Kisses On The Bottom is a collection of standards Paul grew up listening to, as well as two brand new McCartney compositions “My Valentine” and “Only Our Hearts” (which feature guest turns, respectively, from Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder). Recorded with the aid of Grammy-winning producer Tommy LiPuma and Diana Krall and her band–who will back Paul for the Capitol live stream event–Kisses On The Bottom is a deeply personal journey through songs that, in some cases, a young Paul first heard his father perform on the family piano.

The February 9 Capitol Studios streaming event will be the first time ever that the reverent and adventurous performances of Kisses On The Bottom will be brought to life in a live setting.

On working with Stevie Paul said, “Stevie came along to the studio in L.A. and he listened to the track for about ten minutes and he totally got it. He just went to the mic and within 20 minutes had nailed this dynamite solo. When you listen you just think, ‘How do you come up with that?’ But it’s just because he is a genius, that’s why’.

Stevie joined Paul at L.A.’s legendary Capitol Studio’s to record the track.

Kisses On The Bottom is a collection of standards Paul grew up listening to in his childhood as well as the two new McCartney compositions My Valentine and Only Our Hearts. With the help of Grammy Award-winning producer Tommy LiPuma and Diana Krall and her band, Paul’s new album is a deeply personal journey through classic American compositions that, in some cases, a young Paul first heard his father perform on piano at home

Kisses On The Bottom is out February 7.

Coldplay, which scored its third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 when “Mylo Xyloto” was released last October, is up for three Grammys this year, including Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall.” Meanwhile, Rihanna — whose single “We Found Love” just spent its 10th week atop the Hot 100 — is nominated for four awards, including Album of the Year for her 2010 offering “Loud.”

McCartney’s Grammy performance will come less than a week after the Feb. 7 release of his latest studio album, “Kisses On The Bottom,” which reinterprets classic songs that inspired the former Beatle’s songwriting.

Paul has apparently had some fun with his choice of album title-while causing some confusion amongst those who have historically subjected his every move to microscopic scrutiny (with many fixating on an anatomical interpretation!). The phrase ‘Kisses On The Bottom,’ however, actually comes from the album’s opener ‘I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter’. Originally made a big hit by Fats Waller in 1935, the song opens with the lines ‘I’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter and make believe it came from you. I’m gonna write words oh so sweet. They’re gonna knock me off of my feet. A lot of kisses on the bottom, I’ll be glad I got ‘em’.

‘Kisses On The Bottom’ is a collection of standards Paul grew up listening to in his childhood as well as the two new McCartney compositions ‘My Valentine’ and ‘Only Our Hearts’. With the help of Grammy Award-winning producer Tommy LiPuma and Diana Krall and her band-as well as guest appearances from Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder, McCartney’s new album is a deeply personal journey through classic American compositions that, in some cases, a young Paul first heard his father perform on piano at home. The full tracklisting reveals that Paul has been both reverent and adventurous in his song choices.

Kisses On The Bottom – Full Tracklisting
Standard CD – 14 tracks
01. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter 02:36
02. Home (When Shadows Fall) 04:04
03. It’s Only A Paper Moon 02:35
04. More I Cannot Wish You 03:04
05. The Glory Of Love 03:46
06. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me) 03:22
07. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive 02:32
08. My Valentine 03:14
09. Always 03:50
10. My Very Good Friend The Milkman 03:04
11. Bye Bye Blackbird 04:26
12. Get Yourself Another Fool 04:42
13. The Inch Worm 03:43
14. Only Our Hearts 04:21

Deluxe CD Album will feature two bonus tracks plus access to a download of the Capitol Studios show (available from Tuesday 14th February via paulmccartney.com), plus longer liner notes and expanded packaging featuring three postcards)
15. Baby’s Request 03:30
16. My One And Only Love 03:50

The album will also be available digitally.

The album was recorded at the legendary Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, New York and London throughout 2011. It also features guest musicians Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder, respectively, on the original compositions ‘My Valentine’ and ‘Only Our Hearts’. Eric also appears on the track ‘Get Yourself Another Fool’.

The album artwork concept was conceived by Jonathan Schofield (Visual Director at Stella McCartney) and designed by Matthew Cooper (who has worked with artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand). Paul was photographed by his daughter Mary McCartney for the album sleeve.

With the help of Grammy Award-winning producer Tommy LiPuma and Diana Krall and her band-as well as guest appearances from Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder, McCartney’s new album is a deeply personal journey through classic American compositions that, in some cases, a young Paul first heard his father perform on piano at home. As authentic and daring a musical statement as he could make, this is the album Paul has been thinking about making for more than 20 years – and probably the last thing his fans are expecting. “In the end it was ‘Look, if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it,” he says.

