Sir Paul McCartney Receives the Kennedy Center Honor
On Sunday December 5th, Sir Paul McCartney receives America's most prestigious tribute bestowed upon creative artists -- the Kennedy Center Honor. Beatles historian Martin Lewis, who has known Sir Paul and worked with him on several projects over the past quarter-century, has written this new appreciation of McCartney to mark the occasion. The Kennedy Center Honors event will be aired on the CBS network on Tuesday December 28th.Martin Lewis
British-born, Hollywood-based humorist, commentator, producer and radio host
Posted: December 4, 2010 06:14 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martin-lewis/many-years-from-then-paul_b_791505.htmlMy mentor and first employer, former Beatles publicist, the late Derek Taylor, once described The Beatles as "the 20th Century's Greatest Romance." His poetic encapsulation of the majestic achievements of the lads from Liverpool was astute, and in that interpretation, Paul McCartney is the charismatic Aramis of the four musketeer-musicians who captured the world's heart.
Sir Paul McCartney has traveled a long and winding road from his childhood in Liverpool to the summit of receiving his Kennedy Center Honor in Washington D.C. By the age of just 27, with his three bandmates in The Beatles, he had already completely revolutionized popular music and created a canon of work that is heralded and unsurpassed in both critical acclaim and public popularity to this day. In the 40 years since the break-up of The Beatles, he has developed into a Renaissance Man for our times. A legacy of compositions and recordings in popular music, acclaimed classical works, poetry, paintings, award-winning animated films and a pioneering presence as an activist in many spheres -- including the instigation of the Concert For New York after the 9/11 attacks.
Born James Paul McCartney on June 18th 1942 in war-bombed Liverpool to Mary a nurse and Jim a cotton salesman and jazz band aficionado, he grew up in municipal housing, in blue-collar districts on the outskirts of Liverpool. At the age of 14, he lost his mother to breast cancer, and he and his younger brother Michael were thereafter raised by his father with the support of extended family. Shortly after his mother's passing he taught himself to play the guitar and wrote his first song, I Lost My Little Girl.
One Saturday afternoon in July 1957, his friend Ivan Vaughan took him to the local church fete. Another of Ivan's pals was playing in a skiffle group that day in front of 400 villagers. (Skiffle was the British equivalent of homemade jug-band music.) McCartney watched the Quarrymen and in particular their scruffy leader, John. After the performance, Ivan introduced his two mates. It was the Big Bang that led directly to The Beatles. If that sounds like an exaggeration, consider this: Almost ten years later to the day Paul and his new pal John -- together with two other chums called George and Ringo, were performing live to 400 MILLION members of the global village on the world's first-ever satellite TV hook-up. "All You Need Is Love" was what they sang that day. Love in all its forms was, and remains, the touchstone of Paul McCartney's work and family life.
Paul McCartney (2nd left) performing with John Lennon (center) on Friday October 18th 1957 at the the New Clubmoor Hall in Liverpool, England. It was McCartney's debut appearance with John's group The Quarrymen -- The Band That Became The Beatles. Photo: Leslie Kearney. Used by courtesy of The Quarrymen
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