Barnett Vicarious Adventures: July 18, 2013 - The Beatles Fab Four Taxi Tour

We had seen the “Fab Four Taxi Tour” cabs on the streets of Liverpool and found one outside the train station when we returned from Chester. We decided that the price was reasonable