Recommendations of the Editorial team
There was a time when Paul McCartney thought he had found the one place where he could roam around the area unmolested.
In an interview on “The Zane Lowe Show” conducted in celebration of his new, deeply nostalgic album “The Boys of Dungeon Lane,” the 83-year-old shared memories of the early days of Beatlemania – alongside John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. When Lowe asked him how he managed to “stay grounded” and enjoy life in the spotlight during that “very intense period” of the ’60s when the band were storming the charts around the world, McCartney opened up.
“I remember in the early Beatles days we were recognized everywhere, but Ringo and I went on holiday to Greece with our girlfriends – and no one knew us there,” said McCartney, describing what he thought at the time: “That’s great. Wow, we need to go there more often. Even if we become really famous, we can always come to Greece and they’ll never know us.” He added: “But of course that didn’t work.” Soon their music – and their faces – reached Greece and far beyond.
Strategy against fame
“I realized, ‘Oh, I’ll be famous all my life if I’m lucky.’ I thought, ‘Okay, now it’s decision time.’ Either you stop and think, that was nice. I had a great time with music, and you do something more anonymous – or you move on,” McCartney said. To deal with the Beatles’ inescapable fame, the musician developed a “strategy.”
McCartney attributed his roots to his family in Liverpool and the lessons they instilled in him growing up. “These are people who make others feel good,” he said – and through them he learned to do the same.
“The Boys of Dungeon Lane” was released on Friday, and ROLLING STONE hailed the album as McCartney’s latest “solo masterpiece.” “Overall, the picture that emerges is of a legend who looks back on a life well lived,” writes Simon Vozick-Levinson in his review. “This isn’t an entirely new topic for McCartney – he’s been singing about what he once called his ever-present past for years.” And he adds: “But the autumn mood is more pronounced than ever.”
