Birthday - The Beatles
Danny Hosford
"Birthday" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles (also known as "the White Album"). Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, mainly by McCartney, it is the opening track on the third side of the LP (or the second disc in CD versions of the record). Surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr performed it for Starr's 70th birthday at Radio City Music Hall on 7 July 2010.[3]
George Martin was away so his assistant Chris Thomas produced the session. His memory is that the song was mostly McCartney's: "Paul was the first one in, and he was playing the 'Birthday' riff. Eventually the others arrived, by which time Paul had literally written the song, right there in the studio." Everyone in the studio sang in the chorus and it was 5 am by the time the final mono mix was completed.[6]
Lennon said in his Playboy interview in 1980: "'Birthday' was written in the studio. Just made up on the spot. I think Paul wanted to write a song like 'Happy Birthday Baby', the old fifties hit. But it was sort of made up in the studio. It was a piece of garbage."[7]
"Birthday" begins with an intro drum fill, then moves directly into a blues progression in A (in the form of a guitar riff doubled by the bass) with McCartney singing at the top of his chest voice with Lennon on a lower harmony. After this section, a drum break lasting eight measures brings the song into the middle section, which rests entirely on the dominant. A repeat of the blues progression/guitar riff instrumental section, augmented by piano brings the song into a bridge before returning to a repeat of the first vocal section, this time with the piano accompaniment.
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of its release, Jacob Stolworthy of The Independent listed "Birthday" at number 17 in his ranking of the White Album's 30 tracks. He wrote of the song: "The opening to the second-half [of the album] treads familiar Beatles ground with an improvised riff that could be the record's biggest earworm. Hilariously, Lennon would go on to call [the song] 'garbage'."[8]
According to the book accompanying the 2018 box set The Beatles: Super Deluxe Version, the annotation on the tape box from the session offers an alternative line-up that "explodes some myths of who played what":[9]
Paul McCartney released a live version on 8 October 1990 in the UK, with a US release albeit only as a cassette on 16 October.[10] Originally appearing on Tripping the Live Fantastic, the single reached number 29 on the UK Singles Chart[11] and number 3 in Italy.[12] The B-side was a live version of "Good Day Sunshine". McCartney also released a 12" single and CD single with those songs and two more live tracks, "P.S. Love Me Do" and "Let 'Em In". "P.S. Love Me Do" is a combination of "P.S. I Love You" and "Love Me Do".
Underground Sunshine recorded the song as a single in 1969. Their version was a minor hit in the US, reaching number 19 on the Cash Box chart, number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100,[18][19] and number 35 in Canada.[20]
Paul Weller covered the song for McCartney's 70th birthday. This version was available for download on 18 June 2012 for one day only.[21] Even with this limited mode of distribution, the track reached number 64 on the UK Singles Chart.
Throwing a first birthday party is usually a festive affair, filled with balloons and cake and presents. When our first son turned one we centered the whole party around his favorite stuffed animal, a Paul Frank Monkey. We knew we wanted to do something different for our second son's first birthday party, something that even adults would enjoy. We thought about all of our family's favorite things, one of them is music, specifically classic rock. Our family loves the Beatles. Both of our sons had Beatles songs that we sang them in utero and we even filled their nurseries with lullaby renditions of The Beatles while they slept. It seemed natural to pick The Beatles as a theme for our little boys first birthday party.
As I have mentioned before my daughter is an old soul who likes mid-century modern and everything vintage. I always keep my eye out for things when I am cruising thrift stores. I found some great old napkins, tablecloth, and a book of party games for mere pennies. The polka dotted plates came from Target and the candy from the Dollar Store.
Grandma Jingles sent the paper drink coasters, I found the candles here when purchasing straws on Etsy and the party favors were simple paper die cuts topped with a mini cupcake liner filled with red hots.
Your festive table is so pretty. The bright colours are so fun and happy. Happy belated birthday to your Princess Fashionista and Happy 90th Birthday to Grandma Jingles. Anyone with Jingles for a name has to be fun loving and happy!
Thanks for the link to the banners. ?
The British musician is known for his political engagement in which he repeatedly inspires and invites musicians from all genres and generations to unite behind the Non-Violence Project with the aim to stop the violence that affects mainly young people.
