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| From | "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | LIVERPOOL PART 3 - THERE ARE PLACES YOU'LL REMEMBER |
| Date | Mon, 28 May 2007 20:17:59 -0400 |
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It’s Sunday, May 27th and the plan had been to create and investigate my own
Beatles historical tour as the original Magical Mystery Tour bus
extravaganza no longer runs out of the Beatle Museum next door like it did
many years ago.
I researched well by tracking the addresses of famous Beatles sites. The
Cavern Club and Mathew Street was already well documented in my previous
visit here and the one I was on now. The Casbah was an obvious choice and if
you get an invite from the Best family that’s the only way you’ll get in.
It occurred to me that because John and Paul met crossing the yard at St.
Peter’s Church in Woolton, and George Harrison, though younger, was a school
contemporary prior to the formation of The Beatles proper, it seemed likely
that most of The Beatles early haunts were in proximity to each other. On
the previous visit we were whisked around the streets of Liverpool in a
rather reckless fashion and being unfamiliar with the landscape and
enamoured by the tour operator’s six-degrees of separation stories (he had
apparently been at the Quarry Bank Grammar School as a classmate of the
Beatle boys), I didn’t pay much attention to how or where these landmarks
actually were. I don’t think it occurred to anyone that they might hand out
MAPS of the place because it would mean people would venture off on their
own and lose the twelve quid us stupid North Americans were paying to sit on
a replica coach from that god-awful Beatle flick "Magical Mystery Tour" and
being shown where Lennon took a dump in 1961.
And so, I realized, I could create my own walking tour of things I’d already
seen and many that were by-passed on the grand route. Not far from my hotel
is Speke Road that leads into the neighbourhood of Woolton where Lennon and
Harrison lived. John at 251 Menlove Avenue and Harrison at 174 Macket’s
Lane. The Lennon location was a drive-by picture op on my first visit as the
current owners are not giving of the throngs of tourists snapping pics. The
Harrison house was not part of the tour as it’s located away from the other
John/Paul landmarks. So these could be easily videotaped by one, lone,
Canadian fanboy. J
But before Woolton there is another, slightly more affluent neighbourhood
called Allerton from whence the McCartney’s resided at 20 Forthlin Road.
This is the house that nearly all the early Lennon/McCartney songs were
composed (in the front sitting room, in fact). Love Me Do. Please Please Me.
PS I Love You. From Me To You. This was to be the first stop on the Vernon
Beatle Stalker Tour 2007.
From there it continues north up Mather Road to Greenhill and eventually
Harthill Road to the location of the Quarry Bank School itself residing just
outside Calderstones Park where the Quarrymen took their name. Passed the
school is Menlove Avenue where Lennon’s house kitty corners with
Beaconsfield Road and the legendary Salvation Army Orphanage
called…Strawberry Field. The building sits a few hundred feet back from the
road behind an iron doorway that’s easily 10 feet high and barricaded by two
large stone pillars holding the gateway in place. The gate itself is covered
in flowering ivy and it looks rather Dickinsian like something out of Oliver
Twist or David Copperfield. The last of eight orphans still remaining was
transferred out of the facility last December and the building sits vacant
awaiting either demolition or restoration. The Liverpool Council will be
deciding this with the Salvation Army sometime soon. Let’s hope it shares a
better fate than the original Cavern Club.
Pushing passed Strawberry Field is Church Road and as you head south St.
Peter’s Rectory is the most prominent building in sight. It was here that
both Lennon and McCartney met for the first time in a sandlot off the back
of the church property leading them to become Quarrymen soon after. And if
that fateful day weren’t symbolic enough, it is here where the REAL Eleanor
Rigby is buried.
As you continue passed St. Peter’s south you cross Menlove Avenue again
which soon becomes Hillfoot Road and leads to Harrison’s house on Macket’s
Lane. The final stop on the trip. All of this would have been well and good
had I actually taken the trip. But as it is in the United Kingdom, fate is
dealt on the back of inclement weather. It pissed rain the entire day which
doesn’t make for a good foot journey…or videotaping. Maybe tomorrow before
my gig at the Cavern Club !
