My Epic Lifelong Journey to See Paul McCartney
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When I was little, 4 years old, there was a Beatles cartoon. The voice impersonations were very bad, but it featured bits of Beatles music. At the same time, the ?Monkees? were on TV, and I really enjoyed that show. Sure, they were a TV version of fab four, but I was entertained. I heard all of that great Beatles music growing up, always a part of my life. I also admired the Moody Blues, Gordon Lightfoot, and Neil Diamond. In 1971, I was 8. I heard Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey on the radio several times. For the next two years, I kept asking my Uncles and other ?adults? who it was by. They always said ?the Beatles?. I couldn?t find the song on any of our Beatles records. So, I got a paper route, to make money to buy Beatles albums that we didn?t have. I eventually bought every Beatle album ever made, by the time I was 11. I still couldn?t find the song. One of my Uncle?s was convinced it was Paul McCartney, so I then started saving and snapping up Wings albums. Finally, on Ram, I found it. I finally owned it. I continued buying Wings albums, and had my bedroom covered with Beatles, McCartney and Wings posters. A rather nice poster came with ?Venus and Mars?. I became a pretty good musician because of Beatles/McCartney music. I took music theory in high school and did several arrangements of Beatles songs ? Let it Be, Yesterday, Get Back, Long and Winding Road, and did a solo of Blackbird at one concert. I was good enough to get a music scholarship at the local junior college. I played guitar, bass, drums, piano, ukulele, violin, viola, cello, mandola, mandolin. Anything I could find, really. One day my friends decided to play a prank on me. This was before ?Back to the Egg? came out. I was 17. Someone called, and provided a decent British accent, and said that they had heard of my work at school, and that Paul McCartney would be honored if I would consider coming to Ireland, to provide assistance and playing on their next album. Well, at 17, I was none the wiser, and ran around the house ecstatic. (We didn?t have caller ID in those days). My friends let me spout and gloat about it, my pride, and then finally after a few days one of them did that same British accent and nearly repeated the whole phone call. They got a great kick out of it. I didn?t. I ended up dropping out, and joining the Navy, where I spent the next 21 years and let my love music whither. One of the most difficult songs for me to learn, we actually there are several, was ?And I Love Her?. I have not seen any live performances of that song anywhere on the internet. Just the one single performance on ?A Hard Days Night?. It?s a tough one. It became my wedding song, and I whispered those words into my brides ear as we danced, and we both had a very teary loving dance. I love that song, and yes, it is a bear to play and sing at the same time. Two other difficult ones that took me a long time to get through, was ?Sing Along Junk? and ?Blackbird?. Two years ago my wife was in Cincinnati, and I found out the day before her coming home, that Paul was to play there the next night. I again went into a frantic state, trying to figure out how to get there, cancel her plane tickets, buy tickets for the show, so that I could finally be in the right place and the right time to see a Paul show. It didn?t work out. Paul will be in DC in July. Finally, I have the tickets. Those guys taught me love, respect, and music. I can?t wait to see him.
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Wonderful story. Glad you were able to get tickets finally. Enjoy the show! And tell us about it.
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Glad to see that your dream is coming true at last. After waiting so long i'm guessing that it will be a very emotional evening for you? I count myself very fortunate that i've seen Paul at every opportunity since 1979 and will be flying off to Italy to see Paul in the Roman Amphitheatre in Verona in June.
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BOYCIE:
Glad to see that your dream is coming true at last. After waiting so long i'm guessing that it will be a very emotional evening for you? I count myself very fortunate that i've seen Paul at every opportunity since 1979 and will be flying off to Italy to see Paul in the Roman Amphitheatre in Verona in June.
Yes, I would consider myself quite fortunate too to be able to have the freedom and resources to see all of those shows! Wow!
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hoodatnva:
BOYCIE:
Glad to see that your dream is coming true at last. After waiting so long i'm guessing that it will be a very emotional evening for you? I count myself very fortunate that i've seen Paul at every opportunity since 1979 and will be flying off to Italy to see Paul in the Roman Amphitheatre in Verona in June.
Yes, I would consider myself quite fortunate too to be able to have the freedom and resources to see all of those shows! Wow!
It's not as glamorous as it sounds, it's 11 shows over that period.
Apart from a show in Portugal where my brother lives and the up and coming Verona gig they have all been in England. Some fans on here have been to a 100, but even if i had the financial clout i think that's overkill, when something special becomes the norm it dulls it for me. -
BOYCIE:
hoodatnva:
BOYCIE:
Glad to see that your dream is coming true at last. After waiting so long i'm guessing that it will be a very emotional evening for you? I count myself very fortunate that i've seen Paul at every opportunity since 1979 and will be flying off to Italy to see Paul in the Roman Amphitheatre in Verona in June.
