A Visit to Liverpool Brings Beatles Fans Back to Their Roots Travel

6 7 A Where it all began A at the Cavern 292 times, earning just 5 British A visit to Liverpool brings Beatles fans back to their roots pounds (about $8) at the beginning. Crowds gen- By Kathy Rodeghier erated so much heat in the humid basement, Daily Herald Correspondent which had no air conditioning, that condensation ran down the walls, shorting out the equipment. LIVERPOOL, England — They were just another The Cavern Club was torn down and has since boy band, a gaggle of teenagers with too much energy. been rebuilt with the same bricks on part of its They’d meet in the basement of a friend’s suburban original site on Mathew Street, a walkway lined home, horsing around and playing guitar. One mis- with bars and restaurants. The club has two chievously began carving his name on a wood wall stages. A Beatles tribute band plays most Satur- board — J-O-H — before being day nights. smacked in the head by the friend’s Outside, a Wall of Fame has bricks mom. He’d finish later, adding the travel inscribed with more than 1,800 names of final “N.” artists who have performed here, among Graffiti etched by John Lennon is but one of the curi- them Jimi Hendrix, Elton John, The Who, Queen osities you’ll see on tours of the Casbah Coffee Club and Adele. A life-size statue of Lennon stands DAILYHERALD.COM/ENTERTAINMENT where the band that became the Beatles got its start alongside. Figures of all four Beatles perch on the in 1959. The friend was former Beatles drummer Pete second-story edifice of the Beatles-themed Hard Best and the mom their first manager, Mona Best, who Days Night Hotel around the corner. opened the coffeehouse to give the boys a place to play. Paul McCartney painted the ceiling of one room in Touring boyhood homes a rainbow of colors using cans of leftover paint, says What was it about these Liverpool boys that Roag Best, Pete’s much younger brother and a Casbah singled them out, sending them to the States COURTESY OF KATHERINE RODEGHIER tour guide. It was here, in a space so tiny you can extend and “The Ed Sullivan Show” 50 years ago? Visi- Faces of the Fab Four appear at the entrance to one of the per- your arms and touch both walls, that they set up their tors may get a hint on the National Trust Beatles formance rooms inside the Cavern Club in Liverpool. A Beatles equipment. Childhood Homes Tour that takes them inside tribute band plays on Saturday nights. They were the Quarrymen then, and they weren’t Lennon's and McCartney’s homes. Both are very good. small, so tours often book up months in advance. COURTESY OF KATHERINE RODEGHIER But when the boys returned from Hamburg, Ger- Lennon lived with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle Roag Best, younger brother of former Beatles drummer Pete Best, gives tours of the Casbah many, where they played for hours night after night, George from age 5 to 23 in a duplex with a cozy Coffee Club that his mother created in the basement of their home. the band had changed. Customers at the Casbah didn’t garden. He cut the grass with a manual mower expect much, says Best. In to earn pocket money, says tour guide Paula fact, they were annoyed that Fay. From his tree house John would peer over Liverpool such a mediocre band, now the garden wall to the Salvation Army children’s Getting there: Liverpool is served by John Lennon called the Beatles, had been home, Strawberry Field. He’d climb the wall to Airport. Virgin Trains run from London’s Euston sta- booked. But they played fool around with the kids and was scolded by tion to Liverpool Lime Street station in a little more their first song and the mood Aunt Mimi, to which he’d reply: “They won’t than two hours. shifted. As word spread, hang me for it.” DAILYHERALD.COM/ENTERTAINMENT crowds began pouring into The lyrics to “Strawberry Fields Forever” con- Where to stay: Hard Days Night Hotel, Central the club’s Spiderweb room tain the phrases “in my tree” and “nothing to get Building, 41 N. John St., 110-room Beatles-theme where Lennon scratched hung about,” reminds Fay. “John would have hotel just off Mathew Street, from $150, harddays more graffiti on its red ceiling: more than one meaning in a song lyric.” nighthotel.com “John — I’m back.” Inside the home, visitors step into John’s bed- Where to eat: Philharmonic Dining Rooms, 36 Hope Casbah to the Cavern room where pictures of Elvis and Brigitte Bardot COURTESY OF KATHERINE RODEGHIER St., pub in the style of a 19th-century gentlemen’s hang above a twin bed. They linger in the living A young John