Meet Rusty Anderson, guitarist who has accompanied Paul McCartney for over 20 years
Paul McCartney’s “fantastic band”. She’s the one who’s been playing with him the longest. I am 22 years old from their first meeting, more than double the duration of the Beatles, who remained together for only 10 years.
Discreet, the guitarist Rusty Andersonwho today performs iconic solos together with Paul, such as “Something” and other Beatles classics, was already responsible for huge hits in the 80s and 90s.
Born in California, Anderson became a fan of the Liverpool boys as a child, and although he never imagined one day working with one of the band’s members, he had a recurring dream in which the band rang his doorbell and asked him to play.
Although music initially served as an escape from reality for Anderson, who lost a brother to kidney disease at age 5, it soon became a devotion. Over time, the guitarist began to work with major names in music, such as Stevie Nicks, Elton John, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey and others.
His guitar chords can also be heard on hits such as Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ la Vida Loca”, the Bangles’ “Walk Like an Egyptian”, the New Radicals’ “You Get What You Give” and the original version of “Torn” , a song that achieved success with the voice of Natalie Imbruglia.
In an interview with Terra, Rusty Anderson shared highlights from his career and talked about what it was like sharing the stage with Paul McCartney for so many years. Discover the guitarist’s career:
Let’s start from the beginning. What made you want to learn to play the guitar? Did any guitarist in particular inspire you?
Well, I was five years old and my older sister listened to Beatles records and I fell in love with them. That was the first time I really connected, you know, music and guitar. And if I look back, at the same time, my older brother, who is a little older than me, died of a kidney problem. At five years old, this is a bit of a burden. So I think at that point I really focused on guitar and music and that was my interest. And real life took a back seat because I didn’t care much.
At five years old you had no idea that one day you would play with Paul McCartney, right?
Well yes and no. In fact, when I was five or maybe six or seven, I had recurring dreams where the Beatles came to my door and said, “Hey, we want to play.” They rang the bell, you know. And I said, ‘sure, you can come in.’ So it’s pretty funny.
After becoming a guitarist, you played on many famous songs, from New Radicals to Rick Martin, but there’s one that people don’t know was written by your band Ednaswap, which is “Torn”. Can you tell me how this song was born?
Yes. In fact, I used to work a lot with a composer named Scott Cutler and Ed Previn. And we went to England and recorded a demo. And another guy, Phil Thornalley, was producing and everything. And that was one of the songs that we worked on that became the one that got Ednaswap signed to the record deal. So we went into the studio and changed it up a little bit and stuff like that. And I think Sylvia Rhone, at the time, was the head of Elektra Records. And then she fell in love with the demo, but she didn’t want us to release the recording… she wanted us to release the demo, but we released our version. It’s a long story, but Natalie Imbruglia was produced by Phil, who worked on the song, and therefore was very successful. And we actually released the music on a record before this.
And what was it like seeing your song become a big hit with another artist?
Well, you know… it’s a shame, but that’s how it goes. You can’t predict life. Right? Things happen as they happen.
And now you have your solo career. How different is it working as part of a band on new records? Does being alone make everything harder or easier? Or maybe both in some way?
Oh that’s great. I mean, I’ve written a lot of songs and worked in a lot of bands. I sang as the lead and also with other singers. Writing songs is great. I also like working with other people. There’s a song called “Firefly,” which I released last year, a single. And I was in a band with Stewart Copeland, who’s the drummer for The Police. And he was my old bandmate in a previous band. So he played drums on “Firefly” and it was really fun. So I record as Rusty Anderson, but also as Rusty Anderson Afternoon. And with Rusty Anderson Afternoon it’s really like being in a band world, working with other people. And my main man is a guy named Todd O’Keefe. He’s a fantastic bassist, singer and songwriter and we work together. So, various incarnations of that. So I have a number of records that I’ve put out over the years. In fact, the latest single is a song called “The Year You Spent.”
Can you tell me a little about this single?
Yes, yes. He came out about a month ago, I think. And I worked with a friend of mine in a band called The Why Store. I produced his album and he sings on my single. It was a crazy song. I wrote it backwards, if that makes sense. It’s hard to explain, but I have different writing techniques for this song. And I also re-released my album RAA. Just left. It was a re-release because it was taken off streaming services for a while. Now he’s back. And yes, it’s great because I also get to play with Paul McCartney and travel the world doing it. Then I go back to working on my songs. Last summer I toured California with my band and played several shows throughout California. It was very funny. And then we ended up in Los Angeles, where I live. And then I started trying again and came here with Paul. So, my diary is very full.
