 |
 |
 Enlarge |
By uri Gripas, AFP/Getty Images |
 |
| For no one but you, Sir Paul: President Obama presents Paul McCartney with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in the East Room of the White House Wednesday night. |
|
|
var storyURL = "http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2010-06-03-paulgershwin03_st_N.htm"; var storyTitle = "McCartney: From the 'White Album' to the White House "; var articleSummary = "The White House honors the former Beatle with the Gershwin Prize on Wednesday.";
if (typeof(articleSummary) == 'undefined'){ var articleSummary =""; }
var articleSource = "USATODAY.com"; var yahooBuzzArticleId = 'usatoday:'+storyURL+'?csp=34'; var yahooBuzzBadgeType = 'text';
var twtUrl = 'http://usat.me?'+tagID+''; var maxLength = 140 - (twtUrl.length + 1); var twtSource = 'RT @USATODAY' if (storyTitle.length > maxLength) { storyTitle = storyTitle.substr(0, (maxLength - 5))+'...'; } var twtLink = 'http://twitter.com/home?status='+encodeURIComponent( twtSource + ' ' + storyTitle + ' ' + twtUrl );
function GetThis(T, C, U, L) { var targetUrl = 'http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=postto&' + 't=' + encodeURIComponent(T) + '&c=' + encodeURIComponent(C) + '&u=' + encodeURIComponent(U) + '&l=' + L; window.open(targetUrl); } var sclListTop = ""; sclListTop +='
'; jQuery("#topSocialButtons").append(sclListTop); jQuery(".share-nav").treeview({control: ".treecontrol",animated: "medium",collapsed: true}); jQuery(function() { jQuery.ajax({ type: "GET", url: "/marketing/rss/settings.xml", dataType: "xml", success: BuildSubscribeButtons }); }); function BuildSubscribeButtons(xml) { // Build SSTS array var url = document.location.toString(); var urlArray = url.split("/") var nurl = ""; for (i = 3; i < urlArray.length - 1; i++) { if(i0) { idx = nurl.indexOf('|'); jQuery(xml).find('add').each(function(){ if (jQuery(this).attr('key') == nurl) { feedid = jQuery(this).attr('value'); } }); if (feedid == "") { nurl = nurl.replace(/(.*)\|(.*)/,"$1"); } } jQuery(xml).find('add').each(function(){ if (jQuery(this).attr('key') == feedid) { feedname = jQuery(this).attr('value'); } }); if (feedname == "") feedname = "usatoday-NewsTopStories.xml"; var sclListTop = ""; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +='
';
sclListTop +='
- Subscribe
';
sclListTop +='
- myYahoo
'; sclListTop +='
- iGoogle
'; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +='
- More'; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +='
- Netvibes
'; sclListTop +='
- myAOL
'; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +='
';
sclListTop +='
-
'; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +='
'; sclListTop +=' "Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends,
Mmm, I get high with a little help from my friends."
— Lennon/McCartney, With a Little Help from My Friends
WASHINGTON — It wasn't his usual audience, but Paul McCartney was among scores of admiring friends at a White House concert Wednesday night as he added an American songwriting award to his already-substantial pile of international honors.
Calling it "a fantastic evening," McCartney, 67, accepted the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from President Obama, who praised him effusively for changing "the way we heard music, thought about music, performed music. ... His gifts touched millions of lives."
"Even though you have difficult issues (facing you), there are billions of us who are rooting for you," McCartney told Obama.
The hour-long concert of McCartney music, which took place in the East Room, ended with the former Beatle himself performing Michelle.
"There's a song I've been itching to sing at the White House — I hope the president will forgive me," he said as the president and first lady Michelle Obama beamed and sang along.
"I'll be the first guy to be punched out by a president," McCartney added, then launched into Eleanor Rigby.
McCartney, clad in a black Nehru jacket, kicked off the show with Got to Get You Into My Life, then sat in the front row for previous honoree Stevie Wonder's take on We Can Work It Out. (The two later teamed for Ebony and Ivory.) Obama's daughters, Malia and Sasha, looked especially happy when their favorites the Jonas Brothers covered Drive My Car.
Jerry Seinfeld was his usual amusing self, riffing on McCartney's lyrics for I Saw Her Standing There. " 'She was just 17, you know what I mean,' " he said with arched eyebrows. "Well, I think I know what you mean."
Emmylou Harris said she would sing a sad song, as is her wont, before delivering a plaintive For No One. Corinne Bailey Rae teamed up with Herbie Hancock on the piano for a slow and sultry Blackbird.
Sounding eerily similar to McCartney himself, Elvis Costello sang Penny Lane. Nice touch: Matthew Harding, a trumpeter from "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band, soloed.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl said he had played every Washington club, arena and stadium, and none compared with playing the White House "for my hero" McCartney.
"Mr. President, you're my other hero," he added before singing Band on the Run.
McCartney finished the night with Let It Be and Hey Jude. "We're thinking of making this a regular gig," he joked.
After the show, he returned to the mike and got in a parting shot: "After the last eight years, it's great to have a president who knows what a library is."
The Gershwin Prize is the American government's highest award for pop music; it has been awarded only twice before, to Paul Simon and Wonder. The award is named for George and Ira Gershwin, the legendary American songwriting brothers.
Among the 200 guests were McCartney's girlfriend, Nancy Shevell, and some of his children.
The concert was taped and will be broadcast on PBS stations July 28 (8 p.m. ET, check local listings).
.
|
