Love is Free, Free is Love

Here's a wallet-friendly offer from the Beatles - 4, a new digital EP from the fab four for free (get it?). "Taste the individual brilliance" of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Love by John, Call Me Back Again by Paul, Let It Down from George, and Walk With You from Ringo. Of course you probably already have these songs, but hey - they're free.

Maybe This Time It's Wanderlust For Me

I'm not sure we need yet another cover of Yesterday, but a new Paul McCartney tribute album, The Art of McCartney, has quite an impressive lineup conveniently listed below courtesy of Rolling Stone.

The Art Of McCartney Track List:
1. Billy Joel - "Maybe I'm Amazed"
2. Bob Dylan - "Things We Said Today"
3. Heart - "Band on the Run"
4. Steve Miller - "Junior's Farm"
5. Yusuf Islam - "The Long and Winding Road"
6. Harry Connick, Jr. - "My Love"
7. Brian Wilson - "Wanderlust"
8. Corinne Bailey Rae - "Bluebird"
9. Willie Nelson - "Yesterday"
10. Jeff Lynne - "Junk"
11. Barry Gibb - "When I'm 64"
12. Jamie Cullum - "Every Night"
13. Kiss - "Venus and Mars"/"Rock Show"
14. Paul Rodgers - "Let Me Roll It"
15. Roger Daltrey - "Helter Skelter"
16. Def Leppard - "Helen Wheels"
17. The Cure, featuring James McCartney - "Hello Goodbye"
18. Billy Joel - "Live and Let Die"
19. Chrissie Hynde - "Let It Be"
20. Cheap Trick's Robin Zander and Rick Nielsen - "Jet"
21. Joe Elliott - "Hi Hi Hi"
22. Heart - "Letting Go"
23. Steve Miller - "Hey Jude"
24. Owl City - "Listen to What the Man Said"
25. Perry Farrell - "Got to Get You Into My Life"
26. Dion - "Drive My Car"
27. Allen Toussaint - "Lady Madonna"
28. Dr. John - "Let 'Em In"
29. Smokey Robinson - "So Bad"
30. The Airborne Toxic Event - "No More Lonely Nights"
31. Alice Cooper - "Eleanor Rigby"
32. Toots Hibbert with Sly & Robbie - "Come and Get It"
33. B.B. King - "On the Way"
34. Sammy Hagar - "Birthday"

The Art of McCartney Bonus Tracks:
1. Robert Smith - C Moon"
2. Booker T. Jones - "Can't Buy Me Love"
3. Ronnie Spector - "P.S. I Love You"
4. Darlene Love - "All My Loving"
5. Ian McCulloch - "For No One"
6. Peter, Bjorn and John - "Put It There"
7. Wanda Jackson - "Run Devil Run"
8. Alice Cooper - "Smile Away"

It really is a nice mix of Beatles' and solo tunes, old and newer. It's an eclectic range of artists as well. I'm insanely curious to hear Brian Wilson's take on the near-sappy Wanderlust, but really want nothing to do with Kiss. Ever. Check out the perfect cover of Hello Goodbye by The Cure below for a taste.



Out November 17/18 in a variety of fancy, 21st century formats.

Official Site | Rolling Stone | iTunes | Amazon

Just In Time

This new one kinda snuck out there.

Paul McCartney's new album - New - is out October 15. He just recently premiered the new single New, which you can preview below, here, or download via iTunes if you pre-order the new album! Sounds like a typical new, first single from a new McCartney album. I expect the new album to dig deeper, but at least the old man is still making new music!


New.

Official Site | iTunes | Amazon | More

Everybody's Gonna Dance Around Tonight

Sir Paul tops the list of top-grossing concerts; all without any twerking.

Oh christ, he doesn't twerk on tour now, does he?

I Am The Son And The Heir

Paul McCartney almost joined Johnny Marr's band in the 80s! Oh, wait, strike that. Reverse it. Either way it would've been a cool collaboration, particularly because this was around the time when Macca was hanging out with Elvis Costello. Talk about a super band.

