by Bob Spitz
“Uncle George absolutely adored John”: Leila Harvey, 10/84, AGA.
“I had no time”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 27.
Mimi shelved “twenty volumes”: Ibid., p. 26.
“My mother had a .22”: Stanley Parkes, 2/3/85, AGA.
“fit in”: “Anyone who had anything didn’t fit in.” John Lennon, 1969 interview, in Anthology, p. 9.
“in a trance for twenty years”: John Lennon, 1980 interview, in Anthology, p. 9.
“very deprived”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 166.
“This image of me being the orphan”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 136.
CHAPTER 2: THE MESSIAH ARRIVES
“There was always a bad reception”: Author interview with Colin Manley, 10/2/97.
He was known to “behave distractedly”: Account of Lennon’s ritual, author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“That’s the music that brought me”: John Lennon, 1975 interview, in Anthology, p. 11.
“We savored the pleasure”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“It was the first indication”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/7/98.
Earlier in the year: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
“with the thick lads”: Davies, Beatles, p. 17.
“but eventually… he just drifted off”: Author interview with Rod Davis, 9/30/97.
“I was obviously very musical”: Davies, Beatles, p. 18.
Having given up any pretense: “We’d given up all hope by that stage.” Author interview with Pete Shotton, 7/16/98.
“Daily Howl”/Ivan Vaughan: “Ivan started the Daily Howl much earlier at the Institute, as a number of sheets just clipped together. Later, when John got involved, some of it would be his, but we always saw it in Ivan’s handwriting.” Author interview with Don Andrew, 10/4/97.
“He was his own man”: Ibid.
“It was so smooth”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
Radio Luxembourg had played: Radio Luxembourg archives.
“When I heard it… it was the end”: John Lennon, 1971 interview, in Anthology, p. 11.
“Nothing really affected me”: Davies, Beatles, p. 19.
“Heartbreak Hotel” “was the most exciting thing”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“That was him”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 22.
The uniform, in particular: Description of teddy boy chic drawn from Steele-Perkins & Smith, The Teds, pp. 3–5.
born Tommy Hicks: Actually, Larry Parnes had seen Steele perform three months earlier at a small supper club called the Gyre and Gimble. Rogan, Starmakers & Svengalis, p. 23.
“he had enormous presence”: Melly, Revolt Into Style, p. 26.
the influence of country-and-western music: “Country-and-western was so popular here because of the connection through the American sailors.” Author interview with Don Andrew, 10/4/97.
“the Nashville of the North”: “Because it was the biggest [source] in Europe for country music.” Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/1/97.
It wasn’t long before: Liverpool City Council, Leisure Services Directorate.
“Rock ’n roll was beyond”: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
Even before he got a guitar: “He would stand in front of his bedroom mirror with the guitar pretending to be that man Elvis Presley.” Goldman, Lives of John Lennon, p. 63; also author interview with Pete Shotton, 7/10/98.
She wouldn’t hear of it: “Her attitude was that guitar playing and rock ’n roll was really nasty stuff. It was dirty music, just below her.” Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“Perhaps next year”: Ibid., 1/18/98.
“guaranteed not to split”: Davies, Beatles, p. 20; also Coleman, Lennon, p. 57.
“It was a bit crummy”: John Lennon, 1963 interview, in Anthology, p. 11.
CHAPTER 3: MUSCLE AND SINEW
“began chatting about music in earnest”: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
“she retuned our guitar strings”: Ibid.
“tuned the bottom three strings”: Author interview with Rod Davis, 9/30/97.
“It took me about two years”: John Lennon, 1971 interview, in Anthology, p. 11.
Fats Domino’s first hit: Whitburn, Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, p. 91.
Hunter Davies maintains: It wasn’t released on the Brunswick label until May. Ward, Rock of Ages, pp. 153–54.
“John was a born performer”: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
“Should we start a band”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“Don’t be silly—I can’t play”: “I have no musical genes. It was a joke to me.” Ibid.
