by Bob Spitz
“John wasn’t drinking”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97; also author interviews with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98; Pete Shotton, 1/19/98; and Nigel Walley, 3/11/98.
David Birch: David Birch, 3/85, AGA.
“a simple soul”: “The vicar was a simple soul… a really nice guy.” Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“The singing got raunchier”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/11/98.
“It was the first day I did ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ ”: John Lennon, 1975 interview, in Anthology, p. 12.
“Come Go with Me”: Norman, Shout!, p. 43.
“I couldn’t take my eyes off him”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 65.
Shortly before they were finished: “I remember it as clear as day. They were standing below us, stage left… Ivan and Paul.” Author interviews with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98, and Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
Afterward, in the Scout hut: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“a bit of a stony atmosphere”: Len Garry, “The Quarrymen [sic]: Eric, Colin, Rod, John, Pete, and Len,” Q, 3/95, p. 55.
“notoriously wary of strangers”: Ibid.
a white sport coat: Miles, Paul McCartney, pp. 26–27.
“He played with a cool… touch”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/11/98.
“Right off, I could see”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
It impressed John: Rod Davis, in “The Quarrymen,” Q, 3/95, p. 55.
“It was uncanny”: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
“Afterwards… John and Paul circled each other”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“I half thought to myself”: Davies, Beatles, p. 33.
“What did you think of that kid”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“The whole point of grammar school”: Author interview with Rod Davis, 7/22/98.
He was “disappointed”: Davies, Beatles, p. 18.
“Paul had made a huge impression”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“Was it better to have a guy”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 160.
Ivan Vaughan solved part of the problem: “Pete Shotton seems to believe that he asked Paul to join the band, but that is not true. I know for a fact that Ivan asked him several days before that, at the institute, before school let out. Then they told Pete, who talked to John.” Author interview with Nigel Walley, 11/30/98.
“John was very laid-back”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
Scout camp/Butlins: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 29.
“Rod took everything too seriously”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 11/30/98.
“He asked me if I could… play drums”: Author interview with Rod Davis, 7/22/98.
John and Nigel Walley procured: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/11/98.
No nephew of hers: Mimi Smith, AGA (undated).
Pobjoy recommended: Coleman, Lennon, p. 68; and Davies, Beatles, p. 47.
John had gone there for an interview: Davies, Beatles, p. 47.
Ballard’s exploits: Author interview with Quentin Hughes, 10/3/97.
“Arthur could see right through John”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.
And yet, on a deeper level: “The painting teacher liked me, he got me in.” Davies, Beatles, p. 47. “Arthur felt there was talent there.” Author interview with Quentin Hughes, 10/3/97.
When Mimi received the… acceptance letter: Mimi Smith, AGA (undated).
“I was [going] there”: Davies, Beatles, p. 47.
“a rather nasty little boy”: Barbara Baker, 8/84, AGA.
“So I learned [the chords] upside down”: John Lennon, 1980 interview, in Anthology, p. 12.
“Paul was a showman”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“To us, they were all dilettantes”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/1/97.
stuck out “like a sore thumb”: Author interview with Jonathan Hague, 5/21/98.
baby-blue Edwardian jacket: Author interviews with Ann Mason, 10/8/97, and Bill Harry, 8/1/97.
103–104 “There was total and utter freedom”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.
“intimidating air”/“so over the top”: Author interview with Ann Mason, 10/8/97.
“I imitated Teddy boys”: John Lennon, 1973 interview, in Anthology, p. 13.
“He was quite a sight”: Author interview with Ann Mason, 10/8/97.
“Ah—he’s the unconventional one”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/1/97.
“marvelous art portfolio”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.
he had no Scouse accent: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/1/97.
“More often than not”: Bill Harry interview with Pauline Sutcliffe (audio), undated.
“Stuart was obsessed with Kierkegaard”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/3/97.
If anyone was more conspicuous than John: Author interview with Ann Mason, 10/8/97.
“stand the system on its head”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.
“do as you please” policy: Ibid.
“John was absolutely untalented”: Author interview with Jonathan Hague, 5/21/98.
here John’s cartoons: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.
“besotted” with Cézanne: Rod Murray, 12/84, AGA.
“He was painting like the American painters”: Ibid.
“very aggressive… with dark, moody colors”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.
“I remember John being dragged out of class”: Author interview with Jonathan Hague, 5/21/98.
New Clubmoor Hall: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 15.
“a posh neighborhood”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 11/30/98.