Paul is also working on a new solo album with some hitmakers. Hopefully he'll avoid traipsing down the Rod Stewart path any further.

Finally, don't forget about Paul's collaboration with Nirvana sans Kurt called Cut Me Some Slack, which is available on iTunes as a single. It's a fun if insignificant addition to his oeuvre.

My Piano Was Boldly Outspoken

Last June, Mike Viola, Tim Christensen, and others celebrated Sir Paul's 70th with a concert in Denmark covering Ram and other classics. These two guys covering McCartney is an embarrassment of riches in the truest sense of the phrase. Next month we'll be able to own it. Check out the trailer for Pure McCartney below.



Preorder the CD/DVD/Vinyl/MP3 set in your favorite format(s) here. Mike Viola promises to make it available on his site stateside soon so no worries!

More details here via Tim.

Cut Me Some Slack

So yeah, this really happened...



McCartney sounded fucking great last night. Excellent song choices proving this is the same man that gave the world Helter Skelter.

12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief will be available via iTunes 12-18-12. Pre-order here.

Here I Go, Singing Low

Paul McCartney was recently featured in Kisses-on-the-Bottom mode on Great Performances seen on public television stations across the country. Miss it? Oh the magic of the interwideweb...

Watch Paul McCartney's Live Kisses on PBS. See more from Great Performances.

Macca is also continuing his On the Run tour in North America but has so far only announced four dates. Pre-sale tix for email subscribers sold fast, particularly the cheap ones. In other words, I was too late to get affordable tickets for the St. Louis stop. Good things tickets don't officially go on sale until 9/14!

Nov. 11 at Scottrade Center, St. Louis Nov. 14 at Minute Maid Park, Houston Nov. 25 at BC Place, Vancouver Nov. 28 at Rexall Place, Edmonton

More info here

The Butter Wouldn't Melt So I Put It In The Pie

Paul McCartney's Ram is getting remastered "in a variety of formats, from single and double-disc editions to a four-disc box set that includes bonus tracks, a DVD, and a 112-page book." It's out May 22. In the meantime check out the shiny remastered version of intricately silly Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey here.

Pre-order here at Amazon.com

She Said Someday Soon The Sun Was Going To Shine

There is probably some rule out there about two McCartney related posts in a row, but that's just the way we roll here at TooPoppy.

Macca has a new video for his song "My Valentine" starring the insanely beautiful Natalie Portman and the insanely insane Johnny Depp. It's a lovely video with both actors signing the lyrics.

While they get an 'A' for effort, it appears they need to brush up on their sign language skills.

     

Get Yourself Another Fool

We're a week away from its official release, but you can stream Paul McCartney's Kisses on the Bottom in its entirety at npr.org.

I've heard and share some concern that this new album of covers is a frightening move too similar to Rod Stewart's career choices. Interesting that Macca addresses this directly in the official EPK for the album...

We're Too Busy Singing

Beatles Beatles Beatles. It's always about the Beatles. Well, they did set the gold standard and they still continue to milk it.

Paul McCartney's pornographically-named Kisses on the Bottom comes out in two weeks. It's a covers collection featuring tunes that influenced Macca himself as well as a couple new ones. Methinks this one didn't make the cut...


Ringo is quite the prolific cat. The unimaginatively-named Ringo 2012 is out next week. Here's hoping the music is a bit more inspired than the name and artwork (seriously, Ringo, flashing the peace sign again?!)

And finally and perhaps most interestingly, George Harrison('s estate) is releasing an iPad app called The Guitar Collection, which "brings George Harrison's personal guitar collection to life."

The George Harrison Guitar Collection from George Harrison on Vimeo.

The Beatles continue to rock our world. Hallelujah.

John? Hello? Oh, hey, Julian.

