THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506030024
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
PAUL McCARTNEY is wrong when he says the title of his radio show doesn't mean anything. Going by last Sunday's premiere, ``Oobu Joobu'' means everything:
Unreleased tracks and outtakes. Anecdotes, soundchecks and demos. Old records from Paul's collection and vegetarian recipes from Linda's kitchen.
The loosey-goosey, genre-hopping series, distributed by Westwood One Entertainment, airs tonight at 10 on WAFX-FM (106.9) and continues Sundays through Labor Day weekend.
``Oobu Joobu'' (it's pronounced oo-boo joo-boo) McCartney says, was taken from a character in a French play. But a radio project had been on the burner for some time - since that day he was motoring around London and heard a show hosted by wild man Keith Moon of The Who and Viv Stanshall of the eclectic Bonzo Dog Band.
Flash-forward 30 years. Flash back. Touch down when and wherever. That's pretty much McCartney's approach to the series, which he also directed.
As host, he's the familiar, flippant Paul, still boyish at 52.
Leading off one segment last week with, ``Little Richard, Little Richard. A big talent in a Little Richard,'' he recalled The Beatles' first meeting with the R&B great - they shared a bill at the Star Club in Hamburg. McCartney did a hilarious, dead-on impersonation, then put on ``Lucille.''
Another time, McCartney and John Lennon were checking out guitars at a shop on Charing Cross Road. Hailing a taxi, they caught a ride with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who told them the Rolling Stones had just signed with Decca and asked if they could recommend any songs.
``Not being shy about such things,'' McCartney says, he suggested his own ``I Wanna Be Your Man.'' That segued neatly into the Stones' cover, followed by McCartney's performing a rollicking, Bo Diddley-like version of it two years ago during a soundcheck at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.
A visit to Rude Corner - his four-track home studio - unearthed the raw and rocking gem ``Biker Like an Icon.'' A figurative dime dropped into his Wurlitzer jukebox led to ``Papa's Got a Brand New Bag.''
The McCartneys were in Jamaica when reggae music first arrived in Britain. Paul played a 45 he purchased on that holiday, ``Buttercup'' by Winston Scott, and then a snippet from his own unreleased, island-tinged ``Atlantic Ocean.''
When Wings was in New Orleans to record ``Venus and Mars,'' Linda was so taken by the city taht she wrote a song about it. It's good, too. A word from Jeff Beck on behalf of the rain forests, asking whether a $1.50 hamburger is worth risking a miracle cure for deadly diseases, was followed by Talking Heads' ``Once in a Lifetime.''
Hearing this mosaic fall into place, what emerges is an intimate portrait of the man, one made more accessible by the nature of the medium.
No segment, though, was more touching than when McCartney talked about his father, an amateur musician who taught himself to play trumpet and piano. (A photo of James McCartney inspired the cover of ``Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.'')
The elder McCartney gave his son a trumpet when the boy was 12, but astute even then, Paul says he realized he wouldn't be able to play and sing at the same time. With his Dad's OK, he traded it for his first guitar, which he still has.
With his father in mind, he played Wynton Marsalis' recording of ``Flight of the Bumblebee'' by Rimsky-Korsakov, ``or, as we used to say, Rip Your Corsets Off.'' ``Put It There,'' a loving father-son song off McCartney's 1989 album, ``Flowers in the Dirt,'' was paired with Chet Atkins' moving ``I Still Can't Say Goodbye.''
The connection? McCartney fondly recalled a recording session with Atkins in Nashville.
Supposedly, McCartney has something like 250 hours of rare and unreleased material. That not only bodes well for the remainder of ``Oobu Joobu's'' run, but for other projects down the road. MEMO: ``Hey, I listen to the radio. How can I add my two-cents' worth?''
Thought you'd never ask. Just call Infoline at 640-5555, category 3425
(DIAL). ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Photo
Paul McCartney's show, ``Oobu Joobu,'' airs tonight at 10 on
WAFX-FM.
by CNB