It’s James Paul McCartney’s 67th birthday.
I continue to like about 50% of Macca’s output. Never really warmed to the Fireman album as I did Chaos and Creation. But I LOVED this bootl unauthorized recording of Paul doing Beatles songs someone sent me. Some are straight covers, but others, notably Yesterday and Hey Jude are just plain goofy; in the former, rabbits are mentioned.
There’s always one story in Beatlefan magazine that I treasure. The March/April 2009 edition is no exception. Bruce Spizer did a tribute to Alan Livingston. Don’t know who he was? He was the one who signed the Beatles to Capitol Records. The bare facts of his life are reflected on the Wikipedia page, but not his personality. As Livingston’s widow recalled, he was the one who recognized the group’s full potential and put the resources of Capitol Records behind the group. Here’s a different, less in-depth Livingston interview. But his career ran from Bozo to Sinatra and from Beatles to Star Wars; he was president of entertainment at 20th Century Fox when the movie was being developed. Livingston died on March 13, 2009 at the age of 91 and without him, you might not have heard of Paul McCartney.
It’s also Roger Joseph Ebert’s 67th birthday. I used to watch Ebert & Roeper religiously, and before that, Siskel & Ebert. Lately, I’ve been more interested in his non-film essays than his reviews. His recent essay about death is a prime example. Always engaging.
Happy birthday, Paul and Roger.
ROG