Q&A Paul McCartney

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Reuters

The McCartney Years

It's Interesting Sir paul

Sexy Paul

Macca you tube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/PAULMCCARTNEY

Nod your head

The music icon has sparked a new craze after posting a clip of himself and pals dipping their heads in rhythm to the strains of his new track Nod Your Head on the internet
Nod your head
Source:
Hello Mag

3 OCTOBER 2007

He's been around the block in the course of his marathon music career yet Paul McCartney has lost none of his affinity with youth culture it seems. The music icon has joined the scores of teenagers posting home videos of themselves on the internet, and sparked a new trend.

His contribution to the online scene was a clip of himself and pals – including Kate Moss' former boyfriend Jefferson Hack - nodding their heads to the strains of one of the tracks from his new album Nod Your Head. Now thousands of fans have responded to the 26-second clip by posted their own versions on youtube.com.

Some of the best efforts - which come from all over the world - include a class of nursery school children, and shots of nodding dogs in Canada. Fellow Beatle Ringo star has even got in on the act, posting his own head-bobbing clip.

Copying Paul's home video efforts won't be the only opportunity fans get to follow their hero's lead on the web. Budding musicians will soon get the chance to play guitar with the rocker after he signed up to become a tutor on a website.

The Beatle has recorded the first lesson for award-winning music tutorial site, nowplayit.com - which also features contributions from KT Tunstall and indie rockers Blur. The clip - which explains how to master bass drums and guitar parts from his track Ever Present Past - will soon be available to download on the site for a small fee.

Exclusively Paul

Exclusive Paul McCartney

With Memory Almost Full, Paul McCartney has once again shown that he's still hot to trot in the pop world. Exclusively check out his video for new single Ever Present Past.

- Watch Ever Present Past

Here Paul talks about the album that's placed him right back in the middle of the rock and popo world: "In places it's a very personal record and a lot of it is retrospective, drawing from memory, like memories from being a kid, from Liverpool and from summers gone. The album is evocative, emotional, rocking, but I can't really sum it up in one sentence.

"There is a medley of five songs towards the end and that was purposefully retrospective. I thought this might be because I'm at this point in my life, but then I think about the times I was writing with John and a lot of that was also looking back. It's like me with Penny Lane and Eleanor Rigby - I'm still up to the same tricks!

"I know people are going to look at some of the songs and interpret them in different ways but this has always been the case. The thing is that I love writing songs, so I just write and write. I never really get to a point where I start thinking I'm going to write about specific subjects. Inevitably though, what I am thinking is going to find its way into what I'm doing."

Memory Almost Full is available now on CD and as a download.

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A Fantastic Review

Paul McCartneyMemory Almost Full
Paul McCartney has reached another crossroads of his life with the end of a long-term relationship, a divorce with his wife Heather. Surely, this hurt at this stage of his life but it could not hold a candle to losing Linda, his soul mate and lifetime friend. Leave it to an outstanding artist like McCartney to take his life experiences and turn them into some great music.

Memory Almost Full revolves around a man that has lived a full life but has regrets like us all. The title is very ‘today’ referencing our technological mindset. This is a very personal album for the artist and it becomes very evident after hearing the first few tracks.If you had any inkling that Paul was heading into retirement and his best years were behind him, think again, he is back stronger than ever.Chaos and Creation in the Backyard was good but forgettable; it lacked the energy and spirit of this effort. The irony of that is he was recording this album prior to that release then circled back to finish it.

I cannot stop playing this album; I listened to it 4 times within a two-day period. It is like the old Beatles and Wings recordings; every time you hear it, you like it more.“Dance Tonight” kicks things off with a snappy melody and Paul is good voice. He sounds inspired and full of the same energy found on some of his best work. “Ever Present Past,” a lock for a hit single, while a great tune musically, tells his story, a then and now view. It comes across loud and clear. I felt sad hearing what he had to say but then again always feel warm and tingly inside after hearing a song by any Beatle regardless of the subject matter.

“House of Wax” features some great piano and an outstanding emotional vocal performance followed by a rockin’ guitar around the middle section-it is a prolific track and certainly should find its way climbing up the singles charts if it gets that opportunity. “Nod Your Head” also rocks…both tracks are reminiscent of the Wings at their peak. I could not help but think back to his classic Band On The Run album. All of this taken into consideration, it is all good for Sir Paul. The fans will be very pleased.

“End of the End” is Paul’s ode to his mortality, although most of us consider him an icon, a legendary figure that will never die. He sings how he wants bells to be ringing and people singing when he dies. When that day comes, it would be only appropriate to celebrate his incredible life and all the joys he has brought to millions of people through music.Paul plays all the instruments on the recording, with the exception of some help on a few of the tracks. After being a big label figurehead for a majority of his career, he is now showing the indie world how to do it. You have to believe he has something else up his sleeve right around the corner.

On an interesting note, he leaves it up to the listener to come to his website to get the rest of the lyrics for each song, each listed in the CD sleeve, but only a teaser as only a few lines for each are provided. The cover has a built-in crease on the right-hand corner so you can fold it and see Paul in pink. The instructions are on the site but I passed on the origami lesson. Smart marketing I do say so myself. Of course, once you get to the site you will spend time there and end up buying something else. There is nothing wrong with a little entrepreneurial spirit now is there?

