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Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift are on the cover of Rolling Stone this month, as part of the magazine’s “Musicians On Musicians” series. You can read their conversation here.
Sounds as if this meeting was a real family affair, with Stella McCartney supplying Taylor Swift’s clothes for the shoot and Mary McCartney taking the photographs. To me, the most interesting part of the talk is the practical discussion of making music during a global pandemic. McCartney talks about being in lockdown on a sheep farm with his wife Nancy, his daughter Mary, Mary’s husband Simon, and the couple’s four children. Apparently this is how recording the album went:
“I had no idea it would end up as an album; I may have been a bit less indulgent, but if a track was eight minutes long, to tell you the truth, what I thought was, “I’ll be taking it home tonight, Mary will be cooking, the grandkids will all be there running around, and someone, maybe Simon, Mary’s husband, is going to say, ‘What did you do today?’ And I’m going to go, ‘Oh,’ and then get my phone and play it for them.” So this became the ritual.”
And then Taylor Swift talks about reading Rebecca, sewing a toy for a friend’s baby, and writing and recording her recent album Folklore. She and McCartney geek out about loving unusual words and writing songs about them, and creating characters. It really does mostly sound like overhearing a couple of people who have a lot in common having a leisurely conversation.
I’m going to be very interested in seeing what McCartney III sounds like. If it captures the vibe of being on a peaceful sheep farm, I am definitely in. While listening to glorious music, you can play games such as 제왕카지노 in order to relax.
One covid note: the beginning of the piece says that Swift arrived with “mask on,” but the photos show her and McCartney without masks and not social distancing. I assume they did testing, but it would have been a good idea to spell out the precautions taken, IMO.
Related posts:
Review: RAM (Paul McCartney Archive Collection)
Krall does Paul: McCartney cover on “Wallflower”
“Chaos and Creation in the Backyard”: Or, music to confront a small-scale void by
Keep ‘Em Out vs. Let ‘Em In: An Angle on Lennon & McCartney
Paul McCartney and Kanye West: “Only One”
Interview: McCartney Recording Sessions author Luca Perasi
McCartney shakes it in St Louis
McCartney at Candlestick Park
Paul McCartney’s Essential Elements
McCartney, “New,” and “generic genius”: rebutting Ben Greenman
McCartney as collaborator
McCartney in Dallas: A World-Class Balancing Act
An interesting conversation.
When they discussed the pandemic and the lockdown, it felt to me like they were talking about it in the past tense. Maybe I’m misinterpreting.
1970 McCartney I
1980 McCartney II
2020 McCartney III
What a beautifully long career, in a business where artists often shine brightly then burn out quickly.
Did he give her a Werther’s?
Is it vegetarian?
I thought it was a great conversation! Taylor Swift is the most popular female pop artist today, so it makes sense for her and a member of the greatest pop group of all time, to talk.
I thought the part about Paul never having a mansion, and being a little embarrassed about that fact, was interesting. He does care what people think, but not enough to change who he fundamentally is. I think that’s what helped keep him sane.
I am looking forward to listening to McCartney III. So far I’ve read good reviews.
I am always impressed with how talented and what a genius Paul is.
I love that about Paul. Not having a mansion. I won’t fool myself and say he’s lived modestly for his massive wealth and fame, but of all the mega stars he’s the one who truly forced himself to remain at least somewhat grounded and connected to the life that we all lead. Getting the kids ready for school etc
Very elegant cover design of the McCartney III album. Some people think it’s too minimalist or uninspired but it looks really nice in my opinion. Not enough for me to buy the 500 different variations, however.
I know that Lennon liked listening to old Bing Crosby records. Paul and George, too. (I think Ringo loved old C&W records.)
Listen to the background vocals on this almost 100 year old Bing Crosby recording, by a group called “The Sweet Trio” – they sound to me exactly like John, Paul & George:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGBzOuLmaAc
Cool to see those two creating another “Roll one” cover. (Look closely.) I believe there have been several other artist’s photos over the years creatively editing the magazine’s name.
Paul has just done an interview with the New York Times magazine that has some great stuff in it, too. What lovely information can come from a good interviewer, a knowledgable or sympathetic one. The questions and interaction were very thoughtful, I think, and they even discuss Paul’s telling of the same stories over and over again. I would try to leave a link but I’ve had posts never show up because of it, but it’s easily google-able.
Fascinating interview.
The Abbey Road photo shoot anecdote, the one about the taxes: I’d already heard it! I think I read about it here.
I thought I’d heard that anecdote myself — I wonder if it was here? Anyway, some day someone will get a new secret/untold story out of Paul. Some day! ::shake fist::
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Anyway, can we straight up drop a link into a comment on HD? Or do we need some HTML magic? In the past when I’ve copypasted a link here, my comment never appears and never even gets to Nancy or MG.
