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June 2014

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June 27, 2014 -- Paul McCartney Twitter

Throwback Friday Photo

Ten years ago Paul headlined Glastonbury Here's a photo from his appearance

BIDDING LINK:

http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/558501

People love to get together at this time of year, and we think there's no better way to entertain a bunch of family and friends than to host a good old-fashioned summer barbecue *good weather not guaranteed.
 
It's your turn to host from the backyard, time to spruce up the garden furniture, dig out the fairy lights and put your grilling skills to the test. It's always difficult to please everyone, so what can you serve that will really impress your guests?
 
Chris from the UK has been in touch to find out. He asks Paul,
 
"When you have barbecues, what kind of food do you like to cook for your guests?"

We caught up with Paul recently to find out. He replied, 
 
"I love to cook Linda's veggie burgers and sausages, which I have got down to a fine art. I also like to BBQ asparagus brushed with a little olive oil, but you have to keep an eye on these (like everything in life!)"
 
Paul and his family are passionate about good food. You can find a selection of tried and tested family favourites from Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney on the Meat Free Monday website. The campaign is celebrating five years this summer.
 
If you're seeking further food-inspiration then look no further than the Meat Free Monday Instagram page, dedicated to showcasing the most imaginative and delicious looking meat-free meals. Here at PaulMcCartney.com, we think no barbecue is complete without an ice-cold drink, scratchy picnic blanket and the squeak of grilled halloumi!

PAUL McCARTNEY'S FIRST EVER GREENSBORO (NC) DATE ADDED TO 'OUT THERE' TOUR
October 30: Greensboro, NC - Coliseum TICKET LINK

Paul McCartney has added another date to summer's hottest ticket: The 'Out There' world tour will touch down at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina-marking Paul's historic first ever performance in the city of Greensboro.

Paul recently took a quick break from rehearsals for the tour, which resumes July 5 in Albany, NY, to film a special video message to his fans which can be seen below:

Fans registered with PaulMcCartney.com will be eligible to purchase pre-sale tickets from 9am (EDT / 2pm BST) on Thursday 26th June.

To be eligible for this pre-sale fans must be registered with the website by 5am (EDT / 10am BST) on Thursday. Please note, website ticket pre-sales are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

Register for pre-sale tickets by clicking HERE!

Tickets for the Greensboro, NC date will be on sale Monday, June 30. American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public beginning Thursday, June 26 at 10am through Sunday, June 29 at 10pm.

Keep checking PaulMcCartney.com for further announcements as the 'Out There' tour expands into September and October.

Paul recently played the Estádio Nacional in San José, Costa Rica, the third gig of his current tour of Latin America.

The show was Paul's first ever concert in the country, and PaulMcCartney.com was on hand to capture his welcome!

He has been in recovery after being struck down with a mystery illness during his tour of the Far East in May.

So it's no surprise Sir Paul McCartney opted to get away on a sunshine break as he was pictured enjoying a day at the beach in Ibiza (eastern Spain) on Sunday.

The 72-year-old was joined by his 54-year-old wife, Nancy Shevell, and a few pals as they lapped up the sunshine on the Spanish island.

The couple arrived on the beach in casual attire as Sir Paul opted for red swimming trunks while his wife looked stylish in a floral rash vest paired with animal print bikini bottoms.

Paul was keen to make the most of the sunshine as he went for a quick dip in the Mediterranean Sea.

The pair waded in the waves for a short while before making their way back up the beach to lounge with their fellow holiday makers.

The group enjoyed the heat as they lay on their sun loungers but opted not to lie in direct sunlight.

Fans recently received an insight into the music legend's life thanks to a new excerpt from 'Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s' by Tom Doyle.

The snippet - published in Esquire -  is focused on a period in the star's life ­ following the Beatles split - when he felt he almost had a 'nervous breakdown'.

Tom Doyle writes: 'It was as if he'd suddenly and unexpectedly lost his job, been made entirely redundant.

'This was an identity crisis in extremis: Who exactly was he if he wasn't Beatle Paul McCartney?

Paul is then quoted saying: 'I hit the bottle. I hit the substances.'

The singer described how he felt at the time saying it was like 'a barreling, empty feeling rolling across his soul' but credited his late wife, Linda as the saving grace that helped him through.

In May McCartney had to cancel several dates in Japan and South Korea on his Out There world tour after falling ill with a mystery virus.

But the dedicated performer has turned a corner health-wise and will hit the road again on July 5 for the North American leg of his show.

'I'm sorry but it's going to be a few more weeks before we get rocking in America again. I'm feeling great but taking my docs' advice to take it easy for just a few more days.

'Look forward to seeing you all soon,' the singer said in a statement on his website at the time.

As they sailed out to a yacht, the pair seemed happy and content with their surroundings, with Nancy taking pictures of the view on her camera and Paul doing a muscle man pose.

The pair were then spotted relaxing on board and chatting to several members of the crew as they stood in his and hers trilby hats and sunglasses.

Nancy later stripped off to a pretty blue and white bikini to make the most of the sunny weather. The  two-piece showed off her stunning figure.

Paul McCartney 'Save Us' (Fan Video)

CLICK TO WATCH

The oldest intersection here belongs to guitarist Dave Mason, who took part in a recording with McCartney and his 1970s-era band Wings. Celebrated rhythm players Stanley Clarke and Steve Gadd joined in early 1980s sessions with McCartney and legendary Beatles producer George Martin, coming away with lasting memories.

Others, like guitarists Brian Ray and Steve Lukather, have enjoyed on-going musical relationships with McCartney since first working with him years ago. Ray is a member of McCartney's longest-running backing band, while Lukather recently joined McCartney and Ringo Starr for a gala celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' arrival in America.

"SILLY LOVE SONGS," (GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADSTREET, 1984): Toto members Steve Lukather and Jeff Porcaro took part in the only new reinterpretation of a Wings song to be included on this soundtrack and film. A huge hit in 1976, "Silly Love Songs" would spend five non-consecutive weeks atop the U.S. charts. Eight years later, Give My Regards offered a notable twist, as the band members were featured in memorably strange on-stage get ups. Lukather, a died-in-the-wool Beatles nut, ultimately couldn't have cared less.

STEVE LUKATHER: We had met Paul during the Thriller record. That was the first time we met. Paul then invited Jeff and I over to be in the movie with him. Now, we didn't know we were going to wear all of that makeup and sh*t, which was pretty funny. Then, we realized he was doing it, too - so, if it was good enough for Paul McCartney, it was good enough for us. We kept telling everybody, 'Hey, we're in the new McCartney movie.' And it comes out, and we're unrecognizable! But we had such a blast. Now, if you work in the business long enough, you don't get starstruck too often. When Paul McCartney walks in the room, though, you just think: 'Wow.' But he and Linda were so awesome. She was great - funny, smart, together. A beautiful person. I had to pinch myself. I played the Mellotron that was on "Strawberry Fields." I played the riff in front of him - and I thought, 'Boy, I better not f*ck this up.' I asked Linda if she thought he would be mad at me, and she said no. So, I did it, and he just laughed and started telling Beatles stories. That opened up the floodgates. We ended up jamming to old Beatles tunes with Paul.

"LISTEN WHAT THE MAN SAID," (VENUS AND MARS, 1975): The guest star likely best remembered on this U.S. and Canadian charttopper is saxophonist Tom Scott, but he wasn't the only big name to drop by. Dave Mason, of Traffic and later Fleetwood Mac fame, also dropped by as sessions for Wings' fourth studio album continued. The entire thing, it turns out, was based on a happenstance meeting.

DAVE MASON: Actually, they were recording in New Orleans, and I was doing a show there. A couple of the guys from Wings came by to the see the show, and we had a day off the next day. They said: "Why don't you come down to the studio?" I'm sure Paul would love to see you. So, I just stopped by, and they happened to be cutting "Listen to What the Man Said." Paul was, like: "Hey, c'mon, you should sit in with us. [Laughs.]"

"HEY HEY," (PIPES OF PEACE, 1983): One of just three songs on this project not written solely by McCartney - the other two feature Michael Jackson - "Hey Hey" found bassist Stanley Clarke joining in a raucous instrumental. At least, at first. Midway through, Clarke - who played on both Pipes of Peace and its 1982 predecessor Tug of War - steps forward for a memorably jazzy interlude. These sessions helped create a lasting bond between performers known for their work on the same instrument.