McCartney has found a groove, a second wind to reignite his career to another level, if that could possibly exists for someone of his stature, and that should carry him along for several more years. Welcome back Paul, your music heals you and all the rest of us listeners along the way. As I look at my own mortality in the mirror, I can feel some relief and become 18 inside all over again when I listen to this extraordinary music.
Source:
Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck

Amoeba Record Store

Paul McCartney Memory Almost Full

Hear Music

Review >

by Marcus Kagler
Some screamed adulations. Others danced with religious fervor. Hundreds waved peace signs in the air with eternal devotion. Many wept at the sight of him. Outside the unfortunate were forced to stand and peer through windows just to get a glimpse of a living icon. Sir Paul McCartney was singing “Drive My Car”...inside a record store. Amoeba Music Hollywood was chosen as McCartney's next stop on a promotional “mini tour” for his new album Memory Almost Full.

Only an hour after the official announcement on Monday the tried and true McCartney fans began to line up outside the store with lawn chairs and McCartney memorabilia in hand. By Wednesday night a lucky seven hundred fans, some coming all the way from Japan, were let into the show. Beatlemania descended upon Amoeba for the biggest show in the store's history.

Fans camped out on the street for days for this once in a lifetime chance to get up close and personal with one of the most famous, beloved, and enduring musical icons of the last fifty years. Celebrities like Woody Harrelson and Alanis Morrisette could be found in the crowd but none could compare to the arrival of Ringo Starr. Although only coming to lend support to a friend the former Beatle drummer was practically mobbed as he stood in the crowd to watch the show.

Saying this night was something special would be an understatement. The last two remaining Beatles were under the same roof. The energy was palpable. When McCartney took the stage it was almost a giant sigh of relief. It really was happening. McCartney and his band launched right into “Drive My Car” the first of twenty songs spanning his forty plus year career. The peculiarity of playing a record store was not lost on the former Beatle. After tearing through “Only Mama Knows” from his latest album he greeted the audience with, “Hello Amoeba. This has to be the most surreal gig ever. No shoplifting please.”

At the age of sixty-five McCartney appeared to be as exuberant and youthful as a teenager. He flawlessly shouted and screamed his way through rocking classics like “Back in the U.S.S.R.” and “I Saw Her Standing There” along with epic renditions of “The Long and Winding Road” and “Let It Be”. The show also carried more moving somber moments. Before playing a solo acoustic version of “Here Today” McCartney addressed the crowd saying, “I'd like to do a song about people who we miss tonight. I wrote this song for John. It's for George and Linda as well.” At the mere mention of late Beatles and former wife the crowd erupted into momentous applause and a few tears flowed.

It's hard not to feel the infectious exuberance Paul McCartney brings to a performance. The man's very presence seems to bind people from all walks of life. The audience at Wednesday night's show ranged from young children to grandparents all of whom knew and sang every word to every song. That's what makes Paul McCartney such a huge presence. His music seamlessly crosses over from generation to generation with each making his songs their own. He makes music to remind us of our humanity and the goodness we all can achieve in this life.
Many have called him corny and Paul McCartney wears that tag like a badge of honor. After all, life is too short to be serious and misunderstood all the time. Few things in this world can bring total strangers together like “Hey Jude”. On Wednesday night at a record store in Hollywood over seven hundred people stood tall and sang “Hey Jude” with Paul McCartney and for a few minutes everything was good in the world. The man is living proof that a single person can use their gift to make a difference.

Those of us who spent this intimate evening with Paul McCartney all walked away that night with the same thought: thank God I was there. You got the feeling even Paul was feeling the same way. After a moving rendition of “The Long and Winding Road” he even said it. “I'd like to take a little moment to take this all in. I was there. I was there at Amoeba.”
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Thu, 16 Aug 2007

PAUL MCCARTNEY
Memory Almost Full
Nils van der Linden

Paul McCartney named his latest album for an error message he kept getting on his cellphone. But the title ‘Memory Almost Full’ does much more than imply the 64-year-old musician is still with the times, or — like the rest of us — trying to keep up with the overload of modern life.

It’s the phrase a former Beatle might use to describe his current state of mind, at an age where he’s taking stock of his life, with a head packed full of memories — many of which must seem like those of a completely different person.

The Fab Four cast a long shadow, and on ‘Ever Present Past’ he’s “searching for the time that has gone so fast, The time that I thought would last”, unable (and no doubt a little unwilling) to escape the legacy he helped create over 40 years ago.

The retrospection is at its most vivid during the rose-tinted ‘That Was Me’, one of five songs in a ‘Sgt Pepper’-style medley, that finds Macca remembering himself with spade and bucket by the sea, playing conkers by the bus stop, Merseybeatin with the band, on TV. “And when I think that all this stuff/ Can make a life, It’s pretty hard to take it in/ That was me,” he admits, almost carefree.

The stirring ‘House of Wax’ lowers the mood a little with its images of thunder, trumpet blasts, and poets spilling in the street, McCartney delivering his almost primal vocal over the musical equivalent of a brewing storm. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any darker, he moves onto his own funeral.

