For his third(!) However, none of these collaborations included all four members, with the exception of "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love". Listen to the best of Paul McCartney on Apple Music and Spotify. 9: Maybe Baby ( 2:06 ) Justin Townes Earle: 10: Oh Boy ( 2:18 ) She & Him: 11: Changin All Those Changes ( 1:41 ) Nick Lowe: 12 Ain’t that nice. Do you stick him on the piano with which he wrote ‘Hey Jude’? Maybe we shouldn’t have been so taken back by their pairing however – Macca’s got previous when it comes to collaborations few fans saw coming…. The only person not impressed, seemingly, was Courtney Love, who balked at Macca’s description of it as a “Nirvana reunion.”. Here's Why Paul McCartney And Micheal Jackson Feuded. While Linda generally preferred to stick to keyboards and backing vocals, she did enjoy the occasional foray into the spotlight, such as on the 1977 reggae-inspired single “Seaside Woman” – her first sole songwriting credit. We didn’t cast him in a track, I just rang him up and asked if he fancied getting involved. The Beatles disliked the Rolling Stones and vice versa, or so we were meant to be believe. How about the collaboration with Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters on “Sound City?” Paul was kicking it with that cigarbox guitar on “Gimme Some Slack.”, Your email address will not be published. But even for such a well-respected hitmaker as Kurstin, it can be nerve-wracking to make suggestions on improving a Paul McCartney song. Format: CD, Unofficial Release. The results were a success, with 1989’s Flowers In The Dirt proving a commercial and critical success – so much so that it inspired Paul to go out on tour for the first time in a decade. In 2008 McCartney threw cult British-Asian jazztronica sophisticate Nitin Sawhney into the spotlight with a loungey, lolling collaboration called ‘My Soul’ that arrived on the heels of a bitter divorce from Heather Mills. Linda gave Carl a reassuring hug, and explained to him that during Paul’s last conversation with John Lennon, who had been murdered mere months earlier, John had said to him “Think of me every now and then, my old friend,” words echoed in the song by Perkins. The legendary Beatle surprised the music world in 2015 by teaming up with hip-hop enfant terrible Kanye West. album – 1993’s ‘Love’s Alright’ – he assembled a huge cast of guests to take the weight on hopeless opening slow jam ‘Yeah’, including Michael Jackson, Jon Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder and our very own Paul McCartney. As Paul told Mojo magazine, “On the phone before we got in the studio, Ryan said to me, ‘What do you want to achieve from this week?’ And I could be coy and say, ‘I don’t know…’ but no, I cut to the chase. As Paul recounted, “When I worked with Michael Jackson, he said, ‘How’d you do those harmonies, man?’ I said ‘Well, it’s me and Linda.’” Michael then invited Linda to join them on their recording together. BR: I would say BTS because we have been talking with them a little bit online, so that'd be really cool, but in terms of dream collaborations it would be Paul McCartney. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, Macca dropped in on Jay Z and Linkin Park as they plugged their strange-in-reflection mash-up album, emerging from backstage mid-song with his hand in his pocket and his shirt untucked, like a boss, to turn the Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ into a clunky rap-metal curio. A collection of 40 live collaborations featuring Paul McCartney and Brodsky Quartet, Elvis Costello, Eric Clapton, Dave Gilmour, Allen Ginsberg, Dave Grohl, Brittany Howard, Lulu, Kylie Minogue, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson, Neil Young, Steven Van Zandt. "Another Day" is a song recorded by Paul McCartney in New York in 1970, during the sessions for his album Ram. Paul McCartney is a legendary music icon who has always been the epitome of cool. When it was released as a single, it would become Paul’s first UK No.1 since “Mull Of Kintyre” in 1977, as well as topping the US Billboard charts for a remarkable seven weeks – his longest run at the top since The Beatles’ McCartney-penned “Hey Jude.”. It’s not a very wordy song but it was fun working with him because he’s enthusiastic… at that stage with Michael you weren’t even talking about a writer, more just a vocalist and a dancer. If Paul McCartney had only ever written songs with John Lennon, that would have been enough. Required fields are marked *. The Bonzo Dog Band, or sometimes known as The Bonzos, once welcomed Paul McCartney in with open arms under the guise as ‘Apollo C. Venmouth’. There’s a song called ‘Riding To Vanity Fair’ where we got down to ‘I like it!’, ‘I don’t like it!’, ‘Well I like it!’ But then I realized there’s no point in charging him down like that; I should listen. 