STANLEY CLARKE: He's a beautiful player. Of all of the recordings I've played on, those two records are among the most memorable. We went down to this island, and I hung out with Paul for a couple of weeks. I really, really had a lot of fun. He's a very melodic player. Melody just comes right out of him. That's only natural for him to play the bass like that. He does it without thinking. He's a writer who sings songs, so it was only natural when he plays the bass, his lines would be very melodic.

ONLY MAMA KNOWS, (MEMORY ALMOST FULL, 2007): Though he s worked with the same touring band since 2002, McCartney has most often recorded alone over his last few pop recordings. Ray played on one song from 2005 2s Chaos and Creation, five other Memory Almost Full cuts, and roughly half of McCartney s New, his most recent effort. That means guitarist Brian Ray has to make the most of his rare opportunities, like this rollicking standout from '07 still a concert staple for this long-standing lineup, which has outlasted Wings.

BRIAN RAY: It s kind of crazy, isn t it? It s longer than the Beatles recorded together, too. I wasn t even thinking in those terms, at first. But once it got to eight years, I thought: Oh my God, he s going to let this happen. Paul is going to let this be his longest-serving band. It s an incredible honor. I owe so much of my life, my energy, my enthusiasm for life and music and people and my positive attitude, I owe all of that so directly to Paul. He s not just my favorite bass player on the planet; he s not only the best songwriter in our lifetime. He s also an inspiring, cool guy just to hang with. I m honored on every possible level.

"Yes we're going to a party, party!"

Taken on June 18th in Tucson during the 'Wings over America' tour.

#ThrowbackThursday Photo

Paul in 1993, playing live at Sao Paulo's Estádio do Pacaembu on his 'New World Tour'.

Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) Sixth Form, which will be run in partnership with Edge Hill University, will offer 16 to 18-year-olds BTEC, A-level and equivalent courses with an emphasis on creative and performing arts.

One of 38 new free schools across the UK to be announced today, it is expected to open in September 2015 and have around 300 students.

LIPA has already been given the go-ahead for LIPA primary school, a centrally-funded "free school" for four to 11-year-olds, which is due to open in September.

The new sixth form is being dubbed BRIT 3 after the performing arts school LIPA co-founder Mark Featherstone Witty established in Croydon in the 1980s and Birmingham Ormiston Academy, widely known as BRIT 2.

LIPA said the new venture would mirror the ethos and curriculum of LIPA.

Mr Featherstone Witty told the ECHO: "The announcement today is the start of an exciting journey."

He added: "We will offer students a unique opportunity to understand and learn how the performing arts industry works, as well as how to succeed in working in it or create their own enterprises.

It's the ideal extension to the LIPA family, complementing what's already been achieved in the 18 years since LIPA's launch in 1996.

Gazing lovingly at her husband, who had a hit in 1967 with With a Little Help From My Friends, Miss Shevell painted the picture of a doting wife.

While they only married in 2011, she has long been there to comfort him: first after the death of Linda in 1998 and then during his messy separation from Heather Mills.

Their friendship turned to love and the pair starting dating in 2007, shortly before Sir Paul's divorce to Mills was finalised in 2008.

Miss Shevell was not the only wife of a Beatles member to be on the guest list, with Barbara Bach, 66, wife of Ringo Starr, and Olivia Harrison, 66, widow of George also attending.

Miss Bach was accompanied by her sister Marjorie and, sharing an embrace, the sisters look a picture of health and happiness, a contrast to their youth when they both struggled with substance abuse.

Speaking to Sir Paul's status as musical royalty, Glen Frey, 65, and Joe Walsh, 66 ­ who is married to Marjorie Bach ­ of US rock band The Eagles took time out of their UK tour for the party.

While he is known to have taken drugs during his musical heyday­ once spending nine days in a Japanese prison after being arrested carrying marijuana in 1980 ­ The Wings guitarist's stories pale in comparison to those of The Eagles, known for their debauched antics involving drugs, girls and explosive confrontations.

A recent documentary about the band shows Mr Frey at a 1980 charity gig threatening to kill the group's guitarist, Don Felder, on stage and organising a fight for after the show

In celebration of a growing Meat Free movement we have launched an Instagram page dedicated to showcasing your flavourful, imaginative and exciting meat-free meals.

We'd like to invite you to Instagram your pictures using the hashtag #MeatFreeMonday.

We will re-gram our favourites at the 'MeatFreeMonday' page HERE.

We're looking for interesting, striking and even amusing food photos to inspire others to get behind the campaign. So whenever you've cooked a spectacular-looking and delicious meat-free meal, please remember to Instagram it to us, and who knows where you may see it next.

He's on the road to recovery after being struck down with a mystery illness during his tour of the Far East in May.

Stepping out on Wednesday, Sir Paul McCartney looked decidedly chipper as he began his 72nd birthday with a stroll close to his London home.

Sporting a hooded blue top and black Adidas tracksuit bottoms, the former Beatle had a spring in his step as he greeted onlookers with a cheerful smile ­ although he resisted the urge to offer the thumbs up gesture he's renowned for.

McCartney was accompanied by third wife Nancy Shevell, the wealthy American socialite he married in October 2011, and she appeared to match his optimistic mood as they strolled arm in arm.

The 53-year-old looked rather sporty in a hoodie and bleached jeggings, matching them with a pair of black Nike trainers.

In May McCartney had to cancel several dates in Japan and South Korea on his Out There world tour after falling ill with a mystery virus.

But the dedicated performer has turned a corner health-wise and will hit the road again on July 5 for the North American leg of his show.

'I'm sorry but it's going to be a few more weeks before we get rocking in America again. I'm feeling great but taking my docs' advice to take it easy for just a few more days.

'Look forward to seeing you all soon,' the singer said in a statement on his website at the time.

The Out There tour showcases an eclectic array of songs from Paul's solo career and his time in both the Beatles and Wings.

The avid vegetarian is also a passionate campaigner for his Meat Free Monday movement, which urges people to skip meat at the beginning of the week.

The campaign is backed by Paul's daughters with his first wife, the late Linda McCartney, Stella and Mary and has just celebrated its five year anniversary. 'Thank you to everyone who supports the campaign.

'Eating more fruit and veg, and less meat, is good for our health and good for the planet. With diet-related diseases on the rise, Meat Free Monday is more important now than ever,' Paul wrote on his website of the milestone on Monday.

Animal rights activists have marked Sir Paul McCartney's birthday on June 18th by hitting the streets of his English hometown wearing masks of his face.

The Beatles legend turns 72 today and to honour the longtime vegetarian, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) members handed out meat-free snacks on the streets of Liverpool on Tuesday.

The campaigners wore masks of McCartney's face and carried placards featuring the slogan, "Give peas a chance - try vegan", in reference to the song Give Peace a Chance by the rocker's late bandmate John Lennon.

They marched in front of the city's famous The Cavern Club, where the Fab Four played in their early years.

PETA Associate Director Mimi Bekhechi says, "We're sure Paul will be delighted that we've chosen to honour his birthday by encouraging the public to give vegetarianism a try. Whether you're six or 64 or, in Paul's case, a very young 72, going vegetarian is a great way to help animals, your healthand the environment."

1. "One of my biggest thrills for me still is sitting down with a guitar or a piano and just out of nowhere trying to make a song happen."

2. "I used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people that call others weird that are weird."

3. "Somebody said to me, 'But the Beatles were anti-materialistic'. That's a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, 'Now, let's write a swimming pool'."

4. "None of us wanted to be the bass player. In our minds he was the fat guy who always played at the back."

5. "I don't work at being ordinary."

6. "Why would I retire? Sit at home and watch TV? No thanks. I'd rather be out playing."

7. "It was Elvis who really got me hooked on beat music. When I heard Heartbreak Hotel, I thought, 'this is it'."

8. "I think people who create and write, it actually does flow-just flows from into their head, into their hand, and they write it down. It's simple."

9. "If children are studying the 20th century, I'm in their text books."

10. "There are only four people who knew what the Beatles were about anyway."

11. "John's time and effort were, in the main, spent on pretty honourable stuff. As for the other side, well, nobody's perfect, nobody's Jesus. And look what they did to him."

12. "Everybody at EMI had become part of the furniture. I'd be a couch; Coldplay are an armchair. Robbie Williams, I dread to think what he was."

13. "But with writers, there's nothing wrong with melancholy. It's an important colour in writing."

