Paul McCartney has played live on the current Up and Coming Tour and on past tours, but even he is humbled by the surroundings during "Paul McCartney: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song In Performance at the White House." (Yes, that's the full title.)
The show will premiere on PBS July 28 and be shown at various times around the country. (Check local listings to confirm the exact time.)
For the show, McCartney brought along his whole band: Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray on guitars, Paul "Wix" Wickens on keyboards and Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums. Sir Paul is clearly awestruck, grinning very warmly throughout the evening.
In tribute to McCartney, there are some stellar guest stars also performing, including Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Jack White, Dave Grohl, Lang Lang, the Jonas Brothers, Jerry Seinfeld, Faith Hill and the duo of Herbie Hancock and Corinne Bailey Rae. With the exception of Seinfeld, who does a brief comedy monologue that sounds out of place, the guests perform Beatle or McCartney songs and they all do a good job. Yes, including the Jonas Brothers.
The best moments, though, are Elvis Costello's version of "Penny Lane," which is augmented by a note-for-note piccolo trumpet solo by Master Sgt. Matthew Harding of the United States Marine Band, and Stevie Wonder's cover of "We Can Work It Out" and his duet with McCartney on "Ebony and Ivory." It's one of the few times they've performed the song together and the bond between the two singers is noticeable and emotional.
The end of the White House show, with all the musicians and the Obama family on stage singing "Hey Jude" is marvelous. There's no doubt that version of "Hey Jude" live will stick out in his mind for years to come.
The sound mix, by Geoff Emerick, wasn't finished on the press preview we saw, but the sound is relatively clean throughout and should be excellent for the final version.
McCartney, who's used to being in front of large stadium and arena crowds, seems a bit humbled by the White House surroundings and who can blame him as he performs the five songs in the program. He dedicates "Michelle" to First Lady Michelle Obama, who clearly enjoys the moment, which the president makes even nicer by singing it to her. It's a sweet moment in a show that's very special on its own.
Before McCartney takes the stage for his final four songs, the president presents him with the Gershwin Award and both make short statements. McCartney is clearly in awe. PBS, notably, edited out his remark about former President Bush, which is just as well, as the program should be appreciated for the music and not for politics.
The last song in the program isn't "Hey Jude," but a live performance of "Yesterday" from the Library of Congress press conference the day before the White House show. Only a short clip of it was in the press preview, but in it, Paul is backed by the Loma Mar Quintet.
Overall, this is a wonderful show with the added luster of where it's performed.
Matt Hurwitz, who also has seen the preview, adds this: "Just got a preview disc of the upcoming PBS special, "Paul McCartney: In Performance at The White House," and it's FANTASTIC. Seeing Paul play for the President in the East Room is cool enough, but the performances/interpretations by the other artists are quite striking. Paul's band plays onstage with most of the performers, as Paul sits besides President and Mrs. Obama (with Nancy, of course, and his own family behind them)."
Here's the complete program:
From the East Room of the White House
- Sir Paul McCartney: "Got to Get You Into My Life"
- Stevie Wonder: "We Can Work It Out"
- Jonas Brothers: "Drive My Car"
- Jerry Seinfeld: monolog
- Jack White: "Mother Nature's Son"
- Faith Hill: "The Long and Winding Road"
- Herbie Hancock and & Corinne Bailey Rae "Blackbird"
- Elvis Costello with Master Sgt. Matthew Harding: "Penny Lane"
- Emmylou Harris: "For No One."
- Lang Lang: "Celebrations"
- Dave Grohl: "Band on the Run"
- Stevie Wonder and Sir Paul McCartney: "Ebony and Ivory"
- President Barack Obama presents Gershwin Award for Popular Song to Sir Paul McCartney
- Sir Paul McCartney: "Michelle," "Eleanor Rigby," "Let It Be," "Hey Jude" (latter song joined by performers and the First Family)
From the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress
- Sir Paul McCartney and the Loma Mar Quintet: "Yesterday"
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Comments
What no mention of the Jonas Brothers's "Drive My Car"?!?
haha... obviously they were chosen by the Obama girls... and justly so... not to mention brilliant cross-generational marketing.
Can't wait to watch it all. I'm sure it'll be great.
Actually it was Paul who asked that the Jonas Brothers be included for the Obama Girls, not the other way round.
Really? Paul got to chose who was invited to do his music? I thought it was sort of like the Kennedy Center Honorees progam where the artists honored are basically surprised by who shows up to honor them.
This is as good a place as any just to spout this off:
I'm bloody sick of Hey Jude.
It's a shame Paul sounded so hoarse at this show when he's sounded really great on the recent tour.
Who was the girl next to Paul? Was she his new trophy wife, or was it his daughter?
I was saddened to notice that there was absolutely no mention of John Lennon the night of the White House award. It seems that he should also have been given some recognition for the collaborative efforts
Really touching, got teary.
To Karen: Lennon was mentioned by Obama.
Just fabulous news. I waited through the evening and into the night where it was listed several times, but for some reason McCartney's Gershwin Award Ceremony wasn't on the local station. Is it available to be seen anywhere that you know? Appreciate the pictures and snippets, but would like to see this one beginning to end!
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