Paul McCartney to stream live set through iTunes on Thursday from Capitol Studios

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Paul McCartney will stream a live concert featuring songs from his forthcoming release Kisses on the Bottom this Thursday from Capitol Studios.

Later on that same day, McCartney will be honored with a star nearby on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His plaque, in front of the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, is located adjacent to those recognizing fellow Beatles John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

[ONE TRACK MIND: Laurence Juber takes over our One Track Mind feature to discuss key songs from his tenure with Paul McCartney and Wings, along with favorite sides from his solo career and Al Stewart projects.]

Kisses, set for release on February 7, is principally comprised of standards but also includes two new songs, “My Valentine” and “Only Our Hearts” featuring special guests Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder. This new concert will be streamed through iTunes.

Some questions have arose, of course, over the cheeky title — part of the lyric from the album’s opening track. The former Beatle is taking all of that in stride, insisting that controversy like that is “good for the soul”: “I like mischief. … It’s always a good idea — if only because people think it’s a bad idea.”

Diana Krall’s regular working band collaborated with McCartney on the project, which was produced by Tommy LiPuma.

Here’s a look back at our recent thoughts on Paul McCartney, including our sneak peek at the forthcoming ‘Kisses on the Bottom.’ Click through the titles for complete reviews …

SOMETHING ELSE! SNEAK PEEK: PAUL McCARTNEY – KISSES ON THE BOTTOM (2012): This is not just a love letter to a lost era of songmaking, but one of the most evocative, deeply ardent records that McCartney has ever issued. Working in a higher vocal range that remains largely untouched by age, or his rugged third-act touring schedule, the ex-Beatle stirs up a spectacular range of emotions: The hushed, crepuscular melancholy of Peter van Steeden’s “Home (When Shadows Fall)” is matched only by the stirring resolve found on Haywood Henry’s “Get Yourself Another Fool” from this now thrice-married soon-to-be-70-year-old. McCartney’s trembling rapture throughout Irving Berlin’s “Always” finds a balancing moment in his impish hat-tipping joy during Johnny Mercer’s “Ac-Cent-Thcu-Ate The Positive.”

PAUL McCARTNEY – BAND ON THE RUN (1973; 2010 reissue): A terrific reissue that reveals this anew as the most personal of McCartney recordings — though, even now, the album’s unifying theme of escape is more subtle (and thus more commercial) than the blunt confessional style of his former partner John Lennon. McCartney, instead, uses broader storytelling brushstrokes — skillfully weaving his own desire to break free of the Beatles with the age-old myths of ne’er-do-wells, hitchhikers and outsiders. No McCartney effort yet has taken so many chances, nor so successfully blended his interests in the melodic, the orchestral, the rocking and the episodic. In keeping, of the Beatles solo recordings, Band on the Run always sounded the most to me like something the old band might have put together.

PAUL McCARTNEY – McCARTNEY (1970)/McCARTNEY II (1980; 2011 reissues): Taken together, these albums show a willingness to strip down what had become a varnished sound. After all, Paul was coming off huge productions in the form of 1969’s Abbey Road with the Beatles and 1979’s Back to the Egg with Wings. But there is a broad disparity, more pronounced than ever, in how these recordings have aged. McCartney comes off as more organic, a simpler expression — like someone trying to work out his own sound. McCartney II was, truth be told, fatally hobbled from the first by Paul’s own poor mechanics with the synthesizers he chose to experiment with throughout.

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Something Else!