So it wasn't swinging London yet, you know. This was sort of a post-World War II in Liverpool. So and you've got to remember, also, the period. And the truth was, you weren't very successful. I mean, you know, that's in your private life. The truth was here's - you got four young men in Liverpool, and pretty much, you were looking for a girlfriend, and you were looking for sex. Can you talk a little bit about what the experience was like of being, like, an object of desire at a time when - you know, when men are going through a time in your life that's typical of a highly sexualized period in a young man's life? Meanwhile, your fans were having a lot of erotic thoughts about you. That's what lay behind a lot of these love songs. GROSS: You write, eroticism was a driving force behind everything I did. These are just decisions that are taken at the time, and I think "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was just stronger. GROSS: So how did that become the B-side of "I Want To Hold Your Hand"? Like, why wasn't it the A-side? But I think that was a particularly exuberant one that our producer thought it'd be a good idea to leave in, so I listened to smart people. Yeah, we used it for practical purposes, you know, just to count ourselves in. And we use it just for practical purposes. Yeah, you know, that's one of the things about that song, really. It gets you, like, really excited for what you're going to hear (laughter). It's kind of the equivalent of, like, an overture in a musical. So did you know the count-off would be left in that song when you recorded it? I love hearing the count-off. It is such an honor to have you back on our show. GROSS: Paul McCartney, welcome back to FRESH AIR. So how could I dance with another when I saw her standing there? Well, she looked at me. (Singing) Well, she was just 17, you know what I mean? And the way she looked was way beyond compare. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I SAW HER STANDING THERE") GROSS: Let's start with a song that kicked off the Beatles' first album. "Get Back" will premiere in three two-hour installments over the holiday weekend, starting today, on Disney+. This documentary draws on footage that was not used in the 1970 film "Let It Be" that documented the same sessions. The band broke up before the album "Let It Be" was released in 1970. There's also the new documentary "Get Back," which is about the three weeks the Beatles spent in 1969 writing, rehearsing and recording the songs on their album "Let It Be," and giving their final performance together on a rooftop in London's Savile Row. He has a new two-volume set of books called "The Lyrics," collecting his lyrics and the stories behind them, starting with songs he wrote before the Beatles and ending with songs from his latest album, "McCartney III," which was released late last year. We talked about his life and music through two projects. We thought it would be fun to spend Thanksgiving with Paul McCartney, so we're going to feature my recent interview with him. “I’m thrilled to have the chance to explore and reappraise this crucial moment in a great artist’s life and work.This is FRESH AIR. “As a lifelong obsessive of all things McCartney, I’ve always felt that the 1970s were the great under-examined part of his story,” Neville said in a statement. The archival material will be combined with fresh interviews, allowing for a first-of-its-kind exploration of a period in McCartney’s life when he came out with a succession of hits, including “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Another Day,” “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” “Hi, Hi, Hi,” “My Love,” “Live And Let Die,” “Band On The Run,” “Jet,” “Junior’s Farm,” “Listen To What The Man Said,” “Silly Love Songs,” “Let ‘Em In,” “Mull Of Kintyre,” “With A Little Luck,” “Goodnight Tonight” among many others. Neville, whose directing credits include 20 Feet From Stardom, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, and Roadrunner: An Anthony Bourdain Movie, has been granted access to never-before-seen home videos and photos from the archives of McCartney and his late wife, Linda.
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