for having shown my movies in some
festivals and pirate copies. It would be good that all the people
who admire my work demand lifetime jail for Klein, under the charge
of cultural murder. Killing a work of art is as monstrous as killing
a human being. For 25 years Klein has prohibited the public to see
'El Topo' and 'The Holy Mountain'. He has destroyed the original
negatives. It would be necessary to have a worldwide campaign
against him and his crimes. Please translate this message in all
possible languages and send it to as many people as you can. We will
establish the existence of cultural crime against humanity. Allen
Klein is a criminal, together with his accomplice lawyers. All of
them deserve punishment and prison.
Paul wrote a letter to Klein because he was furious that Phil
Spector had added strings, voices and horns to his number 'The Long
And Winding Road'. The letter read:
In future no one will be allowed to add to or subtract from a
recording of one of my songs without my permission. I had consid
ered orchestrating 'The Long And Winding Road' but decided against
it. I therefore want it to be altered to these specifications: 1.
Strings, horns, voices and all added noises to be reduced in volume.
2. Vocal and Beatles instrumentation to be brought up in volume. 3.
Harp to be removed completely at the end of the song and original
piano notes substituted. 4. Don't ever do it again.
Although Paul strongly objected to Allen Klein, he was told that
under his contract he would have to let him be his manager. Paul
didn't want that and sought advice. He was told that he could sue
Klein. 'Great, I'll sue him,' he said. Then he was told that he
would also have to sue Apple.
Paul didn't want to do this and it took him two months to make up
his mind. Eventually he decided to go ahead.
Paul was to describe Klein as 'nothing more than a trained New York
crook'. He was able to point out that on 29 January 1971 in the US
District Court, Southern District of New York, Klein was found
guilty on ten counts of 'unlawfully failing to make and file returns
of Federal income taxes and FICA taxes withheld from employees'
wages'.
Paul was to say: 'Klein was not the exclusive reason why the Beatles
broke up. We were starting to do our own things before he arrived,
but it certainly helped. There were various reasons why we split. I
don't think even the four of us know all the reasons, but Klein was
one of the major ones.'
Paul's suspicions were vindicated on Saturday 31 March 1973, when
John, George and Ringo decided not to renew his contract. Klein then
issued a statement on Monday 2 April 1973, saying that his company
ABKCO was severing its links with Apple and the three former
Beatles. John, George and Ringo finally fired him in November of
that year.
It was John Lennon, the one who originally insisted on Klein's
taking over the management of the Beatles, who was to make a public
state ment on Friday 6 April, when he was interviewed by John
Fielding for the London Weekend Television programme Weekend World.
Fielding asked him: 'Can you tell me what happened with Allen Klein?
Why did you and the other two decide finally to get rid of him?'
John replied: 'There are many reasons why we finally gave him the
push, although I don't want to go into the details of it. Let's say
possibly Paul's suspicions were right - and the time was right.'
In June 1973, the litigious Klein sued Apple. For John, George and
Paul actually to rid themselves of Klein they had to pay him a
settle ment of $4 million.
Paul's suspicions about him were further consolidated when Klein was
jailed for two months in May 1979 for tax evasion relating to the
income he'd derived from illegal sales of the Concert For Bangla
Desh album.
Knebworth Festival
A concert that took place on Saturday 30 June 1990. There was an
audi ence of 120,000 at the festival, which was in aid of the
Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre and the Brit School for
Performing Arts.
This particular concert was known as the 'Silver Clef Award Winners
Show'. The charity had awarded 'silver clef awards over the years to
outstanding performers of British music and it was decided to invite
previous winners of the award, including Paul McCartney, Robert
Plant, Genesis, Eric Clapton, Elton John and Pink Floyd to appear in
order to raise funds for a much needed new centre for the charity.
The charity itself provided 'a way of communicating with, developing
and enhancing the lives of mentally, physically and autistically
handicapped children, through music'.
An album of the event was issued in which Dave Dee, in the liner
notes, wrote: 'The concert sold out instantly and it became evident
that our target would be exceeded. To gratefully acknowledge the
support that Nordoff-Robbins has received from the music industry it
was agreed that the proceeds would be shared with a new venture -
The Brit School for Performing Arts - currently being established by
the British Phonographic Industry Institute.
'And so to the day itself - as host for the concert, I represented
Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy. Onstage, I was overwhelmed by the
size, the appreciation and the sheer good humour of the huge
audience. Offstage, I was equally impressed by the professionalism
and goodwill of the artists and their crews. A magnificent show, a
terrific day - one of the best of my life.'
