Downtown Liverpool, England
WE CRISS-crossed the Irish Sea for the next two ports, sailing across to Liverpool England, next, and then the following day, back across to Cobh, Ireland (for Cork).
Liverpool Cruise Port - Liverpool, England
I MOSTLY grew up in Northern Michigan. We were sheltered. I lived in a mostly upper middle class, resort city, on Lake Michigan. We were middle class. We were essentially 100% Caucasian. We most certainly grew up with pre-determined outlooks. One of them was that we had a city in Michigan (Flint) that sometimes was referred to by us northern "elites" as "the armpit of Michigan." As a (slightly 😎) more mature, and open-minded adult, I realize how unfair any such characterization of any city is. Sure, we all have cities we don't think are the greatest. And every city has its own "underbelly." But every city also has many great attributes.
Liverpool, England
ANYWAY, I had (for reasons that really make no sense) concluded that Liverpool was England's "Flint." But as is not at all uncommon, I was wrong (wrong about Flint, too 😳). Liverpool actually has a long and rather distinguished history. At one point the largest economy in England (surpassing even London's), Liverpool is a port city, and has been one since 1715. The city grew both as a port and a manufacturing and financial center at the time the Industrial Revolution took hold. Second only to London as a target for the Axis powers' infamous Blitzkrieg bombings of England, Liverpool was an essential port for the influx of U.S. Troops during WWII. Liverpool was the headquarters of the Star Lines luxury cruisers, including the HMS Titanic. And perhaps on a darker note, it was also the port from which the first British slave trade ship sailed. Ironically, though, there is a substantial (though West Indian) black population in the city today.
Liverpool, England
TODAY, LIVERPOOL is noted as a commercial center and for its distinctive architecture. I found the layout and planning of much of the city inviting for city-scape photography.
Liverpool, England
IN ADDITION to its impressive architecture, the city also has a substantial art presence. The suitcase sculptures on Hope Street, in front of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (formerly Liverpool Institute for Boys - once attended by both Paul McCartney and George Harrison). Each case is labeled with the name of a famous owner from the Liverpool region (notably, some of them are Beatles).
"A Case History" - Hope Street Suitcase Sculpture
LIVERPOOL IS perhaps best known by most of us, though, as the birthplace of probably the most famous rock and roll band of our times: The Beatles. With that, there was no way we weren't going to make a "Beatles Tour" the focal point of our day in Liverpool. We completely enjoyed our 1/2 day with Fab Four Taxi Tours. We will be in Liverpool again in May-June this year and we have already booked another tour through the same company.
Our Fab Four Taxi Tours Car
WE BEGAN our "Beatles Tour" at the former hospital where John Lennon was born, now a school for art and music students. While places like Hamburg, Germany, and London's Abbey Road Studios and SOHO may be more familiar to Beatles fans, all 4 of the "Fab Four" actually grew up in - and developed their talents - in Liverpool. Many of their earliest hits derived their names from places and experiences in Liverpool. Lennon and Paul McCartney, for example, met primarily because of their church affiliations. McCartney (and family) attended St. Barnabas Church just across from Penny Lane - made famous, of course by the Beatles Song of the same name, penned by McCartney. It is likely from that church affiliation, that he learned of festivals (the English called them "fetes") put on at nearby St. Peter's Church just a couple miles away and heard about a band called The Quarrymen, that was gaining some notoriety. And it was one Sunday afternoon in 1957, when McCartney curiously attended one of the festivals to see the band, led by local 16-year-old, John Lennon (McCartney was 15).
Birthplace of John Lennon - Liverpool, England
LENNON WAS raised by his aunt and uncle after his parents divorced (though he still saw them - mainly his mom - frequently). John's uncle bought him his first musical instrument - a harmonica - and he went on from there. Paul came from a multi-generational musical family. His father, Jim, (when not working) played in several jazz bands, particularly when "Ragtime" was popular. He was an accomplished trumpet player and pianist. In the Formlin Road home (now owned by the National Trust; a charity and membership organization for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) they had an upright piano, which Paul learned to play (as well at the trumpet and guitar). He encouraged both his sons (both talented musicians in their own right) to pursue music.