Yes, I would consider myself quite fortunate too to be able to have the freedom and resources to see all of those shows! Wow!
It's not as glamorous as it sounds, it's 11 shows over that period.
Apart from a show in Portugal where my brother lives and the up and coming Verona gig they have all been in England. Some fans on here have been to a 100, but even if i had the financial clout i think that's overkill, when something special becomes the norm it dulls it for me.Yes, it will be special, and I imagine tears oozing from the eyes. It's sad to become this age and finally be able to afford the time and dollars to see him, or do something like this. It will be very special. Me and my wife will get to see the legend in person.
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hoodatnva:
Paul will be in DC in July. Finally, I have the tickets. Those guys taught me love, respect, and music. I can?t wait to see him.
I never thought I would be able to see Paul in person and listen to him playing all those classic Beatles songs, so I know how you feel. Enjoy it!
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Great story! I will be in DC with you too!
I hope he plays Uncle Albert for us all! -
Congrats on your dream come true!!!! I will be seeing Paul in Orlando my 4th time, compared to others not that many concerts but as long as he keeps touring I'll keep going!
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Hi, funny how your story reminded me of myself... when I was a toddler ( my mother said before I could walk ) my father was learning guitar.. he would play Beatles songs over & over and over - on the guitar too....
life way hard for more years than I could count...The music always touched my spirit... never having money & on mim wage.. I missed my opportunity in 93? when he was here at Berkley.. crushes & devastated.. I vowed I'd see Macca as many times as I could... and I have seen him many many many times since 2002 since he began touring again..... . fulfilling a life long dream... have a beautiful time!!! -
hoodatnva:
When I was little, 4 years old, there was a Beatles cartoon. The voice impersonations were very bad, but it featured bits of Beatles music. At the same time, the ?Monkees? were on TV, and I really enjoyed that show. Sure, they were a TV version of fab four, but I was entertained. I heard all of that great Beatles music growing up, always a part of my life. I also admired the Moody Blues, Gordon Lightfoot, and Neil Diamond. In 1971, I was 8. I heard Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey on the radio several times. For the next two years, I kept asking my Uncles and other ?adults? who it was by. They always said ?the Beatles?. I couldn?t find the song on any of our Beatles records. So, I got a paper route, to make money to buy Beatles albums that we didn?t have. I eventually bought every Beatle album ever made, by the time I was 11. I still couldn?t find the song. One of my Uncle?s was convinced it was Paul McCartney, so I then started saving and snapping up Wings albums. Finally, on Ram, I found it. I finally owned it. I continued buying Wings albums, and had my bedroom covered with Beatles, McCartney and Wings posters. A rather nice poster came with ?Venus and Mars?. I became a pretty good musician because of Beatles/McCartney music. I took music theory in high school and did several arrangements of Beatles songs ? Let it Be, Yesterday, Get Back, Long and Winding Road, and did a solo of Blackbird at one concert. I was good enough to get a music scholarship at the local junior college. I played guitar, bass, drums, piano, ukulele, violin, viola, cello, mandola, mandolin. Anything I could find, really. One day my friends decided to play a prank on me. This was before ?Back to the Egg? came out. I was 17. Someone called, and provided a decent British accent, and said that they had heard of my work at school, and that Paul McCartney would be honored if I would consider coming to Ireland, to provide assistance and playing on their next album. Well, at 17, I was none the wiser, and ran around the house ecstatic. (We didn?t have caller ID in those days). My friends let me spout and gloat about it, my pride, and then finally after a few days one of them did that same British accent and nearly repeated the whole phone call. They got a great kick out of it. I didn?t. I ended up dropping out, and joining the Navy, where I spent the next 21 years and let my love music whither. One of the most difficult songs for me to learn, we actually there are several, was ?And I Love Her?. I have not seen any live performances of that song anywhere on the internet. Just the one single performance on ?A Hard Days Night?. It?s a tough one. It became my wedding song, and I whispered those words into my brides ear as we danced, and we both had a very teary loving dance. I love that song, and yes, it is a bear to play and sing at the same time. Two other difficult ones that took me a long time to get through, was ?Sing Along Junk? and ?Blackbird?. Two years ago my wife was in Cincinnati, and I found out the day before her coming home, that Paul was to play there the next night. I again went into a frantic state, trying to figure out how to get there, cancel her plane tickets, buy tickets for the show, so that I could finally be in the right place and the right time to see a Paul show. It didn?t work out. Paul will be in DC in July. Finally, I have the tickets. Those guys taught me love, respect, and music. I can?t wait to see him.