10 best Paul McCartney collaborations Hey kids, Sir Paul McCartney has collaborated with artist before Kanye West. As Paul explained, “I would sing a line and [Elvis] would come up with some witty, acerbic foil to it. It was great hearing the songs from Back to the egg live at the Chicago Beatlefest. Damon Albarn has hinted at a Gorillaz collaboration with Sir Paul McCartney, while Jamie Hewlett revealed they hope to record a track with Dolly Parton. If this time last year you told us that the gentle, grinning McCartney – now in his autumn years – would be soon pairing with an abrasive hip-hop antagonist who’s last album was a lean and loud dive into the darkness of corporate America, we’d have told you to get outta town. “I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘I want to make some hits, you know?’ I said ‘Sounds good.’ So he came over. The pair first worked together in early 2015. Shame on Paul for even associating with Kanye West let alone collaborating with him. It’s fair to say that all The Beatles loved Carl Perkins. “We were in the studio and he came down and said, ‘My, it’s real pretty round here, Paul.’ He went to bed, got up the next morning and he obviously hadn’t seen the island. We actually moved on to why he didn’t like it – ‘The first line’s good, but after that…’ ‘Oh, how about this then?’”, But in the end, the approach worked, with Godrich explaining: “The third session, he came back and played me a song, and I was like, ‘F__king hell, that’s so much better.’ That was “At The Mercy.” He said, ‘I think I’m remembering how to do this!’ Maybe he was expressing the concept of having to better what he’s doing because someone was going to look at him and say, ‘Not sure,’ rather than just blindly taking everything that he proffers.”. So my vote for the best collaboration with Paul would be Denny Lane for number 2 and John Lennon number 1. Between 5 October 1962 and 8 May 1970, the partnership published approximately 180 jointly credited songs, of which the vast majority were recorded by the Beatles, formi… “We sat around upstairs in my office in London, I grabbed a guitar and “Say Say Say” came out of that. The association between Paul and Michael Jackson first surfaced when the latter covered “Girlfriend” from Wings’ London Town album, including it on his groundbreaking Off The Wall record in 1979. Godrich explained that he approached the sessions with some trepidation: “My initial reaction was one of terror, not only because it’s a very important person, but I really wasn’t sure how willing he would be to get his hands dirty.”, Paul picks up the story: “There were some tense moments making the album. Linda continued to play with her husband throughout the 80s and into the 90s – including 103 shows of the Paul McCartney World Tour from 1989-90. When you read the lyrics it’s perfectly straight, but my daughter, when she heard it, she walked into the room, she said, ‘Did I just hear what I heard?’ I said, ‘l don’t know.’ But yeah, good to have a bit of fun, you know?”. Angry - With Pete Townshend & Phil Collins. Eddie Murphy hasn’t always been an overweening egomaniac, playing every character in the room. In 2014, the release of “Only One” by Kanye West and Paul McCartney caused waves around the music world: the biggest star in pop music history had teamed up with arguably the then-biggest name on the planet. I would have to say that I didn’t even miss Paul . One of the more interesting collaborations by Paul McCartney has to be when he worked with Beat-poet Alan Ginsberg, to provide backing music to one of his poems, “The Ballad of The Skeletons.” Ginsberg had first met The Beatles when some of them attended his 39th birthday party in 1965. But in 1967 the two legendary British bands proved reports of animosity wrong. Not a month goes by without Paul McCartney making it to our headlines with a new project. Not the best album, but this is probably one of McCartney's best-ever non-Beatles tracks. In 1981, the pair began working together on “Say Say Say.”. © 2021 NME is a member of the media division of BandLab Technologies. Editors' Notes During his restlessly creative career, Paul McCartney has collaborated with a huge range of other artists. He claimed to have no memory of singing the words “Hello my only one, just like the morning sun/You’ll keep on rising till the sky knows your name.” But Kanye, the name his mother had given him, means “only one”. By working with Kanye, Paul’s music found yet another new audience, at a time when it seemed impossible that anybody was not already familiar with him. Paul had first met Motown’s junior star, Little Stevie Wonder, in a London nightclub in 1966, and tapes exist of Paul and Stevie, among others, jamming with John Lennon in the US in 1974. The only albums to feature … We’d all heard the rumours, bought into the rivalry. The Beatles superstar, 78, donned one of … As Youth explained, “We recorded the album when Linda was going through the final stages of her cancer. The resultant song closed Paul’s 1982 album Tug Of War. The Beatles had been Motown fans since before they were famous, and included covers of three Tamla Motown recordings on their second album, With The Beatles. When one Sir met another. I can always see Laurel And Hardy dancing to this track.”