Yet ‘The End Of The End’ is anything but somber.

“On the day that I die/ I’d like jokes to be told / And stories of old/ To be rolled out like carpets/ That children have played on,” he sings without a trace of regret, even whistling before launching into the chorus: “At the end of the end/ It’s the start of a journey/ To a much better place/ And a much better place/ Would have to be special/ No reason to cry/ No need to be sad.”

Despite all the turmoil going on in his personal life, he sounds like a man at peace.

He also sounds like a man comfortable with his strengths as a musician. While the excellent mood piece ‘Chaos and Creation in the Backyard’ felt a little restrained under the iron fist of producer Nigel Godrich, its immediate successor is an unabashed McCartney album.

Again playing most of the instruments himself, he now performs the songs with a playful enthusiasm, recreating Chuck Berry rock ‘n roll and ‘Come Together’ on ‘Nod Your Head’, hauling out the mandolin on the deceptively simple ‘Dance Tonight’, nonchalantly revisiting ‘Eleanor Rigby’ on ‘Mr Bellamy’, and with the thundering ‘Only Mama Knows’ proving he can still throw shapes like he did on ‘Helter Skelter’.

Only falling short are the weepy ‘You Tell Me’ and equally saccharine ‘See Your Sunshine’ that find him biting into the giant candyfloss of his early ‘80s career. But short of these lapses in judgment, 'Memory Almost Full' is certainly a memory worth clinging to.

Source: http://entertainment.iafrica.com/music/latest/406060.htm

Source:

• http://www.the-trades.com/article.php?id=5604

Published: July 17, 2007
Music Review by Paul Schultz

• http://www.the-trades.com/article.php?id=5604

Good Review

http://www.playbackstl.com/content/view/6354/157/

Paul Rock Amoeba!

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Macca Official Channel

http://www.youtube.com/paulmccartney

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People who would like this are legion. Not only is this is a solid, above average album on its' own right, you have tons of Beatle fans who are going to want to listen to this, and rightly so as it's well worth their money. Then, you have those who just like solidly made pop music. They're going to be happy as well, because even though McCartney's work is not up to Beatle status, very few artists' work meets that criteria. Don't go into this expecting a milestone. Check out this album because it's a good album made by an artist who knows how to make good albums.

www.paulmccartney.com

Seeing a rock legend at a venue that holds only a few hundred people is an experience that music fans are likely to remember for the rest of their lives and that's exactly what happened at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on Wednesday night, where Paul McCartney played a secret show. ABC reports that Paul McCartney did the special show for fans to promote his new Starbucks produced hit CD, Memory Almost Full, and that he played a 90-minute show that included tracks from his new recording, Beatles classics, solo favorites, and even some surprises.

Memory Almost Full by Paul McCartney debuted at number three on the Billboard charts this week, proving that the new marketing strategy that tied the former Beatle with the popular coffee chain has worked well. The chart position was the highest for Paul McCartney in a decade, since Flaming Pie debuted at number two in 1997. Paul McCartney even mentioned the success after performing the single from the new CD, "Dance Tonight," at the Highline Ballroom.

Fans serenaded Paul McCartney with an impromptu performance of "Happy Birthday" because the music superstar turns 65 on Monday. ABC reports that most of the set performed by Paul McCartney last night was upbeat and actually had the crowd dancing. They note that one of the few quiet, poignant moments came when Paul McCartney dedicated "Here Today" to "our fallen heroes, John, George and Linda." After the moving performance, which drew a length applause, McCartney told the crowd, "It's nice to do this song in New York because it's where John lived and Linda was born."

The mood wasn't somber for long at the Paul McCartney show, as the former Beatle shifted from "Here Today" right into a rousing version of "Back in the USSR." ABC also reports that Paul McCartney seemed like he was in a playful mood, repeating the end of "I'll Follow the Sun" four times before actually ending it and stomping his foot to a cover of Carl Perkins' "Matchbox." Paul McCartney closed out the intimate et with "I Saw Her Standing There" and told the very lucky audience assembled, "I hope you had a good time."

Source:
http://www.actressarchives.com/news.php?id=6179

Music Review - Paul McCartney Plays a ‘Secret’ Show

Michael Falco for the New York Times

Paul McCartney performing at the Highline Ballroom.

By BEN RATLIFF
Published: June 15, 2007

“I love you, Paul,” someone shouted, halfway through Paul McCartney’s “secret” set at the Highline Ballroom on Wednesday night. Well, more than one: A lot of people were shouting that. They couldn’t help themselves. He was right in front of them.

Michael Falco for the New York Times Paul McCartney performing at the Highline Ballroom.

Michael Falco for the New York Times

Mr. McCartney struck a formal facsimile of intimacy: 90 minutes on stage in a 700-capacity room full of reporters, assorted V.I.P.s, contest winners and stand-in-line-for-a-long-timers who heard about the show only a day or two before.

“I love you, too,” Mr. McCartney answered, but almost as a defensive block: he put on a Tony Soprano accent, and he kept a straight face. “It’s the beauty of these intimate shows, you know,” he followed, dryly. “You get to have intimate conversations with the audience. ‘How ya doin’?’ ‘You’re the man!’ ‘Naw, you’re the man!’ “

Cheery, but essentially trying to get his work done, Mr. McCartney struck a formal facsimile of intimacy: 90 minutes on stage in a 700-capacity room full of reporters, assorted V.I.P.s, contest winners and stand-in-line-for-a-long-timers who heard about the show only a day or two before.

