Paul McCartney has weighed in on Beyoncé’s cover of “Blackbird,” which comes near the beginning of her latest album “Cowboy Carter.”
“I am so happy with @beyonce’s version of my song ‘Blackbird’” McCartney wrote on Twitter. “I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place. I think Beyoncé has done a fab version and would urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out. You are going to love it!”
He continues by explaining that they connected after he had given his blessing for her to record a rendition of the song.
“I spoke to her on FaceTime and she thanked me for writing it and letting her do it,” he continued. “I told her the pleasure was all mine and I thought she had done a killer version of the song. When I saw the footage on the television in the early 60s of the black girls being turned away from school, I found it shocking and I can’t believe that still in these days there are places where this kind of thing is happening right now. Anything my song and Beyoncé’s fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud.”
McCartney does not mention in his post that she used the master recording of the original guitar-and-foot-tapping backing part he recorded for the Beatles’ White Album in 1968 as the backing track for her new version, as reported earlier this week in Variety. He also receives a co-producing credit on her new recording.
Beyoncé’s lyrically and musically faithful version of the 1968 tune adds additional harmony and/or lead vocals from four Black country singers — Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer and Tiera Kennedy — along with some fresh bass and orchestration, over McCartney’s original solo acoustic track.This is not the only cover on Beyoncé’s new album; “Cowboy Carter” also includes a new version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” (with an…
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