14. "Being in the audience actually looks like quite a lot of fun."

15. "My grandkids always beat me at [the video game] Rock Band. And I say, 'Listen, you may beat me at Rock Band, but I made the original records, so shut up'."

16. "I can take pot or leave it. I got busted in Japan for it. I was nine days without it and there wasn't a hint of withdrawal, nothing."

17. "You know, as a kid I would have thought of a vegetarian as a wimp."

18. "I figure I've probably got a better chance of coming up with a good Paul McCartney song than Oasis has."

19. "The thing with The X Factor is, you don't have to turn it on. It is really not a bad thing. You are talking about people being on the dole (welfare) - this gets people off the dole. It gives some people an opportunity, it gives them confidence, it gives them work. There is nothing wrong with that."

20. "It's also not unusual for writers to look backward. Because that's your pool of resources."

He's a musical legend whose second home is the stage.

But it appears when he's not performing, Sir Paul McCartney still has a bit to learn after he stepped out with a hole in his beige chinos while heading out for a bite to eat with his wife Nancy Shevell.

The Beatles star, who turns 72 on Wednesday, looked oblivious to his fashion fail as he walked out of the restaurant in London's St. John's Wood on Tuesday afternoon.

Apart from the hole in his slacks, the rest of Paul's ensemble was presentable. Wearing a navy blazer, paisley shirt and casual trainers the Liverpudlian almost had the polished smart-casual brunch vibe down pat.

Meanwhile Nancy looked relaxed in a warm windcheater, tight gym leggings and trainers.

Perhaps the pair were enjoying an early meal for Paul's birthday.

While he might be greeting another birthday, the musical mastermind is still as busy as ever.

Earlier in the month, Paul had to cancel several dates in Japan and South Korea on his Out There world tour after falling ill with a mystery virus.

But the dedicated performer has turned a corner health-wise and will hit the road again on July 5 for the North American leg of his show.

I'm sorry but it's going to be a few more weeks before we get rocking in America again. I'm feeling great but taking my docs' advice to take it easy for just a few more days.

'Look forward to seeing you all soon,' the singer said in a statement on his website at the time.

The Out There tour showcases an eclectic array of songs from Paul's solo career and his time in both the Beatles and Wings.

The avid vegetarian is also a passionate campaigner for his Meat Free Monday movement, which urges people to skip meat at the beginning of the week.

The campaign is backed by Paul's daughters with his first wife, the late Linda McCartney, Stella and Mary and has just celebrated its five year anniversary. 'Thank you to everyone who supports the campaign.

'Eating more fruit and veg, and less meat, is good for our health and good for the planet. With diet-related diseases on the rise, Meat Free Monday is more important now than ever,' Paul wrote on his website of the milestone on Monday.

From a star-studded launch in London's St. James's Park, Meat Free Monday is now a global awareness movement

London ­ As the Meat Free Monday campaign celebrates its fifth year, the campaign, headed by Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney, looks forward to reaching new audiences.

From the McCartney family on celebrating the anniversary:

Paul: "Thank you to everyone who supports the campaign. Eating more fruit and veg, and less meat, is good for our health and good for the planet. With diet-related diseases on the rise, Meat Free Monday is more important now than ever."

Mary: "Happy fifth birthday Meat Free Monday! It's brilliant to see so many people embracing MFM and enjoying a break from meat at least once a week. I have noticed meat-free food options are more widely available than ever ­ flavourful and imaginative!"

Stella: "After five exciting years since the launch of MFM, we thank you for all your support and encourage more change, so we can do such a small thing for such a huge cause! One day a week without meat is achievable for us all and we know you can do it to have better health and a better environment."

Meat Free Monday has had an incredible response so far. Some of the world's leading authorities on climate change have endorsed meat reduction as an effective way of fighting global warming, including former US Vice President Al Gore, Chair of the IPCC Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Lord Nicholas Stern and former UK Government Chief Scientific Advisor Sir David King. And a host of celebrities and high profile chefs support the campaign, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Leona Lewis, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Oliver, Joanna Lumley and Sir Richard Branson.

According to the Center for a Livable Future at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, "animal agriculture generates a significant amount of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, and the increased frequency and severity of flooding, droughts, and other weather events expected to follow". The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that global meat production accounts for nearly 15 percent of all greenhouse emissions, while other scientists suggest the figure may be much higher.

Some food for thought:

Reducing meat consumption lessens the risks of heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and obesity.

Research by Oxford University found that 45,000 lives a year (and £1.2 billion in NHS costs) would be saved in the UK by people reducing their meat intake.

An area of Amazon rainforest the size of a hundred football pitches is cut down every hour to create room for cattle ranching.

Participating in Meat Free Monday just one day a week can reduce your annual carbon footprint by as much as not driving your car for an entire two and a half months.

On six continents, in over 35 countries and 23 languages, people have taken the pledge to go Meat Free on Monday ­ making eating for a healthier lifestyle and planet a worldwide movement. From members of the Norwegian military to the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture; the Hong Kong Airport Authority to Kuwait's Ministry of Health, a diverse array of people and groups support the campaign. No matter where it's happening, if it's called Lunes Sin Carne (Mexico), Meatless Monday (USA) or Luntiang Lunes (Philippines), skipping meat on Mondays is a simple step that can have a big impact.

Additional information

Since its launch in 2009 Meat Free Monday has:

Made a compelling plea to the European Parliament to take the issue of meat reduction seriously. In December 2009 Paul McCartney, along with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chair Dr Rajendra Pachauri and others, spoke at a special European Parliament hearing entitled 'Global Warming and Food Policy: Less Meat = Less Heat'.

Published The Meat Free Monday Cookbook featuring 312 recipes, including contributions from 42 celebrities, chefs, actors and fashion designers. Split into the four seasons, there are recipes for breakfast, packed lunch, lunch, side dish, dinner and dessert for every Monday of the year.

Got the message out to schools. In June 2012 Paul McCartney's 'A Meat Free Monday Message to Schools' was screened at the Sunday Times Festival of Education. More than twomillion school students take part in weekly 'Meat Free' lunch programmes, including in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Ghent, Helsinki, Liverpool and London.

Gained support from big companies. Supermarket Ocado and green energy company Ecotricity support the campaign and sportswear manufacturer Puma was an early adopter of Meat Free Monday in its German headquarters. Malmö Aviation became the first airline to support the campaign and the Nordic Light Hotel in Stockholm has also implemented a Meat Free Monday.

Meat Free Monday has exciting plans for celebrating its anniversary, including the launch of exclusive new T-shirts. To keep updated, and for more information about Meat Free Monday please visit meatfreemondays.com.

Paul McCartney's postponed Out There tour dates left thousands of disappointed fans and promoters scrambling to adjust their schedules. And while the long-term costs of his recent viral infection are likely to be minimal, show delays and cancellations can become rife with complications.  

McCartney had to pay perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars for the musicians, crew, trucks and buses he hired to set up the shows originally planned for June, concert-business sources say, but he also likely had insurance in case of cancellation. "It would be a huge catastrophe if Paul couldn't tour again, ever," says Doc McGhee, manager of Kiss, Darius Rucker and others. "But a postponement is just an inconvenience. I've seen people cancel shows that are sold out and come back later and do 50 percent [of the] business - I would doubt that would happen to a Beatle."

Although McCartney, 71, had to postpone all of his June shows in the U.S. to new dates in October, he said in a statement this week that he's "feeling great," and all accounts suggest the virus he contracted in Asia last month is a minor health issue. "I'm sorry, but it's going to be a few more weeks before we get rocking in America again," McCartney continued, adding that he was "taking my docs' advice to take it easy for just a few more days." His rescheduled U.S. tour of stadiums and arenas will begin July 5th in Albany, New York, and conclude October 28th in Louisville, Kentucky. (McCartney's reps wouldn't comment further, and his promoters didn't respond to interview requests.)

Performers and concert promoters often negotiate over insuring shows in advance, depending on the tour - McCartney, who has been reliable for decades, may spend less on insurance than, say, Guns N' Roses, which has a history of cancelling shows. Postponements generally take less of a financial hit than outright cancellations. McCartney's managers will likely have to pay for crew salaries and trucking contracts for the lost June dates, then renegotiate contracts for the October shows; concert promoters will have to spend thousands of dollars advertising the new dates and dealing with fan refunds. "There will be an expense," McGhee says, "but it's more of a nuisance."

