TOWER RECORDS PROFILE ARTIST - James McCartney
James Louis McCartney (born 12 September 1977) is a British musician, songwriter and sculptor, living in London. He is the only son of songwriter and former Beatle Paul McCartney and Paul's first wife, rock photographer and animal rights activist Linda McCartney. His first EP, Available Light, was released on 21 September 2010.
James has played guitar and drums on some of his father's solo albums, including Flaming Pie (1997) and Driving Rain (2001), as well as co-writing a few songs. On Flaming Pie, he has an electric guitar solo on the track "Heaven on a Sunday." On Driving Rain, he co-wrote the songs "Spinning On An Axis" and "Back In The Sunshine Again" with his father, and played percussion on the former track and guitar on the latter. He also plays lead guitar on his mother's posthumously released solo album, Wide Prairie. In 2005, he accompanied Paul during his "'US' Tour".
James McCartney made his US performing debut 14 November 2009 at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center, during the Fourth Annual David Lynch Weekend for World Peace and Meditation in Fairfield, Iowa. James is currently in the band Venus Fury.
Available Light is McCartney's first official release as both a performer and songwriter. The EP includes four original songs composed by James as well as a cover of Neil Young’s classic "Old Man". In addition to composing the songs James plays electric and acoustic guitar, mandolin, piano and bass on the recordings. Produced by David Kahne and Paul McCartney, the EP was recorded between Sussex, London and New York over the previous year. James says, "The music was inspired by The Beatles, Nirvana, The Cure, PJ Harvey, Radiohead — and all good music. It is basically rock n' roll, clean sounding and vocal. The words on the album refer to spirituality, love, family, trying to sort out one's life, and many other things."
James previewed tracks from ‘Available Light’ when he toured the UK for the first time in February and March 2010.
McCartney was born in London. He was named after both his paternal grandfather Jim McCartney and his father, whose birth name is James Paul McCartney, as well as Linda's late mother, heiress Louise Linder Eastman. He spent the first two and a half years of his life on the road while his parents toured with their band Wings. After the band broke up in 1980, the McCartney family settled in Rye, East Sussex. He attended the local state secondary school, the Thomas Peacocke Community College. In 1989, McCartney, with his older sisters Mary McCartney and Stella McCartney, again joined Paul and Linda on a world tour. He continued his education with a tutor while on the road.
In 1993, while celebrating his sixteenth birthday, James and friends went out to swim in the sea. When the weather began to turn bad, the current carried him offshore. His family rushed to the site, and were able to see McCartney return to shore safely.
On 17 April 1998, in Tucson, Arizona, James, along with his father and sisters, was at his mother's side when she died from breast cancer, which had been diagnosed in 1995. Later that year, McCartney graduated from Bexhill College, near his home in East Sussex, where he pursued studies in A Level Art.
James appeared in support of his sister Stella at her 1999 fashion show, her first show following the death of their mother, seated in their mother's place next to Paul.
In 1995, James introduced his sister Mary to television producer Alistair Donald, whom she would later marry. James has five nephews and two nieces: Mary's three sons Arthur Alistair Donald (born 3 April 1999), Elliot Donald (born 1 August 2002), and Sam Aboud (born 11 August 2008); Stella's son Miller Alasdhair James Willis (born 25 February 2005), her daughter Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis (born 8 December 2006), son Beckett Robert Lee Willis (born 8 January 2008) and daughter, Reiley Dilys Stella Willis (born on 23 November 2010). Like his older half-sister Heather McCartney, James lives a relatively private life, unlike his sisters Stella, a fashion designer, and Mary, a photographer. James has a much younger half-sister, Beatrice Milly McCartney, born in 2003 to Paul and his second wife Heather Mills.
We recently asked James to provide his "Top Ten" list of songs that influenced his growth:
WHO AM I?
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Nirvana)
“I think one of the greatest songs of all time . . . very cathartic and euphoric. I went through a period when I listened to it all the time when I was 23 or 24.”
“Teklo” (P.J. Harvey)
“P.J. Harvey is just so cool, and she’s very pretty. ‘Let me ride on his grace for awhile’ seems kind of spiritual . . . it’s just a beautiful song, kind of post-grunge. She’s a great artist, visually as well. It’s quite simple, nice tones that are full of ring and reverb.”
“All I Need” (Radiohead)
“It’s very simple, and yet full of complexity. Thom Yorke is amazing, very in tune with himself. Radiohead is kind of the Nirvana of now . . . Yorke seems very in tune with himself. All of their art is cool, right through the artwork and videos, everything really."
“D-7” (The Wipers)
“The Wipers are a great old punk band from the 70’s . . . very gothic moments, the lyrics are cool, ‘Thoughts antisocial,’ ‘Straight as an arrow’—It seems like a song about working in a factory—‘Defect, defect’. Nirvana covered it—the lead singer was left-handed, so that probably inspired Kurt or helped him relate to the band.”
“Charlotte Sometimes” (The Cure)
“Robert Smith is amazing—the black hair and make-up, the whole gothic vibe is cool. It reminds me of walking around Highgate and Hempstead, London . . . It’s something I like to do, listen to that and walk out the door quickly, imagining snow and leafless trees.”
“Heart Of Gold” (Neil Young)
“Growing up, my mom and dad were probably just playing it in the background. My mom was a big fan of Neil Young, and a good friend, she took pictures of him. Just a nice song, good feeling. Amazing, inspired, very grungy but very 60’s.”
“Love Will Tear Us Apart” (Joy Division)
“Beautiful, gothic, music . . . Ian Curtis was so amazing. This is something I have been getting into recently again, listening to bands like Section 25, which Ian Curtis produced. I have memories of being in clubs in Sussex and Brighton and listening to this a lot.”
“How Soon Is Now” (The Smiths)
“When I was living in a little house called ‘Waterfall’ which I grew up in—a little round house that looks like a lantern and a mushroom—it was kind of the tail end of a period when I was in the woods having a very good time but having a bit of a hard time getting it together, and I just remember listening to this song a lot.”
“The Theme from Twin Peaks” (David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti)
“David Lynch is a good friend of mine . . . I’ve done work with his foundation in Fairfield, Iowa, which raises money to help people learn transcendental meditation. I love this music, it reminds me of when I was in Arizona, pretty young, probably 14, and it was just in the background, really great memories of being with my family when my mom was alive. My sisters really loved it. Twin Peaks was incredible.”
“Old Man” (Tower Records Profile Artist)
“I’ve loved this song forever. I have memories of being in Arizona, probably four or five years ago, grieving my mom a lot, being in our house out there called Dusty Acres, totally on my own and having a weird time. I remember walking around once and seeing a dead coyote . . . I remember learning this song one night and staying up until the sunrise, doing something positive rather than going into some kind of downward spiral.”
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