This is very Nice of Paul:

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The Associated Press

DETROIT — During a summer visit to a Motown recording studio, former Beatle Paul McCartney wanted to run his fingers along an 1877 Steinway grand piano played by some Detroit music greats he considers idols.

FILE - In this Oct. 9, 2011 file photo, former Beatle Paul McCartney gestures as he and American heiress Nancy Shevell leave Marylebone Town Hall, London, after their wedding. McCartney is going to help restore an 1877 Steinway grand piano used by Motown greats. On Monday, Oct. 31, 2011, the piano will be picked up from the Detroit museum and shipped to Steinway & Sons in New York for restoration. The work is expected to take up to five months. (AP Photo/Jonathan Short, File)

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"He was disappointed when we told him it didn't play," Motown Historical Museum chief executive Audley Smith Jr., told The Detroit News for a story (http://bit.ly/trOphs ) Saturday.

Undaunted, the legendary rock and roller from England told museum officials following a July concert at Comerica Park that he wanted to help restore it.

On Monday, the piano will be picked up from the Detroit museum and shipped to Steinway & Sons in New York for restoration. The work is expected to take up to five months.

The piano company has to assess the piano's condition before a cost can be determined.

"Steinway & Sons is honored to restore the historic Steinway piano that was used by such legends as Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder — and to do so in the very same New York factory where it was originally built in 1877," Steinway & Sons President of Americas Ron Losby told the newspaper in a statement.

http://www.accessatlanta.com/atlanta-music/paul-mccartney-to-help-1212574.html?cxntlid=thbz_hm

Graycap23 said:

This is very Nice of Paul:

eh, he just wants to play it and can't bear to be told he can't! JK that is cool of him

you'd think with his money he could afford a new one

obviously that one legged gold digging bitch hit his pocket harder than we thought

He still bangable and stuff like this just makes him more so.

Interesting, did he know that the piano was probably a prop?

Timmy84 said:

Interesting, did he know that the piano was probably a prop?

I can hear piano in hundreds of Motown songs myself.....

nd33 said:

Timmy84 said:

Interesting, did he know that the piano was probably a prop?

I can hear piano in hundreds of Motown songs myself.....

lol of course.

unique said:

you'd think with his money he could afford a new one

obviously that one legged gold digging bitch hit his pocket harder than we thought

A new has ZERO history.

Graycap23 said:

unique said:

you'd think with his money he could afford a new one

obviously that one legged gold digging bitch hit his pocket harder than we thought

A new has ZERO history.

and your post has ZERO humour

unique said:

Graycap23 said:

A new has ZERO history.

and your post has ZERO humour

Timmy84 said:

nd33 said:

Timmy84 said:

lol of course.

So what do mean by that prop statement anyway?

Just fuckin'...

:eyeroll: ....cool.

That's pretty cool of him. Motown factored into Beatles covers back in the day.

Next thing you know, they'll be turning Motown back into a recording studio...

dalsh327 said:

That's pretty cool of him. Motown factored into Beatles covers back in the day.

Next thing you know, they'll be turning Motown back into a recording studio...

It's a museum now... I wonder after all these years now people are NOW interested in restoring it but 38 years ago (when the studio locked its doors for good), no one cared? Were they scared of "big bad ass Detroit"?

Yeah I'm bitter lol

Timmy84 said:

nd33 said:

Timmy84 said:

It's a museum now... I wonder after all these years now people are NOW interested in restoring it but 38 years ago (when the studio locked its doors for good), no one cared? Were they scared of "big bad ass Detroit"?

Yeah I'm bitter lol

Yeah it's lame. The legacy obviously wasn't appreciated (like it is now) at the time when the studio closed its doors. It's an all too common thing with humans, they don't know what they got til it's gone...

Yeah and that's why I can't fucking sympathize with it. It's like leaving something alone because you don't wanna mess with it then 20 years later thinking you can just come back and revive it... talking about "save this" but years ago your ass turned away when you could've saved it. Might as well leave the instruments as they are.

