Blog #2-Liverpool

            My experience in Liverpool was amazing! I had so much fun exploring the Beatles Story Museum, going on the Magical Mystery bus tour and listening to live music at The Cavern Club. The Beatles Museum started with the beginning of each of The Beatles’ lives. It showed basic facts about where and when each Beatle was born, and it also included their family backgrounds. It then went into detail on what types of music the Beatles were influenced by, such as rock and roll and skiffle. The museum had many interesting and unique artifacts that ranged from George’s first guitar to stockings that had The Beatles faces sewn onto them. The museum also had many replicas which included The Cashbah, The Cavern, Strawberry Field, Yellow Submarine, Magical Mystery Tour, Abbey Road, and so on. I also liked how there were plaques of every year of The Beatles popularity that showed their accomplishments and important events that took place in a particular month and/or day. In addition, there was various memorabilia throughout the museum, which I thought was very vital because that way, the museum could successfully interpret how popular and influential The Beatles really were. After the main museum, there was a large room that had each of The Beatles sectioned off where there was information on their solo careers. I spent most of my time in Paul’s (since he is my favorite J) section, which had a television that had him singing with his band, Wings. There were also pictures that spanned the wall with him and his family and with his band. There was also the contract shown for when he allowed his song, “Live and Let Die” to be in the James Bond movie. All in all, I thought the Beatles Story Museum was pretty neat. They allowed pictures to be taken inside and they had audio recordings where you could listen (with your own earphones) to John’s sister, Julia, along with others, such as Paul, Brian Epstein, George Martin, actual fans, etc. talk about certain events and times during The Beatles popularity.

            The Magical Mystery Tour was also fun and interesting. Our tour guide was humorous and informative. Another plus was that he has actually met Paul McCartney and had his picture taken with him too. On the bus tour, we saw Penny Lane and had a chance to get a photo with the sign. We also saw Strawberry Field where we could get another picture taken next to the famous site. We also saw all four Beatles’ childhood homes, which was pretty cool. We didn’t get to go inside any of them though. The next day though, a select few of us got tickets to go inside John and Paul’s homes, which was very cool. Also on the tour we saw the schools that The Beatles attended, and the church where John and Paul first met. The tour then ended at Mathew Street where the Beatles played at the Cavern Club. Throughout the Cavern Club, there were many pictures of The Beatles and when we got there, a man was playing Beatles songs and had the audience participating along. Later, two brothers took the stage to sing Lennon/McCartney songs. One brother was supposed to look and sound like Paul and the other meant to look and sound like John. They did sound pretty similar to the real John and Paul, especially the brother that was supposed to be John. Overall, the atmosphere that the Cavern Club had was great. It really gave an insight to where and how The Beatles started and developed into the Fab Four.

           I learned quite a bit about the Beatles’ early lives, especially John’s and Paul’s. I learned that John had a middle class upbringing. This was obvious just by looking at the outside of the house where there were stained glass windows and a large black gate that separated the driveway from the backyard and garden. We were also told that John used to cut the grass for his Aunt Mimi and that she gave him 5 shillings a week for doing so. The tour guide told us that that was a decent amount to be given for an allowance at that time. Once inside the house, the kitchen was small, but had all the necessities and was complete with black and white tile. The living room was also a decent size and had a bookcase that Aunt Mimi and Uncle George had built in to inspire John. Although John did read mainly comics and/or action books, he was more interested in something else.

            Shown inside John’s childhood home on Menlove Avenue were some of his drawings he created growing up. In one of the photo albums, it had a cartoon picture (drawn by John) of one of the college boys that Aunt Mimi had permitted to stay at the house. It had little captions along with the silly, unflattering portrait of the college student. This shows John’s early humor and developing comedy. He liked to see the humor in most things and liked to make people laugh. In addition, it relayed on the fact that although he didn’t have any siblings that he grew up with or his actual parents around to raise him, he still had a positive outlook on certain aspects of life, and felt confident in his future. Little did he know that once he had his own guitar and band, that he would be on his way to his dream.

            Also displayed in John’s house was his guitar and his pictures of Elvis Presley. This showed how dedicated he was to becoming a singer, songwriter and guitarist. He had those pictures of Elvis up on his wall to remind himself of what he wanted to become; a rock and roller. Elvis greatly inspired and influenced John and the rest of the Beatles as well. In addition, John also had a radio that seemed to be hooked up to the downstairs radio in the living room. This proves how much John loved music and how he wanted to practice along, listen, and have access to the radio 24/7. He also wanted to be able to listen to rock and roll whenever he wanted and the only way that would be possible was if he could have the radio in his room, where Aunt Mimi couldn’t hear it. She disapproved of rock and roll and didn’t like when John and Paul, and later, George and Ringo would practice inside the house. She wanted John to focus more on school and his future, not on rock and roll.

       Another piece which relates to John’s schooling was two copies of his report cards from1955 and 1956. He would’ve been fifteen and sixteen during those years and this was around the time he was strongly under the influence of rock and roll. His report cards were not impressive; from what I could read, some comments said that he was failing or that he didn’t have much effort in class. Another comment said something about him doing a little better and that they hoped he was “turning over a new leaf.” Having two report cards displayed showed how John didn’t particularly care about school or what his teachers said. He knew he was a trouble maker and he knew he was failing, yet it didn’t affect him in any way. The tour guide told us that Aunt Mimi would make deals with John: that as long as he studied and did well on his exams, he could practice and play music. John continued to practice and play, but he didn’t study; he failed all of his exams. All in all, John’s bad behavior and failing in school proved how focused and determined he was to rock and roll music. His future partner and best friend, Paul McCartney was just the opposite.

      Paul was from a close-knit family living with his mother, father, and younger brother, Michael, on Forthlin Road. The tour guide told us how well Paul did in school and how he passed all of his exams in the top of his class. He also had some musical background as well. There was a replica of a piano that Paul’s dad would play while Paul and Michael harmonized. In addition, there was a record player that Paul’s dad would have classical music played on. Therefore Paul would listen to classical music on the record player and while his dad played it on the piano. His dad was in a band during the war and that is also where Paul got his influence. He loved to sing and play an instrument so when his father gave him a trumpet for his birthday, Paul realized he couldn’t sing and play trumpet at the same time, so he made sure it was okay with his father that he could trade it in for a guitar. Paul then taught himself how to play, while he turned the right handed guitar upside down (since he is left handed) and tuned it correctly and it’s all history from there.

      Paul was from a more modest home than John. It was a counsel house they lived in because his mother was a midwife/nurse and his father was a salesman. His mother brought in most of the income and when she passed, it was at times, difficult. His dad, brother, and he all remained close afterwards though. Paul had a larger room but then gave it up to his younger brother because he wanted more room for his photographs. Therefore, Paul ended up with a tiny room that held a small bed and an end table. He kept his clothes in his old room since there was a lack of space. This proves how caring and willing Paul was to allow his younger and smaller brother to have the bigger room while he slept in a tiny room with not much space to move around in. To also prove how Paul’s upbringing differed from John’s, there were different carpet runners that were sewn together to make a large carpet in Paul’s living room. Each of the walls also had different wallpaper to show that Paul’s family had to take the ends of wallpaper rolls no matter what the design, just because it was cheaper. Although John grew up in a well-to-do middle class home with an aunt and uncle, and Paul grew up in a lower middle class home with a mother, father, and brother, that didn’t affect their friendship. What they did have in common was that they both lost their mothers and sought refuge in music. I believe that this ultimately brought together the greatest musical partners that the world has ever seen, along with untimely music that generation after generation continues to enjoy and love.