November 9, 2006 -- Palm Beach Post (edited for Paul content)

Famous country singer still gets star-struck

It takes a lot to rattle music veteran Kristian Bush, but when Paul McCartney tapped him on the shoulder before last year's Grammy Awards and said, "I dug your sound-check," the gregarious Bush was speechless.

"You turn around and there's the slow dawning that that's a Beatle and he knows who you are. It's surreal."

Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush - aka Sugarland - have experienced lots of surreal moments since they released their debut album in 2004.

With their grueling schedule, Nettles and Bush are looking forward to some time off. "I'm gonna crawl home after Thanksgiving and unplug my phone and I'm not answering it until February 1st."

Unless Paul McCartney calls.

Beatles lover Noel Gallagher hasn't spoken to Paul McCartney since his acrimonious split from his second wife, Heather Mills McCartney, but he sympathizes having been through a painful divorce himself.

"I feel really bad for him to be honest," Gallagher told the Sun. "I know what he goes through man, getting divorced, and your (expletive) soon to be ex-wife is just being a (expletive) absolute lunatic. I've been there. I feel for him because she's putting all these stories out there that he's a wife-beater and and excessive drinker.

"And it's so (expletive) ridiculous. But, no, I feel for him because he's quite a dignified chap, and he's one of the Beatles, and it's not a very nice end to a period of his life, is it?"

A photographer has appeared in court accused of assaulting Heather Mills-McCartney.

Jay Kaycappa, 31, is charged with common assault on Ms Mills-McCartney and her friend Mark Payne.

Kaycappa, of The Hurdles, Fareham, Hampshire, denied both offences when he appeared at Brighton Magistrates Court today.

He is alleged to have assaulted Ms Mills-McCartney, 38, as she cycled through a subway on Brighton seafront on July 5.

Kaycappa is accused of assaulting Mr Payne the following day, when he was helping Ms Mills-McCartney get into a car.

The prosecution allege the assaults arose out of Kaycappa's work as a photographer as he followed Ms Mills-McCartney.

The two charges are to be tried together at the magistrates court in March next year.

Kaycappa was remanded on bail.

Ms Mills-McCartney is currently going through a bitter divorce from former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney.

The couple have a house on Hove seafront and an estate at Peasmarsh.

A&E recently aired 'Paul McCartney: The Space Within Us,' a one-hour version of his concert DVD, due Nov. 14. Shot on the former Beatle's 2005 world tour, most of the footage comes from Macca's legendary Anaheim gig, which was broadcast into space.

In addition to footage of astronauts drinking tea to McCartney's songs, testimonies are offered by celebs including Alec Baldwin, Cameron Crowe, ex-President Bill Clinton, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Kiss' Paul Stanley.

The Kiss guitarist is featured "rocking out" with his wife to McCartney's gig and pontificating on the Liverpudlian's importance: "Most people who get admired these days -- what's there to admire about an athlete? You don't have a clue what this person is about," he tells AOL Music. McCartney, by contrast, is the voice of more than one generation, he says.

"I'm a big fan. Who isn't?" Stanley says. "In my mind, there's Paul McCartney and there's everybody else. For me to be able to sing his praises? I'm there in a heartbeat."

After leaving MPL in 1978 he was reunited with Andrew Lloyd Webber, becoming managing director of The Really Useful Group. He was integrally involved with worldwide productions of Lloyd Webber's musicals - Cats (1981), Starlight Express (1984) and Phantom of the Opera (1987). He left the company ten years later when RUG branched out into books, television and films.

Sir Paul McCartney yesterday offered to pull down a £1 million ($1.91million) log cabin in an attempt to end a year-long planning dispute over his Sussex estate.

The offer to Rother district council's planning committee was the latest twist in an extraordinary saga over the wooden lodge and pavilion, which were built without planning permission on the edge of a conservation lake that was created by the ex-Beatle and his late wife Linda at the estate near Peasmarsh, East Sussex.

A formal bid by Sir Paul to get retrospective planning permission for the two-bedroom cabin and pavilion was submitted in December last year and promptly rejected by the planners, because they had been built without consent in an area of outstanding natural beauty. The buildings, they ruled, "harm the intrinsic landscape quality and character" of the High Weald.
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Sir Paul appealed, arguing that the 205 square metre cabin was essential for the "privacy, seclusion and security" of his family. But, again, the planning committee did not accept his claim and, by the summer, had ordered him to knock down both buildings.

They held off any enforcement action, however, when Sir Paul's team offered a deal: if he could keep the lodge and pavilion, he would undertake to knock down an old farmhouse called ''Beanacres" on the estate and two agricultural barns. To sweeten the pot, a new landscape and habitat management plan for the 933-acre estate was submitted. This promised moves to increase bio-diversity and organic farming activities.

Planning officials went along with this but the councillors hesitated and insisted on making a site visit.

Even then, they could not decide and postponed any action at their last meeting, pending the submission of more documents. Now, Sir Paul has made the surprise offer to tear down his "beloved" log cabin if he can keep the pavilion, which has no accommodation, just a large area for entertaining and relaxing.

The planning committee, which had originally been expected finally to make a decision on the buildings yesterday, will now think again and, supposedly, make an absolutely final decision at their December meeting.

"There's been so much horse-trading on this it's difficult to remember what it was all about originally," said a council source.

The matter is expected to be resolved at the next meeting of the Rother District Planning Committee on December 7.

HEATHER: COULD WE TALK IT OUT?

Perhaps it's not too late to talk for warring Heather Mills and Paul McCartney... maybe that's why she has three mobiles.

Heather, 38, had one phone glued to her ear and two in her hand and chatted away after driving from her home in Hove to Rye in East Sussex.

She had been on the phone during the 60-mile drive in her black 4x4 BMW and appeared calm and relaxed despite her bitter divorce battle.

Former Beatle Sir Paul, 64, who has a two-year (three-year) daughter Beatrice with Heather, claims she wants a £80 million ($152 million) divorce settlement from him. Her sources say her demands are closer to £10million ($19 million).

He shocked onlookers when he stopped his Audi in New Jersey, New York (???), on Tuesday to tell photographers: "Everything's okay. I just need time to myself."

Sir Paul McCartney, whose divorce from Heather Mills gets messier by the week, is making a scene everywhere he goes. Monday night, the former Beatle dined at Italian eatery Il Gattopardo on West 54th Street. When he got up to leave, patrons applauded and cheered - one even shouted, "We're with you all the way, Paul!"

The circus continued yesterday when McCartney, after being chased by photographers and reporters, stopped his car in residential New Jersey to give an impromptu press conference, where he said, "Look, I am doing just fine. I just need some time to myself."

Sir Paul McCartney is hoping to spike his wife's guns by getting in first with a TV interview about the breakdown of their marriage.

Heather Mills, 38, has been offered £500,000 ($953,901)appear in a Princess Diana-style ITV special and Sir Trevor McDonald is making strenuous efforts to persuade her to take part.

But aides of 64-year-old Sir Paul are understood to have been negotiating to do a 'spoiler' interview with the BBC to go out beforehand. Both specials are expected to be screened after the couple have finalised their divorce.

The interviews will bring back memories of November 1995 when Diana was interviewed by Martin Bashir for an hour-long Panorama special.

During the programme - watched by 20 million - she revealed her adultery with her riding instructor James Hewitt and that Camilla Parker Bowles was the 'third person in her marriage' to Prince Charles.

'Sir Trevor has literally been calling Heather every day to sign her up,' said a source close to the couple. 'She has been proving very resistant, but now it's all but in the bag.

'This would be a very big catch for ITV and they are willing to pay out for it. The global syndication could make back a lot of that outlay.

'Heather appears to have a lot to say. Paul's camp have got wind of what is going on and they are trying to arrange a spoiler interview.

'Paul has always been adamant that the right way to deal with the divorce and all the accusations surrounding it is in the divorce courts.

'So he is planning a more dignified interview where he will brush over the detail and speak in more general terms about the sadness surrounding the marriage breakdown. He's taking the higher ground.

'Paul does not want to drag his loved ones through some TV battle, but at the same time he is not going to take any accusations lying down.'

Can it really be 40 years since Paul McCartney died?

It happened at about 5 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, Nov. 9, 1966. McCartney stormed out of the Abbey Road studio in London, upset with his fellow Beatles over a song.

On the cover of the "Abbey Road" album, Paul McCartney is barefoot, supposedly the depiction of a corpse, which, according to the hoax, was one of the clues that he was dead.

As he drove away, he took his eyes off the road and lost control of his car.

The accident was so violent, onlookers could barely recognize "the cute Beatle." Flames had burned off his hair, and his face was badly disfigured.

Hey, the Beatles told us all about it in the song, "A Day in the Life": "He blew his mind out in a car. He didn't notice that the light had changed. A crowd of people stood and stared ..."

A hastily prepared funeral was held. Witnesses were bribed to keep silent. A newspaper story on the accident mysteriously was shelved. And the band never missed a beat en route to even greater glory.

A man named William Campbell, who had won a Paul McCartney look-alike contest, was brought to London. Campbell, with some plastic surgery, coaching on Paul's singing style and lessons on playing the bass guitar left-handed, "became" Paul.

And the greatest hoax in music history had been successfully pulled off.

What, you didn't hear that story? You think Sir Paul McCartney is the real deal?

Relax, fans, McCartney didn't die 40 years ago. But looking back, it's hard to believe the countless fans who bought the story -- and those that still do.

You can see the clues

News of the "death" didn't start circulating until three years after it occurred. As the tale goes, a college kid in Michigan published a story in his student newspaper that outlined the "clues" depicted on the Beatles' album covers. Detroit disc jockey Russ Gibb recounted the alleged clues in 1969, and the story caught fire.

It got so bad that LIFE magazine sent a photographer to track down McCartney on his farm in Scotland. The subsequent article and photos were meant to dispel the rumors.

Still, the believers can cite many clues:

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On the "Abbey Road" cover, the four Beatles are depicted as crossing the famous street in London. John Lennon, dressed in a gleaming white suit, is the "preacher"; Ringo Starr, in a business suit, is the undertaker or a mourner; the barefoot McCartney is the corpse; and George Harrison, in blue jeans, is the grave digger.

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A car on one side of the road has the license plate number of "28 IF," which would have been McCartney's age at his death, according to cultures that maintain life begins at conception." There is a police vehicle on the other side.

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Flip the album over, and you'll see a crack in the word Beatles and a shadow that resembles a skull.

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On the cover of the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album, the band appears to be standing in front of a grave with flowers suitable for funeral, there's a bloody driving glove among the images, and a hand over McCartney's head, supposedly a symbol of death.

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Flip the album over, and you'll see Paul is the only band member with his back to the camera. Why? Because Campbell's face didn't yet resemble McCartney's.

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On the cover of "Yellow Submarine," a cartoon version of the band is standing on a hill above a submarine that represents a casket. Again, there's another "hand of death" over McCartney's head.

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Finally, on "Let It Be" there are portraits of all four Beatles, but McCartney's is the only one on a red backdrop.

Bill Paige, manager of communications at Oakton Community College in DesPlaines, has worked in the music business and has met Sir Paul. He says the "Paul is Dead" story is a "fun little joke."

"I don't know that the Beatles or their people were clever enough to set the entire story up, but they sure were clever enough to play with it. They may have done some things to keep it going," Paige said.

Looking for signs in the lyrics

Then there are the dozens of song lyrics that -- truth be told -- are kind of creepy if taken out of context. Conspiracy fans can cite songs from most of the Beatles' catalog.

Consider the opening song on "Sgt. Pepper." It ends with the band singing "Billy Shears" in reference to the lead singer of the fictional Pepper band. Listen again. Are the Beatles really singing "Billy's here" to introduce Campbell?

After all, the next song, sung by Ringo, is "With a Little Help from My Friends," which has the lyric "lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song and I'll try not to sing out of key."

Is Ringo expressing concern about Campbell's attempt to replace McCartney?

Ron Starr (no relation to Ringo), who plays McCartney in the Chicago-based tribute band Band on the Run, says the Beatles' decision to stop touring in 1966 fueled rumors.

"They were kind of reclusive at the time," Starr said. "They went from being a live band to a studio band. I think when they learned about this, they had fun with it."

Starr is sure he's portraying the real Paul.

"There was a rumor that they found a guy and gave him plastic surgery so he'd look like Paul," he said. "I don't think, in the 1960s, they had plastic surgery like that. Plus, they'd have had to find a guy who looks just like, sounds like and plays the guitar left-handed, just like Paul," he said.

Here's a clue for you all

"On some levels, talking about this is insulting to Paul, relative to the songs he wrote after the 'accident' happened," said Dean Budnick, a senior editor for the music magazine "Relix."

"It's hard to believe they let another schmoe into the band," Budnick said. "Then again, maybe it accounts for the Wings catalog. But to me, that's ultimately where it falls apart. How can anyone believe that they found someone who could replace Paul?"

