Elvis re-writes about The Beatles, Aug. 10

[johnfoyle]

Nunki writes to listserv -

I'm not sure if the issue is available in stores yet, but Rolling
Stone's website spotlights a cover story on "The Fifty Greatest Artists
of All Time."

(link:
http://www.rollingstone.com/features/co ... p?pid=2846)

Elvis did not make the list, but he did write the essay for the #1
artist:

1) The Beatles

By Elvis Costello

I first heard of the Beatles when I was nine years old. I spent most of
my holidays on Merseyside then, and a local girl gave me a bad
publicity shot of them with their names scrawled on the back. This was
1962 or '63, before they came to America. The photo was badly lit, and
they didn't quite have their look down; Ringo had his hair slightly
swept back, as if he wasn't quite sold on the Beatles haircut yet. I
didn't care about that; they were the band for me. The funny thing is
that parents and all their friends from Liverpool were also curious and
proud about this local group. Prior to that, the people in show
business from the north of England had all been comedians. Come to
think of it, the Beatles recorded for Parlophone, which was a comedy
label.

I was exactly the right age to be hit by them full on. My experience --
seizing on every picture, saving money for singles and EPs, catching
them on a local news show -- was repeated over and over again around
the world. It was the first time anything like this had happened on
this scale. But it wasn't just about the numbers; Michael Jackson can
sell records until the end of time, but he'll never matter to people as
much as the Beatles did.

Every record was a shock when it came out. Compared to rabid R&B
evangelists like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles arrived sounding like
nothing else. They had already absorbed Buddy Holly, the Everly
Brothers and Chuck Berry, but they were also writing their own songs.
They made writing your own material expected, rather than exceptional.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney were exceptional songwriters; McCartney
was, and is, a truly virtuoso musician; George Harrison wasn't the kind
of guitar player who tore off wild, unpredictable solos, but you can
sing the melodies of nearly all of his breaks. Most important, they
always fit right into the arrangement. Ringo Starr played the drums
with an incredibly unique feel that nobody can really copy, although
many fine drummers have tried and failed. Most of all, John and Paul
were fantastic singers.

Lennon, McCartney and Harrison had stunningly high standards as
writers. Imagine releasing a song like "Ask Me Why" or "Things We Said
Today" as a B side. They made such fantastic records as "Paperback
Writer" b/w "Rain" or "Penny Lane" b/w "Strawberry Fields Forever" and
only put them out as singles. These records were events, and not just
advance notice of an album release.

Then they started to really grow up. Simple love lyrics to adult
stories like "Norwegian Wood," which spoke of the sour side of love,
and on to bigger ideas than you would expect to find in catchy pop
lyrics.

They were pretty much the first group to mess with the aural
perspective of their recordings and have it be more than just a
gimmick. Brilliant engineers at Abbey Road Studios like Geoff Emerick
invented techniques that we now take for granted in response to the
group's imagination. Before the Beatles, you had guys in lab coats
doing recording experiments in the Fifties, but you didn't have rockers
deliberately putting things out of balance, like a quiet vocal in front
of a loud track on "Strawberry Fields Forever." You can't exaggerate
the license that this gave to everyone from Motown to Jimi Hendrix.

My absolute favorite albums are Rubber Soul and Revolver . On both
records you can hear references to other music -- R&B, Dylan,
psychedelia -- but it's not done in a way that is obvious or dates the
records. When you picked up Revolver , you knew it was something
different. Heck, they are wearing sunglasses indoors in the picture on
the back of the cover and not even looking at the camera . . . and the
music was so strange and yet so vivid. If I had to pick a favorite song
from those albums, it would be "And Your Bird Can Sing" . . . no,
"Girl" . . . no, "For No One" . . . and so on, and so on. . . .

Their breakup album, Let It Be , contains songs both gorgeous and
jagged. I suppose ambition and human frailty creep into every group,
but they managed to deliver some incredible performances. I remember
going to Leicester Square and seeing the film of Let It Be in 1970. I
left with a melancholy feeling.

The word Beatlesque has been in the dictionary for a while now. I can
hear them in the Prince album Around the World in a Day ; in Ron
Sexsmith's tunes; in Harry Nilsson's melodies. You can hear that Kurt
Cobain listened to the Beatles and mixed them in with punk and metal in
some of his songs. You probably wouldn't be listening to the ambition
of the latest OutKast record if the Beatles hadn't made the White Album
into a double LP!

