“He took a lot from Hendrix, but he was a great player,” McCartney noted of Prince’s guitar playing on the tune. “It’s just so simple, again to pull that kind of thing off, you can do a kind of simple thing, and it can just sound simple but not great, but his sounds simply great. He’s a wizard.” (UCR report)
McCartney then shared an unexpected anecdote.
“I was with some guy, a couple of years ago so it was after Prince had died, and he said, ‘Have you heard Prince do ‘Long and Winding Road’? I said, ‘Well no, that’s one of my songs, I don’t think he ever did it.’”
According to setlist.fm, Prince covered “The Long and Winding Road” in concert 12 times, most of which took place during his 2007 residency at Club 3121 in Las Vegas. McCartney was evidently unaware of the renditions, and was surprised when he was sent a recording of Prince’s version.
Listening to the recording, McCartney noticed Prince made the song "kind of rocky" with "some really good guitar on it." Hearing another rock icon reinterpret the Beatles classic got the creative wheels turning in Macca's head. “It’s really great, so I’m going to ask them [for permission to use it]. Because I could make it into something really good.”
If Sir Paul gets his wish, a McCartney-Prince duet may see the light of day. If it comes anywhere close to the Purple One’s famous rendition of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” fans will have plenty to be excited about.
Paul McCartney has released a new song recorded with Ringo Starr called "Home to Us," marking the first time the two Beatles have ever made a proper duet.
It's from McCartney's upcoming album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which will be released on May 29.
According to McCartney himself, "Home to Us" was written specifically with Starr in mind. At first, McCartney invited Starr to the studio to play drums on some other material, but after discussing with producer Andrew Watt, a whole new song was created about the two former Beatles' upbringing in working class Liverpool.
Paul McCartney guided a group of around 50 lucky fans through his upcoming album, ‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’, during a special listening event at Abbey Road Studios yesterday (Tuesday May 5), sharing stories of the songs that make up the record.
After locking their phones away, fans were led into the legendary Studio Two – the studio in which The Beatles recorded throughout their career. Echoes of McCartney’s voice could be heard coming from the control room before the event began, with fans craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the legendary musician. Eventually, he descended the stairs into the main studio space, taking a seat in a setup made to look like a living room, with records, framed photos, and other odds and ends – including a street sign with the new album title on – displayed around the space.
