PAUL: "I OFTEN THINK'WAS I REALLY IN THE BEATLES?

"Welcome to my office, my art gallery and my dosshouse…’ Sir Paul McCartney gives a jovial personal greeting at his HQ in central London. His appearance and the quirky art-filled room (paintings and photography; a modernist sculpture wearing a balaclava) are a relief after the forebodingly clinical reception a few floors below.

It is also surreal: a smart-casual 69-year-old with chestnut-brown hair, instantly recognisable for some of the most celebrated songwriting in pop history, as well as some of the most international press attention, McCartney sweeps an arm towards the window, overlooking the Soho sprawl: ‘I like the view of the garden,’ he adds in his steady Scouse drawl.

McCartney’s ‘dosshouse’ is clearly a hive of activity; the former Beatle and Wings frontman has been a prolific recording artist since the early 1960s and he hasn’t slowed down in recent years, although his latest solo album, Kisses On The Bottom, is a whole-heartedly old-timey affair.

The cheeky title comes from a line in the first track, I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter: a 1930s jazz standard originally performed by Fats Waller. The album mostly centres on crooner covers from that period (including It’s Only A Paper Moon and Irving Berlin’s Always), along with a couple of original songs penned by McCartney and featuring guest musicians Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder; he’s smoothly backed throughout by Diana Krall’s band. McCartney created a similar, seamless mix of covers and originals on his 1999 rock’n’roll tribute album, Run Devil Run.

‘I’m a sponge,’ quips McCartney. ‘I’m very influenced by rock’n’roll and my dad’s era of music. I never heard his 1920s jazz band but I got a love of that style through what he played at home. We used to have big New Year’s parties; the family would get together, roll back the carpet, get drunker as the evening went on and sing songs like Always and Bye Bye Blackbird, which they knew by heart.
READ MORE... HERE.