I've co-written some songs with Paul McCartney and performed with him
in concert on two occasions. In 1999, a little time after Linda
McCartney's death, Paul did the Concert for Linda, organized by
Chrissie Hynde. During the rehearsal, I was singing harmony on a Ricky
Nelson song, and Paul called out the next tune: "All My Loving." I
said, "Do you want me to take the harmony line the second time round?"
And he said, "Yeah, give it a try." I'd only had thirty-five years to
learn the part. It was a very poignant performance, witnessed only by
the crew and other artists on the bill.

At the show, it was very different. The second he sang the opening
lines -- "Close your eyes, and I'll kiss you" -- the crowd's reaction
was so intense that it all but drowned the song out. It was very
thrilling but also rather disconcerting. Perhaps I understood in that
moment one of the reasons why the Beatles had to stop performing. The
songs weren't theirs anymore. They were everybody's.

(From RS 946, April 15, 2004)

[martinfoyle]

You can hear that Kurt Cobain listened to the Beatles and mixed them in with punk and metal in some of his songs.

Elvis is entitled to his opinion, of course, but I was always under the impression that Kurt got his melodic licks via The Smithereens use of Beatle licks. A small point, but credit where credit is due.

http://www.neumu.net/drama/2001/2001-00 ... rama.shtml

Novoselic remembers that in addition to listening to the Beatles, they had a tape with a Smithereens album on one side and a Celtic Frost album on the other. "That tape was always getting played, turned over and over again," he recalls. "I think back now and go, 'Yeah, maybe that was an influence.' "

[noiseradio]

Cobain himself is quoted as saying that he took the best from the Pixies and REM and tried to slap them together. For what it's worth.

[Poppet]

someone cares about the Smithereens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

forgive the yelling, but i LOVE the smithereens. one of the few bands whose work i can listen to for DAYS.

my personal fav: God Save the Smithereens. includes a cover of Gloomy Sunday. love, LOVE the opening song "She's Got a Way." makes me happy everytime i hear it.

[IStandAccused]

You are so correct, Martin. Kurt was listening to the Smithereens non-stop and has said in the past that they were his biggest influence. Elvis has always had a "mental block" when it comes to DiNizio. I think that Pat and EC have very similar voices and execution. Elvis has a very in depth and soulful take on the Beatles but his take on the more revoluntionary, newer stuff is sometimes WAY off!

You can hear that Kurt Cobain listened to the Beatles and mixed them in with punk and metal in some of his songs.

Elvis is entitled to his opinion, of course, but I was always under the impression that Kurt got his melodic licks via The Smithereens use of Beatle licks. A small point, but credit where credit is due.

http://www.neumu.net/drama/2001/2001-00 ... rama.shtml

Novoselic remembers that in addition to listening to the Beatles, they had a tape with a Smithereens album on one side and a Celtic Frost album on the other. "That tape was always getting played, turned over and over again," he recalls. "I think back now and go, 'Yeah, maybe that was an influence.' "

[martinfoyle]

Who are those Celtic Frost guys? Look like some poodle rock band. Are they worth checking out?

[lapinsjolis]

Only if you're morbid.

Since it's a personal account sources don't have to be so detailed and they did listen to The Beatles. I thought it was a warm and thoughtful piece and he did have the distinction of being chosen to pen the commentary. Thank you for posting it John Foyle.

[WhipsnSpurs]

The Beatles were the ones who changed the face of Rock and Roll forever, pure and simple. Every artist performing today owes them a debt of gratitude in some way. They were the best, pure and simple and we are lucky to have so much music to listen to.

[johnfoyle]

I daresay Elvis's forthcoming foreword for Emerick's book will be like this.

[RinghioStarr]

Cobain listened to the Beatles since his childhood.

So they came before the Smithereens influence.

I think Elvis is quite right.

[johnfoyle]

Mojo , July '06

The 101 Greatest Beatle Songs

'......picked and praised to the skies by an all-star panel....'

57.

Yes It Is
(B-side, 1965)

Elvis Costello -


A 'great composed'folk song. Somewhere between I'm A Loser and the mighty Girl. Terrific vocal harmonies and a wonderful volume control guitar part and that's all that was needed. A lot of The Beatles' most unusual and imaginative songs were on B-sides: This Boy, Ask Me Why, I'll Get You, Things We Said Today and I'm Down.

