Paul McCartney turns 84
Happy Birthday to the most talented of the Fab Four – Paul McCartney – born June 18, 1942.
Still remember my mother, the pianist who could play any song by ear, making sure the TV was tuned to the Ed Sullivan Show when the Beatles made their first televised appearance in the U.S., Feb. 9, 1964. I was eight, going on nine, still clueless about the world in general. A blissful period to be sure.
Growing up, the Beatles stayed with me for life, even after John Lennon was murdered in December 1980.
Last October, I was tempted to go see McCartney play a concert in San Antonio, but for a guy who still has old ticket stubs – like the Allman Brothers’ – dating back to 1973, when a concert seat cost only $6.50, the new ticket prices are too much unless it’s a special occasion like seeing Willie play last April (2025).
One thing about McCartney, though – and even Dylan admits it — the guy can crank out songs like few others.
McCartney said that “Yesterday” came to him while he was sleeping. The only time he ever woke up with a full-blown tune in his head. In fact, he was so sure that he had picked up the tune from someone, and that it had simply stuck in his head. Could be no other answer, could it?
So he asked everyone he knew if they had ever heard it before as he hummed the melody, but no one ever had. So he put lyrics to it, and voila. In fact, it’s the only Beatles song that has no other musical accompaniment. Ringo said, I can’t add anything to it, and neither did George or John.
So on stage, and in the recording studio, it was only McCartney, his acoustic guitar, and that voice of his, like few others — “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away…”
Still a Marvel
At 84, McCartney is a marvel. Still looks great, and still sings better than most men his age or younger if you include modern country. Still has a great sense of humor, based on recent interviews or video clips.
He was only 21 when I first became a fan. A lot of years.
Most of the Beatles’ songs bring back memories for the generation that came of age listening to their albums, 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, and now digital files.
I still remember buying Sgt. Peppers when I was about 12 and listening to “A Day in the Life” over and over again.
Lennon wrote it while sitting at the piano with a copy of the Daily Mail in front of him. The lyrics were inspired by stories from that edition. There really were 4,000 holes (potholes) in Blackburn, Lancashire that needed to be filled.
With the advent of You-Tube, it’s easy to access old Paul McCartney concerts, the Beatles, any musician, band, including old venues that are now decades old. It’s like a digital time-travel machine. Can’t beat it.
Many singer/songwriters have been gifted with the talent to write songs, melodies, but few can compare to McCartney, in my opinion. His song catalogue is just too thick with classics: “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.”
The story goes that Mc-Cartney was struggling with the stress of the Beatles getting ready to break up while recording the “Let It Be” sessions in 1969. One night he had a dream in which his mother, Mary, appeared to him — a calm, comforting presence among the chaos — with these words, “It will be all right, let it be.”
His mom died when he was 14, a victim of breast cancer, the same illness that would later claim his wife, Linda, in 1998.
Happy belated birthday, Paul. May you make it to 100.
“Maybe I’m amazed at the way you love me all the time…” Written for his wife, Linda, the year after the Beatles broke up and he had moved his newfound family to his farmhouse in Scotland in 1970.
Fifty-six years later, he’s still kicking and playing music.
Can’t beat that.