Knebworth: The Album
Album issued by Polydor Records in Britain and America on Monday 6
August 1990 weeks after the original 30 June 1990 festival at
Knebworth at which Paul had appeared. The proceeds of the album were
donated to the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity and the Brit
School for Performing Arts. Two of the numbers from Paul's live set,
'Coming Up' and 'Hey Jude' were featured on the release, which was a
double album, Polydor 843 921-1, a double-cassette, Polydor 843
921-4 and double CD, Polydor 9843 921-2. The concert was also
transmitted in Britain on the ITV network on 6 August and included
Paul performing four numbers, 'Coming Up', 'Birthday', 'Hey Jude'
and 'Can't Buy Me Love'.
Knebworth: The Event (Volume One)
A home video of the Knebworth concert of Saturday 30 June 1990. It
was issued in the UK by Castle Video (CMP 6006) on Tuesday 28
August. The video featured Paul performing four numbers, 'Coming
Up', 'Birthday', 'Hey Jude' and 'Can't Buy Me Love'. Profits from
the sale of the video were shared between the Nordoff-Robbins Music
Therapy charity and the Brit School for Performing Arts.
Knight, Ian
A stage designer who specialises in rock shows. Ian designs the
complete stage setting for bands, including the scenery, lighting
and special effects. His assignments have included shows for the
Who, Led Zeppelin and Wings. For the Wings shows he also designed
some special backcloths, one featuring a giant-sized copy of a Rene
Magritte painting to illus trate the number 'C Moon' and another the
David Hockney painting of a chair which was displayed during the
number 'Chair'.
Knighthood
George Martin was honoured with a knighthood when he was named in
the New Year's honours list at the end of 1995. Cliff Richard also
received a knighthood. Commenting on the fact that he'd been
over-looked in the honours list, Paul said, 'All the Beatles are
MBEs -Members of the British Empire - except John, who sent his
back. It's the lowest honour you can have from Britain. George
(Martin) has a higher honour than we have.
'You can't sit around saying, "God, I wish they'd make me a sir."
Or, you know, "I wish they'd put me in the Rock And Roll Hall Of
Fame." Funnily enough, in his early days, John was very much
wondering how he would be remembered. I said, "You're crazy, man.
What are you talking about? Number one, you'll be remembered as
something fantastic. You'll be out in the cosmos somewhere."'
Paul was 54 years old when it was announced in the Queen's New
Year's honours list (there were 1,035 names on the list) on Monday
30 December 1996 that he would receive a knighthood. He was abroad
at the time of the announcement, but said, 'It is a fantastic
honour, and I am very gratefully receiving it on behalf of all the
people of Liverpool and the other Beatles - without whom it would
not have been possible.
'So I hope I can be worthy of it. I would also like to thank my wife
and kids and wish everyone a Happy New Year.'
On the same honours list, other Liverpool artists were named.
Frankie Vaughan, already an OBE, received a CBE, Cilia Black
received an OBE and Roger McGough also received an OBE.
Paul's brother Mike commented, 'It is an excellent day and
absolutely deserved by all concerned. Our kid told me a while back
that this was going to happen, and so did Roger, so I had to swear
that I'd keep my mouth shut. Liverpool people have always had loads
of talent. They are always there, and always will be.'
When the news of the New Year's honours list was first announced,
the caption writers on the British national press had a field day
with punny titles and headlines. The Times headed it 'A Hard Day's
Knight', the Daily Mirror titled it 'Dub Me Do - Happy New Yeah Yeah
Yeah', the Daily Express described Paul as a 'Hard Dazed Knight' and
the headline on the Sun newspaper was 'YesSirday"
Paul arrived for the ceremony at 10.15 a.m. in a dark-blue
chauffeur-driven Mercedes.
The investiture took place at Buckingham Palace at 11.00 a.m. on
Tuesday 11 March 1997 and lasted approximately two and a half hours.
Linda was too ill to attend and his children, James, Stella and
Mary, accompanied Paul. Paul was initially briefed on protocol
before entering the Palace ballroom into the presence of Queen
Elizabeth II. He knelt in front of the Queen who placed King George
VI's sword first on his right shoulder, then the left, dubbing him
with the title 'Sir Paul'.
After the ceremony, wearing his black morning suit, he went to the
Palace quadrangle to pose for photographs and addressed the gathered
reporters, saying, 'Today is fantastic, there is a blue sky and it's
spring time. My mum and dad would have been extremely proud - and
perhaps they are.
'I would never have dreamed of this day. If we'd had that thought
when we started off in Liverpool it would have been laughed at as a
complete joke. Proud to be British. A wonderful day. It's a long way
from a little terrace in Liverpool.'
