Paul McCartney: “Sometimes I wish I was a bit more like Bob Dylan”

"He’s legendary… and doesn’t give a shit!"

Paul McCartney has shared his admiration for fellow legendary rock veteran Bob Dylan, claiming that he ‘wishes he could be a bit more like him’.

The former Beatle was speaking to Uncut for the their latest cover story about his life and the making of new solo album ‘McCartney III‘, when he was asked to share his thoughts on Dylan’s latest acclaimed effort ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways‘.

“I always like what he does,” replied McCartney. “Sometimes I wish I was a bit more like Bob. He’s legendary… and doesn’t give a shit! But I’m not like that. His new album? I thought it was really good. He writes really well. I love his singing – he came through the standards albums like a total crooner. But, yeah, I like his new stuff.

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“People ask me who I’m a fan of and Bob Dylan and Neil Young always make the list.”

Order the new issue of Uncut here, which also comes with a Collectors Cover, a 1970 McCartney Scrapbook and a Review Of The Year.

This comes after McCartney previously explained how deeply The Beatles were influenced by Bob Dylan.

Speaking in a new BBC Radio 2 documentary to mark John Lennon‘s 80th birthday, McCartney was asked about the band’s “interpersonal, reflective” song-writing and whether it had been influenced by the US icon’s earlier work.

He told Sean Lennon: “We certainly got a lot from Dylan and I know I had one of his first LPs at home before The Beatles. I used to play that quite a lot so I was steeped in him and I think your dad was too, but that was just one of the influences.”

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McCartney added: “There’s an awful lot more because ‘Strawberry Fields’ and ‘Penny Lane’, those are very much us remembering our youth. And it’s a funny thing we used to say when we were little older, I mean, older, like 20 or something even – really young, like babies, you know – but we thought we were kind of men of the universe and big men by then as we get a little bit older.”

‘McCartney III’ will be released on December 11. 

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