. To celebrate Paul McCartney's new single with Rihanna and Kanye West, "FourFiveSeconds", we're looking back at the Beatle's most unexpected collaborations. He also covered The Beatles’ ‘Good Day Sunshine’ to return the favour. Having found fame producing the likes of Adele, Pink, and Lily Allen, Greg Kurstin would be forgiven for thinking he had all the answers when it comes to hit-making. I don’t know what the status of it is, but I think it was a trial for Paul and me. “The Girl Is Mine” would be the first hit to feature Paul that he’d neither written nor produced since “Something” in 1969. “I originally rang Stevie up,” Paul recalled. In 2013 The Bloody Beetroots, aka Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo, enlisted The Fireman, made up of Macca and Killing Joke founder Youth, for a stadium-electro banger, featured on the Italian supremos’ second album ‘HIDE.’ The Beatle wasn’t the only collaborator on the album though: Rifo also enlisted Peter Frampton and Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee on a starry listen. Assembled by Grohl to record a song for his 2012 Sound City film, ‘Cut Me Some Slack’ was a breathless throwback both to the grunge pioneers’ searing best and rockier moments of Macca’s past like ‘Helter Skelter’, premiered at a Hurricane Sandy benefit in December 2012. The partnership first bore fruit with that year’s Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest album, released under the name The Fireman, with neither Paul’s nor Youth’s name to be found on the sleeve. McCartney and John Lennon both appeared on this Stones’ track, lending backing vocals. Paul McCartney — former Beatles member and brilliant musician in his own right — released his fourth installation to his “McCartney” album series April 16. It is the best known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the Beatles selling over 600 million records worldwide as of 2004. Having helped her learn keyboards, 1971’s Ram was credited to Paul And Linda McCartney. Remembering Blossom Dearie: A Small Voice With A Mighty Impact, In Search Of The Forgotten Heroes Of 70s Rock, ‘Rising Down’: When The Roots Uplifted The Masses, Surprise Albums: 17 Drops That Shocked The Music World, Chiiild Releases New Lovesick Anthem And Video, ‘Gone’, Jessie Ware Shares New Single ‘Please’ From ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ Deluxe Edition, Florence Welch Pens Music And Lyrics For Forthcoming ‘The Great Gatsby’ Musical, The Long Road Festival Postponed For 2021; Announces New Dates For 2022, Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real Preview ‘A Few Stars Apart’ Album, Motown stars had been covering Beatles songs. Linda McCartney’s Wild Prairie can be bought here. During that time, they also recorded two more numbers – “The Man,” which, like “Say Say Say,” was co-written by the pair and appeared on Paul’s 1983 Pipes Of Peace album, and “The Girl Is Mine,” which appeared on Jackson’s 1984 Thriller smash. Paul McCartney Compares Kanye West Collaborations to Writing With John Lennon The former Beatle also revealed that "Only One" was inspired in part by "Let It Be" Colin Joyce // May 2, 2015 Sir Paul McCartney's unreleased collaboration with former Beatles bandmate Sir Ringo Starr expected to fetch up to £20,000 after heading to auction Paul McCartney's strange collaboration with The Beach Boys occurred in the late 1960s when the band was making their twelfth studio album, "Smiley Smile", according to CheatSheet. The best Paul McCartney collaborations are a testament to his constant drive to find new ways of expression, and his ability to turn his hand to almost any style of music. That was the first time.” The following year, 24 months of sessions got underway for what would become Paul’s acclaimed Egypt Station album. 7 Best Paul McCartney Collaborations (Non-Beatles) 1. I said: ‘A hit!’ He said, ‘Great, you’re talking my language. The music they created as part of The Beatles continues to cast its influence over popular music, forever cementing their songwriting partnership in history. “McCartney III Imagined” is an adaptation of his 2020 release titled “McCartney III,” featuring covers and collaborations with modern greats across a wide range of genres. Paul McCartney Collaborations 1963 BILLY J KRAMER - Do You Want To Know A Secret / I'll Be On My Way BILLY J KRAMER - Bad To Me / I Call Your Name This is off of McCartney's 1986 album Press To Play. “Blue Suede Shoes,” for example. ‘All For You’: The Story Behind Janet Jackson’s Hit, The 50 Best Jazz Saxophonists Of All Time, ‘Fancy’: Behind Bobbie Gentry’s Women’s Lib Statement, Best Blue Note Album Covers: 20 Groundbreaking Artworks, Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello during the ‘Flowers In The Dirt’ recording sessions. Which is why a lot of people struggled to compute the lullaby-like Rhodes ballad that emerged on NYE 2014 – an unabashedly saccharine charmer inspired by ‘Let It Be’ and sung by Yeezy from the ghostly perspective of his dead mother, passing her love onto his infant daughter. Nigel wasn’t sycophantic; he said from the off, ‘I warn you, I know what I like.’ There was some heated discussion. Instead of being able to get his hands on the music from ATV, McCartney was outbid for the massive catalog by none other than Michael Jackson. I’m sure that when the fans clap at these songs in concert it is only out of respect for the legend. The Beatles’ co-lead vocalist and bassist, Paul McCartney recently posted a tweet about his upcoming project on his Twitter account and shocked his devoted fans by saying that his next album will be released in a month. When their helicopter came back, it was very late, they’d had a few glasses of champagne and their kids were with them. So glad there are other people that feel as I do about Denny Lane and what he and Linda did to make the great sound for Wings. Berry had previously recorded jams with fellow IT Crowder Richard Ayoade, and written music for Steve Coogan and Charlie Brooker. Satisfied with the collaboration, the New Yorker beamed afterwards: “It’s the closest I’m ever going to come to being in the Beatles.”. Paul invited Eric Stewart along to sessions for his Tug Of War album – “Bring your acoustic round and we’ll have a plonk” – beginning in 1981, and the pair worked together in various incarnations for the next five years. Let us know in the comments section. He came down on his own, no entourage. Label: Vigotone – VT-174. When asked if there were any difficult moments in the studio, he explained, “I can’t remember specifically, but I remember him just sort of carrying on, and I’m wondering, ‘Did he hear me?’ Then maybe half an hour would go by and I’d say, ‘Hey, Paul, what about that idea I mentioned a little while ago?’ He said, ‘Oh, I heard you. He was 1/3 of the amazing harmony sound of Wings and Paul’s right hand man for 10 years (71-81) and yet somehow excluded from this list. Six months after her death, a posthumous collection of her recordings was issued under the name Wide Prairie. It was George Martin who recommended that Paul work with Nigel Godrich, with the latter’s productions for Beck and Radiohead making him the critics’ choice, too. But it wasn’t all plain sailing, with Paul later talking about how Godrich had sought to take him out of his comfort zone. He said, ‘Why, Paul, I sure do,’ and he came down to Montserrat. When asked about this, Paul admitted to a certain amount of mischief: “Yeah, well, I mean, you know, if you’re in a studio, you’re there, you’re working, but it’s music, so it’s a bit of fun and we like to not take it too seriously, so you develop a little camaraderie where you’re having a joke. The rockabilly giant reportedly visited EMI’s studios on Abbey Road when The Beatles recorded their version of his song “Matchbox” in June 1964 – one of a number Perkins songs covered by the group during their early years. He helped with a lot of the words. And. “I had written the song “Ebony And Ivory.” It’s about black people and white people living in harmony. The 10cc multi-instrumentalist ran a couple of studios, including Strawberry South, in Dorking, Surrey, not far from Paul’s home and studio. I’m assuming whoever wrote the article wasn’t around in the seventies. You’ve got one of the great instrumentalists of a generation in the studio. Welsh wizards SFA went another direction: enlisting Macca to chew celery and carrots percussively into a microphone. “I wanted to play with Carl Perkins,” Paul recalled. And while 1999’s collaboration with his now ex-wife Heather Mills and of course his duet with the Frog Chorus suggests he sometimes needs to be a […] West is a fraud and an ignorant, untalented fool. Following Ram, the pair recruited former Moody Blue Denny Lane and drummer Denny Seiwell to form Wings. They all stayed, dancing around to the music until the sun came up.”, The second Fireman album, Rushes, was one of the final projects Paul recorded before Linda McCartney’s death, in April 1998, at the age of just 56. However, Kanye West is deemed one of McCartney’s BEST collaborations. As Youth recalled, “One day he had to go off somewhere with Linda, so he left me alone working at the Mill [Paul’s studio in Surrey]. From Johnny Cash to Stevie Wonder to Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney has teamed up with some of the world’s most iconic singers and musicians during his 40+-year solo career. (The respect was mutual: Motown stars had been covering Beatles songs almost from the group’s inception.) Purposely excluded are those collaborations that are on commercially available releases associated with McCartney, such as his duets with Michael Jackson & Stevie Wonder, his collaborations with his wife Linda (to include her solo album and the Suzy & The Red Stripes releases), and the Fireman project. I had the opportunity to see The Wingmen (Denny Lane, Laurence Juber and Steve Holly) vs. 3 of Wings. Paul McCartney. Would love to hear more of the Wings catalog and some of his solo material right after Wings. The McCartney/MacManus Collaboration. Matt Berry, probably best known for his role as eccentric boss Douglas Reynholm in 2000s TV comedy The IT Crowd, is also a dab hand at prog and folk.