Browsing the Internet I came across a list of June celebrity birthdays showing Paul McCartney and Carly Simon both celebrate the day of their birth later this month.  On the 18th Paul will turn 69 years of age.  Then a week later on June 25th Carly will turn 66.

Both performers have been favorites of mine since I first became aware of them.  Memory is clear of listening to a cheap small plug-in red plastic radio and hearing the Beatle invasion unfold.  At the time the “in thing” for many was to pick a favorite Beatle.  The girls just loved Paul and being a typical contrarian American male, I said I liked Ringo best.  Picking a favorite at all was opposite to a lot of the boys in the 60’s who pretended to hate the Beatles simply because the girls liked them. I just could not admit to “the guys” at the time that my favorite Beatle was really Paul. 

The Beatles never came close enough to where I lived for me to see them.  I did see Paul and Linda McCartney with Wings in Cincinnati at the old Riverfront Coliseum in the late 70’s.  They had a great band, a string and horn section and backup singers which made for a wonderful concert. About 10 years ago I saw Pual in concert and again about a year ago from the 4th row (thanks P.K.!).  In his 60’s Paul is still a great performer and always seems to be having a great time on stage.  Paul once said “I never look forward, because I have not idea about how any of it happened to getting here.  I’ve no idea how the next five years are going to be.”

Eight years or so after my discovery of McCartney I came into my first contact with Carly Simon’s music in 1971.  That first song ‘The Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be” was so different that American media did not know what to do with it.  The followup was an album with the title song “Anticipation” which she has said was about her state of mind while waiting for Cat Stevens to arrive for a date.  However, it was Carly’s 3rd album when I became a fan.  It was then the “You’re So Vain” mystery was unleashed.

In a newly-recorded version of “You’re So Vain” a few years ago, Simon whispers roughly two and a half minutes into the tune.  Play it backwards and you’ll hear the first name of the man: “David.”  Carly confirmed the clue in an interview and said “I’m just going to tell you this.  The answer is on the new version of ‘You’re So Vain.’  It’s the answer to the puzzle.” The “David” she is probably referring to is movie and music mogul David Geffen.  While the song was long thought to be about a failed relationship, the new whisper seems to be a hint at Simon’s resentment of Geffen signing then-music rival Joni Mitchell for his own label Asylum Records.

I regret that I have never seen Carly Simon in concert.  She rarely tours.  But I have been consoled by the album covers of many of her LP’s!  She was the subject of quite a bit of young male wishful thinking in the day.  The one that hooked me was “Secrets” where she is proudly walking braless and looking naturally sexy as all get out.  She continued with that sort of LP cover theme consistently over the years, much to my enjoyment. 

I know Paul McCartney is engaged to a wealthy woman named Nancy Shevell from The Hamptons.  I do wish them much happiness.  I hope this union brings Paul a much better life than his second marriage to old what’s her name.  I also know that Carly Simon is single but has a steady boyfriend.  However I do know the two of them know each other since Linda McCartney was one of Carly Simon’s closest friends.  This morning the notion of the two of them married popped into my head and I found it fun to think about.  I imagined them on stage singing to each other:

Paul to Carly: I give her all my love, That’s all I do; And if you saw my love, You’d love her too.

And then Carly to Paul:  Nobody does it better, Makes me feel sad for the rest, Nobody does it half as good as you, Baby, you’re the best.

What a great fantasy concert that could be.  I know thinking of Paul and Carly as a couple is pure craziness and the product of an overactive imagination.  However, I have enjoyed their music and followed their careers and lives to the point that they have been companions on my journey through life.  I am very grateful for the many pleasurable hours listening to their work and simply want both to be happy as the three of us move through the autumn years of our lives.   

No Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one Autumnal face.
John Donne