Live Kisses (DVD)

Paul McCartney

MPL/Eagle Vision, 2012

http://www.paulmccartney.com

REVIEW BY: Curtis Jones

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 02/11/2013

Paul McCartney knows how to market himself far better than many other rockers his age. He has been able to put himself into the media spotlight and keep himself there as a perpetual motion moneymaker, even if the product itself is not as great as previous offerings have been.  This is true of Paul’s Live Kisses DVD, which repackages his album of mostly standards, Kisses On The Bottom, into video form.  It is a very similar motif that he used when he released Chaos And Creation In The Backyard.  At that time, he produced a video of an intimate live performance at Abbey Road to promote the album and delve into the aura of Beatle creativity at the Abbey Road Studios.  In the same way, Live Kisses promotes the standards album with a video of him performing that album to an even more intimate audience (notably because his backing band is quite large, so the studio crowd seems even smaller) and taps into the mood of the crooners that used the studio to perform those hits all those years ago.

As I noted in my review of Kisses On The Bottom one year ago, the release is a departure from the typical McCartney fare of late.  It is far more consistent, but it is an incredibly slow album.  It was meant to be one of those albums that you could come home from work and relax to, and it certainly has that feel, even to the point of dragging at times.  Putting that into video form is a tough task.  They opted to set the mood by making the performance black and white, which adds to the old style of the musical material and the vintage setting of Capitol Studios in Los Angeles.  The production breaks up what would be a slogging parade of slow songs with commentary from Paul and from guest musicians who played on the album (none other than Diana Krall, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, and others).  But the interviews are a love fest.  Everyone is talking about what a wonderful person Paul is and how great of a musician he is.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250   Honestly, though, if Paul McCartney invited me to play on his album, I would probably say wonderful things too.  One cheeky note is when Eric Clapton mentions that Paul now owes him for his playing.  Perhaps we could see a Clapton/McCartney team in the vein of Clapton’s excursion with B.B. King in 2000?  What fun that would be!

McCartney gives a powerful performance of the album’s tunes and his backing band featuring Diana Krall at the piano is superb.  I think it was a real win for him to have stepped back from playing an instrument and fully embrace the role of singer in the mold of Sinatra, Bennett, and many others.  Placing Krall at the instrumental helm gives a real jazz feel and a quality that would not have been as palpable if given by studio musicians.  In addition to the performance video (which also aired on PBS under the Great Performances banner), the package includes a booklet containing an interview with singer, former collaborator, and Krall’s husband Elvis Costello.  Additionally, there are bonus videos of interviews about the album and music videos for McCartney’s “My Valentine,” which was one of two originals written for the album.

You can tell that Paul loves this music.  It is the music of his childhood and he handles it beautifully.  More so than the album, this DVD conveys the love for that music held by all the musicians involved by showing it through the visual medium.  It proves itself to be more than just another cog in the money machine.  This DVD is a nice addition to the McCartney catalog as it delves into the reasons why McCartney wanted to do this album, and the respect he has for those writers and artists who imparted those standards unto the world.  Watching Paul sing each of these songs with such care, as if he is gently gift wrapping precious crystal ornaments, one would almost forget that he has bequeathed to the world a strong set of standards himself.

Rating: B+

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


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