Sir Paul McCartney visits old haunts and sings Beatles hits with James Corden on legendary Carpool Karaoke
Sir Paul McCartney reduced the funnyman to tears when the pair sang Let It Be on a brilliant trip down memory - and Penny - lane
SIR Paul McCartney reduced James Corden to tears in the latest edition of his Carpool Karaoke – which is now a viral sensation.
The 76-year-old Beatles legend gave the Late Late Show host a tour of his home city of Liverpool, revisiting Macca’s childhood home for the first time, as well as other haunts such as Penny Lane.
James, 39, has long said that Macca was his top target for his chat show’s singalong segment, which has featured Madonna, Ed Sheeran, Stevie Wonder and Adele.
Now James says the sketch, which went on YouTube yesterday, was “one of the best days of my life”.
It shows him having to wipe away tears when the pair sing Let It Be together — a song James was first played by his late grandfather.
Macca grew up alongside his bandmates John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in Liverpool and the legendary group played their early gigs at venues in the city, including local pubs — or as the singer puts it, “Anywhere that would have us”. But he had never gone back to his childhood home in Forthlin Road.
Within minutes of his arrival, a huge crowd gathers outside.
James tells the legend his music is “full of positivity and joy and a message of love and togetherness” which makes it more relevant than ever — though Sir Paul says he had thought The Beatles’ career would last just ten years.
During the joyous 23-minute video, Macca and James sing classics including Drive My Car, When I’m 64, Let It Be, Hey Jude, plus Paul’s latest single, Come On To Me, from upcoming album Egypt Station, out September 7.
Macca’s childhood home
Sir Paul and James visit 20 Forthlin Road, Allerton, where Paul lived from the age of ten until he was 18.
The terraced house is now a National Trust property open to the public and Sir Paul says: “It just makes me realise how long the journey has been to date because we really lived here, me and my brother and my mum and dad, and it seemed like that was life and the way life is.”
Macca was forced to move out of the house as The Beatles’ popularity grew.
But he told James that while he was there, he would try to fool fans camped outside by pretending he was a pal of his dad.
Macca says: “I had a little disguise — moustache, glasses, flat hat, an old raincoat. I’d walk out, there’s a couple of fans out there, and say, ‘Cheers, Jim, tarra’, and I’m walking out and he goes, ‘Hello, Paul’.”
Seems like yesterday
Macca shows James where his dad did the laundry, standing over the sink, saying: “He used to wash his socks in there.”
He describes the small room linking the kitchen to the lounge as the place where he wrote and rehearsed songs with John Lennon.
Macca recalls his dad’s reaction to the pair playing him She Loves You, one of The Beatles’ biggest hits. His dad said: “There’s enough of these Americanisms around — couldn’t you sing, ‘She Loves You Yes Yes Yes?’”
Macca adds: “We didn’t heed his advice. If we did, who knows what would have happened?”
I dreamed my dead mum told me: Just let it be. It sounded kinda good so I wrote it
Sir Paul McCartney
The toilet was where Macca practised, spending hours in the “acoustic chamber” playing his guitar. He says: “Everything sounds better in the bog.”
In a throwback to when he lived in the house, crowds start to appear outside after word gets round that Macca has returned. James says: “I think you need that disguise back.”
Writing his first song
During the opening scenes, Macca reveals he wrote his first song aged just 14, called I Lost My Little Girl, and he can still remember the words.
He sings: “I woke up late this morning, my head was in a whirl, and only then I realised, I lost my little girl.
“The clothes were not expensive, her hair didn’t always curl . . . ”
Penny Lane
Macca and James take a selfie by the street sign, which the Beatles legend autographs. James says: “People will never believe it.”
Paul then visits the barber’s made famous in the song, sitting in the chair while a hairdresser checks out his locks, before popping into a flower shop.
If I were you James I’d just stick to polo shirt and jeans
Sir Paul McCartney
Let it be
Macca tells the story behind one of The Beatles’ most iconic songs.
He says: “I had a dream in the Sixties where my mum, who died, came to me and was reassuring me, saying, ‘It’s going to be OK, just let it be’. I felt so great she gave me the positive word so I woke up and thought, ‘Did she say, ‘Let it be’?’ I’ve never heard that, it’s kinda good, so I wrote Let It Be. It’s about positivity.”
James says Sir Paul’s tale is the most beautiful story he has ever heard, then wells up when he reveals his grandad first played him Let It Be to show him “the best song you have ever heard”.
He adds: “If my grandad was here he would get an absolute kick out of this.”
The Beatles look
James dresses up in three classic Beatles looks — the bowl-cut hairdo with collarless grey suit, the Sergeant Pepper costume and the Seventies hippy appearance with long hair and circular sunglasses.
An unimpressed Macca tells him: “If I were you I would just stick to polo shirts and jeans.”
Jukebox karaoke down the pub
The climax of the sketch takes place in a pub called the Philharmonic Dining Room.
Locals are enjoying a drink when James walks in and asks to help behind the bar before urging one of the punters to choose a track on the jukebox.
As she presses the button, the curtains suddenly part on stage to reveal Macca and his band, who belt out A Hard Day’s Night — much to the shock and delight of the customers.
As word gets out, the pub becomes increasingly busier and is completely packed when Macca finishes his set, alongside James, singing Beatles anthem Hey Jude.
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