I feel fortunate to have witnessed the rise of the Beatles from the beginning. I watched the Fab Four on their first big television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 1964.

Back in 1964, there were basically only 3 channels, not counting PBS. So, most everyone tuned into The Sullivan Show every Sunday night.

It was one of those pivotal experiences that changed the culture of America. Long hair was the new thing and soon followed the Hippie culture.

Paul McCartney was, to many, the most popular Beatle. A left handed bass player that could sing and together with John Lennon, write some incredible music.

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And then there was the whole Paul is dead era. Where you could swear when you spun an album backwards, it said "Paul is dead". And, of course the famous picture of the Beatles crossing the street with Paul barefoot only fueled the rumors.

Hard to believe that McCartney turns 77 today. i saw him in concert a few years ago and he played for about 3 hours, doing 36 songs. Any artist of McCartney's caliber could easily get away with playing 45 minutes and the crowd would be happy. But McCartney still seems to really love what he's doing.

He is a cultural icon and has written so many great songs over the last 5 decades. Happy birthday, Paul and may you have many, many more.

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