She Said That Someday Soon The Sun Is Going To Shine

Hey! Macca is back with an unexpected Christmas present this year with the "My Valentine"! It's a jazzy ballad with an elegant guitar backing with Eric Clapton. His new as-of-yet-untitled-album debuts in February! Can't wait! Song embedded below.

My Valentine - Paul McCartney by PaulMcCartney

...Is Equal To...

John Lennon had a full-length feature released in theaters. HBO has George Harrison's Scorsese documentary. Now Showtime has Paul McCartney's documentary The Love We Make about his experiences following 9/11. Rumor is that Ringo is working on a deal for 15 minutes on your local public access channel. Good for him.

We Can Take Dictation and Learn to Smile

Paul McCartney's DIY solo works McCartney and McCartney II are getting the deluxe treatment. Remastered single disc, two-disc, vinyl, and the ultimate four-disc w/DVD and book will be available June 14.

Because we've all been waiting for the remastered Temporary Secretary!

We Were Already Bored

Congratulations to the following Too Poppy-approved artists who won big last night at the Grammys!

Album of the Year - Arcade Fire-The Suburbs (the night's second biggest surprise)
Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance - Paul McCartney-Helter Skelter
Best Historical Album - The Beatles (Original Studio Recordings)
Producer of the Year - Danger Mouse (Broken Bells)

That's just the tip of the Grammy iceberg. See the complete list here. Now can we please retire Fuck You (nice Elton John/Jim Henson rip-off performance last night), Hey Soul Sister (seriously, any song that name drops Mr. Mister...), Need You Now (Alan Parsons Project gone country - thanks, My Hmphs), Lady Madonna GaGa, and The Bieb?!

Thought of Giving It All Away

Paul McCartney and Wings' epic Band on the Run is getting another reissue treatment. I think this album has been babied more than any other Beatles related album. It is great though and it's ready for pre-order. Check out a plethora of options here. Yeah, I said plethora. If you want to wait it hits "stores" on November 2.

If you'd like a bigger chunk of Macca's history, Mull of Kintyre, the Scottish property that inspired the song, is ready for your purchase. It'll only set you back $4.5 million. Not too bad for 9 miles of coastline and a piece of musical history.

You Want a Better Kind of Future

Here is the full list of upcoming Paul McCartney shows on his Up and Coming tour. He's really announced only a few shows at a time so who knows if he'll show up anywhere else. Regardless, never miss an opportunity to see Sir Paul!

Sunday 20th June – Hampden Park, Glasgow
Saturday 26th June – Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Sunday 27th June – Hard Rock Calling, London
Saturday 10th July - AT&T Stadium San Francisco
Tuesday 13th July - Rio Tinto Stadium, Salt Lake City
Thursday 15th July - Pepsi Center Denver
Saturday July 24th - Sprint Center Kansas
Monday 26th July - Bridgestone Arena Nashville
Wednesday 28th July - Time Warner Cable Arena Charlotte
Sunday 8th August - Air Canada Centre Toronto
Thursday 12th August - Bell Centre Montreal
Saturday 14th August - Wachovia Center, Philadelphia
Wednesday 18th August - CONSOL Energy Center Pittsburgh

Buy tix here. Shows are selling out quickly!

You Were Only Waiting For This Moment To Arise

Tonight at 6pm CDT you can stream Paul McCartney's concert at the White House commemorating his receipt of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Your local PBS stations will play the performance at another time to check it out in real time tonight.

In completely unrelated news, Sir Paul tells journalists to "lay off" President Obama.

UPDATE: Nevermind. From PBS:

Due to circumstances out of our control, we regret not being able to stream tonight's performance honoring Sir Paul McCartney. Please note the full program will air on PBS on Wednesday, July 28 at 8PM ET.

Talkin' About Freedom

Here's an interesting new interview with Paul McCartney that covers a lot of ground, including an attempt at explaining what the hell he was thinking with Freedom.