You’d think that after more than 60-plus years of doing press that Paul McCartney would have run out of anecdotes to share. But you’d be wrong. The indefatigable former Beatle and solo superstar managed to pull a doozy out of his hat during a recent chat with Vernon Kay on BBC Radio’s Tracks of My Years show, in which McCartney ran down the ten songs that connected his Liverpool childhood to the Beatles global fame through his wistful new solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane.
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And while it was interesting to hear McCartney, 83, describe how Gene Vincent’s “Be-Bop-A-Lula” — the first album he ever bought — helped inspire how the Beatles thought about presenting their music, from B-sides to single packaging, the real revelation came when he casually dropped a wee tale about the Prince cover of a Beatles song that never was.
“I’m going to ask them [Prince’s estate]. I could make it into something really good,” McCartney said of a cover of the Beatles’ 1970s Let It Be anthem “The Long and Winding Road,” that was recorded by Prince during a rehearsal and has never been officially released. “It’s kind of rocky. He plays some really good guitar on it,” added McCartney, who did not offer any additional details about where or when the song was tracked.
What he said was that he was with “some guy” a few years ago following Prince’s death in 2016 at 57 of an accidental fentanyl overdose, and the man asked if he’d heard Prince’s cover of the ballad from the Beatles’ final studio album. “‘Have you heard Prince do ‘Long and Winding Road?’” he said the man, who he believed was a photographer for Prince, asked him. “‘Well, no. That’s one of my songs,’” McCartney responded. “‘I don’t think he ever did it.’ So he sent it to me and it’s really great.”
For the record, McCartney chose Prince’s “Kiss” as his favorite track from the late singer’s catalog, which he praised for its elegant simplicity. “He’s a wizard,” McCartney said of the singer he lamented he wished he’d gotten to know better.
Elsewhere in the chat, McCartney described the impact of songs by Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly & the Crickets, Elvis, the Kinks, the Human League, Bob Dylan and the Beach Boys. He also took a minute to opine on some of the most popular songwriters of today, saying he’s met some of today’s biggest pop artists and he likes what he hears.
“I’ve met a few of these girls and admired what they’re doing. I think they’re good singers,” McCartney said. “Taylor’s very good. She’s clever,” he said of Taylor Swift, whose massive global fame he said neatly parallels the Beatles’ huge fan base in their day. As for any advice he might have for Swift, 36, McCartney said “I don’t think she needs any advice, tell you the truth.”
First describing himself as the “older brother” and then the “grandad” to that generation of pop stars, McCartney described a party his wife and daughter clothing designer Stella McCartney had where “a load of those” girls were in attendance. “I ended up chatting to them all,” he said, ticking off a list that included Swift, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter.
“They’re really cool people. They’re very good,” he said, praising all their voices and doubling down on his feeling that none of them need his advice, but that he’s more than willing to offer it if they ask.
Watch McCartney talk Prince’s “Kiss,” that phantom Beatles cover and his thoughts on Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter below.