On my end I don’t see an issue with approving comments that include links, so link away!
A link that I reckon everyone here will appreciate (namely, Paul fans). Obviously, John is my guy but this is a very thoughtful and well written piece, even if I don’t agree with everything in it. I like that he mentions how Paul has received far less psychological analysis than John, because that is absolutely true. On the other hand, I don’t find that Paul is underrated these days. Enjoy: https://ianleslie.substack.com/p/64-reasons-to-celebrate-paul-mccartney
Here’s a link to the Paul McCartney interview. Let’s see if this works:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/30/magazine/paul-mccartney-interview.html
Thanks, Sam. I thought that interview was very interesting!
Thanks to Kristy for letting me know about it. I don’t usually read the NYTimes magazine section, so it would have passed me right by.
I’m looking forward to McCartney III. I think we’re in for a treat.
Just listened to covers/tutorials of most of the songs by some dude named Danny McEvoy on YouTube. The tracks that stand out to me are Slidin’ and The Kiss of Venus. Women and Wives isn’t bad either. Unfortunately, Deep Deep Feeling must have been too experimental for him to take a crack at, but that’s the one I’m most looking forward to (for that reason).
One of the better interviews of Paul that I’ve read. Wish it were longer. When I saw in a recent review of Macca III that “Pretty Boys” was about a photographer (the only info given), I immediately thought of David Bailey. It surprised me when Paul said he was the inspiration for the song. I didn’t think that would literally be the case.
A couple other things that stood out to me in the interview: Paul talking about his last moments with George. He held George’s hand which is very sweet, but he repeated the fact that he was reluctant to hold his hand because you don’t hold your mate’s hand – at least they didn’t. It’s okay to have hangups, but why emphasize that? He said the same thing on a talk show with Ringo some years ago, when talking about George’s last days. Paul said where they come from you don’t hold a guy’s hand. Ringo said, “Unless you’re secure.” Hahaha
The sexual dream he had is also interesting (if he wasn’t just kidding around). It was obviously about someone other than his wife, because his “married head” told him not to go there. It could be a sexual dream about someone he’d never seen before; we’ve all had those I’m sure. Wasn’t there something in John’s controversial – because they were stolen and could have been tampered with – diaries where he said he had a sexual dream about George and it disturbed the hell out of him? Anyone hear that before? I remember Paul, while discussing his painting process, said something to the effect of, “You could be heterosexual and have a gay dream and thing, ‘Shit, am I gay?’ You think, well it’s just a dream. But you have some control over it because it’s your dream. Painting is sort of like that. A lot of it is from your subconscious.” (I’m paraphrasing).
To me there is something unsettling about seeing Paul and Taylor Swift together palling around as if they’re equals, part of the same scene, and are equally relevant and influential to todays pop culture. Part of me wants to scold her “yea you’re a big star to todays youth but don’t belong in the same room as Paul” and another wants to tell Paul…”you’re 78, you’re not hip and that’s ok. You don’t need to be seen with Taylor Swift and her crowd…you’re not young. And it’s ok”
Something about this mash up that’s just..strange
I wonder if Bing Crosby fans felt the same way in 1977 when he teamed up with David Bowie.
Even though Bing called David a “clean-cut kid and a real fine asset to the show. He sings well, has a great voice, and reads lines well,” it’s possible Bing’s fans were thinking “This is strange and unsettling.”
That must have been the show where Bing Crosby asked Bowie to name some of his influences, Bowie without hesitation said, “John Lennon” and Bing smiled and said, “You go back that far?” 🙂
Here’s a Dec. 8 statement from Paul:
Paul is on this latest release from Ringo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bSlPbZfuag
“What lovely information can come from a good interviewer.”
True, true. Like this recent one with Paul: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ep-144-paul-mccartney/id1040481893?i=1000502045514
Paul originally stated that Lavoratory Lil was about a real person and he’s never going to reveal who it is, but if you knew her you’d know. Someone that he worked with and they rubbed up against. Not clear who they is. Then he backtracked during his Twitter listening party and said it’s a fictional character and the song harks back to Polythene Pam, perhaps because commenters suggested that Heather Mills was the target. I believe it is about a real person but not Heather Mills. Too obvious and I think he’s moved on from that nasty period in his life.
*Lavatory*… not a word I use as often as laboratory. In this case it’s Lavatree. Did we ever hear if She Came in through the Bathroom Window is about a real person? Maybe the same person?
“Bathroom Window” is indeed about a real person.
Adorable, those two!