You can't really put onto the page what is great about And Your Bird Can Sing or Paperback Writer, or even a great overlooked hard rock Beatles cut like Hey Bulldog. OK, you can break it down to this remarkable guitar part, those weirdly tracked, overlapping vocal harmonies or Lennon's insanely Intense delivery of an almost throwaway cut and even remark that the piano part is a relative of Lady Madonna. But this doesn't begin to explain how these records make me feel. That is beyond words.

However, I can I put my finger on the real killer element of Yes It Is. It is the bridge, where John Lennon leaves the world of 'Black is the colour of my true love's hair' and takes off into an ascending melody worthy of Smokey Robinson: 'I could be happy with you by my side/ If I could forget her but it's my pride/Yes it is, yes it is, oh yes it is, yeah'... That's right.

[wardo68]

Thanks for the file, Mr. Foyle. I really need to hear the rest of that show someday.

[johnfoyle]

http://gifts.barnesandnoble.com/search/ ... 1616840624



Rolling Stones: The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs

The greatest songs from the greatest band of all time. An essential guide to the Beatles' best tracks, ranked by the editors of Rolling Stone and packed with the stories behind the music. Includes an introduction by Elvis Costello, special sections on the Beatles' favorite songs, and much more.

This item will be available on August 27 '10

[Ypsilanti]

This item will be available on August 27 '10

Saw this for sale at a news stand a couple of days ago...

[Poor Deportee]

EC is right about 'Yes It Is.' A killer song, with subtly unhinged lyrics, that is simultaneusly gentle, and yet explosive in the middle eight.

And he is right about the indisputable greatness of The Beatles...but of course everyone here knows that. I've always thought EC's most defining trick as a singer-songwriter was in managing to combine in one person the melodicism of McCartney and the acerbic edginess of Lennon - although of course he can't really match Paul for breezy virtuosity, nor Lennon for off-the-wall pop originality. Nonetheless he pulls off the trick better than anyone else I've ever heard. Personally, I think of EC as real inheritor of The Beatles' pop legacy. Though I may be alone in thinking that.

[Jack of All Parades]

I follow you on this track of thought, PD. EC clearly is the Lennon in the equation for me[and not so sure I even want him to try to equal the 'breeziness' of McCartney-I have always found that aspect of him too facile], but EC is for me a more misanthropic student of human character and our darker, submerged emotions. One also has the "anxiety of influence" problem as well; Lennon being some big shoes to fill. Which, if I can believe the reports regarding his brief collaboration with McCartney in the late 80s, led to the breakup of their working as a songwriting team. EC being too close, and perhaps even stronger than his predecessor and causing McCartney to have to revisit all the old anxieties that came out of the initial partnership.

[wordnat]

[quote="Poor Deportee"]EC is right about 'Yes It Is.' A killer song, with subtly unhinged lyrics, that is simultaneusly gentle, and yet explosive in the middle eight.

Agreed, but I feel that "This Boy" -- which is the chassis upon which "Yes It Is" is built -- is the greater track.

[cwr]

The breakdown of the McCartney/MacManus collaboration really saddens me both as a Costello fan and, perhaps even more so, as a McCartney fan.

As a Costello fan, I just think it would have been so cool if they had really been able to, say, make a whole album as a duo, simply because it would have been an amazing album and easily the biggest hit of his career.

As a McCartney fan, it would have been great just to have someone like Costello to provide some quality control and guide him towards his better impulses. Even the McCartney records that I've sort of enjoyed in the past two decades have lacked, for me, that spark that I feel they should have had. I love a lot of McCartney's solo work in the 70s, and I've sort of been waiting for McCartney to have a return to form like Dylan has had since Time Out Of Mind, but I'm starting to think it just won't happen. (I know a lot of fans cite things like Flaming Pie, but albums like that sort of leave me cold, mostly.)

I wish that McCartney would have been able to put aside his insecurities and allow some credit to go to Costello. They wrote some good songs, and the best versions are the demos where they sing in harmony together. A whole record like that would have been a thing of wonder.

[johnfoyle]

Curiosity has me wondering which songs have been selected. Until the copy I've ordered arrives details of the top 50 are, so far, only listed here ; Mr Moonlight is , hopefully, in the next 50!

