Paul McCartney Relives the Thrill of Playing with The Rolling Stones
Paul McCartney reflects on the excitement of collaborating with The Rolling Stones and shares insights into his new album, 'The Boys Of Dungeon Lane'.
Paul McCartney has reminisced about the “excitement” he felt while working with The Rolling Stones, as revealed in NME's latest In Conversation video series.
The Beatles legend sat down with NME on the eve of his 19th solo album release, ‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’, and discussed his memories of the Fab Four, and potential future tours.
He mentioned his manager asking about retirement at 50, a notion he understood given their youthful perception of age. "But it came, and it went,” he said. “People were still playing, and audiences like the music. If the music is from that period, they don’t get to hear it live any other way, so you’ve got to hear Neil Young live to get the whole feel of Neil – the Neil feel.
“Same with a lot of bands – the Stones, The Eagles. There’s nothing like it.” Upon mentioning The Stones, NME noted their upcoming album release, featuring McCartney.
Following his contribution to ‘Hackney Diamonds,’ McCartney described his recent studio session as “really exciting,” highlighting the novelty of playing as a session musician. "It was really nice to just show up at a studio with your bass and just say, ‘Right, where do you want me?” he said. “You start playing, and they show you the song, and I start thinking, ‘I’m playing with the Stones!’
“And I’m well chuffed! You could be a bit blasé and go, ‘Yeah, OK, so what?’ But for me, it wasn’t – it went the other way,” he said, recalling his studio experience.
“It was like, ‘Wow, there’s Mick Jagger! Ooh, there’s Keith Richards! Woah, there’s Ronnie Wood!’ It was exciting. It was really good. A great thing is all I had to do was play bass and not make mistakes, so it was good.”
He enjoyed watching Richards develop the song's structure, which is titled ‘Covered In You’ on the new album. “I could hear Keith as we did various takes, working his lick out that ended up on the album, and Ronnie working his solo out, Mick working the vocal out,” he recalled.
“So yeah, I went home that day, and I’m saying to everyone, ‘I just played with The Stones!’ I was glad I wasn’t blasé about it. It’s really exciting. Not everyone plays with The Stones!”
Paul McCartney announces new album ‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’. Credit: Press
NME gave Macca’s new album, ‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’ a glowing four-star review, with Jordan Bassett describing it as “a guided tour of the long and winding road”.
The record, his first since 2020’s ‘McCartney III,’ delves into his Liverpool childhood, his parents' resilience, and early adventures with George Harrison and John Lennon before their rise to fame.
“Elsewhere, against all odds, given that this album arrives some 63 years after the Beatles’ debut ‘Please Please Me’, Macca actually makes history on ‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’,” the review reads. “Remarkably, the jaunty ‘Home To Us’ is his first-ever duet with Ringo Starr, who assists him in celebrating their rough-and-tumble hometown. ‘Days We Left Behind’, though, is the album’s real tear-jerker, as Paul nods to the “secret code” he shared with John Lennon but will never reveal.
“Still, despite the absence of any real bombshells, it’s a pleasure to accompany McCartney as he gets back to where he once belonged.”
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