Paul McCartney turned 70 this week. That’s right, 70. I don’t know about you, but for me this is rather unsettling news. Please don’t get me wrong. Sir Paul certainly has every right to get older. In fact, he deserves a hearty “Well done!” Yet, I can’t help feeling melancholy about this milestone. The two remaining Beatles, Paul and Ringo, are now both in their 70s, and this makes me realize two things: the 1960s were a long time ago, and I’m getting older, too. The fact that the Fab Four age like the rest of us and have even become septuagenarians has rocked my world.
Musical luminaries are rare and special which makes them endlessly fascinating to those of us not blessed with such extraordinary talent. Author Howard Sounes understands this fascination and has written a well-researched, extremely detailed biography of superstar McCartney. With more than 600 pages of information, “Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney” requires some staying power. But if you’re a fan of “the cute Beatle” and want more than the tidbits you might find in People magazine, this is the biography for you. It was published in 2010, so it doesn’t include McCartney’s most recent marriage, but everything else in his life is so thoroughly examined that you just might feel like a Beatle insider yourself.
Even with gray hair and wrinkles, Paul McCartney is still an inspiring music icon. Just as we continue to listen to Mozart hundreds of years later, I predict that McCartney — both as a Beatle and as a solo artist — will be listened to for generations to come.
Happy birthday, Sir Paul. May “Penny Lane” live forever.
Jan Johnston is the Collection Development Coordinator for the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District. Email her at readingforfun@fvrl.org. She blogs at youbetterreadnow.blogspot.com.