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showt ... 006&page=2

1. "A Day in the Life" (Lennon/McCartney)

2. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (Lennon/McCartney)

3. "Strawberry Fields Forever" (Lennon)

4. "Yesterday" (McCartney)

5. "In My Life" (Lennon/McCartney)

6. "Something" (Harrison)

7. "Hey Jude" (McCartney)

8. "Let it Be" (McCartney)

9. "Come Together" (Lennon)

10. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (Harrison)

11. "A Hard Day's Night" (Lennon)

12. "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" (Lennon/McCartney)

13. "Revolution" (Lennon)

14. "She Loves You" (Lennon/McCartney)

15. "Help!" (Lennon)

16. "I Saw Her Standing There" (McCartney)

17. "Ticket to Ride" (Lennon/McCartney)

18. "Tomorrow Never Knows" (Lennon)

19. "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" (Lennon)

20. "Please Please Me" (Lennon)

21. "All You Need is Love" (Lennon)

22. "Eleanor Rigby" (McCartney)

23. "Abbey Road Medley" (McCartney/Lennon) ("The End")

24. "Happiness is a Warm Gun" (Lennon)

25. "Here, There, and Everywhere" (McCartney)

26. "If I Fell" (Lennon)

27. "You're Going to Lose That Girl" (Lennon/McCartney)

28. "Here Comes the Sun" (Harrison)

29. "Can't Buy Me Love" (McCartney)

30. "We Can Work it Out" (McCartney/Lennon)

31. "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" (Lennon)

32. "Penny Lane" (McCartney)

33. "I Am the Walrus" (Lennon)

34. "Eight Days a Week" (McCartney/Lennon)

35. "Paperback Writer" (McCartney)

36. "I Should Have Known Better" (Lennon)

37. "She Said She Said" (Lennon)

38. "Blackbird" (McCartney)

39. "Day Tripper" (Lennon)

40. "For No One" (McCartney)

41. "Get Back" (McCartney)

42. "I Feel Fine" (Lennon)

43. "Drive My Car" (McCartney/Lennon)

44. "All My Loving" (McCartney)

45. "No Reply" (Lennon)

46. "Don't Let Me Down" (Lennon)

47. "Things We Said Today" (McCartney)

48. "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (Lennon)

49. "The Night Before" (McCartney)

50. "Got to Get You Into My Life" (McCartney)

[Poor Deportee]

Christopher, I think you're too hard on McCartney - at least, if we just focus on his Beatles stuff. Even his sillier songs with the Beatles show what Ian MacDonald called 'an exuberant interest in life, dispersing self-absorption.' Take Lovely Rita Meter Maid, When I'm 64, Honey Pie, or even Another Day from his early solo days. On the surface, these songs can be seen as glib. Yet they just radiate a such a joyous and spirited generosity toward the human condition they can't but make you smile. And his melodies are, of course, splendid.

cwr, I totally agree that a really authentic Costello-McCartney recording would have been wonderful. Alas, Sir Paul loves to lacquer production sheen over everything, perhaps because he still sees having hits as part of the definition of success. One of the traps The Beatles mostly managed to avoid was becoming defeated by their own interest in what their contemporaries were doing musically. They lucked out, in that they happened to be working in an era when pop-musical genius abounded (Dylan, Brian Wilson, Zappa, The Stones, etc.). Had they not broken up, even assuming no slackening of their creative gifts, their drive to be on the forefront of pop would almost certainly have seen them gradually descending into the bogs of ELO prog rock and other abominations. I always found it telling that both George and Paul thought so highly of Jeff Lynne's abysmal production ethos. (You can see the rot setting in on Let It Be, where the desire to be 'with the times' brings them perilously close to being a middling bar-blues band). In short, in mediocre times, The Beatles would likely have become more mediocre themselves.

I recall seeing footage somewhere of Paul sabotaging EC's attempt to record 'My Brave Face' by hamming it up and making him break up with laughter. I always wondered if that wasn't Paul deliberately trying to keep control of what he'd identified as a surefire hit record. So yeah, McCartneyish insecurity may have played a role in the failure to capitalize artistically on that collaboration. Still, 'You Want Her Too' remains a hilarious testament to the willingness of both men to make fun of their own images.

[Jack of All Parades]

PD, do not think I was too hard on Sir Paul but I will admit to having been always tainted by Mr. Lennon's assessment of some of his partner's musical efforts as "Paul's granny music". That said will never belittle a man who could gave us "Yesterday', "Here, There and Everywhere", "For No One", "Can't Buy me Love" and "Penny Lane" for starters. As well, will never look down my nose at his melodious ways- he just oozes that talent. My point I hope was that EC in the new songwriting equation may have been too reminiscent of his old partnership and the sense that he would be treated as the lessor in that team, as well.