As for McCartney's health, McGhee and others in the concert business used the word "concerned." "Paul puts on a very strenuous show - he's up there two and a half hours singing his heart out and playing his ass off," says Bert Holman, manager of the Allman Brothers Band, which postponed four shows from March to October due to 66-year-old singer Gregg Allman's bronchitis. "You do that every day, it starts to get really grueling."

Over the past decade, artists in their 60s and 70s have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in concert revenue - Pollstar's Top 10 touring acts in each of the last two years have included the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Waters and the Eagles. "These aging rock & rollers are more susceptible to health issues," adds Tim Jorstad, manager of the Grateful Dead and business manager for Journey and Carlos Santana. "When they're on the road, these guys are very, very focused on staying healthy, and isolating themselves from anybody who is sick." 

Another preservation tactic is simply cutting down on the frequency and duration of tours. The Stones, for example, have drastically cut back on the length of their tours in recent years, while the Allmans will play their final shows in October. "It's definitely kicking in - look at Billy Joel, who plays [roughly] once a month or something, and I don't think Aerosmith is doing back-to-back shows at this point," Holman says. "And who's replacing them?"

"When they have an illness, it lasts longer," says Jorstad. " But the one thing they never want to do is quit performing."

Turns out love really is all you need.

A recent interview with Ringo Starr - in a Canadian newspaper exclusive - begins with a "hospital handshake" (elbow to elbow to prevent germs spreading) while he's on the road with his All Starr Band but ends with a "peace and love" hug.

The 73-year-old Beatles drummer can't help but promote his mantra that includes him throwing his 74th birthday at Capitol Records in L.A. on July 7 with a "peace and love moment" at noon.

"You can't demand peace and love," said Starr, who launched his latest North American All Starr Band tour earlier this month after five days of rehearsals at Casino Rama, about two hours north of Toronto.

"My thing is I do it all the time. I love peace and love. I have the dream that one day, one minute, the whole world will do it and we will all be in love... I was watching the Today show and Pharrell was on and he did the peace sign so I just like to see people doing the peace sign."

Starr had good reason to be careful when initially greeting interviewers given his Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney was recently hospitalized with a bad virus that caused him to cancel his entire Japan tour.

"I spoke to Paul," said Ringo. "Actually, it was weird 'cause I don't know the time difference in Japan, I didn't even look, anyways I just thought, 'I'll just leave a message.' And he picked it up. And I said, 'Oh, how are you doing?' And he said, 'I'm fine. You just woke me up.' And I said, 'Well, you picked up the phone!' Ha, ha! So anyway, he's doing good. And then I talked to him when he got to England. He's fine. He's on the mend." (Since this interview, Macca has cancelled two more weeks of U.S. tour dates to continue his recovery.)

The two surviving Beatles recently performed together on the Grammys earlier this year which was followed by an all-star salute to the 50th anniversary of The Fab Four landing in America the following night.

Starr said he was pleased with both occasions.

"It's always fun when we play together but the show was great," he said. "We were just in that audience like watching the show, but we knew all the songs. But no, it's always a thrill for me to play with Paul. He did his show. I did my show. Then he's forced to do A Little Help From My Friends with me if we're together and then he forced me to do Hey Jude."

Starr says there's no "new" Beatles material still to come but "there's many ways of delivering it. It's coming out in vinyl. It's coming out in mono. It's like it's gone full circle. It started on vinyl it went to cassette, CDs and now it's back on vinyl. I love vinyl because I'm from the vinyl end. It took me years to listen to CDs because it was too clean. I really had to listen and listen and listen until I could relax behind it. But I have a huge vinyl collection at home."

Starr, whose only other Canadian date is July 15 at Vancouver's Hard Rock Casino, currently sees no end in sight for his music career.

He just added a bunch of October shows in the U.S. after playing in New Zealand, Australia, Japan and South America last year.

And he's got nine songs for a follow up to his last album, Ringo 2012, and says being behind a drum kit is where he belongs, full stop.

"I keep saying B.B. King's my hero and he's a lot older than me (88) and he's still doing it and yeah he may be sitting down but hey so am I," said Starr.

"I just have this philosophy as long as I am strong enough to lift the sticks I'll be able to play. And maybe in whenever years from now, I'll probably end up in a blues band, playing very slow blues. I just decided a long time ago, when I started doing the All Starrs, that I can do this as long as I can do this. That's how it is."

Starr has tweeted out pictures of him recording with various artists for the new record - right now he's favouring Let Love Lead as a title after one of the songs - due in February 2015, from brother-in-law Joe Walsh to Richard Marx to Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.

"I've sang on six of them. I put brass on, I put guitars on. (All Starr member) Steve Lukather (Toto) and I wrote a track. If you're in town, I do it at home in L.A., and if you ring the bell and you play, you're on the record. That's how it works. We do it in the guest house. I've just got a pro-tools set up and in the bedroom we have got two kits of drums and the amp and then we have the board and the vocal mics in the living room."

Paul and Mary photographed by Linda and featured on the back cover of the album 'McCartney'

Paul playing football with Wings guitarist Henry McCullough and Martha taken by Linda...

In the 1970s, a depressed, heavy-drinking  Paul McCartney walked away from The Beatles and reinvented himself as the leader of another hitmaking rock'n'roll band. A new book by longtime Q magazine contributing editor Tom Doyle about that turbulent period  in the legendary rock star's life, "Man on the Run," catches him in mid-flight.

Paul McCartney knew he was in trouble the morning he couldn't lift his head off the pillow. He awoke facedown, his skull feeling like a useless dead weight. Day by day, his condition had been worsening. His sleepless nights were spent shaking with anxiety; his days were characterized by heavy drinking and self-sedation with marijuana.

For the first time in his life, he felt utterly worthless. Everything he had been since the age of 15 had been wrapped up in the band. Now, he was 27, and even though he couldn't tell the world, that period of his life was almost certainly over. This was an identity crisis in extremis: Who exactly was he if he wasn't Beatle Paul McCartney?

If any word sums up McCartney in the 1970s, it is struggle. Another is escape. He spent the decade struggling to escape the shadow of The Beatles, effectively becoming an outlaw hippie millionaire. It was a time of brilliant, banned and sometimes baffling records. For McCartney, it was an edgy, liberating, sometimes frightening period of his life that has largely been forgotten by those who were not along for the ride.

In the autumn of 1969, the McCartney family was in Argyll, Scotland, "hiding away in the mists," as Paul puts it. McCartney, his wife Linda, the newborn Mary and Linda's child from her first marriage, shy Heather, only 6, had escaped to High Park Farm, far from London and the heavy weather of intra-Beatle feuding. But High Park was no rock-star country pile.

McCartney had bought the run-down farmhouse, set amid 183 acres of rough, windswept Scottish landscape, in June 1966, the year he became a millionaire.

Revving up a generator, he put together an ad hoc four-track recording facility in High Park's rickety lean-to, which he named Rude Studio. It was there, gently encouraged by Linda, that his songwriting slowly began to return to him, as he effectively used music as therapy to alleviate his depression. "She eased me out of it," he remembers, "and just said, 'Hey, you know, you don't want to get too crazy.' "

Still, despite increasingly frequent spells of happiness, McCartney was still plagued with unease, knowing that a storm was brewing back in London.

In private, The Beatles had fallen out and apart, prompting McCartney's state of panic and depression. The critical episode had come at a meeting at the label they had founded, Apple Records, on Sept. 20, 1969. Three of the band members (George Harrison was away, his mother having just been diagnosed with cancer) had convened at the office to ink their names on a new distribution deal with Capitol Records, their label in the United States. On that day, McCartney had attempted to rah-rah-rah his downbeat colleagues into recapturing their fire. He suggested they tour small clubs, where the band - which had last performed for a paying audience more than three years before - could turn up unannounced or billed under a pseudonym.

He argued that this might help them get back in touch with who they were.

"I think you're daft," a scowling John Lennon responded, before announcing, "I'm leaving the group. I want a divorce."

Following this jaw-dropping declaration, the three signed the contract "in a bit of a daze," according to McCartney. All involved would look back on this as the moment when the illness affecting The Beatles finally became terminal.