In short, Paul believes it is about time “the songs me and John based quite a few of our things on” received the recognition they deserve. Moreover, the record also features a couple of new original McCartney compositions in the spirit of those classics.

“When I kind of got into songwriting, I realized how well structured these songs were and I think I took a lot of my lessons from them,” Paul explains. “I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys – I just thought the songs were magical. And then, as I got to be a songwriter I thought it’s beautiful, the way they made those song’.”

Determined to approach the record in a new and unique manner, Paul enlisted the help of LiPuma and Krall and her band-who delivered ultra-high quality musicianship and were completely in tune with Paul’s restraint and feel for the music. In the studio, the recording of this album was also a new challenge for Paul who, for the first time ever, performed exclusively in the vocal booth without no instrument – no guitar, no bass, no piano – which led to a vocal performance like no other in his career.

He adds, “It was very spontaneous, kind of organic, which then reminded me of the way we’d work with The Beatles. We’d bring a song in, kick it around, when we found a way to do it we’d say ‘Okay, let’s do a take now’ and by the time everyone kind of had an idea of what they were doing, we’d learnt the song. So that’s what we did, we did the take live in the studio.”

“It was important for me to keep away from the more obvious song choices so, many of the classic standards will be unfamiliar to some people. I hope they are in for a pleasant surprise.”

The album was recorded at the legendary Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, New York and London throughout 2011. It also features guest musicians Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder, respectively, on the original compositions ‘My Valentine’ and ‘Only Our Hearts’.

The track ‘My Valentine’ will be exclusively streamed on www.paulmccartney.com to premium members for 24 hours only, from 1400hrs (GMT) today (Monday 19th December).

Full tracklisting to be announced soon.

Having completed a sold out two night stand at Mexico City’s Foro Sol Stadium, Paul McCartney’s record-breaking Up and Coming 2010 Tour will swing back to North America for a series of July-August dates, including two instant sellouts: July 10 at San Francisco’s AT&T Park and July 13 at Salt Lake City’s Rio Tinto Stadium. Further details of McCartney’s upcoming dates continue to emerge, as the most celebrated performer in popular music will make his first ever Nashville appearance July 26 at the music city’s Bridgestone Area, and will return to Denver (July 15), Kansas City (July 24), Charlotte (July 28), Toronto (August 8), Montreal (August 12) and Pittsburgh (August 18) before the summer is over.

The May 27 and 28 Mexico City dates were attended by over 100,000 of the most enthusiastic McCartney fans on the planet. Featuring the first ever performances in Mexico of The Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and the Fireman’s “Highway” and “Sing The Changes,” among numerous other highlights, the twin 2-hour-plus marathon sets found McCartney turning the 100,000-plus-attendance doubleheader into an intimate affair: The first date alone saw a local man’s dream come true as he joined Paul for an impressive soundcheck duet of “I Saw Her Standing There,” while later that night a female fan whose “I Want To Dance On Stage” sign caught Paul’s eye was invited to do just that for an encore of “Get Back.”

Macca will be anything but idle in the month leading up to his next U.S. run: On June 2 The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song was presented to McCartney at a special concert in the East Room of the White House. The performance, featuring Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Jack White, Dave Grohl, Faith Hill, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris and more will air on PBS stations nationwide on Wednesday, July 28 at 8 p.m. EDT (check local listings) as “Paul McCartney: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song In Performance at the White House.” The Gershwin Prize for Popular Song was created by the Library of Congress to honor artists whose creative output transcends distinctions between musical styles and idioms, bringing diverse listeners together, and fostering mutual understanding and appreciation.

Beginning June 12, McCartney’s Up and Coming Juggernaut will swing through Dublin, the Isle of Wight, Glasgow and Cardiff before concluding with a June 27 headline at London’s Hyde Park.

The Up and Coming 2010 Tour continues to target cities McCartney has never played before as well as historically significant markets from which he’s been absent too long: The July 10 show will be McCartney’s first concert within the city of San Francisco since The Beatles wrapped their last ever tour at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966, the July 13 date will be McCartney’s first-ever performance in Utah, and July 26 as mentioned will mark McCartney’s Nashville debut. Elsewhere, the July 15 show at Denver’s Pepsi Center and August 8 date at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre will be Paul’s first appearances in both regions in approximately five years, July 24 at Kansas City’s Sprint Center and August 12 at Montreal’s Bell Centre will end a 17- and 20-year absences from those markets respectively, and July 28 at Charlotte NC’s Time Warner Cable Arena marks Macca’s first show in the city since 1993. The current run will conclude with a pair of engagements in Pennsylvania: August 14′s return to the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia and the August 18 opening of Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center, on which Paul will christen the new venue with his first Pittsburgh show in over two decades.

