Sir Paul McCartney said “don’t underestimate the working class” as he spoke about the importance of his Liverpool upbringing. The legendary Beatle made the comments on the latest episodes of the Rest Is Entertainment and Rest Is History podcasts.

The Rest Is Entertainment episode was released today (May 14) and sees Sir Paul interviewed by Richard Osman and Marina Hyde. The 83-year-old sat down with the hosts at the iconic Abbey Road studios to speak about his life and career ahead of the release of new album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, on May 29.

The upcoming album is an ode to his upbringing in Liverpool as the title is named after the road in Speke where Sir Paul use to wile away the hours birdwatching as a boy. In the new interview, Sir Paul spoke about how important it has been for him to remain connected to his roots despite being one of the most famous people in the world.

He told the hosts: “People put it another way – they’ll say: ‘How have you stayed so normal, through the Beatles, Wings, all of it?’

“And I think the truth is my family. I was very lucky – I came from a very loving family of very smart working-class people. And I always say to people: don’t underestimate the working class. I know there’s this idea of, ‘Oh, the plumber – what does he know?’

“But from my family I know that, for instance, my cousin Bert compiled crosswords for the Guardian and for the Times. To do that, you have to be a pretty smart guy. And he was just one of us. So we had that kind of depth going on.”

Sir Paul said this mentality has helped him retain a perspective throughout his rise to the fame as he’s never overly considered the nature of his celebrity. On why he doesn’t feel like “Paul McCartney”, he added: “I think my shield against that is to try not to think about it too much. Because I often think – wait a minute, I’m looking for just one little success.

“Great. But then I’ve got a few. I got that song, and that song. If I really sat and thought about it – my head would explode. So I try to dampen it down and just think: yeah, that was okay. That was a good one. And I don’t really feel like him. He’s the famous one. I’m the guy who just has to go up and have breakfast.”

It is this human perspective that is key to Sir Paul’s songwriting ability as he spoke about how he was able to make music that connected with people right from the beginning. The interview took place in the world-famous Abbey Road studios, as Sir Paul said: “The first time we came into this studio – Abbey Road – we were barely out of our teenage years, and we were writing songs directly to the fans. ‘Love Me Do’, ‘Please Please Me’, ‘From Me to You’, ‘She Loves You’ – it’s all ‘me’ or ‘you’, directly to the people listening.

“Then we started to evolve. So I kind of do know who those guys were: kids from Liverpool writing to the fans, first phase – then maturing a little and getting a bit more artistic. I think I do remember who I was.”

The Rest Is History podcast with historian Tom Holland is available to listen to from Friday. In this chat, Sir Paul goes into further detail on his life and career as he said The Beatles’ mentality was forged by their upbringing in post WWII Liverpool.

He said: “I do think the character of Liverpool is a very strong one. I think with the Irish influence and then coming through the war, and having to be happy when bombs were falling, there was a lot of music when I was a kid.

“My dad played the piano at home. There were a lot of jokes. And so they kept their heads above water by laughing at the whole thing. And I think that was something that found its way into the Beatles.

“I think it gave us a good sense of humour – that no matter what we were going to do, like arrive in America and have the New York press ready to make fun of us, we gave as good as we got. And that was because of our Liverpool upbringing.”

The Rest Is Entertainment podcast can be listened to now The Rest Is History podcast with historian Tom Holland is available from tomorrow, Friday May 15.

Watch or listen to The Rest Is Entertainment wherever you get your podcasts: https://linktr.ee/therestisentertainment

Watch or listen to The Rest Is History wherever you get your podcasts: https://linktr.ee/RestIshistory