Lennon lived in a modest home with his Aunt club was a favorite of John Lennon, nicholsons The Beatles drew as many room where he’d practice music with McCart- Mimi and Uncle George. In his bedroom, the teenager often pubs.co.uk/thephilharmonicdiningroomsliverpool/ as 1,500 people to the Casbah, ney and George Harrison. wrote music and made drawings. dangerously crowding the Aunt Mimi didn’t care for either boy. Fay says Casbah Coffee Club: 8 Haymans Green, West basement and spilling onto Mimi also didn’t like John spending so much time on You,” McCartney’s dad suggested they change the lyr- Derby Village, tours about $25 to $40, petebest. COURTESY OF KATHERINE RODEGHIER the lawn. Mona Best booked music, telling him: “The guitar is all right as a hobby, ics from “Yes, yes, yes” to “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” The 1963 com/casbah-coffee-club.aspx Graffiti covers the concrete pillars at the entrance to the former them into larger dance halls John, but you’ll never make a living at it.” single with its catchy refrain became a hit. Cavern Club: 10 Mathew St., live performances Strawberry Field children’s home. around Liverpool and finally At McCartney’s house there was no domineer- Though McCartney’s dad was supportive of the band, NOVEMBER 2, 2014 SUNDAY, on two stages, including “Saturday With the Cav- convinced the owners of the ing matriarch, so the boys practiced there more often. he was strict. In the backyard, Hall points to a red drain- ern Club Beatles” about $30, cavernclub.org Cavern Club, who preferred jazz over the When Paul was 14 his mother, Mary, died of breast can- pipe on the exterior of the house. When Paul missed new rock sound, to give them a chance. cer and his father, Jim, took over raising him and his curfew, dad would lock him out and he’d shinny up the Beatles Childhood Homes: National Trust, The Cavern was a teenage hangout in the brother, Michael. “My dad was very good about letting pipe and climb into a second-story window. nonmembers pay about $37 adults, $12 kids, basement of an old fruit warehouse. It was us rehearse here,” says McCartney on an audio that nationaltrust.org.uk/beatles-childhood-homes here that Brian Epstein first heard the Beatles plays during tours of the home. Finding the Beatles’ back story Magical Mystery Tour: about $28, cavernclub.org and took over as their manager, putting them The family was always musical, says guide Sylvia The childhood homes of Harrison and Ringo Starr The Beatles Story: Two locations: Albert Dock on the road to stardom. Hall. Dad played piano by ear and the family sang in are not open to the public, but you’ll pass them by bus and Mersey Ferry Pier Head; admission packages From 1961 to 1963, the Beatles performed harmony, a talent Paul brought to the band. if you book the Magical Mystery Tour of Liverpool’s range from $5 to $26, beatlesstory.com “Love Me Do” and “When I’m 64” were written here, COURTESY OF KATHERINE RODEGHIER The Magical Mystery Tour stops at Penny says Hall. When the boys were working on “She Loves See LIVERPOOL on page 9 The Cavern Club on pedestrian Mathew Street is most famous Info: visitliverpool.com or visitengland.com Lane for a photo op. for the Beatles, but other notable performers have gone on- SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2014 SUNDAY, COURTESY OF KATHERINE RODEGHIER stage there, including Jimi Hendrix and Elton John. LIVERPOOL from page 7 Beatles landed in New York in 9 1964 on their first trip to Amer- Beatles sights. ica, the screams were so loud A En route, tour guide Neil onlookers thought the sound Brannan says the musical col- was a malfunction in the jet’s laboration that made rock his- engines. tory began in the summer of Bringing big bucks 1957 when a mutual friend introduced McCartney to to Liverpool Lennon, then nearly 17, at a Liverpool remains a lively church social where his Quar- city. “People come here with rymen were performing. John low expectations and are sur- invited him to join the band, prised by the shopping, res- but Paul couldn’t take him up taurants and attractions,” says on the offer until he returned Phil Coppell, a Blue Badge from scout camp. Later, Paul tour guide and Beatles expert. asked John to allow George, It was always an important then 14, to join. COURTESY OF NATIONAL port city, but international TRUST IMAGES/DENNIS GILBERT The tour bus passes the In the kitchen of his boyhood tourism didn't pick up until Anglican cathedral where home, John Lennon’s Aunt the Beatles became famous.

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