Paul McCartney used BBC Radio’s Tracks Of My Years with Vernon Kay to map the records that shaped his life, from Gene Vincent and Chuck Berry to John Lennon, while sharing stories about Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and the artists he sees carrying global pop culture today.
by Paul Cashmere
Paul McCartney has revisited the records that formed his musical DNA in a new appearance on BBC Radio’s Tracks Of My Years with Vernon Kay, using a ten song playlist to connect his childhood in Liverpool to the global phenomenon of The Beatles and beyond. Across the programme, McCartney moved between memories of teenage discovery, encounters with his musical heroes and reflections on modern stars including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo.
The format of Tracks Of My Years has long invited artists to explain the music that shaped them, but McCartney’s selections effectively became a parallel history of post-war popular music. His choices moved from early rock and roll through the British explosion of the 1960s and into artists from later generations who continued to challenge conventions.
The stories also revealed how deeply records themselves mattered to young musicians of his generation. McCartney repeatedly returned to memories of buying vinyl, hearing songs for the first time and experiencing moments that altered the direction of his own ambitions as a songwriter.
The journey began with Gene Vincent’s Be-Bop-A-Lula, the first record McCartney ever bought. He recalled saving money as a schoolboy before purchasing the single from a small record department inside a shop in Liverpool.
“I took it home and loved the label and everything,” he said, explaining that the experience later influenced how The Beatles thought about presentation, B sides and record packaging.
McCartney described rock and roll as arriving like a cultural detonation. Prior to it, he remembered music feeling comparatively restrained. Then artists such as Gene Vincent shifted expectations.
He followed with Chuck Berry’s Maybellene, describing Berry as a storyteller who elevated songwriting beyond simple romantic themes.
“He was a poet,” McCartney said.
Berry’s influence extended beyond guitar playing and into lyrical structure. McCartney admitted that early Beatles songs such as Love Me Do remained straightforward love songs because matching Berry’s narrative sophistication was difficult.
Buddy Holly’s That’ll Be The Day brought another key memory. McCartney explained how The Beatles drew inspiration from Buddy Holly and The Crickets, even taking cues from the group’s name. More significantly, Holly represented a model for aspiring musicians because he wrote songs, sang and played guitar.
For McCartney and his bandmates, that combination established a blueprint.
Elvis Presley entered the conversation through All Shook Up, a song McCartney described almost as a form of medicine. He recalled a teenage headache disappearing after hearing the record.
“It was musical medication,” he said. “It was alchemy.”
McCartney also revisited the famous meeting between The Beatles and Elvis, laughing about differing memories between himself and Ringo Starr over who answered the door. He remembered talking bass guitar with Presley and meeting Priscilla during the evening.
The programme moved into the British invasion era with The Kinks’ You Really Got Me, prompting McCartney to reject long-standing media narratives suggesting rivalry between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Instead, he painted a picture of camaraderie.
He remembered seeing Mick Jagger and Keith Richards hanging out of a London taxi while walking with John Lennon in London. The chance encounter led to an offer that would later become significant.
“We’ve got one that Ringo’s done on the album and we’re not going to release it as a single,” McCartney recalled saying before giving The Rolling Stones I Wanna Be Your Man.
He said the moment demonstrated the cooperative spirit among artists during the era.
Later choices stretched beyond the 1960s. McCartney selected The Human League’s Don’t You Want Me, calling it one of his favourite songs of the period, before praising Prince’s Kiss and describing the late musician as “a wizard”.
He also revealed hearing an unreleased rehearsal version of Prince performing The Long And Winding Road, saying the recording featured striking guitar work.
McCartney then shifted toward the current generation and acknowledged parallels between Beatlemania and the scale of Taylor Swift’s success.
“You do see the parallel,” he said.
Still, he suggested Swift hardly needed guidance from him.
“If she asked for it, I definitely would,” he said.
The programme closed with John Lennon’s Imagine, which McCartney called one of Lennon’s greatest achievements.
“I just think that song of John’s is magical,” he said.
McCartney reflected on the song’s idealism and admitted uncertainty over whether its vision could ever fully be realised. Still, he said the sentiment remained powerful.
“I think it’s a beautiful vision of how the world could be.”
The appearance ultimately became more than a playlist. It worked as a personal archive of the records, friendships and moments that shaped one of popular music’s most influential careers.
Watch the interview here:
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