The Beatles - When I'm 64 - The Story Behind the Song

Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 6, 8, 20, 21 December 1966
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick

Released: 1 June 1967 (UK), 2 June 1967 (US)

Paul McCartney: vocals, piano, bass
John Lennon: backing vocals, guitar
George Harrison: backing vocals
Ringo Starr: drums, chimes
Robert Burns, Henry MacKenzie, Frank Reidy: clarinets

Available on:
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Yellow Submarine Songtrack

The first of the Sgt Pepper songs to be recorded, When I'm Sixty-Four was originally intended to  be the b-side to Strawberry Fields Forever.

The song dates back to The Beatles' earliest days. Paul McCartney had composed it on the family piano at 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool "when I was about 15".
 

"Back then I wasn't necessarily looking to be a rock 'n' roller. When I wrote When I'm Sixty-Four I  thought I was writing a song for Sinatra. There were records other than rock 'n' roll that were  important to me."
Paul McCartney

McCartney used to perform a variation of the song in their Cavern Club era, on piano, when the  group's equipment used to stop working.

"When I'm Sixty-Four was something Paul wrote in the Cavern days. We just stuck a few more words on it like 'grandchildren on your knee' and 'Vera, Chuck and Dave'. It was just one of those ones  that he'd had, that we've all got, really; half a song. And this was just one that was quite a hit  with us. We used to do them when the amps broke down, just sing it on the piano."
John Lennon
Anthology

The song was dusted down in 1966, the year McCartney's father Jim turned 64. When I'm Sixty-Four  focuses on a young man anxiously looking towards old age; the vocals were sped up in the studio to  make them sound more sprightly.

The music is suitably old-fashioned, with a music hall melody and an arrangement prominently  featuring George Martin's clarinet score.

"I thought it was a good little tune but it was too vaudevillian, so I had to get some cod lines to take the sting out of it, and put the tongue very firmly in cheek. It's pretty much my song. I did it in a rooty-tooty variety style... George helped me on a clarinet arrangement. I would specify the sound and I love clarinets so 'Could we have a clarinet  quartet?' 'Absolutely.' I'd give him a fairly good idea of what I wanted and George would score it  because I couldn't do that. He was very helpful to us. Of course, when George Martin was 64 I had  to send him a bottle of wine."Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles

George Martin later regretted not releasing When I'm Sixty-Four as a b-side. Speaking about the  Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever single, he said:
 

"The idea of a double a-side came from me and Brian, really... He came to me and said, 'I must have a really great single. What have you got?' I said, 'Well, I've got three tracks - and two of them  are the best tracks they've ever made. We could put them together and make a smashing single.' We  did, and it was a smashing single - but it was also a dreadful mistake. We would have sold far  more and got higher in the charts if we had issued one of those with, say, When I'm Sixty-Four on  the back."George Martin
Anthology

In the studio

On 6 December 1966 The Beatles recorded Christmas messages for the pirate stations Radio London  and Radio Caroline. Afterwards they spent some time rehearsing When I'm Sixty-Four, before two  takes of the rhythm track were recorded. Two days later, without the other Beatles being present, McCartney added his lead vocals to take  two. The song was then left until 20 December, when McCartney, Lennon and Harrison taped backing  vocals and Starr played chimes.

When I'm Sixty-Four was completed the next day, with the overdub of the three clarinets. During  the mixing stage, meanwhile, McCartney decided that the song needed speeding up. On 30 December  they scrapped all previous mixes and created a new mono one, which raised the key from C to D flat  major.

Special thanks to  http://www.beatlesbible.com

By: Shahen Gasparyan