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CD review: Paul McCartney 'Kisses on the Bottom'

POP

The title “Kisses On the Bottom” is a line lifted from the 1935 Fats Waller hit, “I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,” but it's also a sample of Paul McCartney's sometimes — shall we way, uh — cheeky sense of humor?

But there's a lot more fun going on here than just a smart-alecky album title. McCartney isn't the first British artist to pay tribute to the so-called “Great American Songbook,” but he sure does a better job of it than a certain gravel-voiced crooner who seems to have made a second career out of covering the old standards.

It's evident from the beginning that Macca loves these old tunes that his jazz band leader father used to perform on the piano at home, treating them with respect and inviting Diana Krall and her band to bring a touch of jazzy class to the aforementioned Waller number with a bouncy midtempo piano and brushed snare arrangement as he sings: “I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter / And make believe it came from you / I'm gonna write words oh so sweet / They're gonna knock me off my feet / A lot of kisses on the bottom / I'll be glad I got 'em.”

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