Have your wife put some tissues in her purse, because you will need them! You're going to be blown away. I sat next to a young (20s) man in St. Louis last year who was attending his first Paul concert. He had obviously watched a lot of videos because the knew the story behind all of the famous guitars. Watching his expressions as the songs washed over him enhanced my experience greatly.
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I remember my first time seeing Paul onstage back in '93. MY mom surprised me with tickets as I was broke and yes, I swooned when he came out and fell backwards.
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Kathryn O:
I remember my first time seeing Paul onstage back in '93. MY mom surprised me with tickets as I was broke and yes, I swooned when he came out and fell backwards.
I got Billy Joel tickets as a surprise from my parents when I was 13 years old. I was a HUGE Billy Joel fan and was sick because I couldn't go. He was in Philly for 3 nights and my parents decided the day before the show to buy tickets for me to the final night because they knew how badly I wanted to go. It will always be my favorite gift from my childhood.
It was actually through Billy Joel's music that I discoverd The Beatles, and then I discovered Paul's solo music. It was the mid-90's and I waited year after year for Paul to tour but it never happened. I thought I'd never have the chance to see him live. Then, for some strange reason (honestly, I don't remember why) but when he did go on tour in 2002, I DIDN'T go... in hindsight, I'm not sure why. It's so long ago now, maybe I was just too broke at the time (though I'm pretty broke now so it hardly seems a good excuse!). Then I picked up the "Back in the US" album and kicked myself repeatedly for missing another chance to see Paul. So, when the US Tour was announced in 2005, I was determined that I would see Paul once and for all! Little did I know, it would be the first of several chances I'd have Washington DC this summer will be the 5th Paul concert for my wife and I!! She only went with me to the first one because she knew how bad I wanted to go... now she is a fan, especially of Wings! We were newly married at the time with no children... DC is going to be special to me because we're bringing our 7 year old son He loves The Beatles/Wings music as well and I'm excited to share this with him. Finally, I will say that for me, the ultimate "full circle" thing happened in 2009 when we were there to see Billy Joel join Paul on stage at Citi Field... my two musical heroes on one stage! I was so thrilled that their duet made it onto the GENYC album/DVD -
joemcook:
Kathryn O:
I remember my first time seeing Paul onstage back in '93. MY mom surprised me with tickets as I was broke and yes, I swooned when he came out and fell backwards.
I got Billy Joel tickets as a surprise from my parents when I was 13 years old. I was a HUGE Billy Joel fan and was sick because I couldn't go. He was in Philly for 3 nights and my parents decided the day before the show to buy tickets for me to the final night because they knew how badly I wanted to go. It will always be my favorite gift from my childhood.
It was actually through Billy Joel's music that I discoverd The Beatles, and then I discovered Paul's solo music. It was the mid-90's and I waited year after year for Paul to tour but it never happened. I thought I'd never have the chance to see him live. Then, for some strange reason (honestly, I don't remember why) but when he did go on tour in 2002, I DIDN'T go... in hindsight, I'm not sure why. It's so long ago now, maybe I was just too broke at the time (though I'm pretty broke now so it hardly seems a good excuse!). Then I picked up the "Back in the US" album and kicked myself repeatedly for missing another chance to see Paul. So, when the US Tour was announced in 2005, I was determined that I would see Paul once and for all! Little did I know, it would be the first of several chances I'd have Washington DC this summer will be the 5th Paul concert for my wife and I!! She only went with me to the first one because she knew how bad I wanted to go... now she is a fan, especially of Wings! We were newly married at the time with no children... DC is going to be special to me because we're bringing our 7 year old son He loves The Beatles/Wings music as well and I'm excited to share this with him. Finally, I will say that for me, the ultimate "full circle" thing happened in 2009 when we were there to see Billy Joel join Paul on stage at Citi Field... my two musical heroes on one stage! I was so thrilled that their duet made it onto the GENYC album/DVD That is definitely a great story! Wow, my wife and I are going to see Paul McCartney, together. I can't wait. I wish we were all a bit younger and this well to do. Why is it you never have time or money until your old? At least I'm not 64 yet, but who could have imagined 30 years ago, listening to Paul sing "When Im 64", when he's over 70? Go get em Paul -- write another, saying "When I'm 164". Will you still need me, will you still feed me -- hell yes we will!
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It took me 49 yrs. My 19 yr old son bought us both a ticket and we saw him in Memphis on May 26th,2013. yay!