St. Peter's Church Hall - Liverpool, England - Where it all started
THE QUARRYMEN were a group of high school friends from Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool. They formed a "Skiffle Band," and began looking for gigs. In the beginning they were mostly like the St. Peter's Church fetes. Skiffle appears to have originated in the U.S. during the jazz times of the late 1920s, as a merger of folk, country, bluegrass and jazz music styles. At time, it combined conventional instruments with improvised instruments. It later caught on (or was perhaps rejuvenated) during the late 1950's in England, using mostly acoustical instruments. At the fete, there was an afternoon performance and an evening performance at St. Peter's Church. McCartney heard the afternoon performance and hung around afterward. As the band was getting ready for the evening performance, he walked into the room and asked if he could "have go" on Lennon's guitar. Being left-handed, he turned the guitar upside down and played for them. Interestingly, none of the band members knew how to properly tune their instruments, and before McCartney started playing, he tuned the guitar and eventually showed the rest of the band how to do that! Lennon was impressed enough that a few weeks later, he extended an invitation to Paul to join the band. And the rest - as they say - "is history."
The Grave of Eleanor Rigby
BUT THE church connection doesn't seem to have ended there. All Beatles Fans remember the song from their Yellow Submarine Album; "Eleanor Rigby." There is a small graveyard in back of St. Peter's Church with her name engraved on the tombstone of John Rigby. The story is interesting (or at least I thought so 😐). The song, which was a bit of a turning point in the whole "Beatles Sound," as they moved from a performing band into the recording studio with more sophisticated instrumentation (Eleanor Rigby has a full orchestra backing sound - kind of a first for the group), was written years after that fateful meeting of Paul and John at St. Peter's Church. In later interviews, Paul has categorically stated that the name and tombstone were not the inspiration (indeed, had nothing to do with it) for the song. In its compositional stages, he didn't even use the name, Eleanor Rigby. He says the name Rigby came from a store in Bristol, England. Originally it was Daisy Hawkins. There is a fair amount of conjecture that McCartney must have seen that name in the graveyard during one of his many youthful visits to the church and that the use of the name may well have been subconscious. He concedes that that is possible. In any event, the name is there on the tombstone. I stood in the graveyard and photographed it.
Liverpool Institute High School For boys (now Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts)
EVENTUALLY, THREE of the 4 famous bandmembers were Quarrymen. McCartney, in 1958, was attending Liverpool Institute High School for Boys, where he met and befriended another musician, George Harrison. If the image looks familiar, the "Suitcase" sculptures above are directly across from the building to the right.
The Empress at the entrance to Admiral Grove where Ringo's mother was a barmaid
- right around the corner from the "Pink" House - Liverpool, England
BY 1960, the band was trying (but struggling) to book gigs in Liverpool. By then, the band was composed of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, another fellow student, Stuart Sutcliff, on the base guitar, and Pete Best as drummer. They had not really liked the Quarrymen name for a while and tried on a few others. Eventually, the Beatles stuck. On account has it that they were huge fans of Buddy Holly (and his band, "The Crickets"). It is also surmised that the "A" in the name comes from combining the insect with "the beat." I couldn't find much else about the why, so I'll go with that. 😑
Admiral Grove - the neighborhood where Ringo Starr grew up
IN AUGUST of 1960, the band was invited to play at one of the clubs in Hamburg, Germany. Once Germany's largest seaport, Hamburg was reduced to rubble during WWII. As it re-invented itself, it became a known as a center of vice and crime. But within that culture, a center of bars, nightclubs, dance clubs, strip clubs, and brothels grew along the Rieperbahn, the main street in the St. Pauli Quarter, Hamburg's "red light" district. Hamburg was economically rather wealthy in contrast to the rest of depressed, post-war Germany. This nightclub scene, credited for the "British Rock & Roll Revolution," was a place many British Bands went to play. But by far the most famous was the band at that time composed of the 5 musicians: Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Sutcliff, and Best. When they first got the chance to go to Hamburg, they did not have a permanent drummer. Lennon knew Best and convinced him to join them in Hamburg. They played at a number of clubs in Hamburg over a 2 plus year stretch, (banking over 1,000 live performances before recording their first "hit" song). At some point during this period, Sutcliff decided to return to England and his educational pursuits. In 1962, he died of a brain hemorrhage.
