2021

In 2021 Michael Buble recorded his version of Macca’s “My Valentine.”

It will be released on his album “HIGHER,” on March 25th, 2022.

On March 18th, a sequel to Paul McCartney’s first picture book for children, “Hey Grandude!” released in September 2019, was announced. Named “Grandude’s Green Submarine“, it would be released on November 30, 2021.

Paul said: “I’m really happy with how ‘Hey Grandude!’ was received as this was a very personal story for me, celebrating Grandudes everywhere and their relationships and adventures with their grandchildren. I love that it has become a book read to grandkids at bedtime all around the world. I always said if people liked the first book and there was an appetite for more I would write some further adventures for Grandude – so he’s back and this time with his special invention, Grandude’s green submarine!” It was available as an audio book (read by Paul) as well as hardback.

In April Paul had recording session with Andre Watt.

“ I am in Los Angeles. I just started doing a little bit of work. I met the producer, Andrew Watt. Have you heard of Andrew? I just met him.

My manager said “you might like to go say hello and meet him”. So I went around for a cup of tea, and of course we ended up making a track.. So that’s, that’s great fun…. And I actually started off saying “sometimes it’s great to experiment with a chord you don’t even know”. I say, “a crazy chord like …” and I did this chord and I thought “Oh, that’s really crazy”.

But I messed around with it a little bit. And it resolved itself into a less crazy one, and it’s just the opening sequence in a little thing. So then, we started and I said “well, should we put this down?” And that was fatal.

And then, Yeah, how about some drums… It was very nice. And so I’m hoping to kind of finish that up today, or near enough finish it. So that’s quite nice. It’s the theme of the tune was… Sometimes an image will come into your mind. And I remember when I was a kid, where we used to live, there was blocks of flats where people lived, and I remember walking by this one (where) I knew this girl lived… And her light was on, so I could kind of see her silhouette in the window. So I always thought, wow… I mean, I suppose that makes me a voyeur.

But there’s something kind of romantic about it. So I just started the song with that thought, like, ‘I walk by your house and I see your silhouette on the blind.’ And then try to develop it. ‘Do I ever cross your mind?’” – Paul

On April 16th, the album, III IMAGINED, was released.

McCARTNEY III REINTERPRETED BY ALL-STAR LINEUP INCLUDING ANDERSON .PAAK, BECK, BLOOD ORANGE, DAMON ALBARN, EOB, JOSH HOMME, KHRUANGBIN, 3D RDN FROM MASSIVE ATTACK, PHOEBE BRIDGERS, ST. VINCENT & MORE .

McCartney III Imagined, a mixture of covers and remixes of 2020’s McCARTNEY III is released on digital and streaming platforms, with CD and vinyl formats made available for pre-order.

Personally curated by Paul, McCartney III Imagined features an A-List assortment of friends, fans and brand new acquaintances, each covering and/or re-imagining their favorite McCartney III moments in their own signature styles.

It was available in the following formats:

2LP Translucent Deep Blue Vinyl

2LP Spotify Exclusive Vinyl

2LP Silver Vinyl

2LP Red Vinyl

2LP Black Vinyl

2LP Limited Exclusive Violet Vinyl

2LP Limited Exclusive Splatter Vinyl

2LP Gold Vinyl

2LP Exclusive Pink Vinyl

2LP Dark Green Transparent Vinyl

Indie Smoky Tint Cassette

Limited Pink Cassette

Limited Edition Dice, Notebook & CD Box-set

Target Exclusive CD

Time for another bank loan for the completists.

May 14th saw the release of the half-speed mastering of 1971’s RAM on its 50th anniversary.

On June 24th, A new plant based cookbook by Linda McCartney, with Paul, Mary and Stella was released.

“Years ago, before anyone had woken up to the idea of environmental and health and animal welfare issues, Linda was blazing the trail with vegetarianism, telling people about it and promoting it. At home, she would cook for the family and these recipes have been now brought up to date for a modern audience, so they’re all now plant-based and fabulous. In the book there are family photographs and stories from those days, and of course lots of great, beautiful tasting healthy recipes. So I hope this book inspires conversations about sustainability and about modern living amongst people besides also just giving them some great recipes to eat.” – Paul

June 30th saw “Paul” released.