Timmy84 said:

nd33 said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah and that's why I can't fucking sympathize with it. It's like leaving something alone because you don't wanna mess with it then 20 years later thinking you can just come back and revive it... talking about "save this" but years ago your ass turned away when you could've saved it. Might as well leave the instruments as they are.

You can't blame Paul though! Why does it take an Englishman to fund restorations of American history? Ahem...33% of Americas wealth owned by 1% of its population....cough cough. Hit the streets Timmy! There's a protest going on!

I ain't blaming him. I blamed us too lol and regards to music, we're often almost too late. In this case, it's past too late.

[Edited 10/30/11 16:24pm]

As an owner of a Steinway grand, I find it appalling that a company such as Motown would let the instrument deteriorate in such fashion. I also find it odd that if it was no longer in use, it could have been donated to a music school department where it would certainly have been appreciated or even a museum for that matter. A Steinway is like a Strativarius violin--PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!! As a keyboard player, all electronic keyboard manufacturers brag on their ability to emulate the Steinway but as for now they have come close--but still no cigar.

Timmy84 said:

dalsh327 said:

That's pretty cool of him. Motown factored into Beatles covers back in the day.

Next thing you know, they'll be turning Motown back into a recording studio...

It's a museum now... I wonder after all these years now people are NOW interested in restoring it but 38 years ago (when the studio locked its doors for good), no one cared? Were they scared of "big bad ass Detroit"?

Yeah I'm bitter lol

But that place is probably more suited to be a museum than a studio at this point. There was a reason they shut it down, and it wasn't because Motown stopped making records.

Smokey Robinson did an interview and said you might be surprised at where a lot of the old hits were actually recorded, like England in some cases.

He said they recorded all over the place and it was not the studio or the equipment that created the sound, but the people, the talent, and the techniques (not that that is really surprising) so they must have just outgrown it and gotten a new piano

NDRU said:

Timmy84 said:

It's a museum now... I wonder after all these years now people are NOW interested in restoring it but 38 years ago (when the studio locked its doors for good), no one cared? Were they scared of "big bad ass Detroit"?

Yeah I'm bitter lol

But that place is probably more suited to be a museum than a studio at this point. There was a reason they shut it down, and it wasn't because Motown stopped making records.

Smokey Robinson did an interview and said you might be surprised at where a lot of the old hits were actually recorded, like England in some cases.

He said they recorded all over the place and it was not the studio or the equipment that created the sound, but the people, the talent, and the techniques (not that that is really surprising) so they must have just outgrown it and gotten a new piano

I did read about it. He did say some Motown songs were recorded live in L.A. even before the move so it's possible. But I agree, it's best as a museum piece.

NDRU said:

Timmy84 said:

It's a museum now... I wonder after all these years now people are NOW interested in restoring it but 38 years ago (when the studio locked its doors for good), no one cared? Were they scared of "big bad ass Detroit"?

Yeah I'm bitter lol

But that place is probably more suited to be a museum than a studio at this point. There was a reason they shut it down, and it wasn't because Motown stopped making records.

Smokey Robinson did an interview and said you might be surprised at where a lot of the old hits were actually recorded, like England in some cases.

He said they recorded all over the place and it was not the studio or the equipment that created the sound, but the people, the talent, and the techniques (not that that is really surprising) so they must have just outgrown it and gotten a new piano

Sun Studios went offline for years, and they reopened it as a functioning studio. I think they also talked about where the songs were recorded in Standing in the Shadows.. but it was def. a place where the ideas flowed through the 60s. But other than the size, I'm sure safety became an issue... you have all these millionaire artists going in and out of there with no real security, and in LA they could work in places no one would be paying attention. A lot of recording studios are in places no one's seeking out at weird hours of the night.

But in 2011, most major musicians work out of their house or set up shop anywhere that's comfortable to them. Some people like doing the traditional ways of studio recording, but far more mobile than it's ever been.

^^^I don't think many of the people at Motown in the 1960's were millionaires, especially not the performers. There were race riots in Detroit in the late 1960's though.

lazycrockett said:

He still bangable and stuff like this just makes him more so.

He has such a great old-young face!

I wonder what's the progress on the piano.