NAMES IN THE NEWS : McCartney Gets ‘a Little Choker’ Singing Beatles Songs on Tour

NEW YORK — Paul McCartney admits that he sometimes gets choked up while performing Beatles’ songs on his current tour, which is a kind of magical history tour featuring more than a dozen Fab Four songs.

“It really feels good playing those songs,” McCartney said Tuesday at a news conference at Madison Square Garden, where he is in the midst of a four-night stand.

Because the Beatles stopped performing live in 1966, he said, “It’s really nice to get back to those songs ‘cause they’re fresh, for me anyway.”

And occasionally a memory--especially of John Lennon, his songwriting partner who was slain in 1980--sneaks up on him.

“That kind of thing happens, yeah, occasionally you just get a little choker,” said McCartney, 47.

The Beatles’ hits affect the audience the same way, he said.

“You see people in the audience, kind of my age, like with kids and stuff. And you see grown men crying and stuff. I mean, there’s a lot of emotion,” he said.