NEW YORK (Billboard) - Ringo Starr is joined by his former Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney for a duet on "Y Not," the drummer's forthcoming solo album due out Jan 12, 2010.

The Universal Music release also includes vocal turns by Joss Stone, Ben Harper and Richard Marx as well as musical and songwriting contributions from the Eagles' Joe Walsh, Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Dave Stewart, Glen Ballard and Van Dyke Parks, among others.

But despite the star-studded guest list, Starr is handling the production duties himself for the first time in his storied career.

"I was the least involved in the production of the Beatle records," Starr said in a statement. "And then with my solo records, I worked with some other great producers like Richard Perry, Arif Mardin, and Don Was. So it just seemed like that's the way that it goes. Then suddenly, it's another point in your life, and you say, 'I'm going do this now.' So I'll be producing anything I make from now on."

McCartney's contributions to the album include playing bass on the song "Peace Dream," as well as lead vocal duties on "Walk With You," a song composed by Starr and Van Dyke Parks. Other tracks on "Y Not" include the album's opening track, "Fill In The Blanks," a rocker written, played and sung only by Starr and Walsh; and "The Other Side Of Liverpool," an autobiographical song exploring Starr's pre-Beatle days encountering poverty and violence in his hometown.

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Liverpudlian MEP attacks former Beatle over his views on vegetarianism

Paul McCartney has been accused by a UK Independence Party (UKIP) MEP of using propaganda techniques to encourage more people to go vegetarian in order to help the environment.

Liverpudlian UKIP MEP Paul Nuttall laid into McCartney's views on the subject, which include proposals to try and get meat eaters to give up eating flesh for one day a week to cut greenhouse gasses emitted by cattle.

"He is just propagandising," Nuttall stated. "Maybe it is healthier but that should be their choice and not because a pop star thinks farting cows and pigs herald the end of mankind." . . . . Read More

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Ex-Black Sabbath singer says he was 'shocked'
by the Beatle's refusal

Paul McCartney once turned down the chance to collaborate with Ozzy Osbourne, according to the former Black Sabbath frontman.

The singer said he was "shocked" when the former Beatle turned down the opportunity to play bass on one of his songs.

"Meeting Paul McCartney was fucking phenomenal," Osbourne told Heat. "I was in the studio at the same time as him and tried to get him to play bass on one of my songs. But he said he couldn't improve on the bassline that was there. I said, 'Are you kidding? You could piss on the record and I'd make it my life'."

McCartney is due to play a one-off show at London's O2 Arena on December 22. He is set to be awarded the Gershwin Prize For Popular Music in Washington in spring 2010.

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Paul McCartney will be honoured with a fledgling but prestigious musical honour, after being named Monday as the latest recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

The U.S. Library of Congress, which administers the honour, announced the 67-year-old British musician and former Beatle as its third winner of the songwriting prize on Monday. . . . Read More

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Rocker James McCartney played his U.S. debut last night at Fairfield's new Sondheim Center. The two shows were part of the David Lynch Foundation's fourth annual "Change Begins Within" weekend at Maharishi University.

McCartney, son of Beatle Paul, opened a three-ring musical circus that included Iowan Laura Dawn and folk legend Donovan.

"It's very different having a famous father," film director Lynch quipped when introducing McCartney. "My father was Elvis Presley."

The audience, heavily weighted with aging '60s boomers, went wild when the 32-year-old singer/guitarist walked on stage with Light, his band.

The four-piece slammed right into their first number as a video crew taped the show for the DLF Web site.

McCartney's' music was racy and frenetic, and the 400-plus seat Sondheim has well-designed acoustics that allowed the amps-on-stage rock band to deliver without overwhelming. . . . Read More

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When the Beatles played Shea Stadium in 1965, it revolutionized the concert industry. Rock bands didn’t play baseball stadiums and though you could barely hear the band over the drone of screaming girls, it set the tone for bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Led Zeppelin.

Now 44 years later, Shea Stadium is gone, but the Mets have a new stadium and who better than Paul McCartney to christen its concert stage? Captured over three nights at Citi Field in 2009, Good Evening New York City is an excellent document of these historic shows.

Containing two CDs and one DVD, Good Evening New York City offers a healthy cross-section of McCartney classics old and new — from “I Saw Her Standing There” with New York-native Billy Joel guesting on vocals and piano to “Sing the Changes” from McCartney’s critically acclaimed Fireman album, Electric Arguments — the latter featuring images of Barack Obama on the video screen during the performance. . . . Read More

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