The sweet phone call St. Vincent shared with Paul McCartney
In 2020, Paul McCartney finally completed the long-awaited third instalment of his McCartney trilogy, a project which began 50 years prior. To round off the series, he asked a number of his favourite musicians to remix the record, one of which included the brilliant St. Vincent.
The singer (real name Annie Clark) was prepared to do anything to work with one of her musical heroes, no matter the capacity. Although she was already occupied with her album Daddy’s Home, Clark found the time for McCartney and contributed a remix of ‘Women and Wives’ for McCartney III Imagined.
The album also featured contributions from the likes of Damon Albarn, Phoebe Bridgers, and Josh Homme, which saw McCartney cross the generational divide by inviting younger musicians to add their spin to his creations.
However, it wasn’t McCartney who reached out personally to Clark regarding the project. Therefore, the singer didn’t expect that she’d even hear directly from the Beatle after submitting the remix. Instead, she assumed his feedback would come through a member of his team. Yet, much to her surprise, the former Beatle personally thanked her for the contribution.
“I submitted the song, and I was all nervous to hear what would Paul think,” she told host James Corden during an appearance on his CBS chat show. “Then I was driving across town, and I see this random +44 number [come up on her phone] from England. So I pick it up, and it’s Paul McCartney… he called me, and he was the loveliest man on the planet. He was saying how he liked the background vocals [of the remix] – I said: ‘I did that, Paul’ – and the guitar solo: ‘That was me, Paul! I did it all, Paul!’ That was a real treat.”
Clark continued: “I then tried to give him a compliment: [it’s] hard to say anything complimentary that he hasn’t heard before. But I said what I said, as heartfelt and as sincerely as I meant it. He just very graciously turned it around and said: ‘It’s great, this music thing we get to do. It’s great.’ And I was like: ‘Yes Paul, yes it is.'”
Before their paths crossed on the ‘Women and Wives’ remix, Clark showed off her love of The Beatles numerous times. Most notably, she has covered ‘Dig A Pony’ and ‘Matha My Dear’, but little did she expect to one day collaborate with a Beatle, which seemed beyond her wildest dreams.
The only thing sweeter than getting the chance to work with one of her ultimate musical heroes was the level of gratitude McCartney showed over the phone during the surprise call. In fact, Clark named it “the best moment of my life” during a conversation with NME.
For now, you can listen to her remix below.
