1956
Paul McCartney was born on June 18, 1942, and brought up in an orthodox working-class household with mum and dad, and brother Mike. His father, Jim, was once leader of a dance hall troupe called Jim Mac’s Band, and was the main source of McCartney’s early musical tutoring (such as it was). Not only did McCartney senior expose his eldest son to various forms of music, but he kept an upright piano in the front room, which McCartney readily learned his way around. (Jim Mac played trumpet too, which McCartney also took up in his youth.)
In 1953 McCartney passed exams for the Liverpool Institute, and a year later, a certain George Harrison did likewise, the two striking up a friendship through meetings on the bus and in the playground. Little did either of them realise that history was already in the making.
McCartney’s father had given him a trumpet for his 13th birthday (June 1955) but after he’d mastered the basics, he became bored with its restrictions (for one thing, it prevented him from singing while playing). Rather, McCartney gravitated towards the piano. In 1956, he seems to have come up with his first original songs on that instrument. Since this was prior to the arrival of rock and roll, and since his musical grounding was more towards music hall, these first efforts bore no real relation to rock music as we know it today, consisting initially of piano ditties. Two of them survived, and are considered to be the first two he ever wrote (although this is impossible to prove for sure).
In 1953 McCartney passed exams for the Liverpool Institute, and a year later, a certain George Harrison did likewise, the two striking up a friendship through meetings on the bus and in the playground. Little did either of them realise that history was already in the making.
McCartney’s father had given him a trumpet for his 13th birthday (June 1955) but after he’d mastered the basics, he became bored with its restrictions (for one thing, it prevented him from singing while playing). Rather, McCartney gravitated towards the piano. In 1956, he seems to have come up with his first original songs on that instrument. Since this was prior to the arrival of rock and roll, and since his musical grounding was more towards music hall, these first efforts bore no real relation to rock music as we know it today, consisting initially of piano ditties. Two of them survived, and are considered to be the first two he ever wrote (although this is impossible to prove for sure).
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suicide (mccartney)
This piano tune is a strong contender
for McCartney’s first-ever write. It was composed around the time of his
fourteenth birthday (mid-1956), give or take a little. McCartney was evidently
highly confident of his abilities even at this fledgling stage, and in his
naivety, seriously considered offering it to Frank Sinatra!
Although the song disappears from the radar after Lennon and McCartney met, it popped up with several other oldies during the Get Back sessions (of which we shall hear plenty on this site), on January 26, 1969. Here we find audio of the song, with McCartney plonking through the track on piano, and Lennon joining in – obviously recognising it (thereby proving that it had been shown to him after the two teamed up). Interestingly there is a full lyric in place, which might have been written at the song’s genesis – it is impossible to be sure. (If it was, “Suicide” was an unusually sombre choice of title for an optimistic 14-year-old, let alone as a potential Sinatra hit.) McCartney recorded the song alone in 1970 for his first solo album (as he did with “Hot As Sun”), although only a very brief section was used on the finished album, and it was unlisted on the sleeve. In 1974, he returned to it and made a full demo recording, which, realising his teenage dream, he offered to Sinatra (who declined it). McCartney recorded it yet again in 1975 for a film (One Hand Clapping), but once more it failed to appear. Finally, in 2011, the original 1970 version was released in full, as an extra on the remastered re-issue of McCartney, and this is considered definitive. (The Deluxe Edition of that release also included a DVD, on which the 1975 version appears.) It is not known how much of the recorded versions was written circa 1969/70, and how much is original, but even so, as a first song from a teenager, it is extraordinarily accomplished. The various recordings have meant it was copyrighted a few times, with official titles ranging from “Call It Suicide” to “I Call It Suicide” and just “Suicide”, which we use here, since that’s how it appears on the McCartney CD. |
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When I'm 64 (Mccartney)
This famous song was also conceived as a piano instrumental, written circa 1956. As a jaunty tune, is was scarcely suitable for group performance after McCartney joined the rock-oriented Quarry Men, but he used to hammer out renditions on stage pianos at the Cavern and other venues, usually as a time-filler, particularly when there was a power cut or other unexpected interruption (not infrequent in those turbulent days!). There is no indication that he considered it proper Beatles material at that point, or even had it as a complete song.
When his father turned 64 in mid-1966, McCartney remembered this old tune composed on Dad’s piano, and filled it out with some appropriate lyrics. (Lennon has said that “more” words were added in 1966, implying that there may have been a part-lyric written at some point prior to this.) The song of course became part of the Beatles’ official discography with its release on Sgt Pepper in 1967, its old-time flavour quaint in the midst of so much psychedelia. It has of course surfaced many times since, including an odd rendition (to the chords of a different song!) during the Get Back sessions of 1969. On the DVD, In The World Tonight (1997), there is footage of McCartney at the piano, plodding his way through the chords, and whistling the melody over the top. This brief snippet is probably nearer the song’s 1956 incarnation than the now famous Beatles recording. |