The key point that debunks the theories, Budnick believes, is that the Beatles went to even greater critical acclaim after the accident with "Sgt. Pepper," which many believe to be the band's masterpiece.

"If there never had been any other creative output from Paul, then, maybe, you can make the case. If the Beatles had ended, absolutely. But they didn't," Budnick said.

The story had "gravitas" because of public's hunger for anything and everything related to the Beatles, he said.

"They were so big and everyone wanted to know everything about them, particularly at a time when they weren't making a lot of public appearances. They weren't touring anymore and unless you were in England, you didn't see them."

Conspiracy theories

Call up Google, type in "Paul is Dead" and you'll find countless Web sites -- some that, well, do make some convincing arguments, and others that debunk the story.

There's one exhaustive site that compares photos of Paul before and after November 1966. And, yes, he does look different at certain angles.

There's another that has photos showing him suddenly much taller than the other Beatles.

And there's one that claims a voice expert has proof that it's a different voice singing the songs after late 1966.

Several sites identify words and phrases from songs to make their case.

For example, they cite "Took her home, I nearly made it," from "Lovely Rita." They ignore the fact that Paul's clearly not singing about making it home.

In another instance, theorists say Lennon is singing "I buried Paul" at the end of "Strawberry Fields." Lennon has said he was actually saying "cranberry sauce."

Plus, there's no evidence that a William Campbell ever won a McCartney look-alike contest.

And, as Rich Altman noted, wouldn't Paul's father and brother figured out he was dead? Oh, that's right, they were paid off, too.

Macca releases Paul McCartney: The Space Within Us on Monday (UK) Tuesday (US).

The DVD covers the legend's 2005 tour of America and was recorded using 25 top hi-definition cameras.

But there is not one appearance or mention of Mucca in the whole 140 minutes. Yet there are cameos from everyone else in his huge entourage. Even his caterers get in on the act.

Lots of celebrities show up backstage for chats - including LENNY KRAVITZ, BILL CLINTON, BEYONCE, JAY-Z, BONO, TONY BENNETT, STEVEN TYLER and JACK NICHOLSON.

Heather's absence is particularly noticeable because she featured heavily in Macca's 2002 DVD Back In The USA.

She was even shown taking Paul's guitar on stage for him.

The funniest moment in the new DVD is the scene where Macca steps back on stage and falls into the hole where his piano was supposed to rise up from.

On Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, Paul was seen leaving a building in an affluent neighborhood somewhere in NJ where he was confronted by the paparazzi. Evidently he had posed for them and they wanted more.

Paul: YOU with the camera TALK TO ME!

Paparazzi: Are you going to smile Sir?

Paul: ...There's no need to harass me, okay?

Paparazzi: We aren't harrassing you."

Paul: "You are."

There might have been a fan/neighbor who was standing near the paparazzi and was shaken by the encounter. Paul pointed to her (?) and his demeanor got softer, "Are you okay?... Good. I'm leaving now, please don't follow me."

Paul got into his car, a chauffeur driven black Audi and was swarmed by the paparazzi. The car took off with the paparazzi in hot pursuit. Macca unable to shake the paparazzi stopped the car in the middle of a side street, got out and said containing his anger, "OK you got your footage, please don't follow us, OK? Thank you." Then he got back in the car and drove off.

November 7, 2006 -- Hello Magazine

Heather sends a message on outing with trainer

What a difference a month makes. In October Heather Mills McCartney was spotted in a t-shirt emblazoned with the words 'Love Kills Slowly'. This week she seemed to have a change of heart as she stepped out in a more upbeat jacket declaring 'Dedicated To The One I Love' for a lunch outing with her personal trainer Ben Amigoni.

She has apparently joined Madonna as a fan of the tattoo-inspired clothing range from American designer Ed Harvey. And the dedicated activist was making her anti-landmine stance clear with a skull and crossbones cap bearing the slogan 'No More Landmines'.

The 38-year-old sported the striking ensemble as she enjoyed a bike ride along the seafront followed by lunch with Ben, 22, at a vegan restaurant near her home in Hove, Sussex.

Sir Paul McCartney's estranged wife has apparently become increasingly reliant on her trainer, whom she asked to work exclusively for her to help regain her strength after a painful operation on her leg in April. According to reports Ben is also acting as a personal assistant, bodyguard and occasional babysitter to her daughter Beatrice.

It is for Linda, written by Paul, and everyone in the room knows it.

Paul McCartney leans way back and tips his face skyward in his small chair, set in the middle of this converted church. He's been tapping his toes and singing along with "Ecce Cor Meum" ("Behold My Heart"), the piece he spent eight years composing. Before its Nov. 3 premiere at Royal Albert Hall the next night, the singers and musicians are rehearsing the one-hour work -- including the interlude, a long and aching elegy to Linda McCartney, who died of breast cancer in 1998 during the composing of "Ecce."

Now Paul is staring straight up into the air, to the hall's elegantly detailed 30-foot ceiling, or maybe beyond.

A few of the idle cello players and sopranos look at him. The man is as famous as France; it's hard not to stare. Others fiddle with their horns or stare awkwardly at their sheet music.

Paul and Linda seem to be having a moment.

And with all the smarm and scandal battering the 64-year-old former Beatle these days, nobody is about to spoil it.

Outside the warm bubble of the rehearsal space, Macca, as the tabloids here call him, is up to his yellow submarine in lurid scandal. He and the former model he married four years after Linda's death, Heather Mills McCartney, split up in May after four years together. With a fortune in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion on the line, documents from the divorce proceedings keep appearing mysteriously -- via anonymous fax -- on the front pages of the British tabloids.

Heather alleges ugly things; according to those news reports, her version of Sir Paul is dark and controlling, almost cartoonishly psychotic, like a Liverpudlian Snidely Whiplash. It is also almost universally disbelieved in a country that has known McCartney since he was a floppy-haired teenager.

Oddball stories from Heather's past, along with long-ago nude photos from a sex manual, have done little to help her public image. By saying almost nothing, Macca has won the battle for the taxi drivers' hearts. But it is clearly a battle he doesn't want, and he is taking a painful beating.

In here, though, he's sipping hot tea and wolfing down three bagel halves after hours of rehearsals. Settled in a deep leather (???) chair in room in the church's basement, he looks far younger and thinner than in his photos, and sharp in a navy blue pinstriped suit with a playful fireball-red silk lining. He's upbeat and relaxed, knees splayed, little dabs of cream cheese on the fingertips that wrote "Hey Jude."

As he talks, he keeps breaking into song. When he makes a point about songwriting, he sings a few bars of "Eleanor Rigby." That seems normal enough, until it sinks in that the man who sang "Eleanor Rigby" is sitting there singing "Eleanor Rigby." He says the lyrics and the music to most of his compositions came at the same time; he mentions "Let It Be," "She's Leaving Home," "Fool on the Hill." One notable exception is "Yesterday," which started as a tune. The first words he fitted to one of the world's most recognized melodies, just to block out the spacing, were, he says, singing with campy sincerity, "Scrambled eggs, oh my baby I love your legs."

"It was good, but I had to change it," he says, laughing.

He's jolly, thinking about music. His mind is filled with "Ecce Cor Meum."

And a woman different from the one in all the trashy headlines.

"Linda very much pervades the whole piece," he says of the American he married in 1969 and with whom he raised four children.

When McCartney was asked to write a choral piece to inaugurate a concert hall at Oxford University's Magdalen College, he and Linda went to see the place together in 1996. They were together when he agreed to take on the project, which he says he took as a chance to try something new.

"When I was in the middle of it, she passed away, and we went through all the anguish, which stopped me," he says. "And then when I was able to pick it up, I picked it up by writing some of the very sad things in it." Near "Ecce's" opening, the sopranos soar: "Take love away and we are ruined / In a world without each other / How could we go on living our lives?"

"I remember sitting at a keyboard and just weeping as I wrote this piece," he says about the woman who was his partner for three decades, for whom he wrote "My Love" and "Maybe I'm Amazed."

He talks around his breakup with Heather without mentioning her name, adding little to his few public statements that he is "sad," that he believes keeping details of the divorce private is the most dignified course, the best way to protect Beatrice, their 3-year-old daughter.

Being recognized in every corner of the planet is "slightly sort of spooky," he says, but "90 percent of the time" he enjoys it. He likes the people who recognize him on the street and say (he affects a flat American accent), "Hey, Paul! Let it be, dude!" The downside is the relentless red-meat coverage of his divorce -- the tabloids may adore Macca, but they love scandals even more.

"In the time I'm going through now, with a divorce, I know that everything that happens will be widely reported -- and actually everything that doesn't happen will be widely reported, even more," he says. He allows that he chose this life, and "it's something with great advantages. When I have these sort of drawbacks, I think, 'You know what, compared to some people's lives, you've got it pretty good.' "

As he drains his tea and finishes his bagel, it is Linda who comes up repeatedly, as inspiration for "Ecce's" most upbeat passages along with its darkest ones. "Life has to go on," he says. "I am basically an optimist and she was very much an optimist."

Asked why he didn't dedicate the work to Linda, he smiles.

"It actually would have been very awkward with a new wife to say, 'This is for Linda,' just pragmatically," he says. "But it was started with Linda and, had she lived, I'm sure it would have been dedicated to her."

"Ecce Cor Meum," which has its U.S. premiere at Carnegie Hall in New York next Tuesday, is an hour-long composition, a beautiful piece filled with sumptuous arrangements and harmonies, that reads and sounds like a retrospective of a life. But McCartney, who is working on a new studio album, talking about touring next year and mulling a classical guitar concerto, makes clear his is a life still in progress.

"It's 'Behold My Heart' -- so far," he says.

Its central themes are peace and love, the same simple (his critics say simplistic and annoying) mantras he has been pushing since the Beatles formed in the late 1950s. When the choir sings, "Peace and love are always our true nature / love is all," it's easy to hear the echoes from records with deep grooves worn in the vinyl: "All you need is love, love / love is all you need."

"I'm not very good at hate songs," says the man whose love-laden pop songs have topped the U.S. charts 29 times. "It doesn't come naturally to me. No matter how angry I might be, I seem to still write a love song. And that's the joy of what I do."

He is asked about this passage: "Life aboard this fast revolver still remains a magic mystery / Loud reports of anger fill the pages of our history." The Beatles references seem obvious in "Revolver" and "Magical Mystery Tour," and maybe those angry reports were of the gunshots that took John Lennon?

McCartney stands and steps over to a lamp to have a better look at the tiny print of the lyrics in the CD jacket. He says the words may be relevant to his own life, but more importantly, they are universal. He reads aloud and annotates: "Life aboard this fast revolver . . . the revolver is the Earth. Still remains a magic mystery . . . life on Earth is quite a mystery. Loud reports of anger fill the pages of our history . . . there's been war and suffering."

He then reads the last two lines of the stanza, and he's back, inevitably, to love: "Those of us with love can now embrace / With sweet relief a life lived at a gentler pace."

"So in other words, love is the answer to this turbulent world," he says, adding, "I'm not trying to preach, but I think the world at the moment could use a little bit of peace and love."

As he always has, since the days he wrote "Let It Be" for his mother, Mary, who died when he was 14, he chooses music to express what matters most to him.

"It's just something I've done naturally all my life, almost not meaning to," he says. "It's just the way it comes out with me. Peace is important. Love is important. These are themes that are important to me. So I wrote my thoughts from my heart."

In "Ecce," he saves one of his sweetest melodies for a line repeated over and over, something he has been fairly shouting for 50 years: "Here in my music, I show you my heart."

The title comes from Latin words he saw on a statue of Jesus's crucifixion that he saw in St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan. Despite that Christian imagery, McCartney says his work is more spiritual than religious. "I wouldn't like to do something that was only available to Christians, or to Jewish people, or to Muslims," he says. "I like the idea that it's a sort of global work."

Critics have dismissed "Ecce," which was released on CD in September, as pleasant but lightweight and simplistic, the classical dabblings of a pop star. McCartney acknowledges he is still learning the trade since his first classical work, "Liverpool Oratorio," was released in 1991. His first drafts of the score for "Ecce" were written on a computer, and it was full of "basic mistakes." "I needed a lot of help just getting it to an orchestra," he says. "This was a huge learning experience for me."

"At my stage of the game I could just sit back and say (taking on an upper-class British accent), 'You know, there's not a lot for me to learn, I've pretty much done it all, I'm the master at this,' " he says. "But I don't like that. I've never felt like that, even when John and I were writing stuff that turns out to have been pretty masterful. . . . But we never actually sat there and said, 'That's it, we're done.' It was always, 'Now what do we do?' It was always moving on."

McCartney excuses himself. The last rehearsal is about to start before opening night at the Royal Albert Hall, with its royal-red velvet curtains and majestic high ceilings. It's a stage he knows well; "Liverpool Oratorio" premiered there, and in 1999 he led a tribute concert there for Linda.

