PAUL McCARTNEY: Credits fate, destiny, luck and magic
Paul McCartney believes "in a mixture of fate, destiny, luck, magic and hard work!"
Answering a fan question sent to his website, Macca says "so many things have happened to me that are not easy to explain." One was how he "dreamed the melody to ‘Yesterday’...[waking] up one morning and remembered this dream and this beautiful tune was playing... I couldn’t think what it was but I happen to have a piano by my bedside. So I sort of laid it out, and to help remember it, I would ask people for the next few weeks, ‘What’s this? Have you heard this?’"
He checked with John Lennon and George Martin -- neither of whom recognized it. "After a couple of weeks, they said, ‘It's yours! You've written it!’ And I didn't write it. I woke up and it was in my head. So, you know, I see that as what I said in the opening sentence of the answer: It’s luck, it’s fate, it's destiny, it's magic, and somewhere there's hard work. But, in that instance, I don't know where!'
MORE BIG 95 MUSIC NEWS: Tuesday, May 1st
BONNIE RAITT: Cancels James Taylor leg of her tour due to medical situation
Bonnie Raitt has had to cancel the first leg of her summer tour with James Taylor due to an "unexpected medical situation" that requires surgery. Her publicist says, "The prognosis is good and a full recovery is expected."
Raitt says she's "deeply sorry" to disappoint her fans and Taylor. But she's confident that she'll be able to return for the second leg of the tour, which kicks off in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 22nd. She also expects to be there when the trek moves to Europe in July. She thanks fans for their "concern and understanding" and says that the best gift they could give her is respecting her wish for privacy and the space to heal.
Taylor adds, "This summer was to be Bonnie's and my second summer touring together. We wanted to do it again because it was such good fun the first time we didn't want it to end."
The first tour leg will now be an Evening With James Taylor and His All-Star Band, featuring two sets and an intermission. It kicks off on May 8th in Jacksonville, Florida. Sheryl Crow has been added as a special guest at his Phoenix, Arizona show on May 29th and for two nights at the Hollywood Bowl on May 31st and June 1st. Taylor says anyone who wants a refund on tickets can get one at point of purchase.
DONNA SUMMER: Greatest hits coming back on vinyl
Summer will arrive with a healthy splash of Donna. Donna Summer's On the Radio: Greatest Hits 1 and 2 returns on vinyl June 22nd.
On The Radio introduced a pair of songs: the title track, which appears in both long and short versions, and “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough),” the duet with Barbra Streisand in an extra-long, 12-inch version. The single of "No More Tears" reached number-one and sold over one-million copies.
DIRE STRAITS: Pick Withers discusses his take on Rock Hall
Original Dire Straits drummer Pick Withers has received his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame trophy at his home in Liverpool, England. Like Mark and David Knopfler, Pick didn't attend the inductions this month in Cleveland.
Pick was told about the ceremony, which had bassist John Illsley and keyboardists Alan Clark and Guy Fletcher representing the band, and he said he was not surprised "that there was a poor turnout. Mark has produced some great songs but it all comes with baggage, and as his lawyer is probably more expensive than mine, no details will emerge! Despite all, I can remember good times with Mark generally associated with the earlier years."
Pick played on the band's first four albums, leaving after 1982's Love Over Gold.
Highlights of this year's ceremony will be shown on HBO Saturday at 7 pm (Central).