Paul McCartney told the Boston Herald that the rumors of his retirement were as false as the infamous 1960s rumor that he was dead. McCartney insists he is not retiring and he’s still not dead.
The rumor seemed to have been started after the British Newspaper The Sun reported McCartney was planning one last big world tour before heading for retirement. The rumor was that McCartney wanted to retire before turning 70 because it was more and more difficult for his aging body to go on the road. I can tell you first hand after seeing McCartney perform in CitiField, his voice is stronger than ever, and he has the same spring in his step that he had as a young Beatle. Read more »
I’m still recuperating from the Paul McCartney historic concert at the new Mets Citi Field. Here are some highlights…
For those who don’t know, the Beatles were the first band to play in a huge sports arena. It was in the Summer of 1965 at the New York Mets Shea Stadium. Of course these days huge concerts in sports arenas are common. But, back then the pioneering Beatles actually sung through the stadium’s PA announcement system (Now up at bat… The Beatles… ECHO Echo echo). The original Beatles set list was only 12 songs long and could barely be heard by the 55,000 screaming girls in the audience (OK, there were some screaming dudes too.)
I was actually married at the old 1960s World’s Fair building right where the Beatles Helicopter landed after their Shea Stadium concert. We had our buffet on the same roof where the Beatles made their quick escape decades before. The building had a heliport on the roof which is now a big patio with a beautful view of Manhattan. I’m sure nobody who celebrates their wedding there has any clue of the history.
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For some reason that escapes me, they tore down Shea Stadium last year and built a new baseball stadium right next to it. As a Beatles Tribute, Paul McCartney was asked to be the first to play the new Mets Ballpark.
McCartney had made a guest appearance when Billy Joel played the last show of Shea Stadium last year. I happened to be driving home from the airport just as McCartney’s Limo exited Shea and I drove along side for while as McCartney headed home with a large police escort to the Hamptons. McCartney returned the favor to Billy Joel by having him as a guest on the first night of the new stadium.
McCartney’s voice was the stongest I’ve heard it in the three times I’ve seen him. At sixty seven, his voice is still as strong as it was in his twentys (even if he had a bad hair day in the misty New York weather). You can see in these video hightlights how much fun McCartney was having…
My highlight of the show was when Paul paid tribute to his recently deceased friend George Harrison. Paul played Harrison’s song “Something” on a ukulele that George had given him. As in the Concert for George Harrison DVD performance, the whole band comes in and they morph into the recorded version with photos of George behind the band. It was a very touching moment when Paul turned around at the end of the tribute and raised two peace signs to the large image of George Harrison being projected behind him. Here’s Paul singing Something…
