British Rocker Sir Paul McCartney has a birthday today. He turned 75 years young and it’s been a remarkable weekend as well as month for him and his fans.
The Associated Press reports that Sir Paul was elevated to “companion of honor” for his services to music last night. This is no small thing as very few artists get that accolade from the Queen.
Twenty years after he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Paul McCartney is being upgraded with a Companion of Honor award for services to music, alongside J.K. Rowling for her services to literature and philanthropy, in the queen's Birthday Honors list.
The former Beatle and the Harry Potter author join a raft of heroes, luminaries and other notables being recognized for their contributions to life in Britain.
"I'm very happy about this huge honor and with the news coming on my birthday weekend and Father's Day it makes it colossal!" McCartney said.
In case you are wondering, there are only 62 companions of this particular Order, but there can be up to 65. From Wikipedia:
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded in June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements and is "conferred upon a limited number of persons for whom this special distinction seems to be the most appropriate form of recognition, constituting an honour disassociated either from the acceptance of title or the classification of merit."[1]
Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire,[1] it is sometimes regarded as the junior order to the Order of Merit.[2] Now described as "awarded for having a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time",[3] the first recipients, were all decorated for "services in connection with the war" and were listed in The London Gazette in August 1917 with the award taking effect from 4 June 1917.[4]
Indeed, there is much to celebrate about Sir Paul’s accomplishments: 21 Grammies, Academy Award (Let It Be), Two-time Rock & Roll Inductee (band and solo), OBE, Knighted, Gershwin Prize, Kennedy Center Honors, Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Legion d’Honneur, Fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers & Authors, and one other one I wasn’t aware of: a named planet. Yes, planet 4148 is called “McCartney”. (Source: Wikipedia)
Sir Paul has been very busy in the past month. On May 18th, Sirius XM launched the Beatles Channel (also #18 on the dial), and it has been very well received. It was timed for the 50th anniversary of the release of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. PBS Stations have been running a new BBC documentary entitled “Sgt Pepper’s Musical Revolution” about the revolutionary engineering behind that album (and the genus producer, George Martin), which took several months to record and was released on June 1, 1967. I saw the show and I highly recommend it. It goes beyond what Rolling Stone says about the album.
I for one have the Beatles channel on my list of favorites in my car and seldom do I stray from listening to it when I’m doing chores around the domicile. It has so many interesting interviews by people familiar with the band during the 60’s and other artists inspired by the Beatles, such as Peter Asher. I also like the “covers” of the songs, such as Cheap Trick’s version of “Ticket to Ride”.
I have so many Beatles tunes and albums I enjoy, but I still think the Beatles’ White album is still my favorite. Of his solo career, I love “Band on the Run”, but think I would have to pick one that isn’t performed that often, Here Today” (from Tug of War) , which also serves as a bookend to “Yesterday” as both use a quartet and are only a little over 2 min long. I empathize with the lyrics because not long ago I lost a sibling (sudden death) that I had not spoken for several years and I didn’t get to say goodbye. I agree with McCartney when he says that it’s very important to tell your loved ones/mates (in his case, John Lennon) how much you loved them before they pass away.
The Beatles were played very often in my house growing up and my parents, who weren’t much for British rock at the time, came to appreciate them as their kids were Beatlemaniacs. “Let It Be” was my mom’s favorite.
Sir Paul has an upcoming US tour, starting on July 7th. I wish I could go see him perform, but confess I saw him play in 1989 on the Tripping the Light Fantastic tour, so I’m fine if I don’t get to go this time around.
So “Happy Birthday” to Sir Paul McCartney, celebrating 75 years and more on Father’s Day. And for that, here’s a YT of one of my favorite songs on the White Album, “Birthday Song”.
What’s your favorite Beatles or McCartney tune—and why? Please share below!