An hour later the session wraps up, and McCartney bounces up to the orchestra, clapping and laughing and thanking everyone. Then he wraps himself into a warm overcoat and scarf and hops into an SUV driven by John Hammel, his friend since the early 1970s. As they drive off, he opens his window and leans out, beaming, and sings a loud chorus of "Ecce Cor Meum." The street is dark and empty, and McCartney's joyful serenade echoes off the old stone buildings.

Simon Cowell has vowed to never marry - because he is scared he will suffer the same fate as Sir Paul McCartney.

The British music mogul - whose is worth an estimated £60-million ($113 million) - insists he was turned off the idea of marriage following the former Beatle's highly publicised divorce from Heather Mills.

Simon, who has been with girlfriend Terri Seymour for around four years, said in an interview with Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper: "Marriage is not for me. It just feels really out of date.

"Ask Paul McCartney what he thinks about marriage right now. If Paul hadn't married Heather he wouldn't be in the mess he's in now. Simple as that."

Despite his reluctance to walk down the aisle, Simon doesn't think Terri would behave the same way as Heather - who has accused Paul of being physically abusive to her during their marriage and is demanding £100-million of his fortune in her divorce settlement.

He added: "I must stress that Terri is not Heather Mills - thank God! Terri is just not like that. But when you've worked hard for your money, you've got to look after yourself."

The 47-year-old star also admits he is too old to start a family.

He said: "I think at my age it's too late to have children. Work dominates everything for me so I won't be having my own children."

Here at last! The fantastic events that will rock 08

A MASSIVE rock concert celebrating Liverpool's unique place in popular music is at the heart of Capital of Culture events for 2008.

The summer event centred on a floating stage at Albert Dock will feature world renowned artists, say organisers.

However, although Sir Paul McCartney is top of the speculation list to headline the May concert (2008), no names were being released today.

Among nearly 100 events outlined by the Culture Company so far, and detailed in a special ECHO supplement today, is a community programme promising activities "on virtually every street corner".

A giant televised nativity, revealed by the ECHO yesterday, will herald the main programme, starting in December next year.

Special commissions, celebrity concerts and exclusive exhibitions will add to the glamour of Liverpool's year representing the entire UK at the top of Europe's artistic league table.

Peter Postlethwaite, the former Everyman actor turned Hollywood superstar, is being lined up to play King Lear in a theatrical extravaganza. Special musicals will tell the stories of Liverpool's cult 70s rock club,Eric's, inMathew Street, and the Adelphi Hotel.

Also in theatre, a new version of Anton Chekhov's classic, Three Sisters, will be set in Liverpool's Jewish community.

Liverpool-born Sir Simon Rattle will bring his Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra to Liverpool for one of only two concerts in the UK, as well as conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

Britain's leading classical composer Sir John Tavener will write a choral work for the Philharmonic, and there will be a combined performance between the Philharmonic and the choirs of both Liverpool's cathedrals of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.

The work will also be sung in partnership with the choir of Cologne Cathedral in Liverpool's senior twin city.

An exhibition based on life and work of the famous 20th century architect Le Corbusier will be staged in the Crypt of the Metropolitan Cathedral.

Some Liverpool buildings will be transformed into new uses, including the former Yates' Wine Lodge in Moorfields, the facade of which will be made to revolve as an art work.

Culture company bosses stress that today's disclosures are the first of many.

They say thatLiverpool's Capital of Culture programme is more advanced than any city in the history of the competition.

John Gorman, of The Scaffold, said: "I am working on the community-led events for Wirral 2008 which are top secret. We are hoping to hold the world's biggest art exhibition and we are going for the Guinness Book of Records for men reciting Hamlet 'To Be or Not to Be' speech."

Ambrose Reynolds, from community art organisation Urban Strawberry Lunch which is working on an oral archive of memories about the Blitz and St Luke's church, said: "The community is the culture and vice versa. They are not two separate things. The people in the city make the place.

"Bring in other people but also work with Liverpudlians."

Jim Gill, chief executive of Liverpool Vision, said he was pleased with news about major arts events at the Tate. He said: "I think bringing the Turner prize to Liverpool is great. The Klimt exhibition is a worldwide coup - it is fabulous.

"Pete Postlethwaite coming to do King Lear sounds really exciting."

Mr Gill also revealed his brother is a firefighter who is a world tug-of-war champion. The World Firefighter Games will be held in Liverpool in August 2008.

Speaking about the planned musical celebrating famed Liverpool nightclub Eric's, Pete Wylie said: "The story of Eric's is important, not just to Liverpool, but to the whole of UK

"The chance to tell that story with the team at the Everyman and Playhouse and writer Mark Davies is a dream."

WHAT do you think of the events planned for 2008? Leave a message on 0151-472 2819, or email your views to us at talkback@liverpoolecho.co.uk

There must be something in the air, because showbiz marriages and relationships are breaking down left, right and centre.

We're not talking Britney's drunken 48 hour-type nuptials either.

These are 'mature' men back on the market after years of loved up 'bliss'.

First Paul McCartney came a cropper courtesy of Heather Mills, Chris Tarrant has been caught out by the missus and it looks like curtains, and now Leslie Grantham has just been given the boot from his family home.

So in the name of kindness and good will, we thought we'd help the boys out by doing some lonely hearts ads on their behalf.

No doubt they'll be snatched up in no time!

PAUL MCCARTNEY

Ex-Beatle, 64, WLTM a warm, caring mature lady, with no skeletons in her closet, for friendship/romance (pre-nup essential). No time wasters please.

Lady McCartney returned to her home in the grounds of Sir Paul McCartney's country estate yesterday (Saturday) - with her personal trainer Ben Amigoni in tow.

The estranged wife of the ex-Beatle was spotted shopping in the nearby seaside town of Rye before returning to the large lodge cottage within yards of Sir Paul's country mansion in Peasmarsh.

Personal trainer and bodyguard to the former glamour model, Ben Amigoni, from Ashford, has been at her side since splitting with his girlfriend four weeks ago.

The couple arrived at the Lodge house of the 544-acre estate in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, five minutes before Heather (Mac?) in a blue Citroen and waited at the end of the private drive to greet her as she arrived at the cottage.

The blonde drove up to the rear entrance of the estate in a green Porsche, but refused to comment on the recent allegations of assault she made against Sir Paul, 64, in her divorce papers.

When asked about his relationship with Heather, Mr Amigoni, 24, said: "Things are good thanks" before following the 38-year-old ex-model as she drove up to the cottage.

Heather is rumoured to be considering a "tell all" live TV interview to spill the beans on her four-year marriage to music legend Sir Paul and her side of the high-profile split.

The pair were together earlier in the week as well.

Heather left her seafront home on Monday with Ben looking "sullen and withdrawn".

She drove the black Mercedes people carrier with her trainer in the front passenger seat filming photographers waiting outside the luxury Art Deco home in Hove, West Sussex .

Heather was wearing dark sunglasses, a tweed cap hat with a yellow sports jacket and black skin-tight leggings.

Onlookers said she looked in a very serious mood with the strain of her acrimonious divorce battle with Beatles legend Paul showing.

One said: "Heather looked sullen and very withdrawn, with the strain of her bitter divorce clear to see in her face.

Ben who recently split with Joanne Bradford and left the home they shared in Ashford has been extremely close to Heather in recent weeks.

Joanne added: "One minute we were really happy together and the next we're apart.

"I've spoken with Ben and he insisted he and Heather are just friends."

Rod Stewart's not the only Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer who's publicly backing Paul McCartney in his divorce - Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler says the Beatle is getting the raw end of things with Heather Mills.

Tyler told the U.K. newspaper The Sun that he went through a similar situation when his wife Teresa left him during the past year, which is why he sympathizes with McCartney.

Tyler said, "I was talking to Paul McCartney's guitarist the other day about this s**t he's going through with his wife. All they did was fall in love and look what she's turned into? I just went through the same thing and my ex took all my liquid. How long was he with Linda? Thirty years, so what does that say? This woman must be a tyrant who wants the millions, and they've only been married for a few years."

The Linda McCartney vegetarian food range is to be rebranded by Made Thought for a total relaunch next year, Design Week can reveal.

The intention is to breathe new life into the brand that was acquired by US organic food firm Hain Celestial Group from Heinz for an undisclosed sum earlier in the summer. Made Thought was appointed to the design project last month, following a three-way pitch.

The revamped brand and revised packaging design will be applied to existing products in the Linda McCartney range. Hain Celestial Group is also planning to expand the Linda McCartney portfolio with new ranges and products in 2007.

With the acquisition of the brand, its aim is to re-establish the original vision and intentions of Linda McCartney, creating new products and ranges, says Ben Parker, creative director at Made Thought. 'We will freshen it up and make the brand more contemporary and relevant,' adds Parker.

The Linda McCartney range takes its name from the former wife of Beatles band member Sir Paul McCartney.

The vegetarian frozen food business was set up in 1991. The range of products includes meat-free pies, sausages, burgers and pasta dishes. The brand did much to popularise vegetarianism when it launched in the 1990s, but has faced increasing competition since.

Hain Celestial Group also produces Soy Dream non-dairy drinks and Terra Chips gourmet crisps.

Review of "PAUL MCCARTNEY : The Space Within Us"
by Macca Reporter Miguel Carrera

Click to order DVD from A&E - Shipping NOW!

THE DVD FEATURES OVER 2 HOURS of never-before-seen footage and over 30 HITS PERFORMED LIVE
Including 8 songs NEVER BEFORE RELEASED ON DVD.

Plus an 8-page booklet, with a complete tour itinerary, photos and descriptions of the concert highlights.

THE FULL SET OF SONGS: (All songs are complete, except where noted, unlike the A&E TV special where almost all the songs were edited to fill the one hour time slot)

MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR
FLAMING PIE
LET ME ROLL IT/FOXY LADY
DRIVE MY CAR
TILL THERE WAS YOU
I'LL GET YOU
ELEANOR RIGBY
MAYBE I'M AMAZED
GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE
FINE LINE
I WILL
I'LL FOLLOW THE SUN (with 4 REPRISES)
GOOD DAY SUNSHINE
FOR NO ONE
HEY JUDE (INCOMPLETE- JUST THE FINALE!)
FIXING A HOLE
PENNY LANE
TOO MANY PEOPLE
SHE CAME IN THE BATHROOM WINDOW (NOT CHAPTERED OR CREDITED ON THE SONG MENU!!!!!)
LET IT BE
ENGLISH TEA
I'VE GOT A FEELING
FOLLOW ME
JENNY WREN
HELTER SKELTER
YESTERDAY
GET BACK
PLEASE PLEASE ME

EXTRAS:
PRESHOW FILM (COMPLETE)

SOUNDCHECKS:
WHOLE LOTTA SHAKING GOING ON
FRIENDS TO GO
HOW KIND OF YOU

ON THE ROAD WITH US: (03:45)
Limo or Lexus arrivals, all with original sounds from the crowds. Paul's arrivals/departures from the shows, airplanes, trucks, etc- with Helen Wheels as backing audio.

MORE ABOUT US: (10:00)
(Background Music :2 Instrumental Jams from soundcheck)
Interviews with Paul and the band, John Hammel, Sound Engineer PAB (Pablo), fans, Anaheim NASA shots, TONS OF SHOTS FROM THE REHEARSALS, Dress Rehearsals, soundchecks, (Paul discussing some stage adjustments- WOW This footage is great!!! You can see Paul pointing out some failures to the Stage Crew (but in a good manner as always)...

FOOTAGE FROM THE TORONTO SOUNDCHECK!!!
Paul with the Bagpipers!!

Funny/strange footage from the New York High in the Clouds Signing:
A guy from Pakistan approaches Paul with security behind him. He shakes Paul's hand and tries to get something out of his pocket. He is grabbed very quickly by ALL THE SECURITY PEOPLE and carried out!!!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DVD: (Since most of us watched the A&E TV special, I'll just point out the footage that does not appear on the tv screen)

1-DIFFERENT INTRO From the TV special: some scenes edited, more longer, some footage that appeared on the TV in FULL Screen is in here in a small picture with some other montage of scenes over it...

Some songs in different lineup order, like "English Tea" and "Good Day Sunshine" from the NASA Broadcast (on the A&E TV SPECIAL), here "Good Day Sunshine" is many songs before the NASA piece:

2-NOTE: THE SONGS "English Tea" and "GOOD DAY SUNSHINE" ARE NOT TAKEN FROM THE ANAHEIM SHOW! The NASA scenes are EDITED OVER this footage.

SEEMS THAT THIS TIME THE DVD WAS ACTUALLY EDITED OVER. JUST the TWO SAN JOSE SHOWS were filmed in High Definition, plus editing some pieces here and there from other performances (STAGE SHOTS- you can see the difference in the QUALITY of the HIGH DEFINITION Shots and the "NORMAL" cameras that Paul always uses) plus the images from (for example on "English Tea" didn't match with the ACTUAL video that is available on both PRO Shot and amateur recordings).