Art book publisher Taschen published “Paul”, a photography book featuring images of Paul McCartney taken by photojournalist Harry Benson. The book is limited to 700 copies :

Paul. Art Edition No. 1–50 ‘A Hard Day’s Night, 1964’ – Edition of 50 – Art Edition (No. 1–50), each numbered and signed by Harry Benson and accompanied by the signed print A Hard Day’s Night, 1964. Cost: 3000 British pounds.

Paul. Art Edition No. 51–100 ‘Wings Backstage, 1976’ – Edition of 50 – Art Edition (No. 51–100), each numbered and signed by Harry Benson and accompanied by the signed print Wings Backstage, 1976. Cost: 3000 British Pounds.

Paul – Edition of 600 – Collector’s Edition (No. 101–700), each numbered and signed by Harry Benson. Cost: 600 British Pounds.

“Paul” was an intimate look at one of the greatest music legends of all time, by an iconic photojournalist. From the delirium of the Beatles’ 1964 U.S. tour to the heady, shaggy days of WINGS in the 1970s and the quiet idyll of life on the family farm in the early 1990s, “Paul” traces the evolution of a pop superstar and of the man himself through more than 100 photographs, many never seen before.

“McCartney 3,2,1” is a 2021 documentary miniseries starring Paul McCartney and producer Rick Rubin. The six-part series features the pair discussing Paul’s career, from The Beatles and Wings to his time as a solo artist.

On this day, July 16, 2021, it was digitally released in the US by Hulu streaming platform. It would be released in UK / Europe by Disney+ on August 25, 2021.

From McCartney 3,2,1 Paul McCartney sits down for a rare, in-depth, one on one with legendary producer Rick Rubin to discuss his groundbreaking work with The Beatles, the emblematic 70s arena rock of Wings and his 50 years and counting as a solo artist. In this six-episode series that explores music and creativity in a unique and revelatory manner, join Paul and Rick for an intimate conversation about the songwriting, influences, and personal relationships that informed the iconic songs that have served as the soundtracks of our lives.

Paul entertained daughter Stella on her 50th birthday on September 18th.

Former Oasis front man Noel Gallagher: “I ended up on stage with the great Paul McCartney playing the song Birthday and then segued into I Saw Her Standing There. It wasn’t like I was there and they pulled me out of the crowd like a surprise. I was asked a couple of weeks up front. I performed, I did some of my stuff, and then someone said, ‘We’ll get you up on stage with my dad.’ And I said, ‘F***ing yes!’ It was quite the night and, as you can imagine, for a chap like me it was quite the moment.”

The “Let It Be” album was remixed to honor its 50th anniversary. It was released on October 12th.

October 22nd saw the limited re-release of McCARTNEY III in Yellow and Black Splatter.

There were only 3,333 copies of this new yellow & black McCartney III splatter vinyl! Pressed by Third Man Records and made from recycled McCartney & McCartney II records, was available exclusively at indie record stores.

October 30th had Paul inducting the Foo Fighters into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

After their speeches, the band returned to the stage, where Paul joined them for a show-closing cover of the Beatles’ “Get Back”.

Paul’s induction speech:

“When they asked me to do a speech, they said, “Do you want to have the auto cue?” I said, “No, I’m good. I’ll look at the paper.” But I’ve been seeing everyone do these amazing speeches, I’m beginning to think I should have taken the auto cue. But I didn’t, so here it goes.

OK, so me, a teenage kid in Liverpool, just an ordinary kid going to school like everybody else; and then one day, I heard some music and I fell into rock & roll. It just happened.

One day. Suddenly, the world changed, and I just fell, like, through a hole in time. And suddenly, I was in rock & roll. By the same time in his life, Dave did the same kind of thing. You know, he’s just an ordinary, kind of goofy kid.

And same thing happens, he falls through the same hole, and he’s in rock & roll and it’s gonna be his life. It’s gonna take over everything. And nothing was every the same again.

