Paul McCartney
Double CD live : «Back in the US,
live 2002», import (Capitol).


e talent de Paul McCartney a toujours eu besoin d'être stimulé pour exprimer son formidable potentiel. Déjà, à l'époque de Liverpool et de Hambourg, la rivalité avec Stu Sutcliffe pour s'imposer comme partenaire de John Lennon avait révélé un compositeur et un musicien d'exception. Ensuite, l'émulation avec ce dernier au sein des Beatles, engendrant le fameux duel Lennon-McCartney, allait le maintenir sur la crête tout au long des années 60. Depuis, ses meilleurs albums ont toujours trouvé leur source dans l'adversité ; RAM lors de la fâcherie avec John ; Band On The Run au Nigeria, avec Linda et Danny Laine, en pleine dissolution de Wings ; Tug Of War à la mort de John.

Comme dans les mythes païens, tous les gnosticismes et le Nouveau Testament, le retour de Paul McCartney aujourd'hui constitue, sinon une résurrection ou une rédemption, une authentique renaissance, issue d'une nouvelle confrontation avec la mort. Celle de Linda, son épouse de trente ans, lui avait déjà inspiré l'album Driving Rain, injustement mésestimé, occulté par son «bonus track» de dernière minute, le combatif Freedom, entraînante mélodie en forme de bras d'honneur à l'adresse des lanceurs de fatwas et autres avions détournés. Le même album contenait The Road to Jaipur, émouvant clin d'oeil à George Harrison, lui aussi atteint par le cancer, et qui devait mourir quelques semaines plus tard.

Antagoniste. Le 3 juin dernier, lors du concert de Buckingham, pour le jubilé de la reine, on retrouvait McCartney auprès d'Eric Clapton, pour une version forcément émouvante de While My Guitar Gently Weeps, avant d'entonner plusieurs de ses propres classiques et de terminer, comme sur Abbey Road, par un irrévérencieux Her Majesty ponctué d'un «mes amis ne m'auraient pas pardonné de manquer cette occasion» que Lennon n'eût pas renié.

Sur la scène du Royal Albert Hall, le 29 novembre, à l'occasion de l'exemplaire concert-hommage à George Harrison, Paul, grand frère un brin condescendant, et parfois antagoniste, s'emparait de l'instrument fétiche du défunt, un ukulélé. Et se lançait, comme déjà tout au long de sa tournée américaine triomphale du printemps, dans une version impeccable de Something, la chanson de George que Frank Sinatra aimait tellement qu'il l'attribuait publiquement à Lennon-McCartney. Rejoint en cours de morceau par l'orchestre d'une trentaine de musiciens autour de Clapton (Ringo, Billy Preston, Gary Brooker, Albert Lee, Jim Capaldi, Klaus Voorman, Jim Keltner, Ray Cooper, Jeff Lynne, etc.), Paul interprétait ensuite l'emblématique All Things Must Pass, avant de passer au piano et de se fondre dans le groupe, concluant en feu d'artifice avec While My Guitar Gently Weeps, My Sweet Lord et Wah Wah.

Cette discrétion, partagée par l'ensemble des intervenants (auxquels il faut ajouter Tom Petty, Jools Holland et Ravi Shankar), fera de l'album et du DVD, annoncés pour mars, un must du genre, le tact y rivalisant avec le soin apporté aux arrangements et avec l'affection palpable pour le sujet, expression d'un sens de la communauté qui semble n'appartenir qu'à cette génération-là.

C'est sous ces excellents auspices que paraît ­ seulement aux Etats-Unis pour l'instant ­ Back In The U.S., double CD de la tournée 2002 de l'endeuillé, en résonance à l'album posthume de George, Brainwashed, certainement pas «son meilleur depuis All Things Must Pass» comme l'affirme la pub, mais un très digne successeur de Cloud Nine, évidemment «touché» par la maladie, la mort et la transcendance, mais non dénué d'humour voire d'aigreur pour autant.