The "CROWD FOOTAGE" fans, signs, etc, comes from MANY OF THE SHOWS both USA and CANADA.

3-THE SCARY FALL of Paul in the Piano "hole"
TAMPA SEPT 17- in slow motion, and normal speed, sadly in black and white... then we see Paul landing over the piano and joking about it.

4-PAUL PLAYING THE TRUMPET! "When the Saints Go Marching in" In Backstage

5- DISCOVERY CREW FOOTAGE at the end of GOOD DAY SUNSHINE from HOUSTON TX NOV 19

6-SCENES FROM SEVERAL CONCERT VENUES plus fans waiting for the Lexus while you hear Paul's greetings to many of the cities in the Background:

ST PAUL, NEW YORK, ATLANTIC CITY, DENVER, PHILLY, CANADA, LOS ANGELES...

7-CELEBRITIES and others, during a backstage visit or backstage interview or at concert:
LENNY KRAVITZ
PAUL STANLEY (KISS)
CEO of WALT DISNEY
BILL CLINTON
BEYONCEE
JAY-Z
CHRIS TUCKER
BONO (U2)
JAMES TAYLOR
TONY BENNETT
AEROSMTH (Steven Tyler)
JACK NICHOLSON
JOHN CUSACK
PLUS others..

AND lots more!

Meet the anti-icons of fashion - celebrities who can murder a new trend and make top designers cringe at their own creations. Claudia Croft unmasks the main offenders

There are some people who stop fashion dead in its tracks. Unlike Kate Moss, Peaches Geldof or Lindsay Lohan, these women do not send us running to the shops with an urge to spend the mortgage money. They have the opposite effect. Their personal style is so atrocious, they function as fashion anti-icons. Instead of starting trends, they dispatch them with the deadly efficiency of Sweeney Todd in sequins. They are the fashion-killers, and their ability to make good clothes look bad has the luxury labels quaking.

Heather Mills McCartney is one such woman. She announced her fashion-killer credentials with a belly-baring lace outfit at the 2002 Oscars. That was just the start of her murderous style career. Mills McCartney performed a hatchet job on the gypsy trend during a recent trip to LA and butchered the youthful dress-over-jeans style worn so well by the likes of Keira Knightley and Mischa Barton. She also managed to rob the cloth-capped urchin look of all its cheeky charm by wearing it with a frumpy white skirt and lumpy jacket. You have to wonder whether this woman owns a full-length mirror.

Recently, Mills McCartney has turned her deadly sense of style on her soon-to-be-ex-stepdaughter's label. Not only has she been hiding from the paparazzi behind a pair of Stella McCartney shades, but she recently stepped out in a pair of her thigh-high satin boots. Someone should have told her she looked more than a little overdressed for mid-morning errands, and that thigh boots were a strange choice of footwear for a woman who recently denied accusations that she had been an escort girl. What motivated her to pair those kinky boots with a mismatched outfit of leggings, banal black T-shirt and bizarre beanie? Did she want to look as bad as possible? If Heather is going down, she appears to be taking Stella's fashion credibility with her.

Lane, a close friend of McCartney's late first wife Linda, believes McCartney married the former model because he craved company, but concedes the couple appeared happy on the surface.

She says, "I felt the marriage wasn't right because of the little I know about what he needs.

"He needs romance - you can tell by his songs. And I would be delighted if he met someone who loved him.

"But I suppose he was lonely, and lets face it, she's a bit of a cannibal from what I hear. Perhaps she swallowed him up.

"At the time they both seemed happy. Heather even wanted me to write something for Paul for television."

The former Beatle is preparing for his bitter divorce battle to hit court.

Now 80-year-old Tony - who has collaborated with Macca for one of the songs on his, Duets - An American Classic album, has spoken of his heartbreak at the superstar's bitter break-up from former model Heather Mills.

Tony revealed: "I feel very sorry for Paul. He's a great friend of mine. He always will be.

He continued: "People don't realise how tragic divorce is.

"It's like a great plague - families splitting and it's never quite the same. It's a tragedy."

Legendary crooner Tony also hinted at his views on Macca's estranged wife Heather, saying: "It like a moth to the flame of fame. You have to be very careful about fame."

Amazingly, singing legend Tony gave The Beatles their first ever award - a gong at the NME Awards in 1963.

Since then, Tony and Paul have been friends.

Tony continued: "It's too bad [what's been happening] because Paul is really a wonderful person. I really like him.

"And I gave The Beatles their first award.

"In my son's office in New York, there's a huge poster of it."

Talking of their duet for "The Very Thought Of You," Tony said: "It's a beautiful recording. Paul did very, very well.

"We recorded it at Abbey Road. "Paul enjoyed it so much.

"He was telling me where John Lennon stood, he and stood and George stood and where the drums were."

With their long dark hair, flashing brown eyes and full lips, the two women strolling along the beach in Cancun, Mexico, looked remarkably like sisters.

Only a close observer would notice their age difference, and guess that they were in fact mother and daughter.

For Heidi Hines, it was a magical moment. She was 18 and on her first road trip with her youthful mother, the flamboyant, fun-loving former model and ultimate rock-star groupie, Jo Jo Laine.

She was approaching 40 and had, after years of seducing and entertaining famous rockers, seen better days.

But she'd saved hard for two years to afford this precious bonding time and wanted to use it to pass on to her daughter the most valuable advice she could give.

"It was the best week of my life,' recalls Heidi.

"It really was truly special and the first time that my mother and I had spent so much time together without anyone else around. We let our hair down and got to know each other like friends."

Jo Jo, who was by then indulging in the alcohol abuse that contributed to her early death at 54 last Sunday, admitted to Heidi for the first time that she had a drink problem.

She warned her daughter not to follow the same hedonistic path that she had trodden.

Heidi is now 32, and herself the mother of two children - son Jesse, one, and daughter Jaylie, five. She lives with her partner Jeff Wayling, a band promoter, in South-West London.

Like her parents - her father is Denny Laine (real name Brian Hines), the former guitarist with Paul McCartney's Wings - she has been drawn into rock and is a singer-songwriter with a little-known all-girl band.

As yet, she has not had the success she craves. She performs mostly in pubs and small clubs. But neither has she succumbed to the dark excesses that so blighted her mother's once glittering life.

As tributes poured in last week for Jo Jo, who had been suffering from cirrhosis and liver cancer, Heidi poignantly recalled the moment that her mother tried to save her from a similar fate.

"We were walking along that beach when she suddenly stopped," says Heidi. "Mum held both my hands in hers and, with a fiercely determined glint in her eyes, said, "Look at the mess I've made of my life and you will see what drugs and alcohol abuse can do.

"It's cunning, like a fox. It sneaks up on you and, before you realise it, you're an alcoholic."

"I remember it as if it was yesterday. She wanted me to know that life could still be enjoyed without going overboard.

"She knew how destructive her lifestyle had been and didn't want me doing the same. Everything in moderation, she told me. It's the soundest advice she ever gave me.

"I've never forgotten it and I've tried to live my life that way. I drink rarely and I never do drugs."

Heidi says: "Despite the wild and crazy times, the men who came and went in her life and moving from home to home like gipsies, Mum always tried to make my two brothers and I feel loved.

"She was the most incredible mother ever. We were best friends. There was nothing I couldn't discuss with her - except her illness. She was very reticent about that."

One of the Seventies' most famous magazine models, American-born Jo Jo lost her virginity to Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock in 1969 and counted Rod Stewart and Jim Morrison among her many lovers.

She became close friends with The Who and Eric Clapton. As Laine's wife she travelled the world and became a confidante of both Paul and Linda McCartney.

And between 1991 and 1996, she even joined the notorious harem of girlfriends, known as wifelets, who shared the Marquess of Bath's 10,000-acre Longleat estate.

For more than 15 years Jo Jo lived the dream of millions of teenage fans who fantasised about dating a rock star.

She was stunningly beautiful and her perfect body always put her in pole position. But it was her sheer determination and confidence that made her stand out. Rockers could not help but love her.

"She was one of ten children and perhaps fighting for attention in a big family is what made her so flamboyant," suggests Heidi.

Whatever the motivation, at 17, as the Sixties drifted into the Seventies, Joanne LaPatrie, as she was born in Boston, Massachusetts, moved to Los Angeles to work as a model and made the cover of Vogue.

She often said the following three years passed in a blur of drugs, casual sex and alcohol.

"When she was 20, she arrived in England determined to marry Paul McCartney - she had a big crush on him,' says Heidi.

"But she told me that the moment she met my dad, after a Wings concert, she knew they were soulmates.

"She fell in love with him, even though he was just a waged member of the band with little money. My brother Laine was born within a year of them getting together and I followed 11 months later.

"They were the happiest times. My earliest memories are of my eldest brother and I being surrounded by love and laughter.

"Even when finances were tight, she would find enough to see that we never wanted for anything. To the rest of the world she might have been the ultimate rock chick, but to us she was just the best mum. She was always there for us.

"No matter what was happening in her life, we always came first. We were very close.

"She taught me to look after myself, making sure I learned to cook and clean the house. She was quite strict and vetted all my boyfriends. She didn't want me to lose my virginity until I was 18, and I didn't out of respect for her."

Indeed, Heidi remembers a caring, if sometimes feckless, woman. "We lived on a houseboat before Dad started making lots of money. Mum was always in the kitchen cooking. She liked us to sit down to meals together, even if Dad was away on tour.

"It was a fun house and she was always smiling. She used to dress us up in colourful, fancy-dress costumes and we would role-play."

Denny co-wrote the hit Mull Of Kintyre with McCartney, and his new-found wealth enabled the family to buy Yew Corner in Middlesex, a house which had been A.A. Milne's inspiration for Pooh Corner in his Winnie the Pooh books.

Yew Corner became legendary for the Laines' wild parties throughout the Seventies. But Heidi recalls: "We were always kept away from that sort of world. Mum tried to create a stable home and sheltered us from all that.

"I suppose we were either staying with family or friends when they threw those parties.

"The ones I attended were family occasions. We played by the swimming pool or sang songs in the music room. Paul and Linda often visited with their kids or we would go to stay with them at their estate in Scotland.

"Linda was especially lovely and always made us feel at home. When we went on tour together it was like one big family. Mum was happiest then. She just loved being around lots of people."

Heidi was just four when, in 1978, her mother's brother Thaddeus, a heavy drug user and schizophrenic, shot his father Philip during an argument. "Grandfather died nearly two years later without regaining consciousness,' says Heidi.

"At the time Mum and Dad were not getting on too well and she started to drink heavily. She said she hated the smell of it but it reminded her of her father. He also liked to drink and it made her feel close to him. She dearly loved him."

Although her parents effectively separated in 1980 after Denny had an affair with Jo Jo's best friend, Heidi says she hardly noticed.

"I suppose Mum was the centre of our world. We hardly realised Dad wasn't around. She filed for divorce but shielded us from the pain of it."

Heidi's relationship with her father has remained strained and the two only recently started talking after a ten-year gap.

After the marriage break-up, Heidi recalls her mother quickly falling in love with Randy Rhoads, a 25-year-old guitarist with Black Sabbath.

"I was so in awe of him,' she says. "He was tall and very good looking. My mother was giddy with happiness when he was around."

On March 19, 1982, six months after they met, Randy was killed in a plane crash in Florida. It was then, Heidi says, that her mother's binge drinking became more destructive.

"She cried uncontrollably and constantly. I was a kid and didn't know what to do.

"A couple of times I had to call an ambulance because her eyes glazed over and she was unresponsive. Mum just couldn't cope. I don't think she ever got over Randy's death. One of my aunts flew over from America to look after us."

In her grief Jo Jo fell for builder Peter O'Donohue and they had a son, Boston. By late 1985 the relationship had broken down amid violent rows. O'Donohue was later convicted in connection with a £40million bullion raid in Knightsbridge and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

"I was about 11 when all this happened,' recalls Heidi. "We emigrated to Boston, where Mum managed a band called Manish Boys and lost a lot of money when they flopped.

"We moved often and ended up in New York, where she tried to make it as a singer. She even cut an album. I think it was all Beatles songs, but it was never released.

"Our lives were somewhat peripatetic. She was always financially on the edge, but somehow she had the strength to keep going. She taught me never to give up. Watching her health deteriorate in recent months was the hardest thing that I've ever had to cope with."

Jo Jo ended up living in impecunious circumstances in a shabby flat above a shop in St John's Wood.

"My mother kept her illness a secret because she wanted to protect us,' says Heidi, who acted as her main carer in the last few months. "But her health deteriorated and eventually she had to confess."

Just after she was diagnosed with cancer last Christmas, Jo Jo joined Heidi's band to perform at a pub in Camden, North London.

Heidi says: "She wanted to have one last gig. She was great and showed me how to please a crowd. She was totally fearless.

"I don't think she regretted anything about her life except the drinking. And perhaps that so many of her old friends were either dead or lived far away. She was lonely in the end. All she had was us."