The gig was a promotion for his new album, “Memory Almost Full” (Hear Music), and he put on the same show at the Electric Ballroom, a slightly larger club in London, last week. (He has not announced plans for a proper tour.)

It’s not unusual these days for big acts to play a promotional show at a club they’ve outgrown. The same night in New York, Franz Ferdinand played a “secret” gig at the Bowery Ballroom, and likewise with Interpol last week.

For Mr. McCartney, however, who can sell out stadiums at hundreds of dollars a ticket, this was unusual. He used no pyrotechnics or video backdrop, and the audience stood close enough to its hero that it could hold non-conversations with him. He played beautifully, in tight control of his voice (even in high range) and his musicianship, through a clutch of new songs and some of the oldest Beatles repertory.

But much of what was special about hearing someone like Mr. McCartney in a place like this was counteracted by the glibness of his touring band, almost the same crew that backed him on his stadium tour last year. These musicians—two guitarists, a keyboards and drums — were accurate, reliable, in the pocket and kind of flavorless.

Mr. McCartney is a fascinating alloy of raw and slick, eccentricity and efficiency. When you hear the tracks on “Memory Almost Full” in which he plays all the instruments — his drumming one step ahead of primitive, his bass lines so melodically inventive they’re almost evil — you wish he could just multiply himself for performances.

When the band replicated old parts, touching on the tiniest details of Beatles songs like “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” “Lady Madonna,” and “Hey Jude,” the show felt something like an homage to composition and production, rather than the great thing that performances can be: two-way rituals between band and audience.

But something about the joy and simplicity of the new songs made the set more special. There were five of them, including “Dance Tonight,” a naively sweet call for fun, with Mr. McCartney’s mandolin-strumming as the through-line; “Nod Your Head,” a slow, chugging rock song; and “That Was Me,” full of spry astonishment at looking back on a strange and notable life. (It went over big in the V.I.P. section, where people may be prone to similar thoughts.)

The onlooker’s stupid reflex, after decades of Beatlesology and Paul-versus-John studies, is to scrutinize Mr. McCartney for honesty, whatever that is. But all he had to do was play a few songs alone with guitar—”Blackbird” and “I’ll Follow the Sun”— and he seemed as guileless as the next guy. Later, alone at the piano, he sang “Here Today,” an elegiac song he wrote after John Lennon’s death, and dedicated it to “our fallen heroes: John, George and Linda.”

When he finished, he stopped the flow of his own efficiency, and thought out loud. “It’s good to play that song in the town John loved,” he said. “And where Linda was born in. And where we played the Ed Sullivan show.”

Source:

• NY Times

Correction: June 19, 2007
A music review in Weekend on Friday about Paul McCartney, at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan, misidentified the instrument he played when he sang “Here Today.” It was an acoustic guitar, not a piano.

Sir Paul still rocks!

June 9, 2007

LONDON -- A man who's reached Paul McCartney's stage in life - a certain age, a gilded stature - could be forgiven for taking it a little bit easy. He could, for example, show up on stage, mumble a few hellos and sing a few hits, safe in the knowledge that everyone would go home thrilled just to have been in the same room.

It's clear, after spending a couple of hours in Sir Paul's company in a club in north London, that he's not that kind of guy. He is a guy who still wants to rock, and seduce his audience, and behave like the fizzy kid who turned the world on 45 years ago.

"Hey Camden," he sang with the enthusiasm of a first-time pub rocker as he arrived on stage: "We're going to rock 'n' roll tonight, we're going to have some fun, it'll be all right!" Then he launched into Drive My Car with the gusto of a man who hasn't played in Britain in two years, and who - we've all read about his disastrous divorce - perhaps needed to blow off some steam.

He certainly seemed in the mood to prove himself to the 1,000 people packed into Camden's Electric Ballroom - celebrities upstairs, granted access via black wristbands, and a collection of music-industry folk and contest-winners below. Actor Pierce Brosnan was allegedly there, and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, but I couldn't say. I can tell you that Kate Moss and Stella McCartney sang Viva Las Vegas while putting on their makeup in the ladies' room.

The occasion was the release of McCartney's new solo record, Memory Almost Full, and he celebrated like the world's youngest almost-65-year-old, flying between bass and mandolin and piano, his shirt eventually soaked in sweat. "This one was written for John," he said, introducing Here Today. "I'd like to dedicate this one to our fallen heroes - John, George, Linda."

It was the Beatles songs, unsurprisingly, that made the crowd wild. "I'm a massive, massive fan," the guy beside me said before the show, "even if the solo stuff is a bit dobbins." Dobbins? I had no idea what he was talking about, although I could guess from the context.

I begged to differ: A bunch of the songs on the new record are quite rocking, and worthy of inclusion in the McCartney songbook. He played a few of them with the same devotion (and in some cases tenderness) that he gave to the more celebrated material.

