Sir Paul Mccartney adopted a bizarre new persona to record his new album Electric Arguments - renaming himself Gladys Jenkins to avoid the pressure of living up to his icon status.

The former Beatle confesses he has an odd way of conquering his nerves and overcoming his inhibitions when making a new LP - but insists it's a tried and tested method that has produced masterpieces in the past.

He says, "We decided to go undercover, to do whatever we wanted.

"That way, when you go to the microphone, I don't think of it as going as Paul McCartney and it frees you up. I'd say, 'Right, you're going to become Gladys Jenkins.'

"It was quite thrilling, that's how we approached (classic 1967 Beatles record) Sgt Pepper's. It's like you're playing instead of working."