They learned she was dying only a month ago. Heidi says: "Her doctor called to say that she'd been taken off the liver-transplant list. I was devastated.

"My wonderful vibrant mother, who we thought would stay young for ever, would not live to see her grandchildren grow up.

"She was always active but in the end she could barely walk upstairs. It took her ten agonising minutes to get out of the couch in the living room that she'd turned into a bed. She had very little energy.

"She became forgetful and suffered terrible mood swings. She didn't sleep at night and would cry all the time from the pain she was in. It was so hard to watch."

Jo Jo died after fracturing her skull when she fell down stairs while on a nostalgic visit to meet the new owners of Yew Corner - the home where she had been happiest and where she had always said she wanted to die.

"No one saw it happen," explains Heidi. "Apparently she didn't make a sound. It's as if she decided it was the right place and the right time. I miss her terribly and can't believe she's gone. But I'm glad her suffering is over."

November 6, 2006 -- Eastbourne Today

GARETH'S WORLD EXCLUSIVE

An Eastbourne photographer found himself at the centre of a media frenzy this week when he snapped Paul McCartney and his estranged wife, Heather, together for the first time since their acrimonious split.

Gareth Connolly, who lives at Sovereign Harbour, got the one picture that all newspaper photographers had been trying for months to capture when the famous couple took their three-year-old daughter Bea to Clambers in Hastings for a birthday treat on Saturday afternoon.

It is the first time the couple have been pictured together since they announced their separation earlier this year.

Gareth's picture was of the family enjoying a day out but minutes after he took it, the ex-Beatle's wife turned on Gareth, launched a tirade of abuse and threatened to have him assassinated.

"She just started ranting and raving, saying I was the scum of the earth and that she was going to get an assassin to take me out," said Gareth.

"Then one of Sir Paul's staff told me to leave him alone and take a picture of Heather Mills instead but he swore and called her a name."

Gareth, a former Gazette and Herald photographer, said he could hardly believe his luck when he realised he had the picture the world had been waiting to see.

"I couldn't believe it and ran back to my car to send the pictures off straight away," said Gareth.

"Newspapers from all around the world were ringing saying they wanted a copy. It was absolutely amazing."

The picture appeared in the majority of the Sunday national newspapers and Gareth's phone is still ringing with requests for the highly sought-after picture.

Gareth, who studied photography at Park College, has been trailing the couple since they announced their separation earlier this year and has taken hundreds of pictures of Sir Paul or Lady Heather but never managed to capture them together.

It is the second time this year Gareth has had a photographic scoop. Earlier this year he captured a very rare form of lightning across the Eastbourne skies, which he took from the balcony of his harbourside flat. This was splashed across the national newspapers.

---

November 5, 2006 -- News of the World


Naked Heather Mills slipped into a bath with Gladiator Hunter before whipping off her false leg and having sex with him in the bubbles, we can reveal.

She had a secret three-month torrid fling with the TV muscleman before she met Paul McCartney-and he reckoned Lady Mucca was the MUCKIEST woman he had ever slept with.

Last night a close pal of Hunter, 33-real names James Crossley-told us: "He said she was like a porn star in bed and very experimental.

"Her sex drive was even bigger than Hunter's and he told me he had to perform four or five times to get close to satisfying her."

Athletic

And Mucca, 38-now in the midst of a bitter divorce battle with Sir Paul-proved it's not just bottles of ketchup and furniture she likes to throw around.

The saucy ex-model -who we revealed wrecked rooms during rows with the former Beatle-loved flinging her false leg aside before sex sessions with Hunter. "He said that one of the first times they had sex was in the bath at his flat," added the pal.

"She took it off before getting in and said, 'You don't mind me going legless, do you?' James didn't mind at all. She was always very athletic-with or without her leg."

The pair were introduced at a charity bash for landmine victims on Shaftesbury Avenue in the West End of London in November 1997.

"They were drawn together at once," added our source. "And Heather made sure Hunter was well rewarded for supporting the cause.

"You'd have to be blind to miss the chemistry between them. Hunter even really liked the fact she had a false leg. It made Heather a bit different from his usual conquests."

But once Hunter had Heather back at his flat in east London it was clear that HE was HER conquest.

The source went on: "Hunter thought he knew the script when they got home together. But he told me Heather's forwardness totally shocked him. She was the raunchiest woman he's ever bedded.

"Her favourite place for sex was the bathroom. She loved feeling the water splashing against her body while they did it."

Split

Mucca made Hunter a regular fixture in her love life until early 1998. The pal added: "Whenever they met at one of these showbiz bashes it was always back to her place or his afterwards."

The couple split as the Gladiators show faced the axe and Hunter began exploring other areas of showbusiness.

The pal said: "It was Heather who called the shots at the end. She was very feisty and ambitious. Hunter's dwindling telly success probably played a small part in the break-up."

Just over a year later she met Sir Paul at an awards ceremony.

During their fling, Hunter gushingly praised Lady Mucca as "a wonderful example of what you can do if you put your mind to it."

Now she's putting her mind to getting a huge chunk of her husband's fortune.

Heather, 38, has been driven to flee the country by the stress of her bitter divorce battle with Sir Paul McCartney.

She viewed the 17th Century house in Normandy, northern France, with her personal trainer and close friend Ben Amigoni, 24.

A pal said last night: "Heather is at breaking point. She wants a place away from the pressure."

The People can reveal that Heather turned to top estate agent Knight Frank to find a hideaway for her and Beatrice, her three-year-old daughter by Sir Paul.

The seven-bedroom property is in the quaint village of St Mère Eglise - made famous in the film The Longest Day as a battle-torn landing spot for D-Day paratroopers in 1944.

The mansion has been restored to its former glory and lies in a conservation area just 30 miles from the handy port of Cherbourg. A source said: "Heather has seen the house once and absolutely loved it. She has asked for a second viewing. Heather made it clear she was looking for somewhere to escape from the nightmare of her life in Britain at the moment.

"But Normandy is close enough to the UK. There is obviously the issue of sharing the upkeep of Beatrice to sort out with Sir Paul."

But Heather's hopes of a speedy purchase were dashed when the owner recently died. The house will now be placed in probate, delaying any deal by months.

Heather was keen to let Ben also see the property. The source said: "Ben is a good friend to her.

"She values his opinion and obviously he will go over there too. She just wanted his view."

Heather has been living in the house in Hove, Sussex, she shared with Sir Paul, 64, during their four-year marriage. She has claimed he assaulted her. But the ex-Beatle's pals branded her "a fantasist".

It's 40 years since Indica set London swinging. Kate Bernard catches up with its founding gallerist John Dunbar to talk about John and Yoko, and Mick and Marianne.

London, spring 1966. In the unlikely surroundings of St James's - more accustomed to bowler hats and bearskins than new art - a cultural revolution is in progress. Indica, the happening experimental art gallery that is the brainchild of 22-year-old Cambridge graduate John Dunbar, first opened its doors last year. Tonight, it's showtime. 'Swinging London' starts here. The private view has attracted all the right people: Dunbar's wife Marianne Faithfull, Paul McCartney and his girlfriend Jane Asher, Eric Burdon of the Animals, photographer Gered Mankowitz, producer Michael White, John Pearse of the King's Road clothes shop Granny Takes a Trip, a pretty boy called Mark Feld who's about to change his name to Marc Bolan, beat poets, art critics and the in crowd. William Burroughs hates parties but stuck his nose in for a few minutes before retreating to his flat round the corner. The flamboyant art dealer Robert Fraser, in his tight pink suit, and various Ormesby Gores and McKewens represent high society's hip vanguard. The classes are colliding, having fun, taking lots of drugs and using the energy from the social bustle to create art of many kinds.

Guests spill out into the yard with their glasses of white wine. Later, Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate will tap on the window for a gossip. And in a matter of months, John Lennon will arrive in a chauffeur-driven Mini at the behest of John Dunbar, who thinks his friend should see the work of a young Japanese artist called Yoko Ono before her show opens.

'It was a wonderful time,' declares Marianne Faithfull today from Paris, in her rich rock'n'roll contralto. 'The opening night of Indica was complete chaos. Everyone was trying to get the place ready - John, Barry Miles [who ran the bookshop side of Indica], Paul McCartney, Jane Asher, our friend David Courts, so many people ... but nobody had thought to clean the lavatory, which was, of course, filthy. I remember I was wearing a beautiful dress and very pale tights, and there I was, on my hands and knees, scrubbing the loo. Because of John, I was very much a part of it all, and I'm so proud that I was.'

Now, 40 years later, Indica has inspired Riflemaker, a gallery that showcases the work of young artists in a former gunsmith's shop in Soho, to go back to the future. On November 20, Riflemaker 'becomes' Indica, and shows work by Yoko Ono, the sculptor Takis, 'kinetic poet' Liliane Lijn, Mark Boyle and Joan Hills (of the Boyle Family), etc, who all exhibited at Indica.

John Dunbar was born in Mexico City in 1943, but his first memory is of Moscow, where his father, a Scot, was the British Embassy's cultural attache. By the time he was four, the family had moved to England. He was sent to Bryanston. 'But at 17 I was chucked out for getting pissed. I did my entrance exams for Cambridge from Harrow tech, started going to Hampstead parties and met lots of cool people.'

Dunbar's parents moved to Mayfair. Peter Asher (of the pop group Peter & Gordon) lived with his family in nearby Wimpole Street and the two became friends. 'Then Peter's sister Jane started going out with Paul McCartney and we got to know him.' At Cambridge he met the artist Rory McEwen. 'He introduced me to his family and all their cousins and Lord Thingummybob ... oh, you know, that whole posh crowd.' At one Chelsea party, Princess Margaret informed Dunbar he had a hole in his jeans, putting her finger through it as she did so. He rolls his eyes at the memory..

Dunbar has always been a facilitator - great when it comes to advising people on their careers. In 1964, the Rolling Stones's manager Andrew Loog Oldham announced he was 'looking for a girl who could sing'. Dunbar introduced him to Faithfull - 'You can sing a bit, can't you Marianne?' he said. But just before 'As Tears Go By' came out, the couple had a row and Dunbar went to Greece for the summer. When he returned, Faithfull was famous. 'Fame wasn't what either of us wanted,' she says now.

They married in May 1965 when he was 21 and she was 18, spending their honeymoon in Paris with Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso. 'That really was amazing,' says Faithfull. 'Ginsberg and Corso were famous - not us!' Before the wedding, when Faithfull was already pregnant, she met Bob Dylan, who developed a huge crush and tried to put her off marrying Dunbar. 'You can't marry someone who wears glasses. He's the eternal student,' crowed Dylan. 'He was quite wrong,' says Faithfull today. 'John's the eternal teacher.'

With her newfound pop wealth, Faithfull had rented a flat in Lennox Gardens. With John Mayall, Donovan, Paul McCartney, Robert Fraser and Christopher Gibbs as regulars it became something of a salon. Dunbar and his friends embraced acid culture. 'It first came, in about 1965, as drops on sugar cubes.' Dunbar's first trip was at Lennox Gardens in the company of David Courts. Marianne was pregnant with their son Nicholas. 'I'm resting in the bed, and suddenly there's John, gleaming-eyed, and he wants the pillows.' Afraid of 'bringing him down', she gave him bits of bedding as he asked for them, and eventually the mattress. When her mother found her lying on the bed springs, she lamely explained that Dunbar was doing an experiment.

While Dunbar was writing art reviews for the Scotsman, he and Miles attended the Albert Hall Poetry Festival. 'Quite a lot of the poetry was sh*t, but 7,000 people had turned up for it,' he says. 'There was obviously a thirst for alternative entertainment. The art scene at the time consisted of West End galleries where the public weren't encouraged to linger. It was pretty dull. We decided on a shop. Miles would do the books and I'd do the gallery.'

Dunbar found the premises, Peter Asher put up the £2,100 ($4,000) it took to get started, lending Dunbar and Miles £700 ($1,336) each so all three had equal shares. 'Then I took lots of speed, painted the whole place white and put the shelves up ...' Paul McCartney, Indica's first customer, merrily mucked in. Dunbar had to smear Windolene over the glass because workmen kept peering in, hoping to glimpse a Beatle doing manual labour. Jane Asher donated an old-fashioned till she had once used as a toy. McCartney designed Indica's wrapping paper. Dunbar and McCartney haven't met recently but McCartney obviously remembers him fondly; when approached by Miles,he put a few quid towards the John Pearse suit that was Dunbar's 50th birthday present from his friends. He is expected to take part in the Indica celebrations.

The Observer Magazine of May 1967 stated: 'Indica organises some of the most avant-garde shows to be seen in London - anything from kinetic art, where sculptures move or rattle, to "happenings" and "events" by a Japanese artist called Yoko Ono.' Dunbar, who had been hanging out with John Lennon, suggested he drop in to see Yoko's show before it opened. 'They didn't get off together then - he was still with Cynthia and she was married to Tony Cox - but he'd never met anyone like her, that's for sure. She's a very powerful lady.'