Bessie… contributed a washboard: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 7/10/98.
“I took it to school”: Author interview with Rod Davis, 9/30/97.
Right away, Lennon took control: “He was the front man and basically what he said went.” Ibid.
“I remember being very impressed”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/7/98.
they gathered at Mendips: “We were in John’s house… so we had a mini-brainstorm.” Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
defection of Bill Smith: “Bill Smith didn’t turn up for rehearsals, so [he] discharged himself [from the group].” Ibid.
“liberated” the tea-chest bass: “We did break into Bill Smith’s kitchen.” Author interview with Pete Shotton, 7/16/98.
A rarity in Liverpool: “It was pretty rare for someone to have a full set of drums.” Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“I didn’t know the first thing”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/7/98.
Business cards: Author interview with Charles Roberts, 7/25/98.
“The tea-chest bass and my drums”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“Julia was unlike anyone”: Author interview with Rod Davis, 9/30/97.
“She had loads of records”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“In fact, we discovered Gene Vincent”: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
“They once came and played”: Author interview with Mike Rice, 7/27/98.
By John’s own admission: “John used to say how much an audience meant to him; it made him feel like this wasn’t just a lark.” Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
contest/“no pay”: “We entered all the contests where you never got paid.” Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.
“People actually preferred the theater”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.
“They had a coach”: Author interview with Rod Davis, 9/30/97.
“This is an unusual situation”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.
“We were robbed”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“We got a lesson in showmanship”: Author interview with Rod Davis, 9/30/97.
“I was just drifting”: John Lennon, 1965 interview, in Anthology, p. 12.
“who was crazy for jazz”: “It was owned by Alan Sytner, who was crazy for jazz.” Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.
Called the Cavern: Harry, Encyclopedia of Beatles People, p. 310.
Since its official launch: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 14.
“sophisticated skiffle”: “We played what one guy called sophisticated stiffle, which was traditional jazz and blues with a jazzy rhythm section.” Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.
“Can you bring them down”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/7/98.
“as though we were playing the Palladium”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“a slight tension”: Author interview with Rod Davis, 9/30/97.
“John was very witty”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/7/98.
a Quarry Bank school dance: “The Quarry Men played for at least one school dance. People would be doing quick-steps to the George Edwa
rds Band, but they would jive in the intervals.” Author interview with Rod Davis, 7/22/98.
“the jungle”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 100.
His legwork eventually led: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 7/11/98.
“[Mike] said he’s got this record”: Goldman, Lives of John Lennon, p. 63.
“some things just didn’t click”: “I’m not even sure that John was as much of an Elvis fan as everyone makes him out to be.” Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
“We started doing even more numbers”: “John was quite taken with Elvis. For a while, it was all he was interested in.” Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“would-be intellectual” clientele: Author interview with Rod Davis, 9/30/97.
“Rock and roll is a monstrous threat”: Melody Maker, 5/5/56.
“By this time, John thought”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“What do you think you’re doing?”: Author interview with Rod Davis, 9/30/97.
“Cut out the bloody rock”: This has been reported in almost every version of the Beatles’ story and was confirmed in author interviews with Rod Davis, Colin Hanton, and Pete Shotton.
“The sound of it got to me”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
CHAPTER 4: THE SHOWMAN
Jet plane travel idled: Author interview with Robin Morgan, 6/18/97.
“Indeed, let us be frank”: The Times (London), 7/21/57.
“slave to fate”: Donne, Holy Sonnets, no. 10, 1.9 (1612).
“There was neither an affiliation”: Author interview with Quentin Hughes, 10/3/97.
“one of nature’s true gentlemen”: M. McCartney, Thank U Very Much (unnumbered).
terrace house at 3 Solva: Kelly’s Directories, 1905–39.
the Margaret Street Baths: Author interview with Joan Murray, 1/6/99.