McCartney’s live shows have reached a new level of status in recent years, garnering unprecedented reviews from fans and critics alike. He’s pushed boundaries, performed to millions and made global news with monumental shows including performances in Moscow’s Red Square, outside of the Coliseum in Rome, the largest outdoor show ever in the Ukraine, his first performance in Tel Aviv and a live performance transmitted to a NASA space station. The Up and Coming dates, which kicked off in late March, are McCartney’s first U.S. shows since his Summer Live ’09 Tour, which was prefaced by a triumphant sold-out headline set at the 2009 Coachella festival and a surprise Late Show with David Letterman mini-concert on the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater (inside which The Beatles made TV history decades ago) that drew throngs packing Broadway from Columbus Circle to Times Square. Summer Live ’09 began in earnest with an already legendary inaugural run of shows at New York’s Citi Field Stadium, the site of the former Shea Stadium where The Beatles played the 1965 concert that set the precedent for the modern-day stadium rock show. The Citi Field shows have since been immortalized on the gold-certified Good Evening New York City CD/DVD, released November 17 2009 by Hear Music/Concord.

Garnering rave reviews the world over, the Up and Coming Tour 2010 set list draws on two-plus hours’ worth of selections spanning the catalogues of The Beatles, Wings and Paul’s solo career, including tracks from The Fireman’s 2008 album, Electric Arguments, and has featured material never before played on U.S. soil.

Stay tuned to PaulMcCartney.com for information on tickets, additional shows and other announcements.

PAUL McCARTNEY
UP AND COMING TOUR 2010

06/12/10 – Dublin, Ireland – RDS
06/13/10 – Newport, UK – Isle of Wight Festival
06/20/10 – Glasgow, UK – Hampden Park
06/26/10 – Cardiff, UK – Millennium Stadium
06/27/10 – London, UK – Hard Rock Calling
07/10/10 – San Francisco, CA – AT & T Park
07/13/10 – Sandy, UT – Rio Tinto Stadium
07/15/10 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
07/24/10 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
07/26/10 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
07/28/10 – Charlotte, NC – Time Warner Cable Arena
08/08/10 – Toronto, ONT – Air Canada Center
08/12/10 – Montreal, QUE – Bell Center
08/14/10 – Philadelphia, PA – Wachovia Center
08/18/10 – Pittsburgh, PA – Consol Energy Center

Since opening in 1993 the Foro Sol Stadium has been host to some of the most iconic names in music. It’s seen performances from the likes of AC/DC, Aerosmith, Coldplay, David Bowie, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, The Rolling Stones, The Police and The Killers. The previous record for fastest selling tickets was set by Radiohead last year and before that Madonna in 2008.

Paul’s forthcoming show is part of his all-new ‘Up And Coming Tour’, which kicked off to rave reviews in the US on March 28th. The show on May 27th will be Paul’s first show in Mexico since 2002 when he performed three shows at the Palacio de los Deportes. Paul’s first visit to Mexico was in 1993 on his ‘New World Tour’.

Mexican promoters for the show Bruce Moran at Live Nation and Memo Parra at OCESA commented: “Paul McCartney has made history once again! His upcoming Mexico City show is the fastest sellout in the history of the venue, Foro Sol. Everyone at Live Nation and OCESA are thrilled and honored that Sir Paul has agreed to return to Mexico, and the public has responded to the news in just an overwhelming fashion. Only the thrill of seeing Sir Paul McCartney live at Foro Sol will top the excitement in Mexico today!”

Paul’s ‘Up And Coming Tour’ comes to the UK and Ireland in June with five special dates, culminating with a headline show at Hyde Park’s Hard Rock Calling Festival on Sunday June 27th, which might be the last chance to catch his show this year in the UK.

The speculation ends today with the announcement of two shows that are set to be his hottest of the year. The first is at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami on the 3rd of April; the only Florida appearance of the tour, the April 3 gig is also Paul’s first show in Miami since he launched his massive 2005 ‘US Tour’ at Miami’s American Airlines Arena five years ago. On April 5th Paul will play his first ever show in Puerto Rico.

In addition, unprecedented response to the presale for Paul’s March 30 return to the Hollywood Bowl has necessitated the addition of a second show on March 31. Both shows will go on sale to the general public this Sunday, February 28.

These new dates are in keeping with Paul’s huge headline making concerts over the last few years, where the world’s biggest rock star has played to millions of people across the globe. These concerts have taken Paul to places he’s never been before, unique settings, venues and locations, and these new dates are no exception.

