“When I’m 64″ – It’s Today – Happy Birthday, Paul
On this date in 1942 – James Paul McCartney is born at Walton Hospital, Liverpool, England.
That means today that Paul McCartney has reached the age he wondered about in song – 64.
The classic “When I’m Sixty Four” first appeared as the second track on the second side on the seminal “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album that was recorded in 1966 and released in early 1967, but the song predates both the album and The Beatles as a group.
The first version of “When I’m Sixty-Four” was written by Paul back in early 1959 when he was just sixteen years old as part of a batch of songs that also included “Love Of The Loved,” “I’ll Be On My Way,” and “A World Without Love” all composed during a six month hiatus when The Quarry Men had stopped playing following the death of John’s mother.
The rewritten “When I’m Sixty-Four” was the only one of this batch to be recorded by The Beatles, the other tracks became hits for other artists such as Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer and Peter & Gordon.