“a place to aspire to”: Author interview with Marie Crawford, 1/5/99.
“a suburb of which Liverpool”: Picton, Architectural History of Liverpool, p. 59.
“a healthy place to live”: Liverpool Housing Authority.
“never really excelled”: Author interview with Kate Robbins, 1/11/98.
“Joe put all his faith”: Ibid.
“the donkey work”—running along: Author interview with William Newton, 10/31/97.
Joe loved opera: M. McCartney, Thank U Very Much (unnumbered).
He had a brittle, choppy style: Author interview with Shelagh Johnson, 10/29/97.
“My father learned his music”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 23.
“the swingman of Solva Street”: M. McCartney, Thank U Very Much; confirmed by author interview with Kate Robbins, 1/11/98.
“rakish” black facecloths: Salewicz, McCartney, p. 10.
“Eloise”: Author interview with Kate Robbins, 1/12/98.
“a born salesman”: Author interview with William Newton, 10/31/97.
she spoke “posh”: Miles, Paul McCartney, pp. 6, 10.
she enrolled in a three-year general program: Author interview with Myfanwy Butler, 12/18/98.
“Mary was so career-conscious”: Author interview with Dill Mohin, 12/16/98.
“We were so immersed”: “We simply loved our careers. No one had time to consider families.” Author interview with Myfanwy Butler, 12/18/98.
“wasn’t at all musical”: Author interview with Dill Mohin, 12/16/98.
“utterly charming and uncomplicated”: Ibid.
Rose was a witch: Author interview with John Mohin, 12/12/98.
“Mary went to nursing school”: Author interview with Dill Mohin, 12/16/98.
the Royal Cotton Commission: Author interview with William Newton, 10/31/97.
“Medical personnel were being recruited”: Author interview with Quentin Hughes, 10/3/97.
It was the “austere side”: “Uncle Jim had two sides to him… a pretending-to-be-austere side, and then winking at you, as if [to say], ‘I don’t really mean it.’ ” Author interview with Kate Robbins, 1/11/98.
Ungrudgingly, Jim labored there: Author interview with Dill Mohin, 12/16/98.
at Town Hall on April 8, 1941: City of Liverpool, Registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages, Personnel and Administrative Directorate.
On June 18, 1942: Ibid.
“teardrop eyes, high forehead”: Author interview with Shelagh Johnson, 10/29/97.
lime from nearby mass graves: Salewicz, McCartney, p. 14.
“Everton… was a place to leave”: Author interview with Shelagh Johnson, 10/29/97.
“drab part”: Author interview with Dill Mohin, 12/16/98.
The building… [was] decent enough: Ibid.
“much like the parish priest”: Author interview with Shelagh Johnson, 10/29/97.
a deadly cigarette habit: “Both my parents smoked.” Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 35.
Fairway Street: Author interview with Shelagh Johnson, 10/29/97.
“The rot had set in”: Author interview with William Newton, 10/31/97.
here Jim’s salary: “If Jim could take home £6 at the end of a hard week’s work, he was doing well.” Salewicz, McCartney, p. 19; higher figure as a result of research conducted at Liverpool Cotton Association, 10/30/97.
They’d “never be wealthy”: Author interview with Dill Mohin, 12/16/97.
“asked [her bosses] for a move”: Ibid.
“a new model town”: Author interview with Mark Julius, Liverpool Corporation, Housing Services, 11/4/97.
Speke functioned as a one-class: Author interview with Quentin Hughes, 10/3/97.
“we were always on the edge”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 5.
“Oh, I’ve been poorly”: Author interview with Dill Mohin, 12/16/97.
“duly bashed”: M. McCartney, Thank U Very Much (unnumbered).
“Jim and Mary never smacked the boys”: Author interview with Dill Mohin, 12/16/97.
“The McCartney boys were like a circus”: Author interview with John Mohin, 12/12/97.
