April 10, 2010 - Palmyra Island and It was 40 years ago today.....

It was 40 years ago today

Beatles broke up and went away

They’ve never gone out of style

But they guaranteed to raise a smile

Hard to believe it has been 40 years since they said goodbye as a band while their legacy lives on. John Lennon’s life was cut short at 40 years and this year that tragic event will be 30 years old. I’m currently few years younger than George Harrison when he passed away from cancer nearly nine years ago. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are the only ones left and Macca keeps making records and touring at the ripe age of 67(68 in June). Ringo will hit 70 in July and tours with his All-Starr band. I miss playing my Beatles Rock Band set up I bought last Christmas. If not for that I probably would have remained an old geezer and never bought a Wii console. Even playing a plastic Hofner bass with only six (twelve actually) buttons proved I lack musical talent. I put away a real guitar eight years ago and have not picked it up since and retired the bass guitar in the 70’s.

I look at the photos of the surviving Beatles and think they look so old, but again so are the fans, at least the ones who remembered them when all of them sang together. I was in junior high when the news came that McCartney had left the Beatles. Years later we were to find out that he was the last one to leave the Beatles but the first one to make it public. History shows that he was the one who was most enthusiastic about remaining a Beatle while he keeps their legacy alive. It would have been interesting to see if there would have been an Anthology reunion of all four of the Beatles if John wasn’t taken away from us so tragically and early. Would Paul and George written songs and recorded together if cancer did not claim the Beatles lead guitarist in 2001? Of course Ringo would be there as he was for all of them during the solo years.

Anthology in 1995 was a Beatles reunion electronically and the irony of Yoko bringing the three remaining Beatles back together with a homemade tape from the 70’s of John singing “Free As a Bird” put many hostilities towards her to rest. It would have been great if John and Paul did show up on stage of Saturday Night Live in 1976 with George as the show’s musical guest and Ringo coming in later. Then seeing the four of them being the Beatles for a mere three thousand dollars that producer Lorne Michaels promised them, saying you can give Ringo less if you want to.

The Beatles quit at the right time, though we did not think so back in 1970. But when the Beatles decided to call it quits, none of the four have yet reached age 30. They were still young and left behind many questions of what if? What if they stayed together and would it be like the Stones or any other act from that era we see today and wonder at amazement on how old they got, while denying the fact that we too have aged and have grandchildren on your knees. I saw the Rolling Stones in 1972 in San Diego and Mick was only 28 when he danced all over the stage. Keith Richards and company stood behind Jagger looking as if they were stoned on Novocain. But Mick is a showman and knew how to put on one helluva show!! Opening act was none other than 22 year old Stevie Wonder.

We mimicked the Beatles by picking up the guitar or dressing like them. Made outrageous comments like John, tried to be cute with the girls like Paul, quiet and reserve like George and funny like Ringo. But in the end you were none of them but yourself. Nevertheless the influence stayed with you years later. My children listen to the Beatles and even pull out the old vinyls from the closet to play on the turntable. The diamond needle is approaching twenty years old and when the turntable dies, it will be difficult to find a replacement. I will have to fork over the bucks and buy the digitally remastered sets to keep up with the times.

I was fortunate enough to see one Beatle live in concert in 1974. It was George Harrison at the Forum in Los Angeles during his arena Dark Horse tour. Unfortunately for George, it was not successful tour as he was recording during the day and performing concerts at night. He was hoarse and his voice was gone. George did sing several Beatle songs including “Something” and Lennon-McCartney's “In My Life.” However they were not recognizable as he changed the words around and spent most of the time on stage proselytizing Hare Krishna. "My Sweet Lord" was sung missing the famous acoustic guitar strums while my favorite “Here Comes the Sun” was omitted from the venue. The arena was half-full and the apex of the show was Billy Preston singing his number one hit at the time, “Nothing from Nothing.” I went to see Billy Preston in 2005 at Jazz Alley in Seattle and he sang that song. Six months later news came across the wires that Preston had passed away at age 59. I was glad I went and can say I did see a Beatle, George Harrison in concert in 1974 and their keyboard player from the Let It Be sessions, Billy Preston in 2005. The program I bought from Harrison’s concert wound up at some thrift store through a donation during one of my many moves and the ticket stub was probably left in a book given to a used book store for credit. Billy on that night at Jazz Alley was selling CDs he gladly autographed that was his tribute to the Beatles. I didn’t get one and now wished I did as well as keeping the ticket stub from Harrison's tour and the program from his concert.

Those songs by Lennon-McCartney and Harrison will always mean something and take me back to periods and places that were dear to the heart. Such are the times of serenading “T” to “Norwegian Wood,” during undemanding days of courting before the hardships of marriage and bitterness from divorce turned us into strangers. Singing “I Will” in “L”s ear when she sat on my lap in a crowded bus in Samoa coming back from Apia never crossing our minds that we would have to live the words in that song which easier sung than subsist on.

The Beatles weren’t just a musical group or singers of songs that tickled the adolescent years. They were life and representative of it. From innocent beginnings to maturity and with eventual conclusion that remain unfinished after the death of Lennon and Harrison. John, Paul, George and Ringo are bigger than life but so integrated into it that you could somehow relate to them despite of their noble status. They did what you wanted to do and only dreamed of. To generations that only know of them through stories from parents and now grandparents, they will always be the mantle for comparisons and standards to be held up to.

Yes, I held her hand while she was standing there and I wrote her letters that ended with all my loving and after my name I reminded her with a PS I love you. I am laboring in my day in a life like a hard days night with an occasional little help from my friends. I did come together, really enjoyed the show and in the end the love you take is equal to the love you made.

Goodnight from Palmyra Island and goodnight John, Paul, George and Ringo wherever you are and thank you.