The home where Paul McCartney grew up - now owned by The National Trust
AT THIS time, Ringo Starr was playing in another group from Liverpool in Hamburg, Rory Storm and The Hurricanes. In October, 1960, One band member of The Hurricanes did a recording session in Hamburg, and the promoter (connected to both bands, among others) asked Lennon, McCartney and Harrison to play in as studio musicians, doing backup and singing harmonies. Best was unavailable, so the Hurricanes drummer, Ringo Starr sat in. This was the first time the four had ever played together.
Ringo Starr's boyhood home at 10 Admiral Grove, Liverpool
RINGO CAME up a bit differently than John, Paul and George (all of whom knew each other as teenagers in Liverpool, when they played together as the Quarrymen). Born, Richard Starkey, he suffered from a life-threatening illness at age 6 (complications from appendicitis). He spent parts of a full year in the hospital. He fell behind in his education and that influenced his path in life. He had developed an interest in drumming by that time. In 1944, (when Ringo was 4), the family had moved to the now-famous pink Admiral Grove House. Shortly afterward, his parents divorced. 10 years later, his mother married Harry Graves, a former Londoner. Graves was an avid Big Band music fan, and encouraged Ringo in his music pursuits, buying him his first used drum set as a Christmas present in 1957. By then, Starkey had met an acquaintance through his work who had gotten him interested in Skiffle, and they had gone on to form a Skiffle Band, The Eddie Clayton Band. By 1958, however, the Rock and Roll revolution took over. In 1959, Starkey joined the band that was to become The Hurricanes. It was there that he took on the stage name, Ringo Starr.
There was some kind of event going on the day we were here, so it was difficult to get near, or to get a photograph of Lennon's boyhood home.
OUR EXCURSION took us on a tour of the early history of The Beatles in Liverpool. We saw the name-sake inspiration for several of their most famous songs (mostly penned by McCartney), including Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields, as well as a few of the places mentioned in Penny Lane, like the barbershop, the roundabout, and the fire station.
The foliage is so overgrown that it is nearly impossible to see George Harrison's boyhood home
THERE WERE some surprises. In writing these songs, McCartney often drew from his boyhood memories. But he took license. Penny Lane, for example, is not where any of the other mentions (the barbershop, roundabout, etc.) are. They are nearby, but on a completely different street. Penny Lane is a very small, quiet, residential street near where Paul grew up.
The building in the middle of "The Roundabout" is now a Bistro
SOME MAY remember the Late Show, hosted by James Corden, and his "Carpool Karaoke" segments. Some years back (before we were in Liverpool), I happened to tune in to a segment he did with Sir Paul McCartney. I have linked it here, and would highly recommend any Beatles fan (whether avid or casual) watch the YouTube coverage if you can. It was amazing to me how we followed the basically same path that Corden and McCartney did. We ended our tour in the bar which figures at the end of the video (I won't spoil it for those who havent' seen it).
Penny Lane Barber Shop is not on Penny Lane 😔
ANOTHER SCENE in the Corden piece was when they stopped at the sign at the beginning of Penny Lane. Of course, we stopped there too. But when McCartney and Corden stopped, McCartney stepped out of the vehicle and autographed the sign. It isn't real legible, but if you look closely (or if I cheat and circle it 😀) you can clearly see it. I went back and watched the YouTube where I saw him do it. You also see the front room with the upright piano in McCartney's home, where much of the writing, and even some of the Quarrymen rehearsals happen. The only way you can see that room today is by appointment through the National Trust - not an easy thing to do.
Penny Lane Sign
OUR BEATLES tour was a very fun day. Maybe one of the most fun excursions we have taken in all of our cruising. I am really looking forward to the repeat this June - with some additional photo-ops, and maybe to learn more about this seminal music group. The various Beatles Tours are pretty obvious to Liverpool visitors, as one of the most popular attractions of the city. We did, however, have an opportunity to enjoy other parts of the city, including its active downtown where we visited the Liverpool Gin Distillery and The Alchemist. But the Beatles will always fill my memories of Liverpool.
One of the numerous Beatles Tour options in Liverpool
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