Cannot get over how many of the songs in the first 50 list that I truly continuously listen to are attributed to Lennon- it had never sunk in for me like that until I reviewed this list.

[johnfoyle]

'This is a updated version of an essay that appeared in RS 946' reads the note at the end of Elvis' introduction - yes, it's a re-write of Elvis' April '04 piece in a RS "The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time" magazine.

There is new stuff in , with Elvis writing about recently seeing footage of Beatles press conferences from the 60s , a reference to Michael Jackson is dropped to be replaced by references to Charlie Chaplin, Brigitte Bardot and Elvis Presley etc. The original sign-off line They were everybody's is now They belong to everybody. Tidier , I suppose.

Otherwise the magazine is the usual re-telling of the Beatles story , lotsa the usual photos etc. I've seen it all before but maybe it might catch the eye of someone new to it all and no harm in that.

[johnfoyle]

The RS 100 in full-

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/200 ... songs-ever

[Pretender]

Since it's a personal account sources don't have to be so detailed and they did listen to The Beatles.

I agree. I know this is a little late, but Costello (should I say Declan?) Does not have to give credit to the Smithereens when he is writing an article in praise of the Beatles. He mentions Kurt Cobain because it makes the Beatles look important when someone that famous and musically influential likes them.

My favorite Beatles album is Rubber Soul, so I agree with him there too. Earlier than that, some of their music was derivative and they were still doing covers; after that, they became too preoccupied with being original and experimental. We call that being too self-conscious. It's like saying the early Billie Holiday is better because she was unaware of how her voice was supposed to sound. Only with Rubber Soul and Revolver was their sound fully integrated and yet not self-conscious.

Getting back to the first point, there are lots of people that could be credited with having been influenced by the Beatles and in turn influencing others. To credit all of them would be to write a book, not an article.

I love all the Beatles albums, their first and last album (Please Please Me, Abbey Road) particuliarly. But Rubber Soul American Capitol Version is the album that when I get to the last song, I want to hear 'I've Just Seen A Face' again. Of course I know that Declan would not have listened to that version, being British. And Drive My Car is one of my favorite songs, being cool, hip, fun, and funny all at the same time, which is hard to pull off.

[johnfoyle]

Elvis 2010 revision of his 2004 piece about the Beatles is now online ; I've highlighted the substantial alterations.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists ... s-20110919


By Elvis Costello

I first heard of the Beatles when I was nine years old. I spent most of my holidays on Merseyside then, and a local girl gave me a bad publicity shot of them with their names scrawled on the back.

This was 1962 or '63, before they came to America. The photo was badly lit, and they didn't quite have their look down; Ringo had his hair slightly swept back, as if he wasn't quite sold on the Beatles haircut yet.

I didn't care about that; they were the band for me. The funny thing is that parents and all their friends from Liverpool were also curious and proud about this local group. Prior to that, the people in show business from the north of England had all been comedians. The Beatles even recorded for Parlophone, which was a comedy label, as if they believed they might be a passing novelty act.

I was exactly the right age to be hit by them full-on. My experience — seizing on every picture, saving money for singles and EPs, catching them on a local news show — was repeated over and over again around the world. It wasn't the first time anything like this had happened, but the Beatles achieved a level of fame and recognition known previously only to Charlie Chaplin, Brigitte Bardot and Elvis Presley, along with a little of the airless exclusivity of astronauts, former presidents and other heavyweight champions.

Every record was a shock. Compared to rabid R&B evangelists like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles arrived sounding like nothing else. They had already absorbed Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry, but they were also writing their own songs. They made writing your own material expected, rather than exceptional.

And John Lennon and Paul McCartney were exceptional songwriters; McCartney was, and is, a truly virtuoso musician; George Harrison wasn't the kind of guitar player who tore off wild, unpredictable solos, but you can sing the melodies of nearly all of his breaks. Most important, they always fit right into the arrangement. Ringo Starr played the drums with an incredibly unique feel that nobody can really copy, although many fine drummers have tried and failed. Most of all, John and Paul were fantastic singers.

