I’ve just read a very long article in the New Yorker about McCartney and the Beatles ahead of the release of Peter Jackson’s trawl through all the footage from the Let it Be sessions. I am sure I have mentioned before, that I am a huge Beatles fan. Nothing strange about that I am juts one of many millions who grew up with their music. The first single I bought with my pocket money was She Loves you (I still have it). They were a large part of the soundtrack to my teenage years in the sixties. I can remember waiting for their latest single to be released and the anticipation as you wondered what they would do next? I was on holiday with a youth club in 1967, in Devon, when Sgt Peppers came out, I rushed to the local town to see if I could find it and managed to buy a copy. My next search was for a record player to listen to it on. It was an old machine and I was reluctant to play my brand new LP with its old stylist but my excitement to hear it overcame that and with a couple of like minded friends, we listened in awe to one of the greatest albums of all time. I vividly remember buying Hey Jude in Kingsbury North London and taking it out of the brown paper bag as much pleased with myself because I was accompanied by Jill and Mary, identical twins, who every lad in the school fancied, proper mods with their Mary Quant hair and black eyeliner!
I remain a fan of both their collective and individual work, though I confess I have not kept up with much of the later stuff from McCartney or Starr. In some ways I feel sorry for McCartney who has to be the voice of the the past but at the same time he irritates me with his humble I am just an ordinary man act. I cannot be to harsh, the rarified atmosphere in which he is held is something none of us could possibly understand and there is no doubt he is very talented. My favourite post Beatles album is All Things Must Pass from George Harrison his outpouring of songs that he never got on Beatles albums, it is a true masterpiece!
Music is a huge part of my life (not alone in that) Without it I would be bereft. I have to say most of the music I have heard from todays charts seems to be so angst ridden that I often say it is “music to cut your throat to” it is awfully depressing and there is far to much vocal “gymnastics” Still i am old and i know much was said as pop and rock music developed in the sixties by the older generation. It is the a natural progression. Who would have thought back then that so many of these great rock stars would still be around and still playing, certainly not many of themselves!
Stay well
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