b'FEATUREPAUL MCCARTNEYH E YG R A N D U D E !/ Words_Alex OConnell / The Times / The Interview PeopleThe musician talks about being a grandfather to eight, the impact of knife crime in Londonand his new childrens book, Hey Grandude!Words_Alex OConnellPaulMcCartney is a grandudeit kind of stuckthe kids started on a mission. Now 77,calling me that for a joke and I he has just finished a tour of Norththought, Well, it is kind of funny. America, is back writing songs andIts a nice old thing, so I wrote busy turning the film Its a Wonderfulsome stories about the character Photo_ Raph_PHLife into his first Broadway musical.Grandude.More surprisingly, he has written a bedtime story, Hey Grandude!,Scribbling a childrens book is a a picture book about a magicaldifferent process to songwriting and grandad who takes his grandchildrenMcCartney, who has written more on adventures. than 500 songs in his lifetime, felt somewhat liberated. Its different After a days work in the studio inbecause with lyrics you are thinking London, he calls me as hes drivingof fitting them to music, theyre along the Thames, apologising formore like poetry, he says. In this the poor reception. Yeah, this iscase, you are just telling a yarn, so Paul, he says, the fuzz on the linethere are not so many structural like the distortion you get when aconstrictions, you can go anywhere whammy bar is placed next to anyou want.amplifier. I hope the signal holds.So lets get going! he says. In the 32-page book, illustrated by Kathryn Durst, Grandude, a twinkly-Why write books for babes wheneyed adventurer with a white beard your own children are grown up?and sandals, takes the grandchildren Heather, the daughter of Lindathe Chillerson epic voyages and Pauls adopted daughteriswith the help of a magic compass. 56. Mary, Stella and James, his children with Linda, are 49, 47 andIts really just a little bedtime book 41, and even his youngest child,kinda thing. McCartney has form as Beatrice, with his former wife,the king of understatement having Heather Mills, is 15. famously calling the Beatles a great little band.Ive got eight grandchildren of my own, says McCartney. MaryWhat sort of a grandad is he? The and Stella have four children each,sort who parachutes in when theres whose ages range from 7 to 20.a childcare crisis? Er, no, he says. One day one of them just said,The main time I am with them is Grandude, can you do this? andon holiday. We have a couple of 16 SEPTEMBER 2019 HEYMUSIC.COM 17'