“They started talking about white jackets”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“practicing relentlessly”: Author interview with Charles Roberts, 7/25/98.
“At first we were embarrassed”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“You could have your ass kicked”: Author interview with Mike Rice, 7/27/98.
“The bus station was literally”: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
Out from under Mimi’s watchful eye: “We’d go up to John’s room and we’d sit on the bed and play records.” Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 46.
“We spent hours just listening”: Shepherd, True Story of the Beatles, p. 16.
“very diverse little record collection”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 81.
“have [had] quite as an identifiable voice”: John Lennon in WNEW-FM radio interview, 2/13/75.
“They were on the same indefinite path”: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
“The band quickly became John and Paul”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“the only claim he had”: Author interview with Howie Casey, 11/27/97.
“a particularly attractive character”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 46.
“After a while, they’d finish each other’s sentences”: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
“The rest of us hadn’t a clue”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“John and Paul were inseparable”: Author interview with Charles Roberts, 7/25/98.
“He had a way of just banging out”: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
CHAPTER 6: THE MISSING LINKS
“We could barely switch chords”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
“blended in with the scenery”: Author interview with Tony Bramwell, 8/6/97.
115–16 “a quieter, more taciturn”: Iain Taylor in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 26.
“They’d yell at each other”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/11/98.
a “blood”: Ibid.
“a refugee from a Tarzan”: Ibid.
“being dictated to”/“schizophrenic jerk[s]”: Davies, Beatles
, p. 38.
“From about the age of thirteen”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
Music in some form: Louise Harrison in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 17.
“shocked” a visitor: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
splendid rosewood gramophone: Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 17.
“loads and loads of records”: Davies, Beatles, p. 18.
Ted Heath and Hoagy Carmichael: Giuliano, Dark Horse, pp. 16–17.
“just seemed made for me”: Davies, Beatles, p. 42.
Sitting in the front mezzanine: Irene Harrison in G. Harrison & D. Taylor, I, Me, Mine, p. 26.
Later, fanzine writers: Harry, Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia, p. 204.
“By the end of the afternoon”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
“a crappy old piece”: Ibid.
the unlikely price of £3 10s.: Anthology (video), part 1.
“put it away in the cupboard”: Davies, Beatles, p. 42.
“a bloke who lived round the corner”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
“nicked off an American group”: Ibid.
decorated with gnomes: George Harrison in Giuliano, Dark Horse, p. 19.
British Legion gig: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/11/98.
“Although George delivered meat”: Author interview with Tony Bramwell, 8/6/97.
here Stealing records at Lewis’s: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/11/98.
“He knew how to color”: Author interview with Colin Manley, 10/2/97.
Smokers Corner: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
“I’d met Paul on the bus”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 27.
Paul mentioned to his protégé: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 16.
He had traveled alone: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
The so-called official version: Davies, Beatles, p. 44.
“Charlie McBain wouldn’t have permitted”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
Caldwell raised enough money: Author interview with Iris Caldwell Fenton, 9/30/97.
Marjorie Thompson’s mother: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/7/97.
“It was a dump”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
Ultraviolet skeletons: Author interview with Iris Caldwell Fenton, 9/30/97.
a wall fan pumped: Gottfridsson, From Cavern to Star-Club, p. 58.
first kisses: Author interview with Iris Caldwell Fenton, 9/30/97.
Hofner Senator: Gottfridsson, From Cavern to Star-Club, p. 58.
“He was a very tiny teddy boy”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“The lads were very impressed”: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
“George was just too young”: Davies, Beatles, pp. 44–45.
“I don’t know what I felt”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 29.
“George idolized John”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
Griff “took it badly”: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
“I said to him, ‘Don’t feel so bad’ ”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
Len Garry: Garry, John, Paul & Me, p. 191.
“like cracking code”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
CHAPTER 7: A GOOD LITTLE SIDESHOW
“nothing but a Wham-O”: Who Put the Bomp, 1971.
here Kelly, McBain, et al.: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/1/97.
Most wore matching suits: Author interview with Howie Casey, 10/27/97.
“John refused to behave”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 10/30/98.
“student joint”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 10/4/97.
These bands, which became the vanguard: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/1/97.
“I Lost My Little Girl”: “I must have played it to John when we met.” Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 34.
John was… “floored”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“You can’t be that hungry twice”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 120.
“Don’t copy the swimming teacher”: Riley, Tell Me Why, p. 17.
