It’s My Beatles Birthday
In which I am hoping that people will still “need me and feed me”, plus “send me birthday greetings, bottles of wine” and other lyrical references.
This edition of the newsletter goes out on my birthday, but not just any birthday, for it is, as it’s known in our family, my “Beatles Birthday.” Today I turn 64.
Paul McCartney is said to have first written the music for this tune when he was around 14 years old, later adding lyrics when his own father turned 64. A lament looking forward to a possible life fifty years in his future when he too would be as old as his father.
Although it wasn’t recorded as a Beatles song until the iconic Sgt. Pepper album, it was a regular part of the early Beatles live sets, especially in their Hamburg days, when for a break in pace they would perform it as a sing-along around the stage piano.
Not a bad piece of creativity from a 14 year-old.
What was I doing at 14?
Thinking back I was, unknowingly, starting out on my own creative journey. While I’d wanted to be a writer since about the age of 8, my appalling spelling was raised by several teachers as a barrier to that ambition (Spelling is still an issue for me as the Google Docs interactive spell-checker just reminded me with a nice wavy red line under my first attempt at the word ‘appalling.’) Yet I recall that around the age of 14 I was starting to bash out on a portable typewriter a series of terrible cliched science fiction adventures that no-one ever read. The only one I recall involved my hero climbing some shear wall outside his village only to discover that the village was in fact an exhibit in some alien zoo.
It was also around the age of 14 that I started to seriously get into music, attending my first concerts, and buying records, lots of records. A short stint at piano lessons determined that I hadn’t inherited my father’s aptitude for the keyboard, so I switched my focus to learning about the music makers instead, of which The Beatles were soon a firm favorite.
Over the next fifty years, on hearing this song I would often wonder to myself, ‘What will my life be like when I hit 64?’
Today I get to answer that question.
And it’s pretty damned good. I’ve an amazing family, my wonderful wife, Gill, is a supportive partner in life’s adventures. Two great kids and amazing grandkids who teach me new things everytime I get to hang out with them (although they aren’t called Vera, Chuck, and Dave). I’ve also been lucky enough to have a fantastic career combining my love of words, and engineering which has literally taken me around the world, worked on some fascinating projects, and made firm long lasting friendships.
And despite those early educational naysayers, I did somehow manage to become a writer along the way.
At 64 I’m doing the things I always wanted to do, with the people I want to do them with.
You can’t say much better than that.
Other Stuff
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Brabazon Bits
While working on compiling what should be the final set of notes for the chapter on the Brabazon’s construction this week, I came to a couple of conclusions; (1) that the chapter needed a new title, and (2) that the chapter was in the wrong place in the time-line.
Moving the chapter around helped solve the new title issue too, as it now comes at the end of Part Two of the book, and the chapter title now reflects the title of the first chapter in that section of the book, hopefully providing a balanced bookend.
Next up is to take all those notes and build the actual narrative story of the aircraft’s construction.
Word Slinging
Materializing next month, another great ATB "Outside In" compendium, and this time it marks my first published words on Doctor Who in which I tackle the first Doctor's musical visit to Tombstone.
You can pre-order your copy of what promises to be a fun volume now at the ATB website.
Pages and Screens
Book Read in 2023 - “The Boy: Stirling Moss - A Life in 60 Laps” by Richard Williams.
Sterling Moss was arguably the greatest racing driver never to win the world championship. But more than that, he was in the 1950s and 60s a British national icon, whose name remained familiar and recognized long after his competitive career was bought short by a career ending accident.
This book takes an interesting approach to telling his life for instead of a traditional biography it presents 60 vignettes of the man, his career, and his life. While there is some racing reportage it’s more of an affectionate reflection on the man himself, one who stuck by his own values even if they cost him championships.
But while Williams’ friendship and admiration for Moss is self evident he doesn’t shy away from the less palpable side of his subject, especially around his views on women, or his sometimes hypocritical stance on patriotism.
While it’s, perhaps fittingly, a quick read, it’s also the most rounded and balanced book on Moss that I’ve read so far.
Movies watched in 2023 - Saving Leningrad (aka Battle of Leningrad)
Another misnamed Russian movie that largely ignored what was actually happening during the siege of Leningrad itself. Instead this tells the tale of Barge 752, and old rusty cattle barge that was overloaded with 1500 troops and civilians in an attempt to evacuate them across Lake Ladoga.
An unexpected storm inundated the barge causing it to sink, and the first to arrive on the scene at daybreak were enemy aircraft who attacked. The resultant loss of life numbered over 1000.
This factionalized account clearly drew inspiration from Titanic (for its central plot line) and Saving Private Ryan (for the intense battle scenes), but lacks the emotional punch of either.
The version I watched wasn’t helped by utilizing dubbing to deliver what was clearly Americanized dialog which felt wrong in telling a Russian story. I’d have rather it had utilized subtitles instead.
Before They Were Beatles Updates
The Before They Were Beatles podcast - While we haven’t recorded or published any new episodes for a while now, I’m delighted to see that we continue to pick up new listeners, and the podcast downloads are chugging along at a steady state.
Some unforeseen family events have slowed down the the research for our new upcoming series, The Forgotten Beatles - but it is on the way, it may just take a little longer than I originally anticipated.
The September issue of the Before They Were Beatles newsletter is now online in with a focus on John Lennon’s boyhood, and lifelong, best friend, Pete Shotton - who will play a pivotal role in the evolving Beatles story.
You can sign up for a subscription below.
Weekly Web Round-Up
James Bond Lexicon website - This week we added a new James Bond Bibliography page listing over 230 non-fiction books related to the worlds of 007 and Ian Fleming. The 007 Timeline page was also updated to include comics and book releases during 2022 and 2023. The Dynamite Comics section has some background code issues repaired, and brought up to date.
Batman On The Cover - The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues this week as we move into June 1968 with reprint editions published in Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. - Another round of covers that repurposed previously published US covers, so no real standouts to share this time around.
Where on the Web is Alan?
You can now find links to all the places you can find me online, websites, newsletters, social media, and more in a single LINKS page on my personal website.
As always, thanks for joining me this week. If you know someone else who might enjoy the contents of this week’s newsletter, or just my weekly ramblings in general - please feel free to share by clicking the button below.
See you next time
Alan J. Porter