June 27th, 2007
AVC: I didn't want to say that, but—
PM: I did. [Chuckles.]
AVC: You pretty much sound like you did in 1965.
PM: It's very weird, because I've never known anything about my voice. My old school in Liverpool is now a performing-arts school, and I kind of teach there—I use the word lightly—but I go there and talk to students. And the music teachers there are very into the technical thing. And I just say to them, "I don't know anything about it, I just hope it's there, that it's—"
AVC: You think it's just good, clean living?
PM: I don't know if it's clean living. I'm not that clean. [Laughs.] But you know, I think it's, for me, trying not to think about it that much. I just kind of do it and expect it to be there. Touch wood.
AVC: In Rolling Stone last month, Bob Dylan said, "I'm in awe of McCartney. He's about the only one I'm in awe of."
PM: That was so cool. Because I'm in awe of Bob. Y'know, people say, "Who's your hero?" And he's always been… In The Beatles, he was our hero. I think he's great. He hit a period where people went, "Oh, I don't like him now." And I said, "No. It's Bob Dylan." To me, it's like Picasso, where people discuss his various periods, "This was better than this, was better than this." But I go, "No. It's Picasso. It's all good." Whether it's bad or good, it's all Picasso.
AVC: What was the first Bob Dylan you ever heard?
PM: The original record where he's got the black cap on. That was great. I had that at home as a kid. As a teenager. And that was just [Imitates Dylan.] "The folkie! Mr. Folkie!"
AVC: Doesn't the story go that the Dylan influence kicked in around Help!
PM: No, no, no. It kicked to another level then. But we were all aware of Bob early on. I remember in my little Liverpool home, having his album. Vinyl. With that cool cover, where he looks very young. He sort of almost doesn't look like Bob Dylan. And then, obviously, I loved things like "Mr. Tambourine Man." And then he went electric. I remember seeing a fantastic concert of his at the Albert Hall where all the folkies didn't like the second half of the show because the first half of the show—
AVC: The famous Royal Albert Hall show? With the guy shouting "Judas"?
PM: It was sort of folk first-half. And then he went electric, with The Band.
AVC: Who'd you go with?
PM: The guys, I think. The Beatles. It was, y'know, a mass pilgrimage to Bob. If he was in town, we would be there, man.
AVC: When he went electric, were you and John and the guys booing?
PM: No, man! Are you kidding? I couldn't understand why anyone didn't get it. I mean, the electric stuff? It was just fantastic. And let's face it, he was playing with The Band. So they had a pretty shit-hot sound.
AVC: Well, somebody booed 'em.
PM: Yeah, the folkies. The die-hard folkies. I don't think he was really booed, actually. I think he was criticized later. I don't remember anyone booing.
AVC: This year is the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. For years, it was always the top Beatles album on those all-time-greatest-albums polls. But lately, it seems like people are ranking Revolver ahead of it.
PM: Yeah. And Rubber Soul, I think it's a good one, too. And then a lot of people single out The White Album as well.
AVC: What do you think?
PM: I think Revolver and Rubber Soul have good songs. It's the early period. I think it's a classic Beatle period. But, again, I think The White Album's got some real classics. They're just different facets, so it's kind of hard to choose. It's like, "Do you choose the young Elvis or the later Elvis?" They're both good.
AVC: Are there any songs of yours that you think deserved to be bigger than they were?
PM: There's quite a few, actually. I like… There's one called "Daytime Nighttime Suffering," which I think's really cool. One called "Waterfalls," I think is nice. In fact, somebody had a hit, a few years ago, using the first line, "Don't go jumping waterfalls / Please stick to the lake…" And then they go off into another song. It's like, "Excuse me?"
AVC: TLC ripped off Paul McCartney? I had no idea!
PM: I think so.
AVC: When one of your songs comes on the radio, what do you do? Sing along? Turn it off?
PM: I listen. It's just a great feeling, man. I mean, it's like you're a kid again. In fact, it happened just the other day. I was in London, and "Dance Tonight," the lead track of the new album, came on, and I rolled down the windows and almost started shouting at this lady, "Hey! That's me! On the radio!" I resisted, but I wanted to. I thought she might think I was being a bit stupid. But I very nearly did it. That's still the feeling I get.
AVC: You still get that charge?
PM: Why not, man? Yeah, it's great. "They're playing it on the radio!" We love the radio.
Rob Siegel is a New York-based screenwriter. He also used to edit The Onion.
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