It was the more familiar chords of Hey Jude that got the audience swaying, as McCartney led a singalong of increasing power. How is it possible to maintain such enthusiasm for a song you've performed countless times?

After the show, two tourists from Saskatchewan stood inside the club, dazed at their good fortune. Heidi St. Amand and Kristi Law had been shopping in the Camden area earlier in the day, saw the crowd outside the club, joined the lineup, and were given tickets to the show. They are just 20, but they're Beatles-crazed. Two days earlier, they'd been on a Beatles walking tour.

"This is the most amazing thing ever," said St. Amand, who is studying psychology but says the piano is her real passion. Her friend agreed: "He's definitely the best monument we've seen in London."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070609.MACCA09/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Music/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6733313.stm

Sir Paul stages intimate concert

My night with Sir Paul

Sir Paul McCartney has staged an intimate concert in London to celebrate the release of his 21st solo album.

Some 1,000 fans were treated to Beatles classics like Drive My Car and Hey Jude as well as tracks from Memory Almost Full, which was released on Monday.

The gig, at Camden's Electric Ballroom, was only announced on Thursday morning, but the free tickets were all snapped up in just 13 minutes.

Among the audience were Pierce Brosnan, Kate Moss and Stella McCartney.

Actress Emma Thompson, guitar legend Jeff Beck and Pink Floyd star David Gilmour also made the journey to north London for the concert.

"He seemed really and honestly happy to be there and on great from," said fan Nick Sargeant, from London.

"The stuff from the new album was excellent. All in all it was pretty amazing."

Sir Paul, 64, kicked off the show with Drive My Car and ended with Hey Jude before returning for an encore of Let It Be, Lady Madonna and I Saw Her Standing There.

He also sang Here Today, from the 1982 album Tug Of War, for his former bandmates in the Beatles and first wife Linda McCartney.

"This one was written for John," Sir Paul told the audience. "I would like to dedicate this song to all our fallen heroes - John, George, Linda and all the lovely people."

'Exciting'

Sir Paul is the first artist to release an original album through Starbucks

The star, whose last pop concert in the UK was 2005's Live 8, is more used to playing arenas and stadiums than small clubs.

"It's a little while since I played a gig like this," he told the audience to huge cheers.

Before the concert, he said the show would be "even more exciting because you see the whites of their eyes".

Fans, too, were impressed at how close they could get to the music legend.

"After all these years he still connects with audiences like no one else," said Michael Kinraid from London.

"My favourite moment was Blackbird - so simple and beautiful," said Susanne Essen. "It will take a long time to beat that."

Sir Paul's latest album, Memory Almost Full, has been released on a label run by coffee house chain Starbucks.

Fans have spotted that title is an anagram of For My Soulmate LLM - the initials of his late wife, Linda Louise McCartney.

The singer, who is in the process of divorcing his second wife, Heather Mills McCartney, has not commented on the title.

It was a great gig, I was only few feet away from the front of the stage. Time just flew by and had to check the setlist online to remind myself of just how many songs he did. Great to see him in a small venue without the big stage show. He seemed very at ease and looks a lot more like he's getting back to his old self.

Colin Cooper, London

Macca was in blazing form - and the boys in the band were clearly enjoying the intimate venue as well. The Man may be 64 but watching him playing his heart out on stage made ME feel 64 - he has so much energy! After all these years he still connects with audiences like no one else.
Michael Kinraid, London

Were you lucky enough to be at the gig? What was the atmosphere like? What was your favourite moment? Send us your comments by filling in the form below.

If you have any pictures you can send them to yourpics@bbc.co.uk. For terms and conditions please see: www.bbc.co.uk/yourpics

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PAUL McCARTNEY’S
Memory Almost Full released on Hear Music
Tuesday, June 5th 2007

BY PAUL McCARTNEY
I started this album, Memory Almost Full, before my last album Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (released September 2005). The first recording session was back in the autumn of 2003 at Abbey Road with my touring band and producer David Kahne. I was right in the middle of it when I began talking with Nigel Godrich about a brand new project (which became Chaos And Creation In The Backyard).

After the Grammy nomination when everything concerning Chaos was finished I returned to making this album. I was wondering if I would enjoy it, but actually I really loved it. In places it’s a very personal record and a lot of it is retrospective, drawing from memories of being a kid from Liverpool and summers gone. The album is evocative, emotional, rocking, but I can’t really sum it up in one sentence.
There is a medley of 5 songs towards the end and that was purposefully retrospective. I thought this might be because I’m at this point in my life, but then I think about the times I was writing with John and a lot of that was also looking back. It’s like me with ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘Eleanor Rigby’ - I’m still up to the same tricks!
I know people are going to look at some of the songs and interpret them in different ways but this has always been the case. The thing is that I love writing songs, so I just write and write. I never really get to a point where I start thinking I’m going to write about specific subjects. Inevitably though, what I am thinking finds its way into what I’m writing.
The opening track of the album is ‘Dance Tonight’. I recently got myself a mandolin and I was just playing about with it and came up with the basis of this track. A couple of weeks ago we made the video, which was great fun. It’s directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind) and stars Natalie Portman and Mackenzie Crook. We had a good time doing it.