Majesté. Infiniment supérieur à Wings Over America et autre McCartney's Back, ce nouveau live de 35 titres (dont 20 des Beatles) restaure sir Paul dans toute sa majesté. Le répertoire en est exceptionnel, de I Saw Her Standing There (1963) à Vanilla Sky (2002) en passant par des morceaux rarement interprétés en public, sinon jamais (Hello Good Bye, Getting Better, Carry That Weight, Mother Nature's Son, Eleanor Rigby), de véritables redécouvertes (Let Me Roll it, Lonely Road, Every Night), et même une paire de nazeries (Jet, C Moon). Mais soudain libéré de tout regard (ni John, ni George, ni Linda, ni Brian Epstein ne sont là), de toute responsabilité (plus question de reformer les Beatles avec Ringo, ni a fortiori Wings avec Linda), Paul McCartney retrouve au sortir de cette période mortifère une énergie, une pertinence, et surtout une forme vocale, exceptionnelles, étrangères depuis le medley de Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey sur RAM, il y a trente et un ans.

Péché d'orgueil. Fini les joliesses gâteuses, les retenues sensées, la sinusite irritante, qui gâchait les tentatives précéden tes de refourbir Yesterday, Here, There and Everywhere et autre The Long and Winding Road. Poussé par un groupe formidable ­ deux très bons guitaristes, un excellent batteur, Wix aux claviers ­, comme par l'envie d'impressionner sa nouvelle femme (Heather Mills), et sans doute aussi galvanisé par le sentiment étrange d'être le dernier dépositaire de cette aventure fabuleuse, Paul redonne vie, non seulement à sa carrière quelque peu marginalisée, mais aussi à des chansons muséifiées.

Cet excellent disque et la perspective d'une tournée européenne au printemps nous feraient presque pardonner le péché d'orgueil qui accompagne la parution, et qui génère une véritable fureur parmi les fans et médias américains : l'inversion, sur les titres de gloire concernés, du sceau sacré «Lennon-McCartney» ­ devenu «McCartney-Lennon» sous prétexte que les 19 chansons en question seraient principalement l'oeuvre du bassiste.

Ce révisionnisme un peu vain (cela ne lui apportera rien de plus ; et de quelle gloire supplémentaire peut-on rêver, quand on est le Beatles Paul McCartney ?) s'était déjà manifesté il y a quelques années, à l'occasion de son autobiographie Many Years From Now, et n'a d'équivalent que dans celui exprimé par Lennon à l'époque de ses fameuses interviews de 1971 à Rolling Stone et Play Boy. Qu'en penserait John s'il était Here Today, admirable requiem repris ici au cours de la section acoustique ?

Comme nous ne le saurons jamais, restons avec notre peu de certitude suffisant : Back in the US est un excellent moyen d'attaquer 2003, quarante ans à peine après le premier album des Beatles, qui s'ouvrait sur ce décompte inoubliable de Paul : «One, two, three, fuck...».

 

Culver City -- Paul McCartney stood in the middle of a vast Los Angeles
soundstage, dwarfed by a huge array of video screens. He and his new band
were working the kinks out of the former Beatle's first tour in almost a
decade, which kicks off tomorrow at the Arena in Oakland.

The warehouse was dimly lit. The soundmen and video choreographers were a
football field away. A smattering of onlookers sprawled across two
thrift- store couches on the bare concrete floor.

McCartney was trying to coordinate a particular moment in which he'll
raise his famous violin-shaped Hofner bass guitar over his head, timed to
an accompanying video image above.

He muttered some instructions into the microphone. His amplified voice
rattled around the cavernous building. Then he caught himself.

"I hope somebody's listening to me," he joked. "I just got the feeling I
was talking to myself."

More than any pop star of the rock 'n' roll era, McCartney has not lacked
for an audience. He is, of course, one of the best-selling songwriters
and recording artists of all time. The Beatles' astounding achievements
have been well-documented, and McCartney's 1970s band, Wings, scored
seven No. 1 albums. In 1999 he was named the Greatest Composer of the
Last 1,000 Years in a BBC poll, beating out such also-rans as Mozart,
Bach and Beethoven.