He was asked if he'd spoken to any of the other Beatles about it and
he said, 'Yep. They make fun of me. They keep ringing me up and
calling me "your holiness", but they're having a good time. It seems
strange being here without the other three. I keep looking over my
shoulder for them.'
Linda was at home in Cavendish Avenue with her daughter Heather and
the reporters asked after her health. Paul said, 'She's doing fine,
thanks. We drew straws, 'cos we could only get three tickets. So
I've got my three youngest kids with me.'
He was asked again about Linda's state of health and said, 'Linda is
fine. She's doing very well. I would have loved my whole family to
have been here, but as we only had three guest tickets, Linda and
Heather decided to stay out of the limelight today.'
Paul left the Palace at 12.45 p.m.
Knite, Hilda
A former midwife at Walton Hospital where Paul was born. She became
a midwife in 1936 and retired in 1965.
As a senior midwife at Walton Hospital she helped to deliver both
Paul and his brother Mike into the world.
She was to say, 'Paul and Mike's mother was one of my pupils and I
trained her to be a midwife. She came back to have her babies at
Walton Hospital.
'I used to take most of the ex-staff on my small block. I remember
Paul had to be delivered by a doctor because it was a tricky
delivery.'
At a celebration at the hospital in 1997, anyone who was born on the
same day as Paul was presented with a special certificate.
Knoc-Turn'al
A Los Angeles rapper. In 2002 Paul allowed him to use the Wings
track 'Old Siam Sir' on his single 'Musik.' Initially, Paul wasn't
going to allow him to use the sample. Knoc said: 'But, when he heard
it and realised it was a positive song, he cleared it. So I just
explain that to them in the song. I think Paul appreciate that,
because he understands that he sacri ficed a lot, seeing that he's
been here for thirty-five, almost forty years.'
Kramer, Billy J
A singer, born William Ashton in Bootle, Liverpool, who was signed
up by Brian Epstein. His original Liverpool band, the Coasters,
wouldn't turn professional and as Epstein couldn't convince another
Liverpool band, the Remo Four, to back him, he engaged a Manchester
outfit, the Dakotas, to be his backing band.
Together with the Dakotas, Kramer recorded four Lennon and McCartney
numbers, three of them written by Paul. His first number was the
John Lennon composition 'Do You Want To Know A Secret?' which was
released in the UK on 26 April 1963 and replaced the Beatles 'From
Me To You' at the top of the British charts. The flipside was Paul's
composition 'I'll Be On My Way'.
John's 'Bad To Me' was specifically written for Kramer, with another
Lennon composition, 'I Call Your Name' on the flipside. His next
release was the Paul composition 'I'll Keep You Satisfied'. Paul
also penned his next single, 'From A Window', which was released in
the UK on 17 July 1964.
Kramer didn't accept everything John and Paul gave him and had
originally turned down Paul's 'A World Without Love', which became a
chart-topper for Peter and Gordon. One number, mainly written by
Paul, which he recorded but never released, was 'One And One Is
Two'. Kramer was unhappy with the number and when John Lennon told
him, 'Release that and your career is over,' he decided not to
release it. The number was then recorded by Mike Shannon & the
Strangers, but failed to make any impact on the charts.
When Kramer was searching for another hit he approached Paul and
asked him if he had a song for him to record. Paul offered him
'Yesterday', but Billy turned it down, as he didn't think it was
suitable for him.
Kreen Akrore
The final track on Paul's solo debut album McCartney lasting 4
minutes and 8 seconds. Paul was to comment, 'There was a film on TV
about the Kreen-Akrore Indians living in the Brazilian jungle, and
how the white man is trying to change their way of life. The next
day, after lunch, I did some drumming. The idea behind it was to get
the feeling of their hunt. The end of the first section had Linda
and I doing animal noises (speeded up) and an arrow sound (done live
with bow and arrow - the bow broke), then animals stampeding across
a guitar case. We built a fire in the studio but didn't use it (but
used the sound of the twigs breaking).'
Paul recorded the song at Morgan Studios, aided by engineer Robin
Black.
Kumbh Mela
The world's largest religious gathering. The festival takes place
each decade and lasts for 42 days during which devotees wash away
their sins at the point where the holy rivers the Ganges and Yamuna
converge. The 2001 gathering attracted 30 million people.
Paul and Heather Mills attended the festival, booking into the Tony
Maurya Hotel, New Delhi on 9 January 2001 at the invitation of the
sitar virtuoso Nishat Khan. It was reported that the couple stayed
in their room for most of the visit.