When Dunbar introduced Lennon to Yoko, she handed him a card which read 'Breathe'. He panted like a dog. 'Indica gave me a space where I could be free and express my ideas,' says Yoko Ono today. 'It was a comfort zone in an otherwise cold and snobby art world that didn't get me yet.' Part of the Beatles tour in London today is to visit Indica's original home in Mason's Yard, where John met Yoko. John Lennon remembered the moment in an interview: 'There was an apple on sale there for £200, I thought it was fantastic - I got the humour in her work immediately.'

Nicholas Dunbar was born in November 1965, 10 days before Indica opened for business. 'We were just kids, you know,' says John Dunbar. Marianne agrees. 'I wouldn't recommend being married and having a baby at 18, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything.'

By early 1967, with the pressures of Marianne touring, arguments over money and too many drugs, the Dunbars felt trapped in their marriage, a tangled web in which they both felt trapped. 'We drifted apart, until I couldn't bear being around and had to leave,' John says. 'John was perfect for me and if the Sixties hadn't blown up so much dust we would have stayed together,' says Marianne. 'But we were so young. And I think for both of us there was the allure of another life ... then this glamorous, dangerous figure called Mick Jagger turned up and swept me off my feet.'

After the split, Dunbar took a flat opposite his parents, where McCartney and Lennon would descend - often adding to the psychedelic mural Dunbar had started. Brian Jones hung out there. 'He was a good friend and used to stay a lot,' says Dunbar. 'One night he turned up with Toni Basil, a dancer who would become a pop star herself.' She ended up living with him for six months. 'The idea for Apple started at that flat,' says Dunbar. 'It was just John, Paul and me chatting,' he says. He remembers it being 'a very acidy afternoon'. Dunbar and Lennon had lots of similar times together, in the psychedelic Roller or hanging out at Lennon's country pile in Weybridge. The pair turned up at the 14-hour Technicolour Dream - a major happening at Alexandra Palace - and then forgot all about it, until they saw a clip on the news.

Dunbar has just finished the roof of his pet project for the last few years, a studio in Scotland - a living sculpture, indeed - that he's been building from scrap. 'All thanks to a very old friend who has a bit of land up there. It has been pretty hard work,' he says. With that in mind I tell him that Tot had originally hoped he would 'run' Riflemaker on a daily basis for the duration of the Indica show. 'Hmm, no, that's not going to happen - but of course I'll kind of hang out there a bit.' Same as it ever was.

The Sunday Times has used electronic identification techniques employed by the police to assemble an e-fit of the woman - nicknamed "Bright Eyes" - who spent half an hour in a newsagent's shop trying to disseminate a draft of Heather Mills' cross-petition to the world's media.

Solicitors acting for both sides have written to Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, asking for an investigation into the leak of the document.

A third firm of lawyers has been hired by Mills to take legal action against any newspaper that suggests that she had anything to do with the leak.

"Bright Eyes" walked into Peter Mehta's Drury News shop in Holborn, central London, at 1.15pm on Tuesday, October 17, and asked if he had a fax machine. She was carrying a list of numbers.

The woman, a brunette described as 5ft 6in tall, aged 35 to 45 and speaking with an accent, possibly American or Canadian, stood alongside Mehta, dialling fax numbers as he served customers. The call history from Mehta's fax machine shows that she sent nine-page faxes to the Associated Press news agency in New York and to the Press Association's IT centre in Howden, Yorkshire.

A third call to ITN in London lasted seven minutes but failed to go through. The woman had an old number for a fax machine that used to sit on the ITN newsdesk. It was sold in April and the number re-allocated to a voice-only phone in ITN's archives department.

The unsigned papers, which appeared to have been prepared by Mishcon de Reya, Mills's lawyers, made a number of accusations that McCartney had mistreated his wife, all of which have been denied.

Mehta said: "The woman was very confident. I remember in particular that she had bright eyes. She was wearing a black-and-white striped top with a small flower pattern.

"I mostly use the fax for my own purposes but people can come in and use it.

"She seemed to know what she was doing. I helped put the first page into the machine and then left her to it. I didn't take any notice of what she was faxing."

The shop charges £1 ($1.90) for the the first page and 50p (95¢) for additional sheets.

The woman failed to tell Mehta that she had dialed an international number and paid him £10 ($19)in cash for the two successful calls.

Both sides in the divorce have strongly denied any role in the leak. A friend of Mills said: "Heather is devastated. It has weakened her bargaining position."

McCartney said yesterday that he does not hold grudges and was optimistic about the future. He added that he wanted the remainder of the divorce process to maintain "a certain dignity".

The former Beatle, speaking after the premiere of his classical composition Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart) at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday night, said: "There are certain things in life that are personal and I think a relationship with a partner is intensely personal, and I prefer to keep it that way."

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he added: "When you are going through difficulties, I think the thing to do for the sake of all the people all concerned is to keep a certain dignity and remember that it is a private affair and that way you will probably get through it better.

"You will put less noses out of joint and I think it is a more dignified way to go about it, so that's what I try to do."

Sir Paul McCartney has secretly paid £200,000 ($381,860) to secure audio tapes which reportedly contain explosive allegations about his marriage to his first wife Linda.

The recordings - which his second wife Heather Mills wants to use as part of her divorce claim that he was abusive towards her - were handed over to Sir Paul during an extraordinary cloak-and-dagger meeting in a Central London cafe.

Sir Paul bought the tapes from literary agent Peter Cox, who made them with Linda when he was co-authoring her 1989 book Linda McCartney's Home Cooking.

The two men met up in Eat in Soho Square on Wednesday morning and spent almost half an hour together as the ex-Beatle poured his heart out about his marital troubles in full view of their astonished fellow diners.

Customers in the cafe told how they overhead Sir Paul claim that Heather has demanded an £80 million ($152 million) divorce settlement - the first time anyone in the divorce has revealed what she is actually asking for.

"Everyone recognised him the moment he walked in," a customer said. "There was a bearded guy waiting for him and they took the table next to me. Paul didn't seem to be worried about who was listening or he wouldn't have spoken the way he did.

"He started off talking about what great kids he had but the subject soon changed to Heather and that was when he became very agitated and upset.

"I remember him saying that all she thought about was money and that she had asked for £80 million. He said something like, 'She is going to take me for £80 million, because we now know it's for £80 million. All she thinks about is dollars'. He even drew dollar signs to emphasise it."

Sir Paul also repeatedly branded his estranged wife a liar, adding: "Everyone knows she is a liar, she even lied in her autobiography. Everybody knows that."

Sir Paul had arrived unaccompanied at the trendy white-washed cafe a couple of minutes after Mr Cox, at the stroke of ten, and the pair ordered a healthy breakfast of bananas, strawberry smoothies, coffee and pain au raisins at the counter before taking a table at the rear of the first floor.

Sir Paul was dressed in a stylish dark suit with a crisp white shirt underneath, according to one diner.

She added: "He came in and was very friendly to everyone. I remember him asking the Polish waitress were she was from. The bearded guy was carrying this huge white envelope, and when they sat down together he put it down next to Paul and said, "This is for you".

"Paul immediately picked it up, broke the seal and began rummaging inside. Then he turned to the bearded guy and said something like, 'We must keep this out of the papers'.

"Paul told him he had been followed by a journalist that morning but had lost him by getting the driver to double back a few times to give him the slip. He said his driver was up the road keeping a look-out."

Last week Sir Paul's lawyers demanded that Mr Cox sign a legal agreement saying he would not make the contents of the tapes public. Although Mr Cox agreed, his lawyer later pointed out that there was no legal impediment to stop his client talking about the conversations he had with Linda.

Mr Cox told The Mail on Sunday last week how he became Linda's confidante while they were writing the book. She revealed that she had contemplated leaving Sir Paul and had often been in tears when he met up with her.

He also told how the ex-Beatle was suspicious of anyone he met, claiming that Sir Paul always assumed that people wanted something from him.

Despite this, Mr Cox's meeting with Sir Paul was described by their fellow diners as cordial, with the latter apparently happy to confide in him.

One diner said: "They spoke about Linda at first and it was clear that both of them really adored her. Maybe that drew them together but the next minute Sir Paul was telling him all these things that left me unsure of where to look.

"Paul said, 'When I first met her she was fantastic. It was good, really good. At first'. Then he said something about how he had been grieving for Linda at the time and that he had lost track of life.

"I realised that he was talking about Heather. He went on about how she was jealous of Linda and told this story about how Heather walked out of the room when he was rehearsing for a concert because he was playing a song he wrote for Linda.

"Paul said, 'I was doing a show, and I was doing a song I wrote for Linda and she (Heather) started to walk out. So I say to her, 'Woah, yes this song is all for love, yes I wrote this for Linda, but Linda is no longer here...so you're my love. So if it's a song about love, I am talking about you'."

"It was obvious to everyone listening, and believe me everyone was listening, that he was very upset. The man is devastated.

"He said that Linda had always been happy to stay out of the limelight but that Heather seemed to crave it. Then he said he had liked this at first but after a while it got very wearing.

"Then he said something about how in Linda's case she never felt the need to make a statement, before going into a very unflattering comparison of her with Heather.

"He said, 'She's (Heather) not at all nice, or at all compassionate, she just wants the money'. He drew the dollar sign in the air again. Then he said something like, 'She wants it all, but no, we'll try to find a way to sort it out'.

"Paul said he was trying to put it all to the back of his mind but said he was 'entrenched' by it.

"He did this thing with his hands, with two fingers pointing at each other, saying how they were so at odds with each other.

"Paul said he had tried to remain on friendly terms with her after they separated but then said she 'flipped'.

"He said, 'I was prepared to settle things amicably but suddenly Heather turned and something happened to her after that. She has told so many lies like the one about me being a drunk - just because I sometimes go to pubs. It's all a pack of lies you know, that I am stingy - that's another one'."

The diner added: "Paul said, 'When she wrote her autobiography she lied, you know, we all know that. Saying I was a drunk and that I used her. It's not true. She lies and lies. Then it all goes on and on with her playing up to the papers.

"'And it's all c**p and rubbish. If she doesn't get what she wants she'll pick a fight. It's all lies that she has told her solicitors and all I can do is to try and keep calm. It's just my luck to have all these problems. I am really miserable, bullied actually. It just p***** me off, it is such c**p. I am being described as a b****** and it's just not true'."

She added: "He said no one had told him what Heather was really like when he married her. He said his daughter Stella was the only one who warned him. Then he said, "She (Heather) really hates Stella"."

The diner said that soon afterwards Sir Paul announced that he had to go to a meeting. She added: "He left with the big envelope the other guy brought in and I saw him get into a people carrier waiting up the street."

Stella, a fashion designer, was known to be unhappy about her father marrying Heather so soon after her mother's death. And despite repeated public assurances that the pair got on well no one had any doubt that they did not.

Last week it was claimed that Stella had to be restrained from launching a verbal assault against Heather when they all attended a third birthday party for Bea, Sir Paul's daughter with Heather, in Hastings, East Sussex.

Sir Paul and 38-year-old Heather announced their separation in May, just four years after their fairytale wedding at a castle in Ireland.

Heather was reported to be desperate to get hold of the tapes belonging to Mr Cox. She hopes they will support claims in her divorce petition about Sir Paul being abusive towards her. The ex-Beatle's lawyers have vehemently denied the allegations.

A friend of Heather was quoted as saying: "She fears that if Paul buys the only copies, and they are destroyed or kept secret, her case will be seriously weakened.

"She is desperate for a guarantee that the tapes are not taken out of the equation. Heather believes her story of her marriage to Paul will stun the world. If Linda's tapes underline her case, then so much the better.

"The voice of Linda allegedly disparaging Paul from beyond the grave is potentially dynamite."

Linda died from cancer in 1998, aged 56. She and Paul were married for 29 years and had four children together.

The tapes which are now in her husband's keeping are said to shed new light on their marriage, always believed to be one of the strongest in showbusiness.

The judge who hears the divorce between Sir Paul and Heather will have the power to order that the 20 hours of tapes are played to see whether they will back up her claims about his being violent towards her. Linda poured her heart out to 51-year-old Mr Cox on the tapes while they were recording recipes for her book.

They were made when he went to see her at the family home in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, but Linda also made some herself and posted them to Mr Cox in London.

And although the literary agent was barred from revealing their contents as a result of the legal agreement he signed with Sir Paul, there is nothing to stop him discussing their conversations.

He has already indicated that he would be prepared to attend court as a witness. In divorce papers leaked last month, Heather has accused Sir Paul of assaulting her on at least four occasions, once slashing her arm with a broken wine glass.

She also said he was regularly drunk and took illegal drugs during their marriage. Last night a spokesman for Sir Paul said he would not be making any comment on his dealings with Mr Cox. Mr Cox's lawyer, Rodney Hylton-Potts, also declined to comment.

Police were called after blonde Fiona Mills hit the snapper outside Heather's home.