“followed him like a puppy”: Ibid.
“charm the skin off a snake”: Author interview with Kate Robbins, 1/12/98.
In photographs: M. McCartney, Thank U Very Much (unnumbered).
“quiet diplomacy”: Davies, Beatles, p. 24.
“super spy”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 10.
“This is where my love”: Ibid.
“He was a great conversationalist”: Author interview with John Mohin, 12/12/97.
“He was very into crosswords”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 12.
“Mary was very keen”: Author interview with Dill Mohin, 12/16/97.
model curriculum: Salewicz, McCartney, p. 25.
In Paul’s class: Joseph Williams Primary School records.
“It was too big a cutoff”: Author interview with Paul McCartney, 3/21/97.
Founded… in 1825: Liverpool Institute handbook, 1958.
“a gentleman’s school”: Author interview with Colin Manley, 10/3/97.
twenty of the fifty-two faculty members: Ibid.
school motto: Liverpool Institute archives.
On Monday, September 8: Ibid.
Liverpool Institute uniform: Description confirmed by Colin Manley, 10/3/97.
Nearly a thousand boys: Author interview with Don Andrew, 10/4/97.
“We were eleven”: Author interview with Colin Manley, 10/3/97.
“The first year, I was pretty lost”: Author interview with Paul McCartney, 3/21/97.
“He had a real talent”: Author interview with Don Andrew, 10/4/97.
“I always [made] my own Christmas cards”: Author interview with Paul McCartney, 3/21/97.
“work on these massive, great canvases”: Ibid.
students never “stayed with art”: Author interview with Don Andrew, 10/4/97.
“that they paint and we don’t”: Author interview with Paul McCartney, 3/21/97.
“I remember walking along the art room”: Author interview with Don Andrew, 10/4/97.
“had a lot of music in him”: Ibid.
“sing-along stuff”: “My main roots are in sing-along stuff, like ‘When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob-bob-bobbin’ Along’ and ‘Carolina Moon.’ ” Leigh, Speaking Words of Wisdom, p. 6.
“Greensleeves” and “Let Me Go Lover”: BBC archives.
“very northern”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 24.
“We made the mistake”: Davies, Beatles, p. 29.
Paul considered it “a revelation”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 22.
Zenith guitar: Anthology (video), part 1.
“The minute he got that guitar”: Davies, Beatles, p. 31.
“have a little go”: “My mom, Bett, who is left-handed and played guitar, used to babysit [Paul]. She had a ukulele and would say, ‘Come on, have a little go.’ ” Author interview with Kate Robbins, 1/11/98.
“all rather inexact”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 21.
“Physically, she wasn’t able”: Author interview with Dill Mohin, 12/16/97.
“I always thought of the area”: Author interview with Dot Rhone Becker, 11/19/98.
“there was blood on the sheets”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 20.
“The big shock in my teenage years”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 19.
“I was determined not to let it affect”: Ibid.
“There was no one better suited”: Author interview with Kate Robbins, 1/11/98.
CHAPTER 5: A SIMPLE TWIST OF FETE
The boys were understandably ecstatic: “We were quite proud to be involved. We were the only skiffle band, and it was the first time one was featured.” Author interview with Rod Davis, 9/30/97.
“the biggest social event”: “Half the village took part in it, and the other half went to watch.” Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/16/97.
The band clambered onto a flatbed truck: St. Peter’s Garden Fete program, 1957; descriptions also from author interviews with Rod Davis, Eric Griffiths, Nigel Walley, Colin Hanton, Pete Shotton.
Sally Wright/Susan Dixon: Liverpool Echo, 7/7/57; Liverpool Weekly News, 7/10/57.
“John packed it in”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/16/97.
literally dozens of such stalls: O’Donnell, Day John Met Paul, p. 87; and “You could throw hoops over things, there would be cake stalls, lemonade.” Author interview with Rod Davis, 9/30/97.