Paul McCartney's not giving way to the kids – well, except for one special eight year old

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If you’re wondering why Paul McCartney — a notorious road warrior since his late-1980s return to the concert trail — is touring in shorter bursts these days, look no further than eight-year-old Beatrice.

The former Beatle has a shared custody arrangement with the child of his previous marriage to Heather Mills, and doesn’t want to miss that time. McCartney, 69, even says he’s given up cannabis, such is his increased sense of responsibility.

So, don’t look for a “big sloggo tour,” McCartney says. “We don’t do the big U2-Stones go-out-forever thing, and get a bit fed up with it.”

[SOMETHING ELSE! INTERVIEW: Former Wings lead guitarist Laurence Juber talks about graduating from “McCartney University” – and then transitioning into his ongoing role as a solo guitar virtuoso.]

Plans are still in the works, McCartney’s said, for a series of dates in support of his new standards project Kisses on the Bottom, likely for later in the year. McCartney will be celebrating a decade with his current working group, which includes guitarist Rusty Anderson, drummer Abe Laboriel Jr., guitarist Brian Ray and longtime keyboardist Wix Wickens.

“What we do now is events and selective dates,” McCartney said, in an interview with RollingStone.com.. “Because of my custody situation, I can only do that. At first, we thought, ‘Oh, God, is this going to be a problem?’ and it’s actually turned out to be some kind of a blessing.”

These telescoped series of dates, he says, have had another impact: They’re keeping things fresh for McCartney, who says he can now see himself performing into his 80s.

“You get the argument ‘Make way for the young kids,’” he says, “And you think, ‘Fuck that, let them make way for themselves. If they’re better than me, they’ll beat me.’”

Here’s a look back at our recent thoughts on Paul McCartney and Wings. Click through the titles for complete reviews …

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.”

ONE TRACK MIND: LAURENCE JUBER ON PAUL McCARTNEY AND WINGS, AND AL STEWART: You’ll go inside some of the key moments from Juber’s 1978-81 tenure with McCartney, including three cuts from 1979’s Back to the Egg and the 1980 charttopping single “Coming Up.” We also find out more about Juber’s initial foray into fingerstyle composing, and his career intersection in the 1990s with British folk revival star Al Stewart, who had seen both Year of the Cat and Time Passages and their title tracks go Top 10 between 1976-78.

PAUL McCARTNEY AND WINGS – 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.

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