Barbra Streisand will be releasing a star-packed collaborative album titled The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two on June 27. The album includes a duet version of Paul McCartney’s 2011 romantic ballad “My Valentine” featuring the Beatles legend himself.
Videos by American Songwriter
In a new installment of his “You Gave Me the Answer” Q&A feature, Sir Paul reflected on the experience of working with his fellow music icon. McCartney admitted that, as famous as he is, collaborating with Streisand was intimidating for him.
“[It was] nerve-wracking. Nail-biting!” he said. “I did the session with her in LA and I was pretty terrified.”
McCartney went on to share details about the session, and why it was challenging for him.
“I think the session was about three hours, you know, a normal kind of session, and it was produced by my friend Peter Asher,” he noted. “But it started off with a big 40-piece orchestra on the Sony lot, which is one of the old Hollywood film studios; it’s very impressive. And we were on ‘The Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage,’ so no pressure there!”
Paul then explained that another reason why the session was challenging for him was how the track was structured.
“I thought, ‘Well, this will be easy because it’s my song, it’s ‘My Valentine.’ What can go wrong?’” he shared. “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. 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!”
McCartney Was Impressed by Streisand’s Presence in the Studio
Also in the Q&A, McCartney explained that he was happy to have Streisand recording a song he composed.
“That was another reason I did it; I thought if Barbra is going to do my song, I’ve got to encourage that,” he pointed out. “And she was great.”
Paul also shared that the session was filmed. He noted that he was impressed by how Streisand took charge of that aspect of the collaboration.
“I didn’t realize how rounded she is, creatively,” McCartney admitted. “They were filming the session and as soon as we went in, she said, ‘Who put that camera there? That shouldn’t be there, bring it over here. And what about those lights?’ I thought, ‘Wow, you’re directing it!’ But then I suddenly remembered she’s directed three big movies. She’s a smart cookie.”
More About Streisand’s New Duets Album
Streisand and McCartney’s duet version of “My Valentine” is available now as an advance digital track from The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two.
The album, which features 11 songs, is a sequel to Streisand’s chart-topping 2014 duets album, Partners. Besides McCartney, Partners, Volume Two features Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande, Sting, Tim McGraw, Sam Smith, Hozier, Seal, Josh Groban, and Laufey.
The album was co-produced by Walter Afanasieff and the aforementioned Asher.
The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume 2 can be pre-ordered now. It’s available on CD, as a blush-colored vinyl LP, and via digital formats. The physical versions of the album include photos from Streisand’s personal archives and liner notes about each track.
“My Valentine” is the second advance track to be released from the album. The first was a cover of the Roberta Flack hit “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” featuring Hozier.
(Photo by Mary McCartney; Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for BSB)
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.