Are you working on a new album or project at the moment?
Yes, I have some songs ready to be released. I just have to mix them up and find the time, you know? Like I said, it’s a little difficult with Paul. But yeah, I think I’ll have another single soon, maybe that will turn into an album at some point.
How do you find time to work on your music when you’re on tour for several months with Paul?
Yes, when I travel, I don’t work there much. I mean, I might have some ideas for writing songs and recording them on my phone or something. But as far as actual studio work goes, I definitely fill the available time slots.
Can you tell me about the first time you met Paul McCartney?
My first date with him? Yes, it was incredible. I was actually talking on the phone with a good friend of mine who’s a producer named David Kahn, and we’ve worked on a lot of records together. We were talking on the phone and he said, “Oh, yeah, I think I’ll produce Paul McCartney’s new record.” It happened some time ago, on the album called “Driving Rain”. I said, “Great!”, almost everyone who worked for Paul was English. Then I met Paul. It took a few days to relax a bit. Although I must say that within half an hour of meeting we were already playing music. . We were out there playing our instruments. And when you do it as a musician, it’s such a unifying thing. It’s like another language, you know? And it was truly a wonderful experience.
This is really cool. And now you’re the band that’s been with Paul the longest. How do you feel about it?
Yes, it’s incredible. I mean, I try not to think about it too much. It’s an incredible thing. I feel very, very lucky and grateful for the situation. I don’t know much what to say about it.
When it comes to playing Beatles classics, do you have to follow any rules about improvising while playing classic solos? Or can they just play what they feel? How do you decide this?
Well, I think there’s respect for the structure of a song, you know, when a song has a certain pattern that makes it that song, at least the arrangements of that song. And yes, I think Paul likes to keep the arrangements very close to the originals. But we also do our part. You can add a personal touch. So I mean, when you play live music, you don’t want it to just be like karaoke or something. You want it to live and breathe. And I think a musician’s personality should shine through, and that’s kind of the approach you take. If I’m improvising or playing something like “Let It Be,” I’ll improvise in different ways every night either on “1985” or, you know, on different songs. And then you have a song like “Something” or “Maybe I’m Amazed” and the melody is so strong and so defined that I think it would be an injustice not to play it as it is.
You have played at many major and noteworthy shows, such as the Super Bowl in 2005, the opening of the 2012 Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Is there a particular performance that comes to mind when you think about it? Do you have a favorite show?
Well, actually there are so many. We play in a lot of big stadiums now. I think there was a show last time maybe in Brazil, I don’t remember what city it was in, but I think it was “Hey Jude” when we were playing and the audience was holding up “NA” signs and balloons during the show. song. It was really fantastic. We also played in Rome a few years ago, in front of the Colosseum, and it was incredible, with the lights on and the screens next to the stage, in front of 50,000 people, then another set of screens and PA and another 50,000 people, and that’s continued until reaching 500,000 people along the way. And at night people then held lighters in their hands, now cell phones. It looked like a river of fireflies. It was really wild. I mean, there were so many amazing shows, from Red Square, to Russia, to the Super Bowl, you know, so many places. And then we played smaller shows, like the other night we played in Brasilia in front of 400 people in a club, it was really cool.
I was at this show in Brasilia. In fact, I attended both shows and they were very different. First such a small club and then a huge stadium. How was it for you? What kind of show do you like best?
It’s different. I mean, considering all the equipment and stuff, I think we’re more prepared to play stadiums and occasionally arenas. That’s where we’re prepared to play, so it’s easier there. But the little ones are something totally different and very fun. And you have the audience so close to you and it’s so immediate, it’s a different kind of excitement, you know, it’s a different kind of emotion.
Are there any Beatles songs you haven’t played live yet but would like to play one day?
Oh, you know… I suggested a lot of songs. All of us in the band have suggested this to Paul over the years. And some he accepted. Others never made it to the show, but we tried them. There are some solo songs like “Little Lamb Dragonfly” or “The Backseat of My Car”. They’re great songs that we’ve rehearsed, but we’ve never played them in front of an audience and I don’t know if we ever will.
Source: Terra
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