“idols”: Paul McCartney in Somach, Ticket to Ride, p. 145.
“I’d be Phil”: Ibid.
“That’s where I picked up”: Author interview with Eric Griffiths, 7/16/98.
“We sat around for an entire afternoon”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
“People these days take it for granted”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 22.
“John and I started to write”: Ibid.
The McCartney parlor: Barbara Baker, 8/84, AGA.
“playing into each other’s noses”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 129.
They would begin by scrawling: Davies, Beatles, p. 57; Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 36.
“anything [they] came up with”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 36.
“We were just writing songs”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 129.
“Lyrics didn’t really count”: Ibid., p. 119.
“It was great,” Paul recalled: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 23.
Their first collaborative efforts: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 36.
“I Call Your Name”: Ibid., p. 46.
“most of them written under two or three hours”: Author interview with Paul McCartney, 3/27/97.
“It was always good practice”: Ibid.
Slouched on the furniture: Barbara Baker, 8/84, AGA; author interview with Nigel Walley, 10/30/98.
“We’d do some good rhythm”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 36.
the occasional stolen afternoons: “My dad would probably finish at five and be home by about six. That meant we had from two until about five.” Ibid., p. 34.
Weekends were reserved: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 10/30/98.
“Something special was growing”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
To augment their time together: Author interviews with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98; Helen Anderson, 11/4/97; Ann Mason, 10/8/97.
“sneaking out”: Author interview with Ann Mason, 10/8/97.
They craved John’s camaraderie: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98; also Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 46.
“lovely little boys”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.
Each day, he met his friends: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.
beans on toast, with tea: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
“you could smoke there”: Ibid.
“whip out a pack”: Ibid.
Johnnie Crosby: Author interviews with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97, and Ann Mason, 10/8/97.
“wonderful honey-blond hair”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.
“swanning about and drooling”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
“Hey, John? Have you had her yet?”: Ibid.
“A student’s having sex”: Author interview with Ann Mason, 10/8/97.
“too afraid of getting pregnant”: Barbara Baker, 8/84, AGA.
“proposing to [Barb]”: Ibid.
here Despite Baker’s belief: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98, and confidential source.
The institute had a long-standing practice: Author interview with Don Andrew, 10/4/97.
“the noise of an electric guitar”: Ibid.
“such a right swine”: Author interview with Colin Manley, 10/3/97.
“It was fantastic”: Ibid.
“We couldn’t even get near the door”: Author interview with Don Andrew, 10/4/97.
“just filling in time”: Ibid.
“They began playing in the… canteen”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/1/97.
“With no backing to speak of”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.
“We’d share sandwiches”: Ibid.
“Most people had a perilous relationship”: Author interview with Helen Anders
on, 11/4/97.
Ye Cracke/Who Farted?: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.
“John had an awful lot of intensity”: Arthur Ballard, 2/84, AGA.
“very conservative” director: Author interview with Jonathan Hague, 5/21/98.
“wallpaper”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 164.
“I was different”: Ibid., p. 166.
“All they had was information”: Ibid., p. 164.
CHAPTER 8: THE COLLEGE BAND
“professional tape and disc recording service”: From letterhead, P. F. Phillips Studios, given to author.
rambling, redbrick: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“a theatrical flat”: Carole Higgens (Phillips’s daughter) in Gottfridsson, From Cavern to Star-Club, p. 27.
George first heard of the studio: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.
recorded… “Butterfly” there in June of 1957: John Lowe in Gottfridsson, From Cavern to Star-Club, p. 28.
As arranged beforehand, they’d met: Ibid., p. 46.
“That’ll Be the Day”: Anthology (audio), disc 1.
A rainstorm materialized: Gottfridsson, From Cavern to Star-Club, p. 46.
“a naffy old man”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
3s. 6d. each: Percy Phillips in Liverpool Echo, 12/24/77.
“go straight to vinyl”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
John, rather ingeniously, suggested: Ibid.
transposed it to the B-string: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
“Then, out of the blue”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“For seventeen and six”: “I clearly remember him getting hot under the collar.” John Lowe in Gottfridsson, From Cavern to Star-Club, p. 47.
“When we got the record”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 23.
“Charlie got it played daily”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“week after week went by”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/11/98.
by Paul’s own admission: Author interview with Paul McCartney, 3/21/97.
St. Barnabas Hall: Barbara Baker, 8/84, AGA.
“with a smile that lit up the room”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“She couldn’t stop moving”: Barbara Baker, 8/84, AGA.