What is a birthday without sweet treats?! Head to our free-to-enter Fab4 Cafes (located at The Royal Albert Dock and Liverpool Gerry Marsden Ferry Terminal) for a Ringo coffee, limited-edition Ringo biscuits, or choose from a selection of delicious cakes. Find out more.
"I learned a lot just in dealing with him about the nature of his personality, and what he was still accomplishing in his life," said Wildes, whose book "John Lennon vs. the USA" deals with the episode. "The fact that this is going to be his 80th birthday just adds significance to my sadness of his not being around at this time."
"We're honoring John as a writer, as a cultural icon, as an artist, as an activist, as someone who talked of peace," said Brian Rothschild, co-founder and executive director of the Gibson John Lennon Songwriting Contest, now in its 24th year.
A commemorative album, from Bedminster's JEM Records, featuring renderings of Lennon songs by The Weeklings, The Grip Weeds, The Anderson Council, Richard Barone and other artists. "JEM Records Celebrates John Lennon" drops on Oct. 9. "I'm a lifelong Lennon fan," said JEM's Maureen Pietoso. "Me and my husband got married right on the Imagine mosaic. We went on our honeymoon to Liverpool."
The virtual concert, "Remember Lennon: Imagine 80," streams at 7 p.m. Oct. 9, with Lennon impersonator Scot Arch and a backing band re-creating the full range of Lennon hits, from his early Beatles days to his later solo work. Included, at the start and in the middle, will be celebrity testimonials. "The first few minutes will be messages from Tommy James, Gary Puckett, Pete Best, Mary Wilson from the Supremes, lots of others," said producer Charles Rosenay. "It's all happy birthday messages to the fans."
"Gimme Some Truth: The Ultimate Mixes," arriving Oct. 9 from Capitol/Universal Music, features up to 36 tracks (the deluxe version) of remixed material of Lennon classics, including "Imagine," "Give Peace a Chance, "Happy XMas (War is Over), "Mind Games," "How Do You Sleep" (his infamous takedown of Paul McCartney), and lots more, available as a 19- or 36-track CD package, a 2 or 4 LP package, and as a digital download. A "Mind Games" video has also been released in honor of the occasion.
A BBC radio documentary, "John Lennon at 80," featuring John's son Sean Lennon interviewing Paul McCartney, Elton John and his half-brother Julian, is scheduled to air in October and should be stream-able here.
"John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band" by John and Yoko, a book-length tribute to the first Plastic Ono Band album (which John considered his best ever), will feature commentary from John, Yoko and the rest of the band. It drops Oct. 6 from Simon & Schuster.
"My only criterion was people who knew him," Lapidos said. "Not people who met him. People who really knew him. Each one is going to talk 5, 8, 10 minutes. We just want to hear nice stories about John."
"I went over and started talking to him," Lapidos recalled. "He said, 'Where did you get that shirt?' I said I got it at the concert. He said, "I never saw it. Can I have it?' So we were about to exchange shirts. It was a very exciting moment. But at that moment Geraldo Rivera walked in with a camera crew and said, 'We're going to do the interview right now.' So we didn't get to exchange shirts.
"Once my dad took us to a skiffle competition," Davis recalled. "Where we were waiting to go on, there was a plush red carpet, and John dropped his cigarette on the floor and stubbed it out. It made this big burn mark on the red carpet. My dad looked at him and said, 'John, I'm sure you don't do that at home.' And he gave my dad a look that would have stopped him dead in his tracks."
On 1967's "Sgt. Pepper" album, Paul McCartney sings a typically sunny McCarney-esque song, "Getting Better." But in the middle, it takes an oddly dark turn: "I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved." That part was not McCartney. "All that was me," Lennon told Playboy magazine in 1980.
"I remember the gifts and the cards and the notes we received every Christmas," Michael Wildes recalls. "They were raunchy in the beginning. There was one we got, with a picture of John giving the peace sign under the skirt of a man dressed as the queen of England.
"The last note we received was a beautiful picture of him and Yoko, where he was wearing a turtleneck. There was a calm and humanity that had evolved. The evolution of John Lennon into a househusband was a beautiful thing. All of us, during a pandemic, should appreciate that. Through the example of John's short life, we should remember the peace and comfort we can derive from our own homes."
Jim Beckerman is an entertainment and culture reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to his insightful reports about how you spend your leisure time, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
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