Dear Reader - I was in Liverpool last weekend, and even sacrificed my Saturday night out because I had a Beatles bus tour booked for early on Sunday morning…
The Big Thing
And I loved it. I’m not generally a tour person but the opportunity to see the city of Liverpool through the prism of one of my favourite bands was too good to pass up.
Here are a few interesting things I learned along the way…
The childhood homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney are now museums and owned by the National Trust.
Their houses were two bus journeys apart. The change happened at a bus shelter in the middle of a roundabout just beside a street called Penny Lane.
This shelter, the barber shop and other features in that song are actually on a neighbouring street called Smithdown Place, but that just wouldn’t sound as good as Penny Lane.
Ringo Starr had his first no.1 album last month at the age of 84!
The most listened to Beatles song on Spotify is George Harrison’s Here Comes The Sun.
Where else but Liverpool?
Regular readers will know of this section and how it tries to show off all aspects of my home town of Sligo - which I feel is exactly what Paul McCartney does here with Liverpool. A joy to watch from start to finish.
What’s New?
3 great Beatles books I have read over the years…all available to order at your local bookshops.
THE BEATLES: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY: By Hunter Davies. Does exactly what it says in the title.
ONE TWO THREE FOUR - THE BEATLES IN TIME: By Ctaig Brown. Some great snapshots and stories of the band.
THE BEATLES - COMPLETE SCORES: Every note ever played on a Beatles song. Transcribed and published. An amazing piece of work.
Finally…
The most accurate live reproduction of Penny Lane you’ll see…fascinating.
Till next time - Kieran.
