Showbiz411

Exclusive: Paul McCartney‘s next album: he’ll celebrate his 70th birthday next year with a CD of standards. He’s been recording with Diana Krall and her jazz musicians. Tommy LiPuma, the legendary Warner Bros. producer of George Benson and Miles Davis, Anita Baker, and Dr. John, is guiding the project. Sources tell me that the album contains standards–’But not the usual ones’– and some new songs Paul wrote just for this record. Paul knows Krall, of course. He’s recorded a lot with her husband, Elvis Costello. Meantime, look for the Beatles’ exclusive deal with ITunes to expire sometime in the next few months. The one year anniversary is November 16th. Amazon ships its Kindle Fire the day before. Look for Amazon to jump on the Beatles downloads ASAP for new Kindle owners. As for Paul, he’s now had successful reissues of “McCartney” and “Band on the Run.” Let’s hope “Ram” is on its way. And a box set.

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.