It's Paul McCartney's 67th birthday today, and I would like to celebrate it with a photo, screen captures I made and a YouTube link.
I have been a huge fan of Paul McCartney as a solo artist and with The Beatles since 1989, when I was 12 years old. My mother introduced me to The Beatles when she hauled out her original Beatles 7 inch singles of "Can't Buy Me Love/You Can't Do That" (1964) and "Oh! Darling/Ob-la-di Ob-la-da" (1969). I proceeded to play both endlessly, and in 1991 I became obsessive about The Beatles, when I started collecting everything of their's I could lay my hands on, and what my parents could afford to buy for me.
I was already an obsessive Elvis Presley fan by then, who is my first love, and up until I discovered the Eagles (and more specifically, Glenn Frey), The Beatles were the only individuals who could rival my affections for Elvis.
To celebrate Paul's birthday, I will start with a photo taken by Astrid Kirchher, the German artist/photographer who became renowned for the wonderful photos she took of The Beatles when they were resident at Hamburg clubs during 1960 and 1961. This is prior to their enormous fame, and when they were all sporting Elvis hairstyles:
Sigh...![]()
![]()
The following are screen captures I made from The Beatles' three appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964:
Isn't he adorable? I love Paul's enthusiasm and passion he displayed for his music whenever he performed. That shy little grin is as a result of the screams he got from the largely female audience whenever the camera was focused on him.
Here is Paul with George Harrison.
I love this moment. The boys had just begun to perform the beautiful ballad, written largely by John Lennon, called "This Boy", in perfect three-part harmony. Some studio outtakes reveal how John often sang "That boy" instead of "This boy" during rehearsal, and he did it on stage during their performance at the special Miami, Florida broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show. That resulted in the amused look shared between Paul and John that we see here.
The next screen capture is from The Beatles' performance at The Coliseum in Washington, February 1964. This is Paul and his beloved partner John singing "I Saw Her Standing There":
This last screen capture is from a 1963 broadcast of the British music show, "Ready Steady Go", which featured Dusty Springfield interviewing Paul and John in between performances of "Twist And Shout", "She Loves You" and "I'll Get You". Dusty asked them questions sent in by fans. I wonder what Paul was thinking after a fan wanted to know if he plucked his eyebrows!
To end my tribute to Paul, I'd like to close by including a YouTube link of The Beatles performing "Long Tall Sally" at The Coliseum in Washington, February 1964. I consider this one of The Beatles' greatest, tightest and most exhilarating performances ever. For me, it's Paul's greatest rock vocal performance, even better than the studio version. Watch the enthusiasm and enjoyment among The Beatles: John's whooping as his partner pushes harder and harder towards a fantastically exciting ending to the song; George's perfect guitar solo (and he doesn't look once at his fretboard); Ringo's phenomenal drumming... it leaves me breathless everytime I watch it. I hope you all enjoy it too.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=612806fJb_Q[/ame]
I LOVE YOU, PAUL!!!