Paul McCartney's ski town surprise
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McCartney
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 "I almost died. Here he is, 5 feet from you." 
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-- McCartney fan Carm Lyman
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TRUCKEE, California (AP) -- Regulars tapping to the beat of the Truckee Hotel's usual Thursday night jazz duo got a surprise when Paul McCartney took to the small stage for an impromptu song he called "Truckee Blues."
McCartney sang about 10:30 p.m. Thursday after he and wife, Heather Mills, dined incognito at Moody's Bistro and Lounge in the Sierra ski town's historic hotel about 15 miles from Lake Tahoe.
"I almost died. Here he is, 5 feet from you," an excited Carm Lyman said Friday.
"There were maybe 30 or 40 people there of all generations, all with their mouths open."
McCartney, the former Beatle who opens a European tour next month, played a few songs with Bob Greenwood's Jazz duo, said J.J. Morgan, general manager of the restaurant in the hotel built in the 1870s.
The couple had been vacationing at Lake Tahoe for a few days, he said.
"He wanted to listen to some music so we parked him next to the band. He was loving it," Morgan said.
"We wanted to make sure they had a private, kind of incognito night, and I think he felt real comfortable," he said.
Morgan, who moved from San Francisco to open the restaurant in the former logging town last summer with his partner Mark Estee of Boston, said McCartney apparently made up the tune "Truckee Blues" on the spot.
He said he's a longtime fan of McCartney and the Beatles.
"Who isn't?" Morgan said.
Copyright 2003 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
