Backstage Pass
The Rock Radio
Windows Media Player - Dial-up Windows Media Player - Broadband Real Player/One - Dial-up Real Player/One - Broadband Winamp - Dial-up Winamp - Broadband iTunes - Dial-up iTunes - Broadband
RSS rock news feed The Rock Radio Now Playing Backstage Pass Rock Legends Interviews Photos Reviews Forum Fun Jobs

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Paul McCartney's new album to feature 15-minute suite

Paul McCartney's upcoming album will feature a "15-minute Abbey Road-style musical suite," according to Rolling Stone. The new album, which is McCartney's first for the Starbucks/Concord Music Group's offshoot label Hear Music, is due out in June. Glen Barros, the CEO of Concord Music Group, said that, "You can hear real elements of the Wings and Beatles eras (in the new album)."

The album, which includes tracks featuring McCartney's touring band as well as completely solo performances, was described as a "collage-style disc."

Macca is known for his use of "the pop suite," which he first used on the Beatles' Abbey Road album. On the album's second side, McCartney and John Lennon combined a dozen separate musical ideas, from mainly unfinished songs, into one coherent medley.

Over the years, McCartney has used the technique several times, on such songs as "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey," "Band On The Run," "Picasso's Last Words," and "Venus And Mars/Rock Show," and on his 1973 album Red Rose Speedway.

McCartney is expected to hit the road in support of the new album sometime in the fall.

In Other Beatles-related news:

Original Beatles drummer Pete Best wants to meet up with Paul McCartney. Best, who was fired by the group in August 1962 on the eve of them breaking in Britain, hasn't had any direct contact with anyone from the group in nearly 45 years. Best told Britain's The Daily Mail that he harbors no hard feelings towards McCartney, explaining that, "We're not getting any younger. We know what we've done and we're not going to think any worse of each other if we had a chat now. God bless us, it was all 40-odd years ago."

Best, who returned to performing nearly 20 years ago after working as a civil servant for years, says that he's hardly the doomed figure that people sometimes have perceived him to be: "Some people expect me to be bitter and twisted, but I'm not. I feel very fortunate in my life. God knows what strains and stresses the Beatles must have been under. They became a public commodity. And John (Lennon) paid for that with his life."

He said that despite it all, like the rest of the world, he was a Beatles fan too: "I didn't buy their first record, 'Love Me Do,' but I got later ones, because quite honestly, they were so good, so different, so brave. And their songs have stood the test of time."

Best says that he's long moved past dwelling on missing out on being the drummer for the biggest band in the world: "I put it to bed many, many years ago. Don't get me wrong it wasn't a 24-hour situation, it took a while to adjust to. But you've got to wake up one morning and just go, 'Hang on. It's no good reflecting about yesteryear all the time,' it's very much about today and tomorrow. And there's loads of things in life which compensate for it. I've got a great family. Great family life. I've got four beautiful grandchildren which I totally idolize and spoil. I think life's good for me."

Best finally reaped some financial rewards for his two-year stint in the Beatles, when ten previously unreleased tracks featuring him on drums were included on the 1995 album The Beatles Anthology 1.

The Pete Best Band will kick off a series of U.S. dates on June 8th and 9th in Marlboro, Massachusetts at Dante's Firefly.

Submit the above story to:

Del.icio.us   Digg   reddit   StumbleUpon   Facebook


The Rock Radio online


Girl Of The Day! Guns N' Roses Hour every Sunday Queen Hour every Sunday
Click

Email Login
Password
New users sign up!


© The Rock Radio | About Us | Privacy Policy | Link To Us | Contact | Advertise