She grabbed his £4,000 ($7,600) camera and ran into the house in Hove, East Sussex, where she removed the memory card.

The photographer, who asked not to be named, said: "She just flipped. She was swearing and started lashing out."

Police said: "A woman has been cautioned for theft and assault."

'An act of contempt'

Body language expert Nadine Field says Heather Mills is "rubbing salt in Paul's wounds" by getting close to Ben Amigoni.

The top consultant psychologist, who specialises in celebrity at psychologyonline.co.uk said: "This is intimate body language.

"Given her situation it is an act of contempt - whether there is anything going on or not."

Former 007 actor Sir Sean Connery has been voted the best Bond ever in a new poll.

The Edinburgh-born star beat Sir Roger Moore into second place with Pierce Brosnan third.

The poll of 3000 Bond fans also found more than half believe the new 007, Daniel Craig, will be a hit in the latest movie, Casino Royale, which opens in UK cinemas later this month.

Ursula Andress, who famously emerged from the waves as Honey Ryder in the 1962 film Dr No, was voted best Bond girl. Second place went to Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. And third was Halle Berry as Jinx Johnson in Die Another Day.

The fans voted Goldfinger their favourite Bond film, followed by Live and Let Die and Die Another Day.

Jaws, played by Richard Keil, emerged as the best baddie, followed by Oddjob and Bloefeld.

The theme for Goldfinger, sung by Shirley Bassey, was voted the best title music, with Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney and Wings in second place, and Shirley Bassey's Diamonds Are Forever in third.

He told the BBC it was a "private affair" and acting in a dignified manner "put less noses out of joint".

Sir Paul, 64, was speaking to Radio 4's Today programme at London's Royal Albert Hall (yesterday), where his classical album Ecce Cor Meum had its world premiere. (Read about the premiere)

The ex-Beatle and Lady McCartney, 38, announced their separation in May after four years of marriage.

Much of the couple's divorce has been played out in the newspapers before it reaches the courts, and damaging allegations about both parties have been made.

In the Today interview, Sir Paul said he was optimistic that the situation surrounding the divorce would eventually improve.

He said: "Remember that it is a private affair and that way [acting with dignity] you will probably get through it better, you will put less noses out of joint and I think it's a more dignified way to go about it, so that's what I try to do."

He added that music had helped him to remain optimistic.

'Linda's spirit'

Ecce Cor Meum - Behold My Heart - took the musician nearly a decade to write and was inspired by his late first wife Linda.

He thanked his family and friends after the performance of the classical album.

Sir Paul told the audience: "This has been such a long labour of love and so many great people have helped me.

"So many people - members of my family, my friends."

In September, at the album's launch, he said the work contained Linda McCartney's spirit.

Sir Paul began composing it more than eight years ago, before she died from breast cancer, but stopped work on it for two years because of his grief.

The couple's daughter, fashion designer Stella McCartney, was among those in Friday night's audience.

Sir Paul McCartney has insisted that he doesn't hold grudges and is optimistic about the future despite his bitter divorce from estranged wife Heather.

After a series of sensational claims about the breakdown of his marriage, the ex-Beatle said he wanted the affair to remain private and maintain "a certain dignity".

He said he did not feel alone because there were a lot of people "like me" who had endured sadness in their lives.

Sir Paul, 64, was speaking after the premiere of his classical composition Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart) at the Royal Albert Hall last night.

"There are certain things in life that are personal and I think a relationship with a partner is intensely personal, and I prefer to keep it that way," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"When you are going through difficulties, I think the thing to do for the sake of all the people all concerned is to keep a certain dignity and remember that it is a private affair and that way you will probably get through it better.

"You will put less noses out of joint and I think it is a more dignified way to go about it, so that's what I try to do."

Sir Paul and his wife were catapulted into the headlines when divorce papers claiming he mistreated her were leaked to the media.

Through his lawyers, the pop star said he would "vigorously" defend himself against the accusations.

Insisting that the future was bright, Sir Paul said: "I have had a lot of sadness happen in my life and I think a lot of people are like me, so I don't particularly feel alone.

"For me, I have always been optimistic, I have always found that something will happen.

"Life goes on, I do not hold grudges against anyone, I don't blame anyone for the sadnesses that have happened to me. I am sad about them because it would stupid to be otherwise."

He went on: "I think life goes on and it is what you make of it so I am pretty optimistic.

"Even through difficult moments, I like to try and look to the other side and think there'll come a time when I'll feel better."

Sir Paul said he used music as an escape when times were hard.

Divorce

Sir Paul and Heather announced their divorce in May after four years of marriage.

He said Ecce Cor Meum was inspired by his first wife Linda, who died from breast cancer in 1998. She was with him when he was first asked to write the piece 10 years ago and after her death he stopped working on it due to his grief.

"When Linda died, that was obviously a huge shock and a very difficult time for the family and it stopped me writing anything," he said.

"It was a year and a half after that when I started to creep back into the studio and see if I could do anything."

Sir Paul said the Interlude part of the composition was particularly sad and his "cathartic" way of getting back into music.

But the musician said he had not dedicated the piece to Linda because by the time it was finished he had a new love interest.

"I had found a new woman in Heather and it wasn't really appropriate to dedicate it to Linda," he said.

At last night's world premiere, Sir Paul thanked his family and friends, describing his fourth classical album as "a labour of love".

He received a standing ovation from the packed audience as he thanked everyone who had helped him make the album.

"This has been such a long labour of love and so many great people have helped me," Sir Paul told the crowd.

"So many people - members of my family, my friends."

Ecce Cor Meum was performed by soprano Kate Royal, Academy of St Martin in the Fields Orchestra, London Voices, Boys of Magdalen College Choir, Oxford and Boys of King's College Choir, Cambridge.

Sir Paul praised all the performers - the same cast who appeared on the studio recording. "What about that?," he asked the audience - which included his daughter, fashion designer Stella McCartney (and Mary).

"I just feel so privileged to be amongst these great musicians who have done such a fantastic job.

"I know they have all worked incredibly hard, I have been at the rehearsals."

Sir Paul finished his thank-yous with a special mention to his fans, as white paper hearts rained down over the auditorium.

"Most of all, we want to thank all of you for coming," he said.

Paul McCartney attended the world premiere of "Ecce Cor Meum" tonight at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He didn't walk the red carpet. Instead he was driven into the RAH via the ramp earlier in the evening.

Stella arrived at the guest entrance and was greeted by fans and press who lined the walkway.

Prior to the performance of "Ecce" there was a preshow of McCartney music played by the Academy of St Martins In The Fields Orchestra. Paul was ushered in just after the lights dimmed and was seated in the middle section of the floor about 10 rows back and sat between Stella and Mary. On hand were John Hammel and body guard Mark Hamilton.

The preshow was a tribute to Linda. The songs: "My Love" Kate Royal and the Belcea Quartet, "Warm And Beautiful" Kate Royal and the Belcea Quartet, "Calico Skies" Kate Royal and Andrew Staples with the Belcea Quartet, "Golden Earth Girl" Andrew Staples and the Belcea Quartet, "Somedays" Andrew Staples and the Belcea Quartet, "Junk" Kate Royal and Andrew Staples the Belcea Quartet, "N dova" (A Garland For Linda) Chamber Orchestra, "The World You're Coming Into" (Liverpool Oratorio) Kate Royal and Chamber Orchestra, "Ghost Suite" (Liverpool Oratorio "Ghosts from the Past") Kate Royal and Andrew Staples with Chamber Orchestra (strings),"Celebration" (Standing Stone) Kate Royal and Andrew Staples the Chamber Orchestra and the Belcea Quartet.

After the preshow there was a break (15-20 minute interval) and Paul got up to go to the backstage area as fans cheered and called out his name. Macca did a dip (partial bow), held out his arms and said "Hey, hey!" to acknowledge the fans.

When the classical concert started Paul was led in from the back of the RAH to his seat. A fan (Congrats to Roos van Teylingen from Holland) handed him a Ecce Cor Meum heart with wings which he took to his seat and gave to Stella to hold. (Congrats to Elsa Buckingham who designed the heart!)

During the concert Paul was seen head bopping, drinking water (which he shared with Mary and Stella )and blowing his nose (he had a cold). Macca put his head on the girls' (Stella and Mary) shoulders and visa versa. He gave Stella a kiss.

At the end of the peformance he walked up the center aisle and took the stage to thank the orchestra and performers: Kate Royal (soprano), Andrew Staples (tenor) Boys Of Magdalen College Choir of Oxford, Boys of King's College Choir of Cambridge, conductor Gavin Greenaway and the Academy of St Martins In The Fields Orchestra.

Paul said, "Well, how about that? I just feel so privileged to be amongst these great musicians who have done such a fantastic job tonight. I know they have all worked incredibly hard, I have been at rehearsals. This has been such a long labour of love and so many great people have helped me. I want to thank this beautiful orchestra. The London voices, great choir. The young gentleman from Magdalen College and King's College Cambridge... and Ben (Parry) who's the choir master who kept them all in control. Katie, Kate Royal who was fantastic... Gavin Greenaway who kept everything in control. Andrew Staples the soloist in the first half, he had to go (crowd laughs) and Colm (Charey) the organist there (waves) ...and so anyway thank you. I'd like to thank so many wonderful people from my family and my friends from forever. It's been such a long labor of love. So many wonderful people in the audience. Well that's it for me. But most of all, we want to thank all of you for coming. Goodnight!"

Paul was handed flowers and took several bows and a standing ovation. He wore a dark grey suit, white shirt, burgundy tie and was said to look alarmingly thin. People ran up to take photos and nobody was stopped. White confetti and white paper hearts fell from the ceiling. Cameras were filming the event for a DVD/TV special.

In the audience were: Alasdhair Willis (Stella's husband), Neil Aspinal, Jeff Lynne, Jeff Beck, Piers Morgan, Geoff Baker, Dave Gilmore, Wix, Sir George Martin with his wife and son Giles sitting in the same row with Paul. There was a unconfirmed James McCartney sighting. He reportedly was walking back with Mary to their seats after the intermission. (If you have a photo of James at the RAH email the Macca Report)

There was an after party for just the family at the RAH. Paul left by car from the ramp that led out of the RAH.

November 3, 2006 -- Macca Report Exclusive

A lucky fan gets to watch Paul at RAH rehearsals

Paul McCartney attended rehearsals earlier today at London's Royal Albert Hall to prepare for the world premiere of his classical choir piece "Ecce Cor Meum" which was performed this evening.

The RAH was giving tours and one lucky fan was able to watch Paul at the rehearsal.

"We saw a total of about 15 minutes of the rehearsal. First we were in a box on the side.

"Paul was conversing with the other people who were there directing the rehearsal. Then he went to Row 10 and sat for awhile listening from what turned out to be his seat for the evening!

"We had to leave the arena to continue the tour, but we were then led to a box at the rear. Paul was at the front again - and his daughter Mary came in with her boys. Paul kissed her and then the boys.

"As we were leaving the box, Paul was standing in Row 12 (which turned out to be our row for the night) listening to the music." (Special thanks to Macca Reporter Pat Kubacki)

The former Beatle was at the packed Royal Albert Hall for the orchestral performance of his new classical album "Ecce Cor Meum" (Behold My Heart).

The pop legend received a standing ovation afterwards as he thanked those who helped him complete the work.

He began composing "Ecce Cor Meum" more than eight years ago, before first wife Linda died from breast cancer in 1998.

But the knight stopped work on the project for two years due to his grief.

"This has been such a long labour of love and so many great people have helped me," the 64-year-old told the crowd at the famous concert venue.

"So many people -- members of my family, my friends."

White paper hearts fluttered down over the crowd as McCartney spoke.

"I just feel so privileged to be amongst these great musicians who have done such a fantastic job tonight," he said.

"I know they have all worked incredibly hard, I have been at the rehearsals.

"Most of all, we want to thank all of you for coming."

The performance, where McCartney will not perform but will be present, marks another musical triumph for the former Beatle, who at 64 is now called Sir Paul and is a national artistic treasure.

Ecce's debut, however, is overshadowed by McCartney's increasingly public and nasty divorce from his second wife, former model Heather Mills McCartney, 38. The case, which has morphed from an amicable separation into a media battle in the past three weeks, saddens fans and has left some wondering whether his reputation as the "nice" Beatle can survive.

"It's a tragedy," said Richard Porter, who is events coordinator for the British Beatles Fan Club and leads Beatles walking tours in London. "Is a Beatle untouchable? I don't know. This (divorce) will tell."

The McCartney divorce has become Britain's biggest and most publicized marital split since Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation in 1992. There are striking similarities:

·The McCartneys have hired Charles' and Diana's divorce lawyers to battle over a fortune estimated at $1.5 billion by the Sunday Times in its annual list of Britain's richest people. Mills McCartney has hired Anthony Julius, who got a $33 million settlement for Diana. McCartney's lawyer, Fiona Shackleton, represented Prince Charles.