McCartney greeted the dawning of the 1970s in his townhouse at 7 Cavendish Ave. in London, within walking distance of Abbey Road studios. Secluded in his music room, he began recording his first solo album, without the knowledge of the other Beatles. He wheeled a stove-sized four-track machine from Abbey Road into his home and began to play, in the childlike sense of the word. "It was very liberating," he says. He was able to record entirely alone thanks to a device built by an Abbey Road technician that allowed him to plug directly into the back of the tape machine.

Homemade and handmade, the resulting album, "McCartney," was less the grand launch of his solo career and more an insight into McCartney's creative practices. But before the listening public had the opportunity to make up their minds about the record, it was to provoke an almighty ruckus.

Weeks before the album's April 17 release, Ringo Starr showed up at McCartney's London address with a letter handwritten by Lennon and co-signed by Harrison. The Beatles' "Let It Be" was to be released April 24, and the letter notified McCartney that because of concern over the proximity of these dates, Lennon and Harrison had told EMI to hold the release of "McCartney" until June 4. After reading the letter, a furious McCartney threw Starr out of his house. "Everyone, to my mind, was completely treating me like dirt," says McCartney. "And I said, 'No way, man. Get out.' "

That was the moment when McCartney finally gave up on The Beatles. He wouldn't budge on the street date and, ultimately, "Let It Be" was pushed to a May 8 release. When it came time to promote his solo album, McCartney sidestepped face-to-face encounters by inserting a sulky press release-cum-self interview with review copies of the album. Was he planning any new records with The Beatles? No. Did he see himself writing songs with Lennon in the future? No. What were his plans now? "My only plan is to grow up," he wrote.

The news exploded across the front pages of the world's newspapers. The Daily Mirror in Britain, on the morning of April 10, 1970, was the first to break the story of the band's split, with the unfussy words "Paul Quits the Beatles." Lost in the roar was the fact that at no point in the "interview" had McCartney actually stated that he was walking out on the band.

In the fallout, the McCartneys once again ran away to Scotland, and, on a bright, cold December day, McCartney stood high on a hill overlooking Skeroblin Loch at the end of a long walk and a deep conversation with his attorney father-in-law, Lee Eastman. "We'd been searching our souls," says McCartney. He had decided that it was time to legally kill The Beatles.

A week into January, drummer Denny Seiwell turned up for a nameless demo session at a seedy address at 43rd Street between Ninth and 10th Avenues in Manhattan. The building looked burned out and appeared to have no electricity. Directed to the damp, dilapidated basement by the doorman, he found Paul and Linda McCartney, sitting beside a battered old hired drum kit.

"They said, 'Do you mind playing for us?' " says Seiwell. "And I just went into Ringo on the tom-toms."

Seiwell got the gig, and with the addition of sought-after session guitarist David Spinozza, the loose, three-handed recording sessions for what would become McCartney's second solo album, "Ram," began in New York.

Across the Atlantic there was the tangled mess of The Beatles' legal affairs. On the final day of 1970, McCartney had filed to dissolve the Beatles & Company, and he returned to London in February to take part in the 12-day court hearing. He was back in New York on March 12, 1971 when a London High Court judge granted McCartney's request for a receiver to oversee the band's interests "pending a permanent fix." McCartney had unequivocally won the first crucial round in the battle, even if he now found himself hated by the press, the fans and the other band members. The day the verdict was announced, according to the eyewitness accounts, Lennon, Starr and Harrison turned up at McCartney's Cavendish Avenue home in Lennon's white Rolls Royce. Lennon emerged from the car with two bricks, scaled the wall and smashed McCartney's windows.

McCartney was back in the United States at that point and three days after the end of the court case, flew to Los Angeles to oversee the mixing of "Ram." Whereas the New York leg of the album had been cleanly marshaled, the L.A. sessions were fueled by dope. McCartney would usually arrive in midafternoon, spark up a joint and then tinker endlessly.

The result was something of a marvel. The true successor to The Beatles' Abbey Road in its baroque detail and flights of imagination, "Ram" was variously funny, daft, touching and knowing. The unlikely U.S. No. 1 hit "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" spotlighted the new McCartney method: trippy sentimentality gives way to rain and vocally impersonated ringing telephone effects before restlessly tempo-shifting upward through its lengthy coda.

For its creator, "Ram" was an entirely successful endeavor. By driving on his post-Beatles career, it served its purpose as its title suggested: "'Ram' forward, press on, be positive," said McCartney.

In April 1971 came word that the other Beatles had decided to grant McCartney his freedom from the partnership. Ironically, the New York sessions for "Ram" had made McCartney hanker for the musical closeness of The Beatles. To this end, in August 1971, Seiwell and another musician who shared his first name, Denny Laine, ventured to High Park. Laine knew McCartney from the days when his former band, The Moody Blues, and The Beatles were managed by the late Brian Epstein's NEMS Enterprises and rode tour buses together. McCartney was looking for a vocal foil to replace Lennon, if not exactly a songwriting partner, and had approached Laine with the idea of starting a band.

Seiwell and Laine were both put on a £70 ($118.76) weekly retainer - a decent working wage for the early 1970s - with the casual understanding that there would be more to come in the future. Inside Rude Studio, and outside when the weather permitted, the band, including a pregnant Linda on keyboards, quickly moved from jamming rock'n'roll standards to picking their way through McCartney's latest, half-finished songs. Laine was impressed that Paul was "just a farmer who plays guitar" and "not a Beatle anymore."

Enthralled by his new group, McCartney blocked out a week in August at Abbey Road and the band nailed eight songs, five of them on the first take. He also toyed with band names ranging from the half-decent (Turpentine) to the dreadful (The Dazzlers). In the end, the name of the new group was to come to him in a moment of acute panic.

In mid-September, Linda went into labor and required an emergency cesarean section. Hurried into a waiting room, McCartney, in a green surgical gown, found himself alone, "praying like mad" for his wife and unborn child. Into his racing thoughts came an image of an angel's wings, striking him with its simple, calming beauty. The drama over, he found himself with a second biological daughter, the future fashion designer Stella Nina, and a name for his new band: Wings.

After disappearing in Scotland, the newly extended McCartney family resurfaced in London in early November for a party to unveil the band and its new album, "Wild Life," for a handpicked group of guests that included Elton John and members of Led Zeppelin, The Who and The Faces.

Five days later, the first shot of the quartet appeared on the cover of Melody Maker, along with the headline "Wings Fly!," but the album crashed and burned. "Wild Life" was met with a colossal wave of disappointment. For those weaned on the mini-symphonies of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Abbey Road," "Wild Life" sounded like half-finished scraps, and by Beatles standards, the album bombed, prompting EMI to cancel the release of the proposed double A-side single "Love Is Strange" and "I Am Your Singer."

Still, the photograph that appeared on the front of "Wild Life" seemed to say it all: McCartney was now just a member of a band. In the pastoral scene, the barefoot members of Wings balance on a horizontal branch a few feet above a stream. McCartney stands knee-deep in the river, strumming an acoustic guitar, too distant from the camera for anyone other than the sharp-eyed to recognize him as Beatle Paul.

As Wings splashed around in the country, the glitter-and-glue stomp of glam rock was fast becoming the soundtrack of the times, making The Beatles, and their solo efforts, seem hopelessly passe. In an effort to toughen up his new band's sound, McCartney decided to expand Wings to a five-piece by drafting a lead guitarist, Irish road-worn rocker Henry McCullough.

Three years earlier, during Joe Cocker's star-making set at Woodstock, McCullough had been part of the backing Grease Band that had performed a gritty version of Lennon & McCartney's "With a Little Help From My Friends."

The five members of Wings quickly bonded in rehearsals, although there were already murmurs of dissent within the ranks over Linda's role in the band. McCullough even brazenly suggested to McCartney that the band get a "proper" piano player. McCartney instantly rebuffed the guitarist, but it seemed sometimes he wasn't entirely convinced that having his wife in the band had been such a great idea. Once, in a moment of irritation, he threatened to replace her with Billy Preston, the American keyboard player who had done such a fine job augmenting The Beatles during "Let It Be."

Later, a little uncharitably, he would admit that Linda had been "absolute rubbish" when she'd started playing. Linda herself was ambivalent about the prospect of being a touring musician, but McCartney wanted her there, and so there she was.

