LONDON – For six decades, the partnership summarised by the songwriting credit “Lennon-McCartney” of English rock band The Beatles has been pop music’s gold standard.
So, there was some surprise last week when fans woke up to a brand-new track from McCartney and Lennon – if not the same duo.
James McCartney, the son of Beatle Paul McCartney and his late first wife Linda McCartney, released the song, Primrose Hill, on April 11. He performed and co-wrote it with Sean Ono Lennon, son of bandmate John Lennon and his widow Yoko Ono.
James McCartney, 46, announced the single – a dreamy ballad with echoes of The Beatles’ style – on social media the day after its release. Its B-side, Beautiful, came out in February.
“With the release of this song, it feels like we’re really getting the ball rolling and I am so excited to continue to share music with you,” he wrote.
McCartney began releasing his own music with a 2010 EP titled Available Light, which he recorded partly at Abbey Road Studios in London.
His first full album, Me (2013), was produced by David Kahne, a former record executive who has worked with American rock bands The Strokes and Linkin Park, American singer Lana Del Rey and Paul McCartney. The album featured vocals, guitar and drums from his father.
Its follow-up, The Blackberry Train, came out in 2016. James McCartney previously contributed to albums by both of his parents, including Flaming Pie (1997) and Wide Prairie (1998).
Through a representative, McCartney and Ono Lennon, 48, declined to comment on the new track.
Paul McCartney did tout his son’s fresh work on social media, adding: “Lots of love to Sean Ono Lennon.”
Perhaps the most poignant reaction to the track, and to the opportunity and burden of The Beatles’ legacy, came from yet another band scion – English drummer Zak Starkey, 58, who is the son of Beatle drummer Ringo Starr.
One observer had ruefully commented on an Instagram post from an unofficial Paul McCartney fan account: “Sad, ya can’t just walk your own road.”
Starkey – an accomplished drummer who has toured with English rock bands The Who and Oasis – replied that The Beatles are a “wall u cannot go thru over or under – I was 25 when I came to terms with that”. NYTIMES
