McCartney pens love letter to old standards
He may have a new love in his life, but Paul McCartney's video for his new song "My Valentine" is a love letter to the old standards.
"I've always loved these songs since I was a kid, it's what I grew up listening to. My dad was a pianist at the big New Years Eve do's - [it] was a big sing-along, a big family sing along. They'd roll back the carpets everyone would sing for the whole evening and they'd sing all these songs - what we call now the 'American songbook.'"
McCartney's latest album is a collection of those classics he's loved since childhood.
"I never realized why I loved them, I just knew I did. There was this nostalgic thing because of my family but, as I became a writer myself and started to construct songs, I would hear those songs and think 'Wow I love the way they put that verse there, love the way that rhymes with that, that's clever', and now I can appreciate what they were doing."
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Though it's been 55 years since Sir Paul penned his first song, he's just now realizing how much inspiration those haunting ballads delivered.
"I realized it kind of influenced me and the stuff that the Beatles' wrote, which in the 60's we were influenced by rock-n-roll. There was still this little back thing - these older songs. So I think what we ended up doing was mixing the rock-n-roll influence with this old influence from our youth."
McCartney's new album title, "Kisses on the Bottom," is a tribute to a Fats Waller song. But selling standards isn't easy, even when you're an icon. To market his new music, McCartney took an innovative approach and became spokesperson for JBL, a sound company.
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"You get an opportunity to do this in this way, it's the kinda thing you jump at. And JBL ... offered to do this mini-film, which would introduce the album to people," he said.
Surprisingly, McCartney, who will turn 70 this year, got his just first star on the Hollywood walk of fame Thursday - the last of the Fab Four to get the honor. But he was quick to share the credit with his fellow Beatles.
"I couldn't have done it without three boys, so I want to say thanks to those guys: John, George and Ringo."
McCartney's weekend is just getting started. He'll be honored Friday night by a who's who in the music business, this time for his charity work. And he'll be performing Sunday at the Grammy Awards.
Watch the 54th annual Grammy Awards live on CBS, Sunday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. ET.