Paul McCartney has admitted that it can be difficult, as a music industry legend, to get sincere and honest feedback from collaborators.
The Beatles legend discussed the topic in conversation with US comedian, actor and podcaster Amy Poehler on her Good Hang with Amy Poehler podcast.
McCartney prefaced his comments by talking about how, in The Beatles, the band members close relationships with one another helped foster total honesty when it came to discussing creative matters.
"The good thing was we we grew up together, so there was like a family aspect," he tells Poehler. "Me and George [Harrison] went to the same school, and John [Lennon] went to the art college next door. And it took years for us to kind of get any fame, so we were out in Hamburg, schlepping around, playing at not very nice little clubs. We enjoyed it, because we were young kids in Hamburg.
"When you know each other that well, and you've been together that long, it does become like a family. So then that finds its way into your writing and your work, you know, that I can tell what he's thinking or I can tell him that I didn't like that line, or he can tell me that sucks. so that's very good, as you know, for for writing."
The host then suggests to McCartney that, as an creative artists attains a degree of success, sometimes people are afraid to give you real feedback.
"Yeah, that's a danger now," McCartney agrees. "People all say to me when I'm working with a producer, they say, 'Does he tell you if it's no good?' And I'm not sure, maybe he doesn't. [Laughts] I think you find people who will tell you and stuff, but it must be hard for them. Because you you've got such a reputation."
McCartney's most recent album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, released in May, was produced by Andrew Watt, who has also worked with The Rolling Stones, Elton John and Ozzy Osbourne over the past decade.
"I am the luckiest fucker to be in the room with people who changed my life before I ever met them," Watt told The Telegraph earlier this year, saying that he "literally" had to ask McCartney to slap him to prove that working with him wasn't just a dream.
"As a child, I knew every Beatles song, I studied every Beatles chord – I couldn’t really fathom that a Beatle was about to be in my kitchen," he admitted. "I needed a slap, right?"
After working together, McCartney revealed that Watt could be "a bit pushy" in the studio.
"I was not shy!" Watt agreed when speaking with The Telegraph. "I had to get up in the morning, look in the mirror, say, OK, I am going to let go of the fear even if I feel like an absolute moron telling Paul McCartney what I think about making records, because otherwise he could just do it all himself."
And it's not like McCartney himself isn't in awe of some of his own heroes. When Amy Poehler asks the star if there's anyone that he would wish to collaborate with, McCartney replies, "Ummm, no. I asked this question and I always think Bob Dylan. But I'm too nervous. to ring him up!"
Watch the interview in. full below.
