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Paul McCartney opened up about working with Barbra Streisand on the new duet “My Valentine”
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The former Beatle said he found it “nerve-wracking” to perform with the star: “I was pretty terrified”
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The song will appear on Streisand’s new album The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two
It may be hard to believe, but even Paul McCartney gets stage fright.
The legendary rocker recently recorded a duet of his song “My Valentine” with Barbra Streisand — and admitted that he found the process “nerve-wracking” and “nail-biting!”
In a blog post shared to his website on Tuesday, May 20, McCartney, 82, opened up about working with Streisand, 83, on the track, which will appear on her upcoming record The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two, out June 27.
“I did the session with her in LA and I was pretty terrified. I think the session was about three hours, you know, a normal kind of session, and it was produced by my friend Peter Asher,” McCartney wrote. “But it started off with a big 40-piece orchestra on the Sony lot… and we were on ‘The Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage,’ so no pressure there!”
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The studio stage, named after the EGOT-winning star, is a famous one on the Sony lot, as it’s where the soundtracks for films like Gone with the Wind, Forrest Gump and Toy Story were all recorded. The song McCartney and Streisand sang together, “My Valentine,” was written for the former Beatle’s wife, Nancy Shevell, whom he married in 2011.
“I thought, ‘Well, this will be easy because it’s my song, it’s ‘My Valentine.’ What can go wrong?’ But what I’d forgotten was that they’d arranged it so that it had to go in Barbra’s key and then in my key,” he explained. “So, to get from Barbra’s key into mine was kind of difficult, and I had to launch in not knowing what key I was in. Mine was lower, hers was higher. It wasn’t easy at all!”
The “Band on the Run” singer did, however, express pleasure at the idea of the song becoming something of a modern standard, as it’s also been recorded by Michael Bublé.
“That was another reason I did it; I thought if Barbra is going to do my song, I’ve got to encourage that,” he wrote. “And she was great. I didn’t realize how rounded she is, creatively.”
McCartney noted that the recording session was filmed, and at first, he was alarmed by all of the cameras and lights. Before long, however, he remembered that Streisand is an accomplished director (She was the first woman to win Best Director at the Golden Globes, for her 1983 film Yentl).
“I thought, ‘Wow, you’re directing it!’ But then I suddenly remembered she’s directed three big movies. She’s a smart cookie,” he wrote.
Upon the song’s release on May 16, Streisand praised McCartney in an Instagram post that featured a photo of the two of them recording together.
“What a joy it was to record ‘My Valentine’ with @paulmccartney. To share time with him in the studio was truly special!” she wrote.
The Funny Girl star announced her new album in April. It serves as a follow-up to 2014’s Partners, and includes duets with McCartney, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Sting, Hozier, Sam Smith, Seal, Josh Groban, Tim McGraw, Laufey, and Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande.
“I’ve always loved singing duets with gifted artists. They inspire me in unique and different ways and make our time in the studio a joy!” she said in a statement. “My new album, The Secret Of Life: Partners, Volume Two, gave me the chance to work and play with some of my old friends, label mates, and new artists too. I admire all of them… and I hope that you’ll enjoy listening to our collaborations as much as I enjoyed recording with all of my wonderful partners.”
The Secret Of Life: Partners, Volume Two marks Streisand’s first new album since 2018’s Walls, which earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
Read the original article on People
