Album of the Week
PAUL McCARTNEY
“Kisses on the Bottom”
★★★★
MOST romantics rely on chocolate and roses to express love on Valentine’s Day, but a week ahead of Cupid’s arrival, newlywed Paul McCartney is regaling his bride with “Kisses on the Bottom.”
That’s the cheeky name of today’s release, featuring a dozen classic love songs from the great American songbook — plus a pair of McCartney-penned songs dedicated to his bride, Nancy Shevell. The title is a line from the Fats Waller hit “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,” which opens the album.
Just like Sir Paul’s 1999 tribute to old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll, “Run Devil Run,” the new collection is totally authentic in its styling, arrangements and instrumentation. But this time, he’s on the acoustic side of jazz.
While it’s difficult to get the lush, yet hushed, treatment of “The Glory of Love” out of your ear, or forget the delicate vocal caress of “Always,” the McCartney originals — “My Valentine” and “Only Our Hearts” (with Stevie Wonder on harmonica) — are the record’s centerpieces. Both are beautiful, unabashed expressions of love which, like the classics on “Kisses,” don’t get mired in sap.
Besides the somethings new and old, McCartney takes care of the other side of love — the blues — on “Get Yourself Another Fool,” with Eric Clapton lending a stinging, slow-hand guitar riff that says love has left the house.
The album is rife with nostalgia, filled with standards by Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer and Irving Berlin, to name a few. In the liner notes, McCartney says these are the tunes he remembers his dad playing on piano when he was a boy. Those memories are supercharged by the jazz singer/pianist Diana Krall and her band as they back McCartney’s sweet vocals.
This CD, which includes a terrific cover of “Bye Bye Blackbird,” is a fantastic new arrow for Cupid’s quiver — from top to “Bottom.”
Download of the Week
THE FRAY
“Streets of Philadelphia”
★★★ 1/2
COLORADO alt-rock quartet the Fray goes acoustic with a graceful version of Bruce Springsteen’s tearjerker “Streets of Philadelphia.” On this stripped-down track, Isaac Slade’s vocals are warm as he croons to spare piano work. He sounds lonely, which fits the mood of the Oscar-winning song’s sense of isolation. The Springsteen/Fray connection is made even stronger with production work on this song (as well as on the rest of the Fray’s new album, “Scars & Stories”) being handled by Boss knob twirler Brendan O’Brien.