Instead, I promised Johnny Lloyd Rollins, whom I’d met and become an instant
fan of at the BBC yesterday, that I’d see him play at the Cavern Club
proper. And so, through rain into late afternoon I trudged with a sidetrip
that would allow me ONE more Beatles hotspot on my itinerary as I headed to
the show. At the corner of Slater and Fleet street is the still existing,
still thriving Jacaranda Club where the Beatles would rotate on nights when
they wanted a little extra money after playing the Cavern. Legend has it
they’d play a set at the Cavern, pack up and head over to the Jacaranda to
do an early set before packing up and heading BACK to the Cavern to finish a
late night.
Here’s hoping that Pete Best had a second drum kit at the Jacaranda, because
I can’t imagine running a 20 minute gauntlet across Liverpool’s cobblestones
with a full kit, amps and guitars. The journey is simple by foot, but with
musical equipment…that’s a whole other story.
Anyway, I arrived to catch Johnny Lloyd Rollins on stage at the Cavern, a
little worse for wear as they had gone to Manchester directly after their
BBC appearance the day before so Johnny’s voice was showing signs of
strain. . But an energetic crowd and reciprocal performance made for a great
start to my day.
Immediately afterward I walked directly across Mathew Street (which is
actually a laneway for those not familiar) to the Cavern Pub. This is a
recent addition to the street as the doorway itself was immortalized in the
black and white photo of Lennon leaning in its archway seen on the cover of
his 1975 album ‘Rock’n’Roll’. No longer a black catacomb in black and white,
the stairway leads to the brightly contrasted pub just below street
level….think of Cheers with a ton of Rock Memoribilia festooning the walls.
Most notable was a glass showcase from floor to ceiling located ON the stage
behind the area where the bands play featuring an original Ringo Star drum
kit, and guitars from the other three Beatles. The Hard Rock Café vibe also
had displays for Bo Diddley, Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson, Bryan Adams, Paul
McCartney (including an autographed David Gilmour Strat from the Run Devil
Run performance McCartney did at the Cavern many years back) and Status Quo.
Jeremy Morris of Jam Records took the stage with his band including Dave
Dietrich on drums (a patron of all things Goddo…and executive producer on
several of them). Jeremy’s band was tight and he managed to not only
dominate the small stage and dance floor in front of him, but take the
performance above and beyond the call of duty with ripping renditions of his
own sunshiney pop and The Byrds "So You Wanna Be A Rock And Star", the Kinks
"You Really Got Me" (played British Invasion style WITH the Van Halen guitar
solo) and a rousing blues number called "Big House" during which the
soundman jumped up to tear off a verse and chorus vocally.
Jeremy would repeat the performance with even MORE energy several hours
later down the street at Lennon’s pub but not before we watched a British
duo dressed like Mods circa 1965 do some rather cool original music in that
era’s style named Downdime. Anyway, Jeremy raised the roof nearly knocking
himself out cold after hitting his head on the low cellar ceiling. He ran
through the wall-to-wall crowd doing solos and eventually did a flying leap
into a table and chairs landing ass-backwards in a heap. The band didn’t
miss a beat.
Afterwards it was time to eat and go back to the hotel for a rest. I would
have to miss Jeremy’s THIRD show at the Cavern Club that night. I needed my
sleep for tomorrow would be my own appearance at the house The Beatles
built.
NEXT TIME: VERMIN TAKES THE STAGE
Jaimie Vernon,
President, Bullseye Records
http://www.bullseyecanada.com
SWAG:
http://www.cafepress.com/bullseyecanada
BULLSEYE LIVE 365 RADIO:
http://www.live365.com/stations/bullseyerecords
Author, Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/
http://www.myspace.com/jaimievernonsmovingtargetz
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