RELIVE PAUL´S HIGHS AND LOWS

Paul McCartney in 2007. Photo Credit: Mary McCartney/courtesy of MPL Communications Ltd.

Paul McCartney wrote “When I’m Sixty-Four” in his mid-teens, at a time when the idea of actually turning 64 years of age must’ve seemed impossibly far off. In the song, he imagined one’s senior years with a quaint nostalgia, emphasized by the vaudeville/music hall flavor of the melody, depicting an old couple thriftily economizing to get by and enjoying life’s simple pleasures: grandchildren and that lovely cottage on the Isle of Wight.

Instead, when McCartney did turn 64 on June 18, 2006, it was something of an annus horribilis for him. In April, McCartney had separated from Heather Mills, his wife of less than four years, and when the news became public the following month, a media frenzy ensued that lasted until the couple’s divorce in June 2008.

McCartney’s first public statement on the separation claimed, “Our parting is amicable,” which proved to be as inaccurate as the statement’s bizarre assertion that the split was due to media intrusion, and not the couple’s own inherent incompatibility. The subsequent leaking of Mills’ “Answer and Cross Petition” to McCartney’s filing for divorce unleashed many hurtful allegations in the press (which McCartney wisely chose not to answer), and the U.K. tabloids in particular rushed to exploit Mills’ former career as a nude model. Ever since “When I’m Sixty-Four” had been released (on 1967’s “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”), McCartney had known there would be an intense media focus when his own 64th birthday came around; he could hardly have been pleased that the date fell at a time when his private life was being publicly dissected in such gruesome detail.

But, resilient as ever, McCartney managed to emerge from this sad chapter in his life with his head held high. His first post-separation album, 2007’s “Memory Almost Full,” gave him his highest U.S. chart position for a studio album (No. 3) in 20 years (when 1997’s “Flaming Pie” had reached No. 2). Though the extensive tours of 2002 and 2005 are seemingly a thing of the past, McCartney still regularly performs live. And he continues to be showered with new accolades; last year, he made not just one, but two visits to the White House to pick up awards...........

He was done with the Beatles in the 1970s, but Paul McCartney still found plenty of outlets for his creativity. Courtesy of MPL Communications Ltd.

McCartney’s post-Beatles career is now in its 31st year, and there’s a lot of catch-up to do as far as unreleased archive material. Then again, that’s one of those “problems” that’s nice to have. After receiving a BRIT Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music and an honorary doctor of music degree from Yale University in the first part of 2008, McCartney returned to Liverpool in triumph, headlining a concert at Anfield Stadium on June 1, as part of the city’s yearlong celebrations honoring Liverpool as the European “Capital of Culture.” He opened the show with a real blast from the past, “Hippy Hippy Shake,” a number dating back to The Beatles’ Cavern Club era. McCartney was clearly in his element, joking with the hometown crowd and adding a few more surprises to the set, including, appropriately enough, “In Liverpool” (only available on the “Liverpool Oratorio” DVD) and a medley of “A Day In The Life”/“Give Peace A Chance,” as Yoko Ono watched from the stands. More large-scale concerts quickly followed before massive crowds: 350,000 in Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, and 200,000 in Quebec (shows rumored to help pay off his divorce settlement).

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