Paul McCartney’s Not Bored, But Afraid of Being Boring
Paul McCartney isn't surprised that he's never grown tired of music during his lengthy career – but admitted he was wary of sounding repetitive because so many people know so much about his past.
He admits that the Beatles are now “inescapable. My daughter Mary will send me a photo or a text a few times a week: ‘There you were on an advert,’ or ‘I heard you on the radio,'" McCartney told New York Times Magazine. "The thing that amazes me now, because of my venerable age, is that I will be with, like, one of New York’s finest dermatologists, and he will be a rabid Beatles fan. All of that amazes me. We were trying to get known, we were trying to do good work … and we did it."
He describes it all as "happy memories," though some are more well-known than others.
“What I’m amazed with is that I’m not fed up with music – because, strictly speaking, I should have gotten bored years ago,” McCartney said. But he also noted: “At a dinner party, I am liable to tell stories about my life, and people already know them. I can see everyone stifling a yawn.”
Yet McCartney insists there are “millions” of band stories that remain untold. “Sometimes the reason is that they’re too private," he explained, "and I don’t want to go gossiping.”
He shared a new anecdote to demonstrate how much there still was to be discovered about Beatles history.
“So, when we did the album Abbey Road, the photographer was set up and taking the pictures that ended up as the album cover," McCartney said. His late wife "Linda was also there taking incidental pictures. She has some that are of us — I think it was all four of us — sitting on the steps of Abbey Road studios, taking a break from the session, and I’m in quite earnest conversation with John [Lennon]. This morning I thought, ‘I remember why.’
“John’s accountants had rung my accountants and said: ‘Someone’s got to tell John he’s got to fill in his tax returns. He’s not doing it.’ So, I was trying to say to him, ‘Listen, man, you’ve got to do this.’ I was trying to give him the sensible advice on not getting busted for not doing your taxes. That’s why I looked so earnest. I don’t think I’ve told that story before.”
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