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When I’m Sixty-Four: The Beatles

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This entry was posted on August 17, 2011 at 1:15 am and is filed under Music. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

7 Comments on “When I’m Sixty-Four: The Beatles”

  2. sblake's avatar sblake Says:

    August 17, 2011 at 1:43 am

    Happy happy birthday, and may there be many many more,and today is also another day to celebrate.Believe it or not but 50 (yes 50) years ago today Ringo Starr actually joined The Beatles as their drummer after Pete Best left the group.

    The song dates back to The Beatles’ earliest days. Paul McCartney had composed it on the family piano at 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool “when I was about 15”.

    “Back then I wasn’t necessarily looking to be a rock ‘n’ roller. When I wrote When I’m Sixty-Four I thought I was writing a song for Sinatra. There were records other than rock ‘n’ roll that were important to me.”

    Paul McCartney

    McCartney used to perform a variation of the song in their Cavern Club era, on piano, when the group’s equipment used to stop working.
    “When I’m Sixty-Four was something Paul wrote in the Cavern days. We just stuck a few more words on it like ‘grandchildren on your knee’ and ‘Vera, Chuck and Dave’. It was just one of those ones that he’d had, that we’ve all got, really; half a song. And this was just one that was quite a hit with us. We used to do them when the amps broke down, just sing it on the piano.”

    John Lennon
    Anthology

    The song was dusted down in 1966, the year McCartney’s father Jim turned 64. When I’m Sixty-Four focuses on a young man anxiously looking towards old age; the vocals were sped up in the studio to make them sound more sprightly.

    The music is suitably old-fashioned, with a music hall melody and an arrangement prominently featuring George Martin’s clarinet score.

    ” I thought it was a good little tune but it was too vaudevillian, so I had to get some cod lines to take the sting out of it, and put the tongue very firmly in cheek.”

    “It’s pretty much my song. I did it in a rooty-tooty variety style… George helped me on a clarinet arrangement. I would specify the sound and I love clarinets so ‘Could we have a clarinet quartet?’ ‘Absolutely.’ I’d give him a fairly good idea of what I wanted and George would score it because I couldn’t do that. He was very helpful to us. Of course, when George Martin was 64 I had to send him a bottle of wine.”

    Paul McCartney
    Many Years From Now, Barry Miles

    George Martin later regretted not releasing When I’m Sixty-Four as a b-side. Speaking about the Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever single, he said:

    “The idea of a double a-side came from me and Brian, really… He came to me and said, ‘I must have a really great single. What have you got?’ I said, ‘Well, I’ve got three tracks – and two of them are the best tracks they’ve ever made. We could put them together and make a smashing single.’ We did, and it was a smashing single – but it was also a dreadful mistake. We would have sold far more and got higher in the charts if we had issued one of those with, say, When I’m Sixty-Four on the back.”

    George Martin
    Anthology
    In the studio

    On 6 December 1966 The Beatles recorded Christmas messages for the pirate stations Radio London and Radio Caroline. Afterwards they spent some time rehearsing When I’m Sixty-Four, before two takes of the rhythm track were recorded.

    Two days later, without the other Beatles being present, McCartney added his lead vocals to take two. The song was then left until 20 December, when McCartney, Lennon and Harrison taped backing vocals and Starr played chimes.

    When I’m Sixty-Four was completed the next day, with the overdub of the three clarinets. During the mixing stage, meanwhile, McCartney decided that the song needed speeding up. On 30 December they scrapped all previous mixes and created a new mono one, which raised the key from C to D flat major

    • katry's avatar katry Says:

      August 17, 2011 at 10:59 am

      sblake,
      Thanks for the birthday wishes.

      50 years ago, very difficult to believe the years pass so quickly.

      I never realized the song had been written so early as I didn’t remember it as a single. I just thought it this wonderful song from Sgt. pepper. I love its bounce and liveliness.

  3. Scott MacDonald's avatar Scott MacDonald Says:

    August 17, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    A “once in a lifetime” song, eh?

    Hoppy Birthday my friend Kat.

    You may ask yourself … : )

    s

  4. iero's avatar iero Says:

    August 18, 2011 at 5:44 am

    Happy Birthday Kat ! And happy mny returns !


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