It was 80 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play. Well, at least 80 years ago today was when one of the members of said band made his debut in this world. June 18, 1942, Sir Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool, and before his 20th birthday, would join best mate John Lennon to launch, along with George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the most famous quartet in music history.
Regular readers of this blog know that during a 2018 pilgrimage to Liverpool, I was lucky enough to walk (and run) the streets where the Fab Four got their start, during a memory-packed trip to the city along the Mersey.
This month, I, along with more than 30,000 fellow fans of Sir Paul wedged ourselves into the uncomfortable wooden seats at Fenway Park to take in sold-out shows that blended many of McCartney's solo stuff, or as close to solo as his Wings band hits can be considered, along with a healthy dose of oodles of the Beatles' best-known songs, most of which featured McCartney as the frontman on vocals.
Naturally, for McCartney's Get Back tour, I had to show that I Got Back of my own.
A couple of sections away from us sat a couple of gents who've got a healthy archive of music history filed away in their grey matter - my brother Jimmy and Peter Aucella, he of the Lowell Summer Music Series. These guys were around when Beatlemania first came to the U.S. Shores in 1964, so they've got OG Beatles Street Cred.
Our own version of the Fab Four for this special event
Andrew and Katie were able to take in their first McCartney concert together, a sure-fire recipe for romance.
Fenway shows are a blast, for sure, but it helps having jumbotron video screens that help provide the close-ups for the Living Legend carousing around on the center field stage.
Not surprisingly, some of the Beatles songs were among the highlights of the evening's setlist - Hey Jude, Let It Be, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Helter Skelter, and a Quarrymen gem, In Spite of All the Danger to name just a few.
Of particular note, though was McCartney's tribute to bandmate George Harrison, with a ukulele intro'ed Something, one of Harrison's finest;
For me, one of the absolute treasures of the night came courtesy of director Peter Jackson, who compiled the Beatles Get Back documentary series that premiered last fall and chronicled the last live performance of the Beatles, of the rooftop at Saville Row.
Jackson, he of Lord of the Rings fame, told McCartney he could isolate the late John Lennon's vocals to be used to help provide a working duet for McCartney for an emotional and powerful delivery of I've Got A Feeling. So Paul took him up on the offer and has added it to this tour. Absolutely chilling.
Folks know how much of a Bruce Springsteen fan ye writer is, and how I've followed his concerts wherever I can around these United States. If you know me, you also know how important the Beatles music was to my earliest years, and how those tunes, too, have followed me throughout my life and helped provide the soundtrack for countless memories.
Add this concert to that memory bank.
To be able to see the 79-year icon known as Paul McCartney deliver a two hour, 40 minute tour-de-force of music royalty is an event that one doesn't soon forget.
God willing, I can make it to the age of 80. To think that this guy is still belting out these classics and entertaining millions in his SEVENTH DECADE of performing live music is nothing short of humbling and, truly legendary.
Happy Birthday, Paul. And THANK YOU.
Back to where you once belonged, yeah.