·The disintegration of the four-year marriage has become a daily subject for Britain's racy tabloids. McCartney was hit, for instance, with various allegations in a document that appears to James Stewart, a divorce lawyer not involved in the case, to be a draft of Mills McCartney's court response to an earlier divorce filing. Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed last month against two British newspapers - the Daily Mail and the Evening Standard- by the law firm Mishcon de Reya, on behalf of Mills McCartney, cited "false, damaging and immensely upsetting" stories surrounding the divorce.

·Friends have lined up to support or attack "Macca," as the tabs have dubbed McCartney, and "Heather," whose name is often preceded in headlines by "scheming" or "lying." Fellow rocker Rod Stewart told BBC Radio last month that he supports McCartney and advised him to fight. Mills McCartney's sister, Fiona Mills, has fired back on her sister's website. She has said Mills McCartney offered to sign a prenuptial agreement, but Paul didn't want one.

Amicable beginning

When the couple announced their breakup May 17, they said it would be amicable, if for no other reason than they have a daughter, Beatrice, who turned 3 on Oct. 28.

The announcement ended a marriage that began in June 2002 with a $3.2 million wedding in Ireland. McCartney seemed to have shaken the grief of losing his first wife, Linda, to breast cancer in 1998.

McCartney publicly supported the causes of his new wife, who was known to Britons as the model who fought back heroically after losing a leg in a 1993 traffic accident. He backed her efforts to combat land mines and animal cruelty. In March, the couple flew to Canada to protest the annual slaughter of young seals.

Shortly before that, the couple looked happy during a trip to the French ski resort of Val d'Isere, said Derrick de Jong, 24, who recalled how he helped the McCartneys get outfitted in the ski shop where he worked.

"We had to get a ski package that worked for her with one leg," de Jong recalled as he walked along Porter's Beatles tour Tuesday. He said they "seemed very comfortable together."

No settlement in sight

British law limits the causes that can be given for a divorce. There must be an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. That can be proved only by adultery, the unreasonable behavior of one member of the couple, a separation of at least two years, or desertion. The law dictates that pleadings and hearings be kept from the public.

McCartney probably filed on the basis of behavior, said Stewart, the divorce lawyer. The easiest and most amicable route Mills McCartney could have taken was not to contest it and then work out a financial settlement, he said. Fewer than 1% of the 155,052 divorces granted in the United Kingdom last year were contested, according to London's Manches law firm.

The first sign that a friendly settlement was out was in August, when McCartney changed the locks on their London house. Phil Hall, Mills McCartney's spokesman, confirmed that her security guard climbed a wall to open a gate after Mills McCartney realized she was locked out.

Then, on Oct. 18, the document Stewart said is probably a draft of Mills McCartney's response to the divorce filing appeared in the Daily Mail. The newspaper did not reveal how it had acquired the document. The Associated Press reported that it was faxed to the press room at the Royal Court of Justice on Oct. 17. Other British newspapers later published the 13-page draft.

Hall said neither he nor Mills McCartney would comment on the case or the document. Phone calls to her lawyer's office were not returned. Nor did McCartney's law firm respond to requests to answer questions. Divorce lawyers do not discuss cases publicly, Stewart said.

McCartney, through his lawyers, issued a statement Oct. 18 saying he would "be defending these allegations vigorously and appropriately," referring to the published document's negative portrayal of McCartney's alleged behavior.

The financial stakes are high since British law on divorce settlements changed six years ago. Before the change, spouses could expect to get only what they reasonably needed to live on. Now, all property can be equally divided.

"That's why big-money cases are being so heavily litigated," Stewart said. "The U.K. has gone from one of the more parsimonious to arguably one of the most generous divorce jurisdictions."

How much Mills McCartney gets will be decided behind closed courtroom doors. But the battle for public sentiment already seems decided, and it doesn't seem close.

McCartney is the overwhelming sentimental favorite. Although there has been no scientific survey, a Sky News viewers' poll Oct. 19 is indicative of the tilt: 84% said they believed Paul; 16%, Heather.

Porter, who has written a book on The Beatles and owns the Beatles Café at the St. Johns Wood subway stop near Abbey Road, likened Mills McCartney to Yoko Ono, the second wife of John Lennon, whom many fans accused of breaking up the Fab Four. "She is seen as the scarlet woman," he said.

One reason: She comes across to some as a gold digger.

"It's easy for her to say that she's not doing any of this for financial reasons," said Charlie Methven, former editor of the "London Spy" column on the social scene for the Daily Telegraph. "But she's apparently seeking a huge sum. She's only been with him a short period of time. And that leaves a sour taste in people's mouths."

Paul's estranged wife Heather fears that if Paul wipes the only copies of the recordings, they will hinder her chances of a big divorce settlement.

Heather, 38, has told her lawyers to demand Paul keeps the 15 tapes safe so she can use them in court.

A source told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "Heather feels Linda's tapes will back up her claims of suffering abuse by Paul. Heather is worried that if Paul has the only copies, they will be destroyed or kept secret, and her case will be seriously weakened.

"Heather believes her story will stun the world. If Linda's tapes underline her case then so much the better. The voice of Linda allegedly disparaging Paul from beyond the grave is potentially dynamite."

Linda, who died of cancer in 1998, made the tapes in the 80s. The recordings, which are described as "emotional" and "cathartic", reportedly see Linda venting feelings she never shared with her closest friends.

The tapes are now owned by Paul Cox - with who Linda wrote a vegetarian cookbook - who is a sworn enemy of the Beatles legend.Paul, 64, is demanding a gagging order to ensure the content of the tapes is never revealed.

Heather's lawyers Mischon de Reya wrote to her estranged husband's legal firm Sheridans after learning Cox and McCartney plan to meet to discuss the tapes.

The former model's friends have insisted Heather doesn't want to bankrupt her husband and would be happy with a "sensible" figure.

A friend said: "She has been painted as a gold-digger, but this is far from the truth. She's not greedy and would happily settle for a sensible figure to finally put closure to the marriage."

Heather Mills shares intimate moments with her hunky personal trainer - images that will rattle her estranged hubby Sir Paul McCartney.

Lady Mucca, 38, exchanged coy glances and joked with Ben Amigoni, 24, as they waited for a train.

He had spent the night at the home in Hove, East Sussex, she once shared with Paul, 64. Superfit Ben affectionately brushed fluff from her shoulder.

An onlooker said: "There was an unmistakeably adoring look in his eye."

November 2, 2006 -- Daily Mail

Heather all smiles after latest lawyer divorce talks

A smiling Heather Mills McCartney walks with her solicitor, Anthony Julius, after travelling by train from Brighton to London yesterday.

The happy-looking Heather, hidden beneath her trademark sunglasses, met Julius to discuss her much publicised and bitter split with Sir Paul McCartney.

Julius - who charges £500 an hour - famously represented Princess Diana.

Former News of the World editor Phil Hall now runs the PR firm acting for Heather Mills. Can he win her battle for her?
Thursday November 2, 2006

Hannah Pool (Guardian): If I were divorcing my superstar husband, what advice would you give me?

Phil Hall: You have to understand your position in the public eye - which in Heather's case is that she's dealing with somebody who's been revered for 40 years. To try and do anything publicly against him would almost certainly amount to bad publicity for her.

Why are you doing so badly in the PR battle?

The PR battle is, to a certain extent, a bit of a myth. The reality is that Heather's got to live, and carry on her life. And those events that have been widely reported were absolutely not PR stunts. For example, she turned up at the house in St John's Wood expecting to stay there for the night and found that the gate was locked. As for the suggestion that we tipped off the photographers, they had lived out there 24/7 for the last six months. There was absolutely no tipping off. What Heather has been trying to do right from the word go is keep her head down, keep out of the public eye, try to carry on with her life.

Do you know who leaked the divorce papers?

I don't.

Would you tell me if you did?

I'm not sure it would be any of your business. I don't think anybody knows who did it at this stage - apart from the person who did it, presumably. (The Macca Report knows who did it!)

What do you think of how Paul McCartney has behaved throughout this?

I don't think it is for me to cast judgment on Paul. There have been a lot of suggestions that his PR team have been leaking stories to the papers, and I don't believe that either. I think that there are lots of friends and people who know Paul, and friends and people who know Heather and care about them, and think that they are going to help them by speaking to a newspaper.

What do you think of Stella McCartney pitching in?

I don't really have a view of Stella. I don't know her at all, frankly, and, you know, she's entitled to her own opinion.

Is there a danger that just having a PR damages Heather's reputation?

When she called me she was absolutely under siege at home. She couldn't move, she couldn't shop, she couldn't get out of the house. She had photographers physically assaulting her in the street - she had one drive up a pedestrian shopping precinct at full speed to try and snatch a picture of her. It was impossible for her to do anything. She's the mother of a young child and she's in a desperate situation, so she said, "I need someone to help me take the calls and just explain to people that I don't want to do TV interviews, I don't want to do exclusive interviews with a newspaper - try and just explain my situation, which is that I'm very distraught and I just need to be left alone."

How much of what you're doing is about keeping things out of the papers?

It's not about keeping truths out - it's keeping untruths out.

It's not about lying?

No, it isn't. If you lie you get caught out.

What is it like to go from tabloid editing to PR?

I know that newspapers are after a story and I can understand their desire to get the truth and to find out exactly what's happening, but the frustration is that some reporters are prepared to invent a headline and write it come what may.

Heather has been accused of being a money grabber. How do you answer that?

That's the hardest one, because people are convinced that she has been offered large sums of money for a divorce settlement [although] there's been absolutely no offer of any financial settlement. You're right, there are headlines saying "Gold digger". That's not true, but does that mean we are losing the PR battle, as you describe it? I don't think it does. I think all you can do is keep telling the truth and hope that the truth will come through in the end.

George Benson and Al Jarreau Collaborate

Separately, George Benson and Al Jarreau are each formidable. Benson is one of the greatest jazz guitarist and an amazingly versatile musician. Jarreau happens to be the only vocalist in history to win Grammy Awards in the jazz, pop and R&B categories. Together, these friends and label-mates for more than three decades have finally collaborated artistically to create their new CD, "Givin' It Up".

NPR: You mentioned Jill Scott, who you brought in on God Bless the Child. And you also got Paul McCartney involved.

JARREAU: Paul McCartney, that's a special one. Nobody called him

BENSON: Well, he heard that we were on the complex, on the grounds. And he heard that I was doing a record with Al, that he and I we're doing record together. So he had never met Al, but he liked Al, and so did his wife.

He said that Al was his wife's favorite artist. So he had to meet him. So he came by to see me to pay his respects and to meet Al. And he stumbled into the studio out of the clear blue sky, we looked around, I said, man, that looks like ­ it is Paul.

BENSON: We were in middle of the song.

NPR: Right.

BENSON: It was playing on the speakers, and it suddenly dawned on me that - Paul, you know this song? Because I know he did. He said, yeah, yeah, I know it. How about you're doing this song here? You want to sing something on this with us? What did he say, Al?

JARREAU: Bloody hell, can you believe the cheek of this guy. I'm here doing me own record, he asks me to sing on his record.

BENSON: He kept his promise. He said, well, I'm doing my own thing. He said but if I get some time off, I'll come back. He did it because he loved me and Al. He said, George, I can do one take. And boy, did he tear that thing up. I said not only did he know the song, I mean he was deep inside it, you know.

JARREAU: Yeah.

BENSON: His interpretation was really off the cuff, real different. It was almost like a miracle that happened.

(Soundbite of song "Bring it on Home to Me")

PAUL McCARTNEY: (Singing) Bring your sweet love, bringing it on home to me. Yeah.

BENSON: (Singing) Yeah. I give you jewelry and money too. That's not all I give to you. Oh if you bring it to me, bring your sweet loving. Bring it on home to me, girl.

PAUL McCARTNEY: (Singing) I give you jewelry and money too. That's not all I give to you. Oh, if you bring it to me, bring your sweet loving. Bring it on home to me girl.

MORE

November 1, 2006

Paul McCartney shows off R&B pipes with Al Jarreau-George Benson collaboration

Paul McCartney makes a guest appearance on a new album by George Benson and Al Jarreau, titled "Givin' It Up", on a cover of Sam Cooke's R&B classic "Bring It On Home To Me." The track features Benson's distinct guitar fills, and Jarreau paying tribute to the late Lou Rawls by "answering" McCartney soulful vocals, just as Rawls did on Cooke's original 1962 hit recording.

Macca had previously recorded the song himself, on his 1988 rock and roll oldies album for Russian fans, called CHOBA B CCCP, which translates roughly as "Back In The U.S.S.R." but is commonly referred to as The Russian Album. The song has frequently appeared in his pre-show soundchecks as well.

McCartney recently turned up on another duets project, teaming with Tony Bennett on "The Very Thought Of You," from the crooner's recent album Tony Bennett Duets: An American Classic. Ironically, "The Very Thought Of You," which McCartney and Bennett have performed live together on several occasions, was McCartney and his estranged wife Heather Mills' favorite song.

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