The Arizona and California dates will be Paul’s first US shows since his five – week Summer Live ’09 tour last year, which was prefaced by a triumphant sold out headline set at the 2009 Coachella festival and a surprise performance for the Late Show with David Letterman on the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater (inside which The Beatles made TV history decades ago) that drew throngs packing Broadway from Columbus Circle to Times Square. The ‘Summer Live ’09′ tour began in earnest with an already legendary inaugural run of shows at New York’s Citi Field Stadium, the site of the former Shea Stadium where The Beatles played the 1965 concert that set the precedent for the modern day stadium rock show. Critics hailed the Citi Field performances, seen by over 100,000 people, as the concert experience of a lifetime. Those performances were immortalized on last year’s RIAA gold – certified multi – disc CD/DVD Good Evening New York City.

The new tour will feature a typically diverse set list, drawing on two hours plus worth of selections spanning the catalogues of The Beatles, Wings and Paul’s solo career – including tracks from The Fireman’s 2008 album ‘Electric Arguments’. There will be some never-before-played-on-US-soil songs added to the set list, as well as the US live premiere of ‘(I Want To) Come Home’, Paul’s Golden Globe nominated track from the Robert De Niro movie ‘Everybody’s Fine’.

More live shows to be announced soon. Keep checking http://www.paulmccartney.com

To purchase tickets, go to Ticketmaster.com or call 800-745-3000.

Up and Coming Tour

Dates so far:

Sunday 28th March – Jobing.com Arena, Glendale AZ
Tuesday 30th March – Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles CA
Wednesday 31st March – Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles CA
Saturday 3rd April – Sun Life Stadium, MiamiFL
Monday 5th April – Coliseo De Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico

Paul’s first live concert of 2010 will take place in Glendale, Arizona at the Jobing.com Arena on Sunday 28th March. This will be Paul’s first appearance in Arizona since 2005′s mega ‘US Tour’ which saw Paul rock out across America, performing 37 sell-out magical performances.

Straight off the back of the Arizona date, Paul will return to the legendary Hollywood Bowl for the first time since 1993. Paul first appeared at the Bowl with The Beatles 46 years ago in August 1964 and then again a year later in August 1965. These shows were recorded for a live album (The Beatles At Hollywood Bowl) that was not released until May 1977. As with all The Beatles live shows, the technological limitations of the day found the band overpowered by the screams of female fans. Decades later the crowds are just as loud but superior technology now allows Paul to overpower the screams, and overpower them he does! Macca’s live shows have reached a new legendary status in recent years, garnering unprecedented reviews from fans and critics alike wherever he goes.

These will be Paul’s first US shows since his five-week ‘Summer Live ’09′ tour last year, which was prefaced by a triumphant sold out headline set at the 2009 Coachella festival and a surprise performance for CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman on the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater (inside which The Beatles made TV history decades ago) that drew throngs packing Broadway from Columbus Circle to Times Square. The ‘Summer Live ’09′ tour began in earnest with an already legendary inaugural run of shows at New York’s Citi Field Stadium, the site of the former Shea Stadium where The Beatles played the 1965 concert that set the precedent for the modern day stadium rock show. Critics hailed the Citi Field performances, seen by over 100,000 people, as the concert experience of a lifetime. Those performances were immortalized on last year’s RIAA gold-certified multi-disc CD/DVD ‘Good Evening New York City’.

The new show will feature a typically diverse set list drawing on 2 hours plus worth of selections spanning the catalogues of The Beatles, Wings and Paul’s solo career, including tracks from The Fireman’s 2008 album ‘Electric Arguments’. There will be some never-before-played-on-US-soil songs added to the set list as well as the US live premiere of ‘(I Want To) Come Home’, Paul’s Golden Globe nominated track from the Robert De Niro movie ‘Everybody’s Fine’.

Paul finished 2009 on a high when he brought his ‘Good Evening Europe’ tour to a close on the 22nd of December with his only UK show at London’s O2 Arena. Reviews for the show were phenomenal and prove that Paul McCartney is a live experience that no-one should miss. “The man is living history and the way he continues to bring new energy to his past is incredible,’ reported the UK’s largest Sunday paper, News Of The World. The Telegraph exclaimed, “Paul McCartney used his only UK concert of 2009 as a showcase for an epic display of back-to-back basics music-making. Armed only with his four-piece band and the greatest collection of hits in pop history, he traveled back and forth across the decades like the Dr Who of rock and roll. Whatever elixir the 67-year-old Macca is running on remains a mystery, but he seems to get a huge charge from performing to an audience, especially one that is bombarding him with waves of adoration.”

In case you can’t recall what “Wonderful Christmas Time” sounds like here it is: