Coachella: Paul McCartney finds himself in a new place

A chilly morning wind was blowing down Sixth Avenue, but it was warm inside Radio City Music Hall even though the grand old palace was hushed and its balconies deserted. A production team was busy preparing for the night's concert, an all-star charity event, and a few dozen lucky VIPs were loitering in the back and craning their necks to see the stage. There, loose-limbed and cheery in the spotlight, stood Paul McCartney, a performer who has been in the ear of the world so famously and for so long that it's a bit startling to see him in a quiet moment and realize that he is in fact an actual human being, not just a songbook with a voice and a name.

After playing the brassy Beatles classic "Got to Get You Into My Life," McCartney sat at a piano and, without looking down, his fingers found the familiar first notes to "Let It Be." It's a song that could make a bare cinder-block building feel like a cathedral, but there, echoing in the regal hall's empty corners, it had witnesses dabbing their eyes. After the church-steeple finale, a cheer went up and McCartney acknowledged what might be one of the smaller ovations of his career: "Thank you for that ripple of kindness pouring down the red-velvet rows. . . . "

Less than an hour later, sitting backstage, McCartney mentioned that "Let It Be" sounds very different to him now than when he recorded it in 1969. "In truth, a lot of them mean new things to me, I hear stuff I didn't hear in the past," said the 66-year-old singer. Like a man thumbing through a box of old love letters, he sees unexpected between-the-lines messages, such as hints of mysticism he now detects in the simple lyrics of "Got to Get You Into My Life."

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Photo credit: WireImage

Bruce Springsteen, tour 2009: working on a dream

As he and the E Street Band kick off a world tour, the troubadour for troubled times reflects on where he’s been and where he’s headed.

"There are a lot of ghosts in this place," Bruce Springsteen said as his boots clomped on an ancient staircase at the Asbury Park Convention Hall. It was here in this old seaside venue that Springsteen, as a teenager, watched Jim Morrison prowl the stage and Keith Moon thunder away on drums for the Who. It was also in the corridors here that he brushed past a wild-child named Janis Joplin. "Our elbows, they came this close," said Springsteen, somehow still amazed that a Jersey kid could come within arm's reach of rock history.

Unlike those lost icons, Springsteen was built for the long haul. He will turn 60 in September, and he'll do so while on the road with the E Street Band supporting their latest album, "Working on a Dream." The world tour (which comes to the Los Angeles Sports Arena on April 15 and 16) officially began Wednesday in San Jose, but it was in late March, here at this creaky boardwalk venue, that Springsteen began working on "the conversation" of the concert tour, as he calls it, trying out the new songs in front of a live audience for the first time.

On a blustery Monday afternoon, just hours before the first of two charity shows, Springsteen arrived at the venue with a 155-year-old surprise for his bandmates. During sound check he told the singers in the group to line up along the lip of the stage and, looking down at the lyrics, Springsteen coached them through a late addition to their opening-night lineup, a Civil War-era lament by Stephen Foster called "Hard Times Come Again No More":

It's a song that the wind blows across the troubled wave

It's a cry that is heard along the shore.

It's the words that are whispered beside the lowly grave

When hard times will come again no more.

It's a song and a sigh of the weary.

Hard times, hard times, come again no more.

Nat King Cole is reinterpreted on 'Re: Generations'

The Roots, Cut Chemist, will.i.am, TV on the Radio and others take on the singer's hits. Carole Cole says her late father 'would be excited about this.'

It was 50 years ago that Nat King Cole went to Brazil and was greeted with staggering street-side ovations. "There was so much affection, it's hard to describe what it was like," said Carole Cole, one of the late singer's daughters. "It was almost like the entire population of Rio de Janeiro turned out en masse to welcome him and throw roses at his feet. He and my mother were invited to stay at the presidential palace. He was treated like royalty."

How surreal that must have seemed for the crooner who, despite his stately stage persona, was a firebrand figure in his home country, a sort of Jackie Robinson with orchestral accompaniment. Just three years before Cole met the cheering crowds on Ipanema sand, he got a very different reception in Birmingham: The slender singer was toppled from his piano bench when the North Alabama White Citizens' Council rushed the stage in a bizarre kidnapping attempt.

Cole had fame and fortune in America, but he also found malice -- that would be his last show in his native state or anywhere in the South.

"My dad was an agent of change throughout his life and career," Carole Cole said. "It's there in his music and in the way that he lived his life. That is one of the reasons we moved forward with this new project even though I knew that for the core Nat fan of a certain generation, this music was going to be really challenging for them."

Read more Nat King Cole is reinterpreted on 'Re: Generations'

Leonard Cohen reborn in the U.S.A.

The 74-year-old songwriter is touring America for the first time in 15 years. Why now? He felt the flicker.

Reporting from New York -- Bathed in the indigo light, Leonard Cohen leaned forward like a man eager to feel the wind on his face and, as the crowd at the Beacon Theatre in New York cheered, the 74-year-old singer narrowed his eyes and delivered another one of his unhurried, deep velvet threats:

They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
For trying to change the system from within
I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

Ten nights ago, Cohen performed his first U.S. concert since 1993 at the restored and resplendent Beacon, which instantly became the stuff of legend -- at least in the music circles where Cohen is regarded as one of the great living titans of songwriting. It didn't hurt, either, that the Montreal native arrived backstage with tantalizing mysteries tucked in that guitar case.

This is the man, after all, who in the 1990s walked away from show business to wear monk's robes at a Zen monastery near the resort village of Mount Baldy. Then, after returning to his old fedora, he announced in 2005 that he had been robbed blind by his longtime manager.

Either of those life experiences might have led the poet and troubadour to the Beacon stage with a humorless severity. They did not.

"It's been a long time since I stood on a stage in New York," Cohen told the adoring, star-studded crowd. "I was 60 years old then. Just a kid with a crazy dream . . . "

The marathon concert (almost three hours) at the Beacon was the 99th performance by Cohen and his supple band during their recent tour of the world, but just the beginning of a major return to America. The 28 dates now announced include an April 10 show at the Nokia Theatre (tickets for that show go on sale March 9) and, one week later, a performance in an unexpected setting -- the massive Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. There, the dapper songsmith will share a bill with Paul McCartney, Morrissey and Paul Weller, but also with bands such as the Killers, the Cure and My Bloody Valentine.

The day after the Beacon show, Cohen was clearly pleased with the warm ovations from the night before. His hotel suite at the Warwick Hotel afforded him a view of a Manhattan afternoon that was as crisp as his tailored suit and, when a visitor arrived for an interview, he turned down the twangy country music from his laptop computer and offered a cup of coffee.

"It's been a great trip, man, a lovely time," he said. "Have a seat."

Cohen had a considerable contingent of family and friends at the New York show (as well as recognizable fans such as Harvey Keitel, Rufus Wainwright and Richard Belzer) and he said that "all of us felt a sort of special edge on the night, all of us wanted to do good."

Cohen looks fantastic, trim and graceful, which is worth pointing out not just for reasons of chronological age, but because of the previous night's late labors and the long touring road that led up to it -- beginning in Canada and then going on to Ireland; Bucharest, Romania; and other European stops, before a run through New Zealand and Australia. "The next one, in Austin, Texas, in four weeks will be our 100th show," Cohen said, "and it's just grand. And then we'll do another 100."

How Justin Timberlake and Al Green saved the Grammys

After close to three decades of Grammys duty, Ken Ehrlich is a hard man to rattle. But on Sunday, the executive producer had a few choppy hours where he faced the biggest show-day crisis in the history of "music's biggest night."

There's been plenty of rumors and speculation about the incident that led Chris Brown and Rihanna to cancel their respective performances at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, but for Ehrlich the only priority Sunday was filling chunks of suddenly empty airtime on an international broadcast that is planned down to the second.

"It was about 1 p.m. on Sunday, we were doing dress rehearsals and we had just finished up with Stevie Wonder and the Jonas Brothers when I got the call that Rihanna had been in a car accident -- that's how it was described to me -- and I was told that she was at the hospital being examined and that she wasn't going to be coming to the show."

Ehrlich was sitting with industry veteran Johnny Wright, the manager for the Jonas Brothers as well as a guiding force in Justin Timberlake's career dating back to the 'N Sync days. "I hung up the phone and I looked at Johnny and said, 'I think we're going to need some help.' " Twenty minutes later, word came that Brown was out too. "At that point, I didn't care why they weren't coming, all I knew is I had two holes in the show, one of them in the first act of the show, right after U2's opening performance. I knew we were in trouble."

Quincy Jones in conversation with Pop & Hiss' Geoff Boucher

Will Quincy Jones be the first U.S. secretary of the Arts? The music icon has been a big proponent of adding a cabinet position to promote, preserve and protect the culture and arts of America, and last Sunday night , at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, the president of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, called on President Obama to create the post.

Our very own Geoff Boucher, also of the fanboy blog Hero Complex, will ask if Jones would be interested in the job, and other questions, at a chat Thursday night at the Borders in Westwood. Jones will also be signing his book, "The Complete Quincy Jones."  We can't imagine this conversation will ever lag, but if so, just hum the "Star Wars" theme and that'll get Boucher pepped up again.

--Margaret Wappler

Boucher and Jones in Conversation at Borders, 1360 Westwood Blvd., Westwood. (310) 475-3444., 7 p.m. Thursday. Free.

Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Grammy rehearsals with Radiohead: 'There's a surreality to it all'

EXCLUSIVE

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards are Sunday night, and the rehearsal schedule for today is stacked with big names -- U2, Paul McCartney, Coldplay and Stevie Wonder -- but the day got off to an especially compelling start as Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead strolled in, shook off the rain and performed "15 Step" to the impressive accompaniment of the USC marching band.

Radiohead has racked up a fair number of Grammy accolades through the years (the band enters Sunday with five nominations for "In Rainbows," including its third career nomination for top album) but trophy galas are simple not its scene.

"I've called through years but the answer was always a polite no," said Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of the show since 1980.

This year, the answer was yes, and there was crackling energy in the venue as the band ran through its  number.

Yorke arrived looking more like a fan than a star with his scruffy leather jacket, bed-head hair and khaki-colored backpacker. He danced a little jig in the aisles as USC's Spirit of Troy warmed up with -- of course -- the Fleetwood Mac hit "Tusk."

The crew of the show is hard to impress, but by the third take it was all eyes on the stage as Yorke gave an animated interpretation of the song, one that somehow sounds both cerebral and tribal.

"Can you make my voice sound a little bit less shiny," Yorke asked the sound team. "Take the top off -- I like the idea of belting it out with these guys."

Grammy rehearsals with Carrie Underwood: She's a JoBros fan

EXCLUSIVE

Are you ready for the country? Carrie Underwood is.

Underwood is just one of a number of artists making up the Nashville contingent at the Grammy Awards this Sunday. Other performers include Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney and Sugarland.

"A few years ago I performed on the Grammys and Rascal Flatts and I were the only country acts," Underwood said at this morning's rehearsals. "We did a tribute to Bob Wills and the Eagles ... now this year, there's a ton of country. It's so exciting."

There's a wandering cycle through the years of country music moving in and out of the mainstream pop scene. Today, Underwood sees a surging country-pop scene. Where does she place herself in it? "Right now I feel like I'm in on the bottom floor.... Country is starting to appeal to such a wide audience, it's reaching the masses," she said.

But Underwood, who was named best new artist at the Grammys in 2007, is not just riding the wave -- she's a big part of the push. Her standing in the industry has been more than solidified, as she has proven herself to be more than a contest winner.

After the singer wrapped up her rehearsal of "Last Name," Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich marveled at the skills of the former "American Idol," as well as her growth as a performer. "She's gotten so strong. She's always had the voice but her control is fantastic now," Ehrlich said.

And while today's Grammy rehearsal is a closed one, you wouldn't know it from the crowd inside the Staples Center. Soon after Underwood performed, Stevie Wonder took the stage, singing "Superstition" with the Jonas Brothers. Perhaps unexpectedly, there's quite the crowd of industry insiders -- and their kids -- grooving out with equal enthusiasm at the cross-generation experiment. One fan: Mrs. Underwood, who was grooving as she walked through the corridors of the arena.

Young fans here will likely be holding on to their seats for a while -- next up is Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift singing a duet that brings young Hollywood and young Nashville together.

-- Geoff Boucher

Related: Grammy countdown: An inside look at rehearsals

Photo: Getty Images / People's Choice Awards

Grammy rehearsals: Can Adele conquer her nerves?

Who was the most nervous performer at the Grammy rehearsals this week? It was probably Adele, the 20-year-old British singer whose  "Chasing Pavements" has her up for record of the year and best new artist.

She looked a bit wide-eyed during her stage time earlier this week, and after one run-through of her hit she let out a long sigh. "I messed that one up," she said, although instead of "messed" she used a more pungent word that begins with an F.

Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland went out of her way to provide some supportive, smiley small talk with Adele between takes. The young singer soldiered through. Afterward, though, she zipped out of the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, where the Grammys will be held Sunday night, and declined interviews.

"She's just too nervous," explained someone with the production team.

It's going to be worse Sunday night: Instead of empty seats, she'll be singing to U2, Radiohead, Stevie Wonder and Kanye West....

-- Geoff Boucher

Related: British chanteuse Adele's voice belies her age

Related: Grammy countdown: An inside look at rehearsals

Photo: Adele performs at the Musicares tribute to Neil Diamond in Los Angeles on Friday night. Credit: Associated Press

Grammy countdown: An inside look at rehearsals [UPDATED]

There is plenty at stake this year — relevancy being paramount.

The rehearsals for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards could be considered the calm before the storm of the ceremony -- except, well, they haven't been all that calm and rain has been falling on Staples Center for days. The show will air live on the East Coast on Sunday night on CBS and, with an unprecedented 24 musical numbers, the producers are struggling mightily with a dizzying number of moving parts and compelling subplots.

One scheduled performer, Kid Rock, almost didn't make it to Los Angeles because of a courthouse entanglement from a Georgia assault case. Another, British star M.I.A., is nine months pregnant, which raises the possibility that the 31-year-old nominee might deliver more than an acceptance speech if she wins the record of the year Grammy for her track "Paper Planes." 

There also had been talk in recent days that Coldplay, the English rock group nominated in the record of the year category for "Viva La Vida," would be served with court papers at the ceremony as part of a pending plagiarism claim.

Attorneys managed to avoid that potential red-carpet disaster, but the band must know that any trophy it wins will come with plenty of pressroom inquiries about the claim by guitar-hero Joe Satriani that the song sounds too close to his 2004 tune "If I Could Fly."

Other scheduled performers were dealing with more run-of-the-mill anxieties. For newcomers, the prospect of standing on stage and looking out on audience members such as Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and U2 can stir up more than just emotions.