Paul McCartney’s “My Valentine,” the song he wrote for his marriage to Hamptons lover Nancy Shevel has just been released. The dreamy ballad is off his upcoming album, showcasing tunes that inspired The Beatles.
Paul, 69, married Shevel, 51, in October and they danced their first dance to “My Valentine.” On the track, virtuoso guitarist Eric Clapton accompanies Beatle Paul.
The only other new tune on the album, “Only Our Hearts,” will Stevie Wonder. The rest of the songs, however, all have special meaning to Paul and the Beatles.
Although they will mostly be old U.S. standards, songs McCartney’s father played at home, that inspired his early collaborations with Beatle John Lennon.
“[It’s] about time the songs me and John based quite a few of our things on” are recognized he said in a radio interview in England.
“It was important for me to keep away from the more obvious song choices, so many of the classic standards will be unfamiliar to some people. I hope they are in for a pleasant surprise,” he said.
“I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys – I just thought the songs were magical.
And then, as I got to be a songwriter I thought it’s beautiful, the way they made those songs.”
The album scheduled for release in February, is McCartney’s first go at old standards. He released an album of rock and roll covers, Run Devil Run, in 1999.
Check out the song below.