The album title came after I had finished everything. For me, that’s when they normally come, with the exception of maybe Sgt. Peppers, otherwise I don’t think I have ever made an album with The Beatles, Wings or solo where I have thought of a title and a concept first. I was looking for something that would sum the whole thing up and ‘Memory Almost Full’ came to mind. It’s a phrase that seemed to embrace modern life; in modern life our brains can get a bit overloaded. I realised I had also seen it come up on my phone a few times. When I started bouncing the idea round with some friends they nearly all got different meanings out of it, but they all said they loved it. So the feedback helped solidify the title.

-more-
McCARTNEY/MEMORYALMOSTFULL/2

After completing the album I then started thinking about the album artwork and how I’d want it to look. I really wanted to make the CD a desirable object. Something that I know I’d want to pick up from the shelf, something that would make people curious. The album sleeve itself includes an etching by a friend of mine, Humphrey Ocean.

I really enjoyed making this album with David Kahne and I’m proud of all the songs. We had a great time. I hope that the fun we had will communicate itself to the people who are going to listen to it.

All the best,
Paul McCartney, April 2007

Full Track Listing

1. Dance Tonight
2. Ever Present Past
3. See Your Sunshine
4. Only Mama Knows
5. You Tell Me
6. Mister Bellamy
7. Gratitude
8. Vintage Clothes
9. That Was Me
10. Feet In The Clouds
11. House Of Wax
12. End of the End
13. Nod Your Head

Check out www.paulmccartney.com for the latest new and information.

McCARTNEY/MEMORYALMOSTFULL/3


FULL ALBUM CREDITS AND NOTES TO THE EDITOR
All tracks written and composed by Paul McCartney
Produced and programmed by David Kahne

Paul McCartney played all instruments except:
Paul 'Wix' Wickens - keyboards; Rusty Anderson - guitar; Brian Ray - bass guitar and Abe Laboriel Jr. - drums; played on Only Mamma Knows, You Tell Me, Vintage Clothes, That Was Me, Feet In The Clouds, and House of Wax

Recorded at Hog Hill Mill Studios, Abbey Road Studios, Henson Recording Studios, Air Studios, RAK Studios
Mastered by: Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering

Memory Almost Full will be released on Tuesday, June 5th in The United States, June 4th in the UK and June 6th in Japan.

This release will be the first ever Paul McCartney album available digitally

Memory Almost Full is Paul McCartney’s 21st solo album

Recording sessions started in October 2003 – The mixing was completed in February 2007

Memory Almost Full is the first release on new Hear Music label (the label formed by Starbucks Entertainment and Concord Music Group)

Hear Music seeks to provide a new platform for reaching music fans and introducing them to both emerging and established artists with inspired vision and a keen sense of purpose

Memory Almost Full will be available at Starbucks locations and traditional music retail outlets internationally.

Check out www.paulmccartney.com for all the latest information.
Thank you Mike@cybersmusic.com

http://music.monstersandcritics.com/features/article_1305440.php/Q&A_Paul_McCartney_talks_Memory_Almost_Full_and_going_digital

Paul McCartney Debuts Video on YouTube

NEW YORK - Paul McCartney snagged Natalie Portman to star in his new music video _ thanks to his fashion designer-daughter, Stella.
Portman, 25, makes a cameo as a ghost in the video for "Dance Tonight," a track from McCartney's new studio album, "Memory Almost Full." The video had its world premiere Wednesday on YouTube.com.

"The connection with Natalie came from my daughter Stella, who makes non-leather shoes that Natalie buys, so I just thought, `Well, I'll ring her up and just see if she'll do it.' So I rang her up and said, `Hey, I'm Stella's dad!'" the 64-year-old former Beatle said in a statement posted on his Web site.

Portman, whose screen credits include "Closer" and "V for Vendetta," plays a "futurist electronic ghost" who is summoned by the sound of McCartney's mandolin.
Filmmaker Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") directed the video.

"Memory Almost Full," McCartney's 21st solo album, will be released June 5 in the United States. It's his first release for Hear Music, Starbuck Corp.'s new record label.
McCartney last released the acclaimed "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard," in 2005.

Paul McCartney:
http://www.paulmccartney.com/Hear Music:http://www.hearmusic.comA service of the Associated Press(AP)

http://news.google.com/nwshp?source=uds&q=Memory%20Almost%20Full
Paul McCartney says "Memory Almost Full" isn't nostalgic
Paul McCartney says that his new album, Memory Almost Full, isn't based on nostalgia -- despite the fact that the album's first single is called "My Ever Present Past." McCartney told pitchforkmedia.com that, "I wouldn't use the word nostalgia so much. Nostalgia implies something a bit soppy -- it's not a sort of very complimentary word. I would use the word 'memory' more, because I think a lot of artists use memories."

http://www.hearmusic.com/#MCCARTNEY

MEMORY ALMOST FULL LYRICS

MEMORY ALMOST FULL
Music and Lyrics For All Songs: Paul McCartney
Recorded February 2007
Release Date: June 6th, 2007

DANCE TONIGHT
Everybody gonna dance tonight
Everybody gonna feel alright
Everybody gonna dance around tonight

Everybody gonna dance around
Everybody gonna hit the ground
Everybody gonna dance around tonight