They gathered on the pavement for one last photograph before leaving. Out in the road at the front of the Cavendish Avenue house they stood, a scruffy assemblage of longhairs. At its center were the McCartneys and their daughters, along with the Seiwells - Denny's wife, Monique, holding baby Stella. To their right were brother-in-law roadies Ian Horne and Trevor Jones. To their left, McCullough and Laine, the latter pulling a comically vacant Stan Laurel face. Behind them stood a green Transit van and an Avis rental three-ton lorry stuffed with their equipment.

McCartney was at last getting his wish - as expressed to the uninterested Beatles during their dying days - of embarking on a low-key tour of small venues or civic halls. The plan for this upcoming jaunt was a similar one, if far looser. Everyone was to pile into the vehicles and take off up the motorway, heading for university towns in search of somewhere to play. By not announcing shows beforehand, he could keep one step ahead of the press.
In effect, he thought, he could outrun his critics.

And so, on the morning of Feb. 8, 1972, this strange coterie set off, destination unknown. "We were," says McCartney, with barely disguised pride, "a bunch of nutters on the road."

Arriving at the university campus in Nottingham around five o'clock, the Wings touring party sent Jones ahead into the building to scout the location. Finding the school's social secretary, Elaine Woodhams, at the bar, he told her that he was with Paul McCartney's new band and they were looking for somewhere to play a spontaneous gig.

Suspecting a practical joke, Woodhams was led out to the van. The door slid open to reveal McCartney, turning the social secretary's expression into a goldfish gape. A gig was duly arranged for the following afternoon and announced in a scrawl on the blackboard in the bar: "Entrance - 50p." (approximately 20 U.S. cents in 1972). The word that the ex-Beatle was to break his concert silence quickly filtered through the campus. "It was a big deal for them," says McCullough. "But it was a bigger deal for us."

The following lunchtime, in the dining hall-cum-ballroom, Wings publicly took to the stage for the first time before a crowd of 800, their number constrained by the fire-safety limit. The band sounded lively, if a touch scrappy. Proudly displaying his rock'n'roll roots, McCartney - wearing a red-and-white-striped shirt with a pair of dungarees - launched into Little Richard's "Lucille" as an opener, then led into the first airing of "Give Ireland Back to the Irish," a song (subsequently banned by the BBC) that he'd written to protest the events of the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry, Northern Ireland, on Jan. 30, 1972. The rest of the set was largely composed of songs from Wild Life, one from Ram ("Smile Away") and a filler blues jam fronted by McCullough ("Henry's Blues"). Running out of material, since McCartney had a self-imposed rule not to perform Beatles songs, Wings played "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" and "Lucille" again. In a moment of dopey dizziness, they also slipped into the English nursery rhyme "The Grand Old Duke of York." McCartney admits that not allowing himself to play any of his most famous tunes was "a killer ... We had to do an hour of other material, and we didn't have it."

One of the most satisfying elements for McCartney in all of this was being handed the band's agreed half-share of the door profits at the end of the gig, a bag of 50-pence coins, which he then evenly distributed among the musicians. It was the first time in 10 years that McCartney had seen any cash after a show, and he enjoyed the working musician's dignity-of-labor aspect of it, feeling like "Duke Ellington divvying out the money" to his band.

For the most part, though, McCartney successfully managed to give both the media and his detractors the slip. Back in London, his assistant Shelley Turner playfully fielded calls from journalists fishing for the next destination. "They have taken a lot of sandwiches with them," she offered coyly. "They could turn up anywhere."

A week into the excursion, Linda talked to Melody Maker about how the tour was going and, specifically, how her eldest daughter was coping with the rock'n'roll road life. The McCartneys, she said, had given Heather "the choice of school or coming with us, and she chose the latter." Linda added, "I mean, this is an education in itself, isn't it?"
 
From "Man on the Run" by Tom Doyle, copyright 2014 by Tom Doyle. Reprinted by arrangement with Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

"I'm sorry but it's going to be a few more weeks before we get rocking in America again. I'm feeling great but taking my docs' advice to take it easy for just a few more days. Look forward to seeing you all soon." - Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney has confirmed that he will, however reluctantly, heed medical advice to rest up just a bit longer to fully recuperate from the virus that forced the postponement of his recent dates in Japan and Korea.

The 'Out There' world tour will now resume July 5 in Albany, NY, and the June 14-26 shows in Lubbock, Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Nashville and Louisville have been rescheduled to October. Tickets for the original June dates will be honoured for the new dates detailed below.

The 'Out There' tour, as always, features music from the most beloved catalog in popular music, as Paul performs songs spanning his entire career - as a solo artist, member of Wings and of course as a Beatle. The set list will also include material from Paul's most recent studio album NEW, a global hit upon its release last year.

The McCartney live experience is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; in just three hours some of the greatest moments from the last 50 years of music are relived; music which for many has shaped the very soundtrack of their lives. The last decade has seen Paul and his band perform in a staggeringly impressive range of venues and locations, including outside the Coliseum in Rome, in Moscow's Red Square, Buckingham Palace, at the White House, a free show in Mexico to over 400,000 people, and even broadcast live into Space! Featuring Paul's band of the last 10+ years - Paul "Wix" Wickens (keyboards), Brian Ray (bass/guitar), Rusty Anderson (guitar) and Abe Laboriel Jr. (drums) - the show never disappoints.

The tour also uses state of the art technology and production to ensure the entire audience has the best possible experience. With massive screens, lasers, fireworks, unique video content and, of course, the best songs in the world, a Paul McCartney show is so much more than just an ordinary concert. Paul's shows attract a multi generational audience from different backgrounds all brought together by his music.

Keep checking PaulMcCartney.com for further announcements.

PAUL McCARTNEY
'OUT THERE' U.S. TOUR 2014
Re-scheduled dates in RED

July 5: Albany, NY - Times Union Center
July 7: Pittsburgh, PA - Consol Energy Center
July 9: Chicago, IL - United Center
July 12: Fargo, ND - Fargodome
July 14: Lincoln, NE - Pinnacle Bank Arena
July 16: Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
August 2: Minneapolis, MN - Target Field
August 5: Missoula, MT - Washington-Grizzly Stadium
August 7: Salt Lake City, UT - EnergySolutions Arena
August 10: Los Angeles, CA - Dodger Stadium
August 12: Phoenix, AZ - US Airways Center
August 14: San Francisco, CA - Candlestick Park

- October 2: Lubbock, TX - United Spirit Arena
(Re-scheduled from June 14)
- October 11: New Orleans, LA - Smoothie King Center
(Re-scheduled from June 19)
- October 13: Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
(Re-scheduled from June 16)
- October 15: Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
(Re-scheduled from June 21)
- October 16: Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
(Re-scheduled from June 25)
- October 25: Jacksonville, FL - Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
(Re-scheduled from June 22)
- October 28: Louisville, KY - Yum! Center
(Re-scheduled from June 26)

Here's your chance to meet the biggest rock star of all time!

This exclusive opportunity includes 2 tickets from the Artist's Guest List to the Sir Paul McCartney US concert of your choice!
 
Paul McCartney is the former front man of the most successful rock band of all time, The Beatles, and his solo career has achieved unparalleled world-wide success since its beginning in April of 1970. The first 12 years of his solo career produced nine number one singles and seven number one albums. With The Beatles, Paul and John Lennon, penned more than 300 songs and created some of the music industry's most famous rock ballads like "Hey Jude," "Let It Be," and "Here There and Everywhere."

When it comes to legendary renown, simply stated, nobody compares to the most successful performing artist of ours' or anytime . . . Sir Paul McCartney!

Proceeds will help to renovate the art school where John Lennon studied, which was purchased by The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA). This building is on the LIPA campus next to Paul and George's old school, which LIPA currently occupies. LIPA was co-founded by Sir Paul McCartney. Your name will be acknowledged on a brass plate within the building.

Donated By: Sir Paul McCartney and The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts

https://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/558500

Auction ends on Wednesday, June 11 (2:40pm ET)

CLICK TO WATCH VIDEO

---

June 4, 2014 -- PM.com

For Whom The Bell Tells...Issue 26

LATIN AMERICA 2014

"The legend of endless inspiration"

I'm piecing this edition of For Whom The Bell Tells together from notes I've made over the last couple of weeks on Paul's Latin American adventure. I am sat on the plane flying home to London and it's the first time I've had the chance to check back through all my notes, press clippings and reviews in one go. I can't believe how much has happened in the last two weeks!

