Song of the day: I Will (The White Album, 1968)

In honor of Paul McCartney's 72nd birthday on Wednesday, I'm going to post some of my favorite Paul compositions of The Beatles this week. Here is the White Album's (The Beatles for sticklers) "I Will" from 1968.

This day in 1966

On June 6, 1966, Paul McCartney recorded the final dubbing for Revolver's "Eleanor Rigby." This is also a few months before "Paul is Dead" conspirators believe Paul was killed in his Aston Martin in a car accident and Billy Shears took over as the Beatle. Just as a side note, today is the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landing on the beaches of Normandy in France.

This day in 1964

On June 5, 1964, The Beatles arrived in Holland at the Schipol Airport, where they immediately went to a press conference. From there, they were driven to Hillegom to record a program for VARA-TV. In addition, they answered questions at the Cafe-Restaurant Treslong from the audience. What started as a fairly routine performance, turned into a conflict, as the picture above displays. By the sixth song, the audience came on stage and completely smothered them while playing. The audience was resilient and was not able to be ushered off, causing The Beatles to leave. This performance was watched from afar in London by Ringo, who was recovering in the hospital after having his tonsils removed. Jimmy Nichols was filling in as drummer during this period. The Beatles were experiencing even higher levels of mania since they were last on the European mainland in 1963. They had only recently returned from their now legendary first US tour in which they performed to 73 million on the Ed Sullivan Show.

This day in 1963

On June 4, 1963, the first broadcast of The Beatles' own BBC radio series, Pop Go The Beatles! was aired. 1963 was the year Beatlemania broke out and as a result, a whopping 2.8 million people listened to that first broadcast. The boys' popularity would only go up from here. In addition, The Beatles travelled to the north of England to the Town Hall in Congreve, Birmingham.

Let's play catch-up.

So sorry for the month-long break on my blog, folks. Since I last posted, a lot of things have happened, both in my life and in Beatles news, some good and some bad. Let's catch up then, shall we?

I finished my first year at Pepperdine University on April 24, and am now currently in the waiting stage between the end freshman year and my sophomore year in London! I leave September 3, and I can't wait! Look out London (and Liverpool, obviously)!

Next, I have big news. Paul McCartney has been on his "Out There" tour for most of this spring, beginning in Latin America and moving through Asia. You've probably heard that he had to cancel his Japanese tour dates, which included his second-time ever performance at the Budokan Theater that the Beatles graced in 1966, as a result of contracting a virus infection. It was very serious for a couple of days, so serious that he was hospitalized earlier this week. But, all is well again and he is scheduled to resume his tour in Lubbock, Texas on June 14, the home of Buddy Holly! About two months after that,  Paul will perform at Dodger Stadium in our very own, Los Angeles, California. And, yes. I WILL BE SEEING PAUL MCCARTNEY IN CONCERT ON AUGUST 10th AT DODGER STADIUM! It's official. I'm looking at the tickets right now. It doesn't feel real yet and I can't even begin to describe what it feels like to hold a former Beatles' ticket in my hand. I just have one more thing to say: "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

Imagine the Band

Some fantastic soul out there slowed down John Lennon's classic "Imagine," sped up Paul McCartney's "Band on the Run," and put them together. The result is this surprisingly moving tribute to Paul and John's friendship. Enjoy!

Song of the Day: It's All Too Much (Yellow Submarine, 1968)