Guesting on The Howard Stern Show, multiple Grammy Award winning producer and songwriter, Andrew Watt (Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop), recalled the time Paul McCartney came to his house for tea and taught him how to play the Beatles’ “Blackbird”.
Watch the video below:
Watt is heavily involved in Elton John and Brandi Carlile’s upcoming collaborative studio album, Who Believes In Angels?, set for release on April 4 via Island EMI Records. Pre-order here.
The concept for Who Believes In Angels? was devised by close friends and regular collaborators Elton John, eleven time Grammy winning US superstar Brandi Carlile and producer / songwriter Andrew Watt. They set out to create a genuinely collaborative studio album between Elton and Brandi. The album would mix Elton-led songs and Brandi-led songs, with long term collaborator Bernie Taupin and Brandi both contributing lyrics, and producer and co-writer Andrew Watt acting as the producer, mediator and creative conduit. Entering Los Angeles’ Sunset Sound Studios in October 2023 with a completely blank slate, they pushed each other out of their comfort zones to write and record an album completely from scratch in just 20 days. They would be backed by a world class band of musicians comprising of Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Pino Palladino (Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan and David Gilmour) and Josh Klinghoffer (Pearl Jam, Beck).
Watch a short film about the process of making Who Believes In Angels? below. This is the first time that Elton has allowed cameras to film his writing and recording sessions. Static cameras positioned around the studio captured thousands of hours of raw footage, and ultimately documented the entire creative process – breakdowns, breakthroughs, tears, torn up lyric sheets and all. The candid footage offers fans an unprecedented, searingly honest insight into the emotionally turbulent creative process for Elton, Brandi and the rest of the team.
The results of this creative friction are stunning, and the kaleidoscopic scope of Who Believes In Angels? draws comparisons with some of Elton’s very finest works. Ballads co-exist with raw rock and roll, pop songs and country-hued Americana rub shoulders with synth-heavy psychedelia. It’s an album as unexpected as it is triumphant. Elton sounds utterly revitalized. Brandi sounds like a singer-songwriter at the absolute top of her game, her voice melding with Elton’s like a hand in a glove. The resulting songs somehow manage to be unequivocally the work of Elton John and Brandi Carlile, while sounding unlike any album either have made before.
Elton says: “This record was one of the toughest I’ve ever made, but it was also one of the greatest musical experiences of my life. It has given me a place where I know I can move forward. Who Believes In Angels? feels like going into another era and I’m pushing the door open to come into the future. I have everything I’ve done behind me and it’s been brilliant, amazing. But this is the new start for me. As far as I’m concerned, this is the start of my career Mark 2.”
Brandi says: “I’m still reeling from the fact that I got to do it. I think all ships rise with Elton John’s standards for songwriting, and it was an incredibly challenging and inspiring environment to work in, everybody throwing in ideas, everybody listening to everybody else’s ideas. It felt like a family. The world is a wild place to live in right now. It’s hard to find peace and triumph. It’s a radical act to seek out joyful and euphoric happenings. And that is what this album represents to me.”
Who Believes In Angels? tracklisting:
“The Rose Of Laura Nyro”
“Little Richard’s Bible”
“Swing For The Fences”
“Never Too Late”
“You Without Me”
“Who Believes In Angels?”
“The River Man”
“A Little Light”
“Someone To Belong To”
“When This Old World Is Done With Me”
“Who Believes In Angels?” lyric video:
“Never Too Late” video:
Who Believes In Angels? Stories On The Edge Of Creation:
The post ANDREW WATT Recalls The Time BEATLES Legend PAUL McCARTNEY Taught Him How To Play “Blackbird” – “Holy S%!t, I Have No Leftie Guitars!”; Video appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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Watch the video below:
Watt is heavily involved in Elton John and Brandi Carlile’s upcoming collaborative studio album, Who Believes In Angels?, set for release on April 4 via Island EMI Records. Pre-order here.
The concept for Who Believes In Angels? was devised by close friends and regular collaborators Elton John, eleven time Grammy winning US superstar Brandi Carlile and producer / songwriter Andrew Watt. They set out to create a genuinely collaborative studio album between Elton and Brandi. The album would mix Elton-led songs and Brandi-led songs, with long term collaborator Bernie Taupin and Brandi both contributing lyrics, and producer and co-writer Andrew Watt acting as the producer, mediator and creative conduit. Entering Los Angeles’ Sunset Sound Studios in October 2023 with a completely blank slate, they pushed each other out of their comfort zones to write and record an album completely from scratch in just 20 days. They would be backed by a world class band of musicians comprising of Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Pino Palladino (Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan and David Gilmour) and Josh Klinghoffer (Pearl Jam, Beck).
Watch a short film about the process of making Who Believes In Angels? below. This is the first time that Elton has allowed cameras to film his writing and recording sessions. Static cameras positioned around the studio captured thousands of hours of raw footage, and ultimately documented the entire creative process – breakdowns, breakthroughs, tears, torn up lyric sheets and all. The candid footage offers fans an unprecedented, searingly honest insight into the emotionally turbulent creative process for Elton, Brandi and the rest of the team.
The results of this creative friction are stunning, and the kaleidoscopic scope of Who Believes In Angels? draws comparisons with some of Elton’s very finest works. Ballads co-exist with raw rock and roll, pop songs and country-hued Americana rub shoulders with synth-heavy psychedelia. It’s an album as unexpected as it is triumphant. Elton sounds utterly revitalized. Brandi sounds like a singer-songwriter at the absolute top of her game, her voice melding with Elton’s like a hand in a glove. The resulting songs somehow manage to be unequivocally the work of Elton John and Brandi Carlile, while sounding unlike any album either have made before.
Elton says: “This record was one of the toughest I’ve ever made, but it was also one of the greatest musical experiences of my life. It has given me a place where I know I can move forward. Who Believes In Angels? feels like going into another era and I’m pushing the door open to come into the future. I have everything I’ve done behind me and it’s been brilliant, amazing. But this is the new start for me. As far as I’m concerned, this is the start of my career Mark 2.”
Brandi says: “I’m still reeling from the fact that I got to do it. I think all ships rise with Elton John’s standards for songwriting, and it was an incredibly challenging and inspiring environment to work in, everybody throwing in ideas, everybody listening to everybody else’s ideas. It felt like a family. The world is a wild place to live in right now. It’s hard to find peace and triumph. It’s a radical act to seek out joyful and euphoric happenings. And that is what this album represents to me.”

Who Believes In Angels? tracklisting:
“The Rose Of Laura Nyro”
“Little Richard’s Bible”
“Swing For The Fences”
“Never Too Late”
“You Without Me”
“Who Believes In Angels?”
“The River Man”
“A Little Light”
“Someone To Belong To”
“When This Old World Is Done With Me”
“Who Believes In Angels?” lyric video:
“Never Too Late” video:
Who Believes In Angels? Stories On The Edge Of Creation:
The post ANDREW WATT Recalls The Time BEATLES Legend PAUL McCARTNEY Taught Him How To Play “Blackbird” – “Holy S%!t, I Have No Leftie Guitars!”; Video appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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