Since the 'Out There' tour parked up for a little rest in November our boss has kept himself busy by picking up 5 Grammys (a personal best) in January, a bespoke NME Award chosen by his contemporaries in February. He made some new music videos in March, plus rehearsing with Wix, Abe, Brian and Rusty and working on a secret project too, which I've been sworn to secrecy about!

Meanwhile the tour team had been getting themselves prepped for getting back 'Out There'. This time we'd be starting out in Uruguay (which we last saw in 2012), before visiting Chile, Peru, a first time visit to Ecuador and to Costa Rica too.

My goodness, my ears are still ringing from Costa Rica last night. As Paul's sound engineer, Pab, said of the fans during the show, "It's like a Justin Bieber concert!" Paul had promised a fiesta and a fiesta it was, they were a loud, loud crowd! A fitting end to another memorable run creating headlines and history wherever the tour went.

There were quite a few dramas this time round too. A show in Chile that needed to be rescheduled due to a plane load of equipment being delayed, torrential rain that nearly damaged the same equipment, altitude adjustment as Paul performed his highest ever show in Quito at nearly 10,000 feet. Not to mention, tour personnel being refused to leave Peru due to a paperwork error, a video chat with Uruguayan footballer Luis Suarez, tour busses getting mobbed and held up by fans, police confiscating alcohol from our catering team and dressing room areas for seemingly no reason; and the list goes on!

The dramas, however, quickly became distant memories as the overwhelmingly positive reactions and responses to the concerts came through. Each night Paul took to the stage we knew we were all part of something very special indeed. Not that I'm ever complacent about the job, but I got a massive reminder in Ecuador of how much Paul means to people when at one point two women in their thirties next to me in the audience spontaneously broke into tears, crying uncontrollably as soon as they saw him live in the flesh.

Although Paul had previously been to Uruguay, Chile and Peru the local media made a lot of the historic value of his repeat visits. In each city we were bombarded with meet and greet requests from presidents, mayors, artists, media personalities, British Ambassadors and various dignitaries all putting forward reasons why they should get to hang out with Paul.

On the day of Paul's arrival in Uruguay, and in honour of his presence, four newborn lion cubs at Salto Zoo are named Paul, John, Ringo and George. This in itself became headline news on TV, online, radio and in the following day's newspapers.

Paul rocked up to rehearsal on the evening before the first show, complete with helicopters in the sky above tracking his every move, and got straight to it. As he rehearsed in the Estadio Centenario I watched on social media how the track names he was performing were spreading all over the internet. There was particular excitement for the fact he played 'On My Way To Work' and 'Appreciate'.

At the end of rehearsals we grabbed Paul to answer some questions recorded by Uruguayan football legend Luis Suarez. Luis had been eager to ask Paul some questions and the chat worked really well. When we released the video to the media later that evening there was a huge appetite for it. In Uruguay itself the breakfast news on the day of the show was dominated by the two Liverpool legends' chat together.

Show One - Montevideo, Uruguay - Saturday April 18th

El Observador
"A lot has been spoken in recent weeks about the return of Paul McCartney to Montevideo, which is of huge importance to Uruguayans. He's one of the creators of modern music and to come back for a second time caused great excitement. The excitement and emotion of the wait was evident the moment he stepped on to the stage and the crowd exploded in cheers and applause."

Safe to say we were off to a great start. Another loud and emotional night in Uruguay for Paul and the team. One fan at the front was so loud that his constant shouts of "One after 9" paid off and eventually Paul gave in and performed 'One After 909' with the band. This has prompted an online fan movement for people to get down to the front now and shout out a favourite song of their choice in the hope they might get Paul's attention!

El Pais
"The unforgettable return of Paul McCartney - better than the first time! The legend of endless inspiration - Nearly three hours of music, timeless classics combined with new songs and in the presence of a legend ­ it felt as if 50,000 were under his spell."

Travel Day (Uruguay to Chile) - Sunday April 19th

This should have been a fairly straight forward Sunday, but as we have learnt over the years, you shouldn't take any day on tour for granted. By early evening news had reached us that a jumbo jet taking equipment from Uruguay to Chile was still on the tarmac in Uruguay and there was no way it was going to arrive in Chile with enough time for the crew to get everything ready and in place for the first show, scheduled for the following day.

Once Paul learnt of this news he was insistent that the show must still go ahead but later in the week. He had been due to travel to Peru, the tour's next destination, on Tuesday night following the last date in Chile, but intervened and changed plans and the tour schedule in order to make sure that the show could be rescheduled. Paul insisted the team should do all they could to make sure concert goers knew about the changes causing as little disruption as possible, especially for those that would be travelling from far away to come to the show and ensuring that those who couldn't make it would be fully refunded. One thing we know about Paul at PM HQ is how much he hates letting down his fans. This situation was beyond anybody's control and the reaction from the fans and media the following day showed us they completely understood this.

Chile - Monday, April 20th

This should have been the first show day but we spent the day making sure the messaging about the rescheduled show was out there. Just before 2pm Paul called me in my hotel room just to check in that we were doing all we could to spread the word and he wanted to know what more we could be doing. He was very happy to call a local radio station to talk to them about the situation. As it happened, the guy who did the radio interview was an ex-LIPA student who had to miss his own graduation at LIPA a few years back and therefore missed the chance of meeting Paul, so Paul invited him to come back stage to say "Hi" before Wednesday night's show.

That evening Paul and Nancy kindly invited me to dinner along with the band. Needless to say it was a very fun evening and we got the chance to ask Paul about a new secret thing he's working on - which I wish I could share right now but I can't! Sorry for the tease, but all in good time! 

Show Two & Three - Santiago, Chile - Tuesday April 22nd / Wednesday April 23rd (rescheduled from Monday April 21st)

El Mercurio,
"Paul McCartney moved Chile with an overview of his entire career."

"Paul proved he is still a vital artist with a show containing a nod to his friends from Liverpool, as well as playing NEW material."

"At 9:30 last night, Paul opened another historic chapter for Chile. He greeted the crowd with his typical cheekiness. He was met with a standing ovation. The high emotion was felt by all of the audience that was a mix of all ages and Paul's set had something for everyone. McCartney kept shooting the crowd with a gale force of emotion. With each song he played, he electrified the crowd and what a setlist!"

"His performance is vital, he is an artist at the peak of his powers. It was a privilege to have him here and see him in this venue."

"His music is a celebration of everything and brings to life the famous quote by Baudelaire, 'Be sublime without interruption'."

"That's the best show we've seen here", the local PR guy told me after Paul's second show on the Wednesday night. What about last night I asked? "That was brilliant too," he replied. "But seeing it for a second time was just a treat!"

La Tercera
"The show was a near 3-hour extravaganza. Each movement and gesture got the crowd going. For such a big show McCartney managed to make it feel like an intimate experience for all the audience. He was cheeky, witty, charming and somehow packed his entire career into 3 hours. The audience was made up of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities, people even flying in from the UK."

Show Four - Lima, Peru - Friday, April 25th

El Comercio
"Paul McCartney gave a magical performance at The National ­ he played for nearly three hours before an audience that fully surrendered to him. Perhaps this scene best describes the effect that Paul McCartney has on people; at one point during the show, his four super musicians leave the stage and it is just Paul and almost 40,000 people on their own; he takes his acoustic guitar and effortlessly starts up 'Blackbird,' and the whole stadium sings along drowning out Paul's voice. Each and every member of the audience is on his or her own journey, reliving special memories thanks to this amazing song. Men, women, young children, teenagers and young adults are all seduced by the legend of Sir James Paul McCartney, probably the best musician to ever grace Peruvian soil."

Although One Direction were in town the same week arriving at the same time as Paul, I was absolutely delighted as a competitive publicist that Paul was the main cover of the largest daily newspaper El Comercio and was getting all the air time on the TV news, as he rightly should be! Paul was here for his second visit and the excitement from the moment we got to Peru was almost tangible. I couldn't sleep the night before the show with the noise the fans were making outside the hotel.

The National Stadium was massive and the Friday night audience were up for a big night of rock 'n' roll, which is exactly what they got!

As in Uruguay and Chile - the following days papers were full of praise for the special evening:

Andina
"Paul McCartney's Peru gig delights a 40,000 strong crowd. The musical legend Paul McCartney performed his long awaited second show in Peru to the delight of tens of thousands of Peruvians. The fans enjoyed McCartney's huge talent as he gave yet another landmark concert. Some concert goers were so excited for the Beatle's second appearance in the Andean nation that they had been camping outside the stadium in the days before the show."

