Early Years - Tumblr Posts
“Paul then got a bug about tadpoles. “Is it possible to make a pond, Dad?” he asked one day.
“What for, son?” asked Dad.
“To raise tadpoles,” replied Paul.
Dad was always very good at trying to supply anything we wanted – particularly if he thought it would be of an informative or educative nature. A few days later he dug a big hole in the back garden and sank a beer barrel in the space. Then he left us to fill it with water.
Paul got a lot of frog-spawn from somewhere and dumped all this into the barrel. For weeks he lived for nothing else but that spawn. The moment he came home from school, he’d be out into the garden, stuffing his face down into that spawn to see how it was getting on.
“They’re getting tails!” he’d yell at me and then I’d go and look at the messy stuff. I couldn’t understand what was exciting him.
“Look, there’s one with a body!” he’d point. All I could see was stuff that looked like a whole lot of dirty marmalade.
Then one day he ran into the house yelling blue murder.
“They’re getting away!” he was shouting. “They’re running off into the fields!”
Mum and I ran out and there was a horde of frogs jumping and leaping about all over the place. We managed to grab one or two and hold on to them for a moment or so but the minute we set them down again, off they went, into the bushes and hedges. In a very short time, Paul’s pond was completely empty! You should have seen his face! It would have made you laugh and cry at the same time. He had never counted on his spawn turning into real live frogs – neither had the frogs!”
Mike McCartney for Woman Magazine, Saturday, August 21, 1965.
When Paul first invited the Quarry Men to rehearse at his house - and to meet his dad - he met them in town to walk them over. On the way back they ran into a sailor returning home on leave, who was really excited to meet a band, and insisted that they come to the pub and play him a song.
Colin Hall (the book's narrator) writes:
"It was an offer the boys could not resist, although Paul's face immediately dropped. This was the last thing he needed. He was reluctant to accept the invitation because he knew his dad was waiting to meet the Quarry Men for the very first time. To turn up at home with a bunch of lads about whom he'd told Dad so much, and whom Jim was keen to meet, but who were now likely to arrive 'half cut' was Paul's worst nightmare."
Colin Hanton explains how they had a couple of pints and sang the guy a song as they left. He then says:
"Paul was clearly anxious that his dad would smell the beer on our breath and frustrated that there was nothing he could do about it. John reassured him we would be alright, it was half a mile at least to number 20 and the walk in the fresh air would take away the smell of the pub and beer. Reassured, but not entirely convinced, Paul walked ahead of us while we followed."
I know it's nothing but I love Paul being "clearly anxious" around these early days and John being okay about it instead of awful.
The meeting with Jim and Mike went fine though, and Colin mentions: "We also learned that their mum, Mary, had passed away a few years earlier."
"After about an hour, as would become the norm for our many rehearsals at Paul's, the glass doors opened and Jim popped his head round to ask if we were ready for a cup of tea. He was very obliging like that and always struck me as a very pleasant, sociable, and friendly man. After Jim served us tea, we carried on for another half hour before calling it a day. I think, despite the beery breath, we had passed the audition. Jim certainly didn't throw us out or make any comments about the smell of beer, he couldn't have been more hospitable. Indeed we were invited back many times to rehearse. Being a musician himself and a former band leader, Jim understood the importance of a good rehearsal space in which you felt at ease. Rehearsing at Paul's house was always enjoyable, Jim was always encouraging, and his warm welcome allowed us to relax and focus on the music."
Pre:Fab! by Colin Hanton and Colin Hall
father & son // hard times - ethel cain
FROM MIKE MCCARTNEY’S EARLY LIVERPOOL
Cousin Bett, her son Ted, Paul and Jim McCartney at the beach in Filey, Yorkshire (August 1957).
