Paul McCartney to Release Tin Pan Alley-Influenced Album in February

Paul McCartney is going to start his 2012 off with a bang by releasing a new batch of material. As Rolling Stone reports (via PaulMcCartney.com), Sir Paul has recorded several songs from the Tin Pan Alley era that influenced him as a young boy. Among the covers, Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder will guest while Diana Krall and her band back up the famous Beatle.

"When I kind of got into songwriting, I realized how well structured these songs were and I think I took a lot of my lessons from them," McCartney wrote on his website. "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 Tommy LiPuma-produced LP will also showcase two brand new McCartney tracks, 'My Valentine' and 'Only Our Hearts,' undoubtedly influenced by the New York-based music publishers of the early 20th century. The yet-to-be-titled project will be released Feb. 7 in record stores worldwide.

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