Paul McCartney has an idea for a posthumous collaboration with Prince.
During a recent appearance on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks of My Years, the Beatles legend shared high praise for the Purple One, specifically naming his 1986 single “Kiss” as a favorite.
“He took a lot from Hendrix, but he was a great player,” McCartney noted of Prince’s guitar playing on the tune. “It’s just so simple, again to pull that kind of thing off, you can do a kind of simple thing, and it can just sound simple but not great, but his sounds simply great. He’s a wizard.”
McCartney then shared an unexpected anecdote.
“I was with some guy, a couple of years ago so it was after Prince had died, and he said, ‘Have you heard Prince do ‘Long and Winding Road’? I said, ‘Well no, that’s one of my songs, I don’t think he ever did it.’”
Prince’s History With ‘The Long and Winding Road’
According to setlist.fm, Prince covered “The Long and Winding Road” in concert 12 times, most of which took place during his 2007 residency at Club 3121 in Las Vegas. McCartney was evidently unaware of the renditions, and was surprised when he was sent a recording of Prince’s version.
Listening to the recording, McCartney noticed Prince made the song “kind of rocky” with “some really good guitar on it.” Hearing another rock icon reinterpret the Beatles classic got the creative wheels turning in Macca’s head. “It’s really great, so I’m going to ask them [for permission to use it]. Because I could make it into something really good.”
If Sir Paul gets his wish, a McCartney-Prince duet may see the light of day. If it comes anywhere close to the Purple One’s famous rendition of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” fans will have plenty to be excited about.
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Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
