Beatles

It shouldn't be surprising that The Beatle who sang on Meet The Beatles "Till There Was You" from the Broadway hit "The Music Man" would eventually dip into the old song basket and pull out nearly an album's worth. McCartney has written so many songs in the "old style," from "Honey Pie," to "When I'm Sixty-Four" to "Martha My Dear." His father led a jazz band. I've read so many negative reviews of this misunderstood album, and it's a real shame because it will prevent many people, especially McCartney fans, from listening to it.

Unlike Rod Stewart's "Great American Songbook" albums that went looking for classics, McCartney was going for mostly really old songs—parlor songs—the ones he heard growing up. "For years I've been wanting to do some of the old songs that my parents' generation used to sing at New Year," he says in the liner notes.

So the tunes are more like A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night than they are what Rod was hitting. Yet the reviews I've read didn't get that so they criticized McCartney's singing style as sounding "old". Ya' think? That's what he was going for: close miked, high pitched, often sugary, always tender crooning. Like Harry Nilsson went for so successfully on his album that also was hardly a hit when first issued.

McCartney covers "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter" (a lyric from which is the album title), "Home (Where Shadows Fall)", "It's Only a Paper Moon," the tender "More I Cannot Wish You" (from the Broadway smash "Guys and Dolls"), "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive", Irving Berlin's chestnut "Always" and "The Glory of Love" plus a few more, along with McCartney originals "My Valentine" and "Only Our Hearts," with the former being among McCartney's most beautiful minor key ballad in some time, written while on vacation in Morocco with his new wife Nancy. He's not singing "Bye Bye Blackbird" because he's run out of cooler songs. He's included it because it fits in well with the parlor song concept and maybe because it refers back to his own "Blackbird" song. The arrangements (some by Sinatra veteran Johnny Mandel), the playing and production are all as classy as it gets today with the core consisting of Diana Krall's combo plus guests like John and Bucky Pizzarelli, Mike Mainieri, Anthony Wilson, Eric Clapton, Christian McBride and on occasion. The London Symphony Orchestra. The luxurious backdrop is reminiscent of Krall's albums only more opulent thanks to the guests.

The rest of the credits belong to a dream team of producer Tommy LiPuma, engineer and mixer Al Shmitt with additional engineering by Elliot Scheiner, and studios like Avatar, Capitol, Abbey Road and mastering by Doug Sax and Sangwook "Sunny" Nam. Add very handsome gatefold packaging, well-pressed 180g LPs from Rainbo and it adds up to a sumptuous listening experience that harkens back to the "old days" of the 1950s when great sounding records were the norm. Believe me, you will positively luxuriate in the richly textured, transparent, three dimensional sound and I think most listeners will understand and appreciate the vocal stance McCartney takes in these sessions: old-fashioned and elegant. Even if you weren't alive during the pre-war years, you'll feel as if you were listening to this very classy set.

No doubt it's not for everyone but for McCartney fans and for fans of this genre, it's easy to recommend either on vinyl or as a 96/24 download from HDTracks. The vinyl sounds richer, the download "cleaner" but not as fleshed out and involving. I don't know if analog tape rolled but I suspect so for the basic tracks, even if it was finished in and mixed to ProTools.

Definitely for McCartney fans, fans of Frank and Nat and those who enjoy pre-WWII music generally.