The Beatles (163 page)

Read The Beatles Online

Authors: Bob Spitz

Tags: #Biography & Autobiography / General, #Music / Genres & Styles - Pop Vocal

BOOK: The Beatles
8.6Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub


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 Anderson, 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.

Mimi “laying down the law
”: Leila Harvey, 10/84, AGA.

She implored her elder sister
: Barbara Baker, 8/84, AGA; also Stanley Parkes, 1/19/85, AGA.


He was always very open
”: Stanley Parkes, 1/19/85, AGA.


I’d gone around to John’s
”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/7/98.

146–47 “
we both went white
”: Davies,
Beatles,
p. 48.


That’s really fucked everything!
”: Ibid.


He didn’t say anything
”: Barbara Baker, 8/84, AGA.


Now we were both in this
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 49.


For months [afterward], John
”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/7/98.


went out of him forever
”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 7/16/98.


a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship
”: Ibid., 1/19/98.


I lost [my mother] twice
”: Sheff,
Playboy Interviews,
p. 137.

he didn’t go visit his cousin
: Stanley Parkes, 1/19/85, AGA.

Paul provided the basic structure
: There are conflicting accounts. For McCartney’s, see Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 36; for Lennon’s, see
Hit Parader
. “ ‘Love Me Do’ is Paul’s song. He wrote it when he was a teenager.” Sheff,
Playboy Interviews,
p. 129.


P.S. I Love You
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 38.

in a room at Ye Cracke
: Author interview with Jonathan Hague, 5/21/98.

John was “very entertaining
”: Rod Murray, 12/84, AGA.


some blokes… prancing about
”: Ian Sharpe, 8/84, AGA.


John could just as easily
”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.


crowded, informal affairs
”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.


inner bunch”/“anchorman
”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.

where Julia Lennon had once danced
: Stanley Parkes, 1/25/85, AGA.

As Nigel Walley had explained it
: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 11/30/98.


Aside from George
”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.


By the time we had to go on
”: George Harrison in
Anthology,
p. 31.

CHAPTER 9: CHALK AND CHEESE


peroxide-blond hair
”: Author interview with Iris Caldwell Fenton, 9/10/97.


stripping down to a tiny bikini
”: Ibid.


He would do
anything
”: Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.


because it had excellent pulling power
”: Author interview with Iris Caldwell Fenton, 9/10/97.


When the lights came up
”: Author interview with Howie Casey, 10/27/97.


big beat dances
”:
Liverpool Echo
(repeated ads).


I told him he was too young
”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.

Mostly, they just rehearsed
: Giuliano,
Dark Horse,
p. 23.


working-men’s clubs
”: Ken Brown in Pritchard & Lysaght,
The Beatles,
p. 21.


By December, he was completely out of control
”: Author interview with Jonathan Hague, 5/21/98.


Most of his antics
”:
Author interview with Ann Mason, 10/8/97.


he was embarrassingly rude
”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.


scruffy, dangerous-looking
”: “Cynthia Lennon: In Her Own Words,”
Hello!,
4/30/94.


outrageous… a rough sort
”: Ibid.

Rodney Begg
: Author interview with confidential source.


It was a skill that required
”:
Hello!,
4/30/94.


vague friendship between them
”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/3/97.


into [a] blond bombshell
”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.


madly in love
”:
Hello!,
4/30/94.


He had found someone
”: Author interview with Jonathan Hague, 5/21/98.


Even as a child, she was easygoing
”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.


bohernia
”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.


When she took a shine to him
”: Author interview with Ann Mason, 10/8/97.

she would duck into “the ladies’ loo
”: Ibid.


It was like all the places
”: Author interview with Beryl Williams, 11/2/97.


in a Greek joint
”: Williams, “The Liverpool Scene” (unpublished manuscript).


submit for his certificate
”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.


everybody chipped bits of paintings
”: Rod Murray, 12/84, AGA.

CHAPTER 10: MOONDOGS AND ENGLISHMEN

little “whacker
”: “Mimi always said he had a low-Liverpool voice, a real whacker,” Davies,
Beatles,
p. 45.


Cyn and I would be going
”: Wenner,
Playboy Interviews,
p. 126.


[George] would hurriedly catch up
”: C. Lennon,
A Twist,
p. 26.


didn’t hold a candle to John and Paul
”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.

Ruth Morrison
: Ibid.

she disclosed… a new coffee bar
: Guiliano,
Dark Horse,
p. 23; Pritchard & Lysaght,
The Beatles,
p. 21.

The house at 8 Hayman’s Green
: Bill Harry interview with Pete Best, 3/96.

Ken was more than familiar
: “Ken Brown, one of my friends from the Collegiate, my grammar school…” Best & Harry,
Best Years,
p. 21.


I went round to see her
”: Ken Brown in Pritchard & Lysaght,
The Beatles,
p. 21.

a steady buzz built
: Best & Harry,
Best Years,
p. 18.

lights were put in
: Pete Best in Pritchard & Lysaght,
The Beatles,
p. 20.


the perfect house
” Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.


shoulder to shoulder
”: Mona Best in Pritchard & Lysaght,
The Beatles,
p. 23.


Among the songs we performed
”: Ken Brown in ibid., p. 21.

a princely £3
: Leigh,
Drummed Out!,
p. 10.


None of us dreamed
”: Author interview with Colin Manley, 10/3/97.


just about hear the band
”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.


It was a good idea
”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.


Girls were the main reason
”: Author interview with Paul McCartney, 3/21/97.

Other books

Storm Killer by Benjamin Blue
Wicked Angel by Celia Jade
Malavikagnimitram by Kalidasa
The Islands by Di Morrissey
For the Game by Amber Garza
Spycatcher by Peter Wright