Paul McCartney Confirms Covers Album Title Is ‘Kisses on the Bottom’

Paul McCartney’s new upcoming covers album Kisses on the Bottom is going to elicit some chuckles over its title, but Macca swears that he has an innocent explanation: It’s a line from the 1935 Fats Waller song “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter.”

The song begins with these lines: “I’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter and make believe it came from you / I’m gonna write words oh so sweet / They’re gonna knock me off of my feet / A lot of kisses on the bottom, I’ll be glad I got ’em.”

For the first time in his career, McCartney plays no instrument on the LP. He’s backed by Diana Krall’s band, and Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder both make guest appearances. McCartney selected songs for the project that he first heard as a child. He remembers how important they were to him when he started to write his own material as a teenager. “I realized how well-structured these songs were,” he said in a statement.  “I think I took a lot of my lessons from them. I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys ”“ I just thought the songs were magical.”

The album also features two original songs, and will hit shelves on February 7th. Here is a complete tracklisting:

1. “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter”
2. “Home (When Shadows Fall)”
3. “It’s Only a Paper Moon”
4. “More I Cannot Wish You”
5. “The Glory of Love”
6. “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)”
7. “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive”
8. “My Valentine”
9. “Always”
10. “My Very Good Friend the Milkman”
11. “Bye Bye Blackbird”
12. “Get Yourself Another Fool”
13. “The Inch Worm”
14. “Only Our Hearts”