Well you can com’on to my place if you want to
You can do anything you wanna do

Everybody gonna dance tonight
Everybody gonna feel alright
Everybody gonna dance around tonight

Well you can com’on to my place if you want to
You can do anything you wanna do

Everybody gonna stamp their feet
Everybody gonna feel the beat
Everybody gonna dance around tonight

Everybody gonna dance tonight
Everybody gonna feel alright
Everybody gonna dance around tonight

Everybody gonna jump and shout
Everybody gonna sing it out
Everybody gonna dance around tonight

Well you can com’on to my place if you want to
You can do anything you wanna do

Everybody gonna dance tonight
Everybody gonna feel alright
Everybody gonna dance around tonight

Everybody gonna dance around tonight
Everybody gonna feel alright tonight


MY EVER PRESENT PAST
I’ve got too much on my plate
Don’t have no time to be a decent lover
I hope it isn’t too late
Searching for the time that has gone so fast
The time that I thought would last
My ever present past

I’ve got too much on my mind
I think of everything to be discovered
I hope there’s something to find
Searching for the time that has gone so fast
The time that I thought would last
My ever present past

The things I think I did
I d.i. d.i. did
The things I think I did
When I was a kid

I couldn’t understand a word that they were saying
But still I hung around and took it all in
I wouldn’t join in with the games that they were playing
It went by it went by in a flash
It flew by it flew by
In a flash

There’s far too much on my plate
Don’t have no time to be a decent lover
I hope it’s never too late
Searching for the time that has gone so fast
The time that I thought would last
My ever present past

The things I think I did
I d.i. d.i. did
The things I think I did
When I was a kid

The things I think I did
I d.i. d.i. did
The things I think I did
When I was a kid
When I was a kid

YOUR SUNSHINE
She makes me feel glad
I want her so bad
My heart is beating madly for her
If you ask me why
I’m not going to lie
I’ll have to say that I adore her

Look what you do to me baby
You’re making me feel so fine
Step out in front of me baby
They want you in the front line
They want to see your sunshine

She picks up daisies from a field
She loves to weave them in her hair
And though she knows it isn’t real
She still hears music in the air
It’s coming from inside her heart
I hope it lasts forever

The sun is shining in her sky
She wants to dance around the world
And though I’d love to be the guy
That gets to walk off with the girl
I’ll go along with all she needs
And it will be my pleasure

Look what you do to me baby
You’re making me feel so fine
Step out in front of me baby
They want you in the front line
They want to see your sunshine

She makes me feel glad
I want her so bad
My heart is beating madly for her
If you ask me why
I’m not going to lie
I’ll have to say that I adore her

Look what you do to me baby
You’re making me feel so fine
I want to see your sunshine

ONLY MAMA KNOWS
Well I was found in the transit lounge
Of a dirty airport town
What was I doing on the road to ruin
Well my mama laid me down
My mama laid me down

Round my hand was a plastic band
With a picture of my face
I was crying, left to die in
This God forsaken place
This God forsaken place

Only mama knows why she laid me down
In this God forsaken town
Where she was running to what she ran from
Though I always wondered I never knew
Only mama knows
Only mama knows

I’m passing through I’m on my way
I’m on the road no ETA.
I’m passing through no fixed abode
And that is why I need to try
To hold on I’ve gotta hold on gotta hold on

Was it planned as a one night stand
Or did she leave in disgrace
Well I never will I ever see my fathers face see my fathers face

Only mama knows why she laid me down
In this God forsaken town
Where she was running to what she ran from
Though I always wondered I never knew
Only mama knows
Only mama knows

Only mama knows why she laid me down
In this God forsaken town
Where she was running to what she ran from
Though I always wondered I never knew
Only mama knows
Only mama knows
I’ve gotta hold on I’ve gotta hold on you’ve gotta hold on

YOU TELL ME
When was that summer when the skies were blue
The bright red cardinal flew down from his tree
You tell me

When was that summer when it never rained
The air was buzzing with the sweet old honey bee
Let’s see
You tell me

Were we there was it real
Is it truly how I feel
Maybe
You tell me

Were we there is it true
Was I really there with you
Let’s see
You tell me

When was that summer of a dozen words
The butterflies and humming birds flew free
Let’s see
You tell me

Let’s see
You tell me

MR. BELLAMY
I’m not coming down
No matter what you do
I like it up here
Without you

All right Mr Bellamy
We’ll have you down soon

No one to tell me what to do
No one to hold my hand
Bellamy’s got a lot to do
And I hope that you’ll understand
Nobody here to spoil the view
Interfere with my plans
Bellamy’s got a job to do
And he’s hoping you’ll understand

Steady lads
Easy does it
Don’t frighten him
Here we go

I’m not coming down
No matter what you say
I like it up here
Anyway

Sit tight Mr Bellamy
This shouldn’t take long
In a delusionary state
No wonder he’s been feeling strange of late
Nobody here to spoil the view
Interfere with my plans
Bellamy’s got a job to do
And he’s hoping you’ll understand

Steady lads
Easy does it
Don’t frighten him
Here we go
Here we go

I’m not coming down
No matter what you do
I like it up here
Without you
Come down
Come down
Come back to me

