The following excerpt is from Koand’s Memoirs: Unfaithful Music And Disappearing Ink.
. . .
Paul McCartney was at the microphone singing Ricky Nelson’s "Lonesome Town" to an almost empty Royal Albert Hall. Many of the other performers on the bill were waiting to rehearse but had melted away to the edges of the auditorium to give him some space. Neil Finn was talking to Johnny Marr, Sinéad O'Connor was there with her son, and the emcee for the night, Eddie Izzard, was looking over the running order with Chrissie Hyde. George Michael arrived quietly and was waiting patiently for his turn to sing.
This was to be Paul's first public performance since the death of his wife Linda, almost a year earlier in 1998. The occasion was Here, There and Everywhere: A Concert for Linda, a salute organized by her friends, Chrissie and the television writer Carla Lane.
Prior to the day of the show, it was by no means certain that Paul would do more than attend the event along with his family. Now it seemed he was ready to take the stage.
I was sitting on a flight case, out of sight, when the familiar voice of Paul's personal assistant, John Hammel, said in my ear, "Why don't you go up and sing harmony with him?"
I would have never presumed to do so, and it wasn't like John to make such a suggestion, but it was a kind thought, as there was an uncommon and understandable fragility to Paul's demeanor that day.
"Lonesome Town" came from Run Devil Run. It was Paul's first recording after Linda's passing, mostly songs from the 1950s that they had each loved before they met.
After the first run-through, John found a technical reason to speak to Paul. I saw them confer, and suddenly Paul was nodding in agreement and beckoning me from the shadows. I didn't really know the song well, but the harmony line was pretty straightforward. Whatever the reason, Paul's next performance began to soar.
I started to make my exit.
Paul said, “Do you want to stay up for the next one and sing harmony?"
"What is it?" I asked.
"'All My Loving. Do you know it?"
Do I know it? I thought.
I may have said, "Are you kidding?" or maybe that was only in my head.
Even without Paul changing a note of the music, there was something incredibly poignant about the opening lines of the song.
Close your eyes and I'll kiss you
Tomorrow I'll miss you
Remember I'll always be true
I locked on to the vocal harmony on the second time around, as I'd done a thousand times before while singing along to the record. It never really occurred to me that learning to sing either vocal part on a Beatles record was any kind of musical education. I was just a kid singing along with the radio or in our front room. Not having any siblings or friends who sang, I assumed everyone could sing harmony. I didn't realize that being able to hear harmonic intervals was actually a gift for which you should be very grateful.
There’s mention of a Jukebox Jury along with the video above and this idea is also below.