Lennon, McCartney and Harrison had stunningly high standards as writers. Imagine releasing a song like "Ask Me Why" or "Things We Said Today" as a B side. They made such fantastic records as "Paperback Writer" b/w "Rain" or "Penny Lane" b/w "Strawberry Fields Forever" and only put them out as singles. These records were events, and not just advance notice of an album. Then they started to really grow up: simple love lyrics to adult stories like "Norwegian Wood," which spoke of the sour side of love, and on to bigger ideas than you would expect to find in catchy pop lyrics.

They were the first group to mess with the aural perspective of their recordings and have it be more than just a gimmick. Engineers like Geoff Emerick invented techniques that we now take for granted, in response to the group's imagination. Before the Beatles, you had guys in lab coats doing recording experiments, but you didn't have rockers deliberately putting things out of balance, like a quiet vocal in front of a loud track on "Strawberry Fields Forever." You can't exaggerate the license that this gave to everyone from Motown to Jimi Hendrix.

My absolute favorite albums are Rubber Soul and Revolver. On both records you can hear references to other music — R&B, Dylan, psychedelia — but it's not done in a way that is obvious or dates the records. When you picked up Revolver, you knew it was something different. Heck, they are wearing sunglasses indoors in the picture on the back of the cover and not even looking at the camera . . . and the music was so strange and yet so vivid. If I had to pick a favorite song from those albums, it would be "And Your Bird Can Sing" . . . no, "Girl" . . . no, "For No One" . . . and so on, and so on. . . .

Their breakup album, Let It Be, contains songs both gorgeous and jagged. I suppose ambition and human frailty creeps into every group, but they delivered some incredible performances. I remember going to Leicester Square and seeing the film of Let It Be in 1970. I left with a melancholy feeling.

Someone recently gave me an assembly of newsreel footage, which illustrates how swiftly the band was drained of the bright and joyful wit presented as a public face.

In one early sequence, McCartney tells reporters that they will soon appear on The Ed Sullivan Show and then points into the camera: "There he is, hi, Ed, and Mrs. Ed" — "and Mr. Ed," chimes Ringo. It might have been practiced, but it plays entirely off-the-cuff.

Just a year later, they are seen at a press conference in Los Angeles for their final tour. Suits and ties are a thing of the past. Staring down a series of dismal attempts at provocation from the press corps, they look exhausted and disenchanted.

When probed by one blowhard to respond to a Time magazine critique that "Day Tripper" was about a prostitute and "Norwegian Wood" about a lesbian, McCartney responds, "We were just trying to write songs about prostitutes and lesbians." In the laughter that follows, he mutters, "Cut." They were giving the impression that the game was up, but in truth, they were just getting started.

The word "Beatlesque" has been in the dictionary for quite a while now. You hear them in Harry Nilsson's melodies; in Prince's Around the World in a Day; in the hits of ELO and Crowded House and in Ron Sexsmith's ballads. You can hear that Kurt Cobain listened to the Beatles and mixed their ideas with punk and metal. They can be heard in all sorts of one-off wonders from the Knickerbockers' "Lies" and the Flamin' Groovies' "Shake Some Action." The scope and license of the White Album has permitted everyone from OutKast to Radiohead to Green Day to Joanna Newsom to roll their picture out on a broader, bolder canvas.

Now, I'll admit that I've stolen my share of Beatles licks, but around the turn of the Nineties, I got to co-write 12 songs with Paul McCartney and even dared to propose that he too reference some of the Beatles' harmonic signatures — as, astonishingly, he had made up another musical vocabulary for Wings and during his solo career.

In 1999, a little time after Linda McCartney's passing, Paul performed at the Concert for Linda, organized by Chrissie Hynde. During the rehearsal, I was singing harmony on a Ricky Nelson song with him, and Paul called out the next tune: "All My Loving."

I said, "Do you want me to take the harmony line the second time round?" And he said, "Yeah, give it a try." I'd only had 35 years to learn the part. There was inevitably a poignant feeling to this song, written long before he had even met Linda:

Close your eyes and I'll kiss you
Tomorrow I'll miss you
Remember I'll always be true.

At the show, it was very different. The second Paul sang the opening lines, the crowd's reaction was so intense that it all but drowned the song out. It was very thrilling, but also disconcerting.

Perhaps I understood in that moment one of the reasons why the Beatles had to stop performing. The songs weren't theirs anymore. They belonged to everybody.

This is an updated version of an essay that appeared in RS 946.