Sir Paul McCartney received a hero's welcome as he was joined on stage by BBC star Rob Brydon for a special in-conversation event at the Roundhouse in London. The legendary Beatle hosted the live event to celebrate the release of his new album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which debuted at Number One on the UK Albums Chart on May 29.
A Night to Remember
The 83-year-old musician thrilled fans when he announced the unique event last week. Last night, he arrived on stage at the sold-out venue to a huge ovation and even treated the crowd to some songs from the album. Sir Paul also answered questions from the audience, making it an unforgettable evening for all in attendance.
The Album's Inspiration
The Boys of Dungeon Lane is an ode to Sir Paul's youth in Liverpool. The album is a rare insight into his early years before he conquered the world with the Fab Four. Dungeon Lane is a road in Speke near his first childhood home on Ardwick Road, before the family moved to Forthlin Road in Allerton. Sir Paul said he still takes his family to Dungeon Lane when showing them around Liverpool. He told the ECHO: 'I'd been there not that long ago. Sometimes when I go up to Liverpool and I've got the kids with me, I'll do the tour. I'll drive them around. That's where we did our first gig. And that's where we used to live there. And that's where we caught the bus to school. So going down Dungeon Lane, I would say "And this is Dungeon Lane."'
Musical Journey
The genesis of the album came from a jamming session with producer Andrew Watt six years ago in Los Angeles. Sir Paul's creative juices were ignited when he stumbled upon a chord he had never heard before. To this day, he does not know what that chord is. This improvised session developed into the first single, Days We Left Behind. The song reflects on his youth in post-World War II Liverpool. He said: 'The second verse starts "See the boys of Dungeon Lane along the Mersey Shore", and Dungeon Lane was a place that led down from where we lived, which was on a housing estate. You say housing estate to Americans they tend to think you're talking about Downton Abbey. Well, it's about the opposite, it's just loads of council houses. And then on the edge of it was this road that went down to the beach, the shore, and I used to go down there quite a lot. Took my little bird book - I was really into bird watching. So yeah, I put all of those memories in the song.'
A Historic Duet
The album also contains Sir Paul's first ever duet with Sir Ringo Starr. The song, titled Home To Us, features the two surviving Beatles paying tribute to their upbringing. Sir Paul said: 'I knew he would identify with the lyrics cause you know the idea of where we grew up was rough - but it was home to us. He knew I felt like that, I knew he felt like that. So I thought we could come together on that idea. And we did.'
The event at the Roundhouse is part of Sir Paul's busy press tour for the album. The Boys of Dungeon Lane is out now.
