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Friday, December 31, 2010

Paul McCartney: Kennedy Center Honors










After watching the Kennedy Center Honors this week, I must say Paul McCartney's tribute segment was mostly a snooze. Not that it was going to be rock-fest, in a presentation with President Obama and the First Lady in attendance, but still...

I enjoy Alec Baldwin's acting, but thought he was all wrong for the opening speech. 

No Doubt seemed out of their depth while doing "Hello Goodbye" and "Penny Lane." Dave Grohl and Norah Jones did a nice take on "Maybe I'm Amazed," which Grohl added some soulful vocals. Steven Tyler was very lackluster during "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" (even Rob Thomas has done a more spirited version), "Golden Slumbers," "The End," etc. I wondered, "where was Aerosmith?" And why not do "Come Together?" Aerosmith did it on their first Greatest Hits. James Taylor was his usual sedate self for "Let it Be" and "Hey Jude," joined by Mavis Staples and the other musicians.

I also just saw the repeat of Macca's appearance on Jimmy Fallon's late night talk show from Dec. 7 and that was excellent. In NYC to play a gig and talk about the fab new reissue of Wings' Band on the Run, he only did that show and SNL.

The pair duetted on a humorous "Scrambled Eggs" (the original title for "Yesterday") with updated lyrics and Fallon even got Macca to do a moving, acoustic rendition of "Here Today," in honor of John Lennon's passing.    

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I still have not heard the reissue of 'Band on the Run,' but hope to soon. I saw several of the performances as part of the tribute to Sir Paul at the Kennedy Center Honors, and I thought No Doubt was pretty bad. There was one camera shot that showed Oprah and her look said it all. George, I agree that Norah Jones and Dave Grohl did a better job.