Of late this world-famous man has been keeping a heightened profile. The
Oscars, the Super Bowl, the Concert for New York City: Even for Paul
McCartney,

that's called exposure.

"We don't do any shows with an audience less than a billion," teased the
ever-merry ex-Beatle, muffling the words around a mouthful of noodles
during a break in rehearsal.

The night before he'd worn all black to the Oscars, where he
performed "Vanilla Sky," his title track to the recent Cameron Crowe-Tom
Cruise movie. Sitting in his comfortable trailer on the studio lot,
however, he's in casual mode -- a black T-shirt, an unbuttoned dress
shirt plucked from the laundry pile and a pair of plaid flannel pajama
bottoms.

"Smelly socks!" he yips, peeling them off.

On the "Driving USA" tour, which will cover 19 cities through May 18
(including the Compaq Center at San Jose on Wednesday), the crowds will
be in the 12,000-to-18,000 range. Most of the shows sold out in 15 or 20
minutes.

For McCartney, who turns 60 in June, the excitement is nothing new. One
segment of the tour will feature a retrospective of black-and-white
Beatles footage on the big screens. With McCartney crooning "All My
Loving," it's as thrilling as ever.

The tour will feature songs from all phases of his career -- Beatles
classics such as "We Can Work It Out" and "Back in the U.S.S.R.," Wings
hits including "Jet" and "Maybe I'm Amazed" and a few cuts from his new
album, "Driving Rain."

"I'm doing some stuff I've never done before," he says. An acoustic
interlude will be the first time he has ever played guitar onstage
without accompaniment, he claims.

"In the early days we used to have John (Lennon) on a crappy little
organ." He laughs, mimicking the sound of a cheap keyboard. "We sounded
like a little church group."

Clearly McCartney is feeling expansive and reflective. Besides
celebrations of his Beatles and Wings careers, the show includes tender
tributes to his late wife, Linda, and his late band mate, George
Harrison.

His last visit with Harrison came in November, two weeks before George
died.

"We were laughing and joking, just like old times," McCartney says. "The
only difference, really, was that I was holding his hand."

He looks off for a moment. "Because he was pretty frail, you know. It was
very lovely, very emotional, very warm. I came away from the meeting
thinking, 'Gosh, I held his hand for the first time in my life.' That was
sort of a plus.

I mean, out of this terrible, negative thing came something very
positive."

The same might be said of his relationship with Heather Mills, the model
and activist McCartney plans to marry this summer, four years after
Linda's death. It's obvious that their affection has re-energized him.
Mills is the muse of several songs on "Driving Rain."

After recording the album, the couple tooled around Southern California
in McCartney's rented Corvette. To hear him tell it, they acted like
kids, giggling excitedly each time they played the CD.

"It's one of those cool albums to drive to," McCartney says. "It drives
well."

He's extraordinarily wealthy, and his accomplishments are beyond compare.
Why go on the road again?

It just feels right, he says. Every time he makes an album, Capitol
Records prays that he'll decide to tour.

"I always say, 'We'll see when the record's done,' " he says. This time,
the decision was easy: "I like the players. I thought, 'I've got an
instant band.' "

"Driving Rain" producer David Kahne, a former San Franciscan who worked
on records with Pearl Harbour, Translator, Romeo Void and many other
local '80s groups, says he assembled the McCartney band from musicians he
knew in Los Angeles.

"Paul met them in the studio and 10 minutes later they were recording,"
he says. Despite a few trademark intricate arrangements, "Driving Rain"
sounds like a live band at work, in the moment.

"That's exactly what I was shooting for," the producer says. "Paul wanted
to make a more aggressive record, and so did I."

Of the current group, keyboardist Paul "Wix" Wickens is the only
McCartney veteran; he toured in 1989 and 1993. Guitarist Rusty Anderson
was in the band Ednaswap and has played with Elton John, Ricky Martin and
Sinead O'Connor, among others. He met Kahne working on a Bangles record.