GRATITUDE
Gratitude gratitude gratitude

I’m so grateful for everything
You’ve ever given me
How can I explain what it means
To be loved by you
By you loved by you loved by you

Show my gratitude gratitude
Show my gratitude
I want to show my gratitude gratitude

Well I was lonely
I was living with a memory
But my cold and lonely nights ended
When you sheltered me
Loved by you
I was loved by you
Yeah I was loved by you

I want to show my gratitude
Want to show my gratitude
Yeah show my gratitude
Show my gratitude

I should stop loving you
Think what you put me through
But I don’t
Want to lock my heart away
I will look forward too
Days when I’ll be loving you
Until then gonna wish
And hope and pray

I want to show my gratitude gratitude
Yeah I want to show my gratitude
Show my gratitude
Yeah my gratitude

To be loved by you
Be loved by you to be loved by you
Loved by you

I want to show my gratitude gratitude

VINTAGE CLOTHERS

Don’t live in the past
Don’t hold onto something that’s changing fast

What we are is what we are
And what we wear is vintage clothes

Vintage clothes
Vintage clothes

We jump up for joy
Who cares if we look like a girl or boy

What we are is what we are
And what we wear is vintage clothes

Vintage clothes
Vintage clothes

A little worn
A little torn
Check the rack
What went out is coming back

Don’t live in the past
Don’t hold onto something that’s changing fast

What we are is what we are
And what we wear is vintage clothes

Vintage clothes

A little worn
A little torn
Check the rack
What went out is coming back

THAT WAS ME
That was me
At the scout camp
In the school play
Spade and bucket
By the sea
That was me

That was me
Playing conkers
At the bus stop
On a blanket
In the bluebells
That was me

The same me that stands here now
And when I think that all this stuff
Can make a life
It’s pretty hard to take it in
That was me

Well that was me
Royal Iris
On the river
Merseybeatin’
With the band
That was me

That was me
Sweating cobwebs
Under contract
In the cellar
On TV
That was me

The same me that stands here now
If fate decreed
That all of this
Would make a lifetime
Who am I to disagree
That was me

That was me
Acapella
At the altar
In the middle
Of the picture
That was me

That was me

THAT WAS ME (CONT’D)
At the party
Sweating cobwebs
In a cellar
On TV
That was me

The same me that stands here now
And when I think that all this stuff
Can make a life It’s pretty hard to take it in
That was me
That was me

FEET IN THE CLOUDS
Teacher said
I had my head in the clouds
They directed
I suspected
Disconnected
Had it my way

On the street
I had my feet on the ground
Stood corrected
Well protected
Resurrected
Had it my way

I’ve got my feet in the clouds
Got my head on the ground
I know that I’m not a square
As long as they’re not around

But I find it very very very very very very hard
Yes I find it very very very very very very hard

Love is fab
It’s like a stab in the heart
Hidden treasure
Made to measure
For my pleasure
Had it my way

I’ve got my feet in the clouds
Got my head on the ground
I know that I’m not a square
As long as they’re not around

And I find it very very very very very very hard
And I find it very very very very very very hard
Oh I find it very very, very very very very hard
Yes I find it very very very very very very hard

I’ve got my feet in the clouds
Got my head on the ground
I’m not a square
As long as they’re not around
But I find it so hard I find it so hard

HOUSE OF WAX
Lightning hits the house of wax
Poets spill out on the street
To set alight the incomplete
Remainders of the future

Hidden in the yard hidden in the yard

Thunder drowns the trumpets blast
Poets scatter through the night
But they can only dream of flight
Away from their confusion

Hidden in the yard underneath the wall
Buried deep below a thousand layers lay the answer to it all

Lightning hits the house of wax
Women scream and run around
To dance upon the battleground
Like wild demented horses

Hidden in the yard underneath the wall
Buried deep below a thousand layers lay the answer to it all

Hidden in the yard underneath the wall
Buried deep below a thousand layers lay the answer to it all

END OF THE END
At the end of the end
It’s the start of a journey
To a much better place
And this wasn’t bad
So a much better place
Would have to be special
No need to be sad

On the day that I die
I’d like jokes to be told
And stories of old
To be rolled out like carpets
That children have played on
And laid on while listening
To stories of old

At the end of the end
It’s the start of a journey
To a much better place
And a much better place
Would have to be special
No reason to cry

On the day that I die
I’d like bells to be rung
And songs that were sung
To be hung out like blankets
That lovers have played on
And laid on while listening
To songs that were sung

At the end of the end
It’s the start of a journey
To a much better place
And a much better place
Would have to be special
No reason to cry
No need to be sad

At the end of the end

NOD YOUR HEAD
If you really love me baby
Better than staying in bed
If you really love me baby
Nod your head

If you really love me baby
Till you fall down dead she said
If you ever want to make it
Nod your head

Nod it up
Nod it down
Side to side
Round and round

If you ever want to prove it
And you’re hanging on a thread
If you ever want to shake it
Nod your head

If you think the life you’re leading
Is better than the life you lead
If you like the life your living
Well nod your head

Well nod it up
Nod it down
Side to side
Round and round

If you really love me baby
Better than staying in bed
If you really love me baby
Nod your head

Thank You Mikie@Cybersmusic.com