Show Five - Quito, Ecuador - Monday, April 28th

La Hora
"All you need is Paul!"

A first visit by Paul to a new country is always a very special occasion. I felt like I had a front row seat to a very historic moment for Quito. In the last ten years we've seen lots of gestures from cities marking the occasion of Paul's visits. We have seen roads renamed after Paul's songs, we've seen Paul McCartney days declared in honour of his presence, we've seen landmark buildings cover themselves in pictures of Paul, in Uruguay (as mentioned) we saw the new born lions named after The Beatles, massive flash mobs of fansthe list goes on. But Quito did something quite incredible.

To mark Paul's visit as a national event, local authorities teamed up with the Ecuadorian Beatles fan club to greet Paul by creating a giant logo for his latest album (NEW) on the Pichincha Mountain, an Ecuadorian landmark. The logo could be seen across the entire city. It was very cool!

Paul arrived in Quito the night before the show so the sign couldn't be seen, but I showed him some pictures on my iPhone and he was clearly very moved.

On the day of Paul's arrival, the team had been setting up at the stadium when the clouds opened giving way to torrential rain. For hours the rain pounded down putting the equipment and staging at serious risk. When the rain did eventually subside the crew had to rely on hair dryers to try and bring their gear back to life, thankfully it worked!

The trip to Ecuador also marked another first for Paul - at an elevation of 9,350 ft (2,800 metres above sea level) it was the highest concert Paul has ever performed. This brought potential issues with it. Upon arriving in Quito many of the crew felt the immediate impact of the altitude.

Paul took this in his stride though as he performed his epic set with his usual amount of energy showing no sign of slowing up, whilst many of us watching from the wings were breathless singing along! At the end of the show Paul added a special rendition of 'All You Need Is Love' on the piano. The song 'All You Need Is Love' is currently being used in a global tourism advert for Ecuador.

The day of the show itself had been quite testing too, another sign that this was the first time someone of Paul's stature had played here. Special mention must be given to our venue security guy Brian 'Swalley' Riddle - he seemed to be in a hundred different places at once and had issue after issue to contend with throughout the day.

The local security presence was unreal and a little unsettling. It seemed that almost every hour another bus load of armed guards turned up and it wasn't exactly clear what they were all doing.

When Paul arrived at the venue ahead of soundcheck and got out of his car, with a wink, he said to me, "I think we could do with a bit more security here!"

El Comercio
"Paul gave Ecuador a fantastic time, what a night!"

"Loud and bright, but also emotional and historical, Paul McCartney took the crowd on a journey of the best moments of his life, the same moments that were also the soundtracks of our lives."

"In spurts of improvisation and spontaneity, McCartney was the complete embodiment of an English gentleman and a showman too. His words and actions caused intermittent explosions of euphoria."

"He retains a unique energy and strikes the perfect balance between both his classic and new hits."

"There are not enough adjectives to describe the joy Paul McCartney generated in Ecuador."

El Telegrafo
"Charismatic McCartney hits a new high! It was a magical night in which the protagonist was constantly interacting with the public. So what was the crowning moment? So many! The pyrotechnics in the rain during 'Live and Let Die'? The 'Hey Jude' anthem? Or perhaps the tributes to Nancy Shevell, his wife; Linda, his first wife; John Lennon or George Harrison? Could it be the Ecuadorian flag flying next to the English one? 

"It is impossible to choose only one standout moment in a concert by Paul McCartney. In fact, it does not even seem possible to know who enjoyed it more, Paul or the 36,000 fans from three generations who came to Quito on Monday night. Paul felt at home and, with evident joy, performed a catalogue of songs so extensive that after nearly three hours one is left with the feeling of still wanting more! The British multi-instrumentalist has so many songs that he would need at least six hours to perform and, even then, that probably wouldn't be long enough!

"The public paid tribute to the former Beatle chanting, 'Olé , olé , olé ... Sir Paul, Sir Paul'. It was a versatile show too. McCartney is able to rock with songs like 'Helter Skelter' and 'Get Back,' offer some psychedelia with 'All Together Now' and simultaneously tug the heartstrings of his fans with songs like 'Maybe I'm Amazed.'

"The finale included confetti and fireworks and the kindest of gestures as Paul autographed a Höfner bass for a fan. That could be another crowning moment, but with a show like this, it is difficult to pick just one."

Show Six - San Jose, Costa Rica - Thursday, May 1st

La Nacion
"Unbeatable! Many agree that Paul McCartney's concert in the National Stadium is the best concert that has ever been hosted in Costa Rica."

Tico Times
"I think it will take many of us several days to digest the experience. After all, whether you've seen him in concert before or not, and regardless of your age and sense of what is cool or hip, this was no ordinary event. This was Paul McCartney in Costa Rica."

Two weeks since arriving in Uruguay the final show of this leg was upon us. Another first visit for Paul and a big deal for Costa Rica.

Costa Rica were loud, really loud. The audience were screamers, they had such an amazing night.

Before the show Paul had a met with a small group of competition winners. In the group were two 17 year old girls who told me they had an important school exam the following morning at 7am but their parents totally understood the significance of Paul's show and allowed them to go. When Paul asked them about this he joked that they should go home immediately and revise.

What Paul doesn't get to see on these trips are the moments like when he leaves a room after meeting these winners (or any fan for that matter) and they totally lose it. People hold it together when they meet him but the moment he's out of the door it is a different story. They call their loved ones, they cry, they smile, they hug each other - the impact is huge. It is a major moment in their life that they'll always remember and will always talk about.

I saw the same 17 year old girls at the end of the night rocking out to 'Helter Skelter' and it is safe to say they were having the times their lives!

The rest, as they say, is history. Paul flew home straight after the show whilst the crew retired to the hotel for a few drinks to toast our boss. Tired and ready to go home we all agreed that we are privileged to be part of team Macca and get to experience these incredible moments that, like the fans, will stay with us for ever.

Thanks Paul, another amazing adventure chalked up Japan and South Korea here we come!!!

Tico Times
"Maybe we're amazed at how you make us feel, Paul."

"Not your ordinary concert at all. Maybe you helped make us the happiest country in the world."

"In Costa Rica, this concert was not just special. It was miraculous."

"Thank you, Sir Paul. Thanks for knowing about us and showing us that as long as you can go out there and rock for over three hours to a full stadium, there is still hope that all will not be forgotten. Thanks for reminding us."

June 4, 2014 - FeelNumb.com

The Story About Paul McCartney's Dog Martha

In 1965 soon after buying his house on Cavendish Avenue, Paul McCartney bought his first pet, an Old English sheepdog puppy he named the dog Martha. She was born June 16, 1966.

About Martha, Paul said:

"She was a dear pet of mine. I remember John (Lennon) being amazed to see me being so loving to an animal." He said, 'I've never seen you like that before.' I've since thought, you know, he wouldn't have. It's only when you're cuddling around with a dog that you're in that mode, and she was a very cuddly dog."

In 1997, McCartney revealed that Martha had been the inspiration behind the song "Martha My Dear" and that it was not a message of love to Jane Asher, who McCartney intended to marry in 1968 and who many listeners thought the song was actually about. "It's a communication of some sort of affection but in a slightly abstract way." McCartney said.

   'You silly girl, look what you've done,' all that sort of stuff. These songs grow. Whereas it would appear to anybody else to be a song to a girl called Martha, it's actually a dog, and our relationship was platonic, believe me."

McCartney also said:

"When I taught myself piano I liked to see how far I could go, and this started life almost as a piece you'd learn as a piano lesson. It's quite hard for me to play, it's a two-handed thing, like a little set piece. In fact I remember one or two people being surprised that I'd played it because it's slightly above my level or competence really, but I wrote it as that, something a bit more complex for me to play. Then while I was blocking out words ­ you just mouth out sounds and some things come ­ I found the words 'Martha My Dear'."

Martha died in 1981 at the age of 15 at McCartney's farm house in Mull of Kintyre, Scotland. She is survived by her offspring, one of which was featured on McCartney's 1993 album "Paul Is Live" album cover. Her name is Arrow.

Should WINGS be nominated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? There's a debate amongst Beatles/Paul McCartney fans whether Wings is covered by Paul's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a "solo artist." Does Wings qualify as a band and are they worthy with a string of number one hits during the '70s? Should its band members be recognized for their contributions?

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Jorie Gracen