At rehearsal, hefty percussionist Abe Laboriel Jr. thumped his drum kit,
his shaved head tilted way back as he sang improbably lovely harmonies
into a microphone. Anderson and guitarist Brian Ray added their own
effusive backup vocals, such a key component in the McCartney songbook.

In an age of blockbuster performances that require technical wizardry,
daredevil physicality and more and more recorded music, it seems the
McCartney tour will have a refreshing back-to-basics feel. At the
rehearsal, the band was loud, raw and excitable, making even the relative
trifle "Coming Up" sound like a force.

"I like that," McCartney says. "If we make a mistake, you'll hear it.
We'll have to stop."

He slips into an absurd, too-cool voice for comic effect: "It's on the
edge,

man!"

With so many hit songs and fan favorites in the storage bin, making up
the set list has been one of McCartney's few headaches. It's a good
problem to have.

"We're leaving out things like 'Penny Lane,' " he says. "Anyone else
would do that. It's a nice number, a good arrangement."

One of the new songs, the boisterous album-opener "Lonely Road," features
a telling line. "I hear your music and it's driving me wild again,"
McCartney wails.

Lucky ticketholders will know just what he means.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Paul McCartney
Shows are at 8 p.m. tomorrow at the Arena in Oakland and 8 p.m. Wednesday
at Compaq Center in San Jose. Tickets: $50-$262.50. For Oakland, call
(415) 478-2277 or go to www.Tickets.com. For San Jose, call (415)
421-8497 or go to www.Ticketmaster.com.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Paul McCartney: A selected history
-- June 1967: Confirms LSD use on TV

-- March 12, 1969: Last Beatle bachelor marries photography heiress Linda
Eastman

-- Sept. 23, 1969: "Paul Is Dead" rumor broadcast

-- April 10, 1970: First Beatle to announce breakup

-- April 1970: Solo debut "McCartney" precedes Beatles' swan song "Let It
Be"

-- August 1971: First solo No. 1 single, "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"

-- August 1971: Announces new band, Wings

-- February 1972: "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" banned by BBC

-- March 1973: "James Paul McCartney" TV special

-- March 1973: Pleads guilty to cannabis cultivation

-- July 1973: "Live and Let Die," James Bond title track, hits No. 2

-- May 1974: "Band on the Run" hits No. 1

-- April 1976: "Silly Love Songs" hits No. 1

-- December 1976: Releases triple-live "Wings Over America"; fifth
straight No. 1 album

-- October 1979: Declared all-time best-selling songwriter and recording
artist

-- December 1979: Concerts for the People of Kampuchea

-- January 1980: Spends 10 days in Tokyo prison for marijuana possession

-- April 1981: Wings disbands

-- April 1982: "Ebony and Ivory," duet with Stevie Wonder, hits No. 1

-- April 1982: First composer with simultaneous songs on R&B and country
charts

-- November 1982: "The Girl Is Mine," duet with Michael Jackson, hits No.
2

-- October 1984: Feature film "Give My Regards to Broad Street" a
resounding flop

-- 1985: Michael Jackson makes off with Lennon-McCartney publishing
rights

-- July 13, 1985: Plays Live Aid

-- 1989: Collaboration with Elvis Costello includes hit single "Veronica"

-- February 1990: Awarded lifetime achievement Grammy

-- 1991: Linda launches line of frozen vegetarian dinners

-- 1991: First classical effort, "Liverpool Oratorio"

-- May 1991: Releases first MTV "Unplugged" album

-- March 1997: Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II

-- March 1997: Daughter Stella succeeds Karl Lagerfeld as chief fashion
designer at Chloe

-- March 15, 1999: Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as solo act

-- April 17, 1998: Linda dies of breast cancer at age 56

-- April 1999: Named "Greatest Composer of the Last 1,000 Years" in BBC
poll

-- Oct. 20, 2001: Anchors "The Concert for New York City"

-- Feb. 3, 2002: Appears on Super Bowl telecast

-- April 1, 2002: Opens "Driving U.S.A." tour in Oakland