It’s so magical. Everyone who knows, everyone who’s connected with it, everyone who loves rock & roll. It really is a magical thing that contains so many elements – like all of the people we’ve heard tonight. I mean, it’s just unbelievable.

So I feel super privileged to be here tonight, inducting these guys.

So when that happened, and I fell into rock & roll, I joined a group. My group was the Beatles. Like I say, the world changed. Dave did a similar kind of thing. He joined a group, Nirvana. We had a great time with our groups, but eventually tragedy happened and my group broke up. Same happened with Dave. His group broke up under tragic circumstances.

So the question is, what do you do now? We both were presented with that question. In my case, I said, “Well, I’ll make an album where I play all the instruments myself.” So I did that. Dave’s group broke up, what’s he do? He makes an album where he plays all the instruments himself. Do you think this guy’s stalking me?

Anyway, so me, I’m gonna name my new group, and I call them Wings. So Dave’s got the same problem, and he’s got to think of a name for the group, so he comes up with “Foo Fighters.”

So now the group is formed. It’s ready to take flight. It’s Dave, Taylor [Hawkins], Nate [Mendel], Pat [Smear], Chris [Shiflett], and Rami [Jaffee] – all the members of the Foo Fighters. So here they are tonight.

I was just saying to them in the dressing room, “Guys, this is it. You’re here in Cleveland, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. And tonight, you’re gonna be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.” I mean, it’s not just any Hall of Fame — it’s the fucking Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. OK, now they’re gonna show a little film, and this film shows the reasons why this band is one of the greatest rock & roll bands in the world. OK, let’s roll the film.”

On November 2nd, a new book entitled “The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present” was published. First announced in February 2021, it covers Paul McCartney’s early Liverpool days, the Beatles, Wings, and solo careers, by pairing the lyrics of 154 of his songs with first-person commentaries of the circumstances in which they were written, the people and places that inspired them, and what he thinks of them now.

In this book, with unparalleled candor, Paul McCartney recounts his life and art through the prism of 154 songs from all stages of his career – from his earliest boyhood compositions through the legendary decade of The Beatles, to Wings and his solo albums to the present.

Arranged alphabetically to provide a kaleidoscopic rather than chronological account, it establishes definitive texts of the songs’ lyrics for the first time and describes the circumstances in which they were written, the people and places that inspired them, and what he thinks of them now.

Presented with this is a treasure trove of material from McCartney’s personal archive – drafts, letters, photographs – never seen before, which make this also a unique visual record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

“The Beatles – Get Back” movie, announced in January 2019, head now morphed into a 3 part 6-hour documentary series and was released on the Disney+ streaming platform in November 2021. A companion book of the same name was issue to accompany the viewer.

December brought with it “Mike McCartney’s Early Liverpool” book. Acclaimed photographer Mike, brother of Paul, published a new book of photography about Liverpool in the 60s and 70s. Paul McCartney and the Beatles are well represented in this book, with previously unpublished photographs.

Collector Copies are numbered 351 to 2,000, signed by Mike McCartney and include a stamped 8″x10″ (200mm x 254mm) print.

The release is limited to only 2,000 copies worldwide, each signed by Mike.

Quarter bound in black cloth, the Collector cover features an original stencil by McCartney, created for a poster advertising an early Beatles gig at the Casbah, rendered in gold foil blocking. The Collector copies also include a double-sided 8″x10″ print (200mm x 254mm).

On the front, a Kodachrome color photograph captures John, Paul and George playing as the Quarrymen at a McCartney family celebration in 1958. A friend of the family, Dennis Littler, appears at the right of the frame.

On the reverse, Mike McCartney is pictured with Dennis more than 50 years later, in 2012. The print is numbered, stamped, and is suitable for framing.

The Collector copies are housed in an archival slipcase screen-printed with a montage of photographs and original artwork.

Next: catching Paul up to date in 2022….

Coming in 2023…. reviewing all the live album,

Alternative albums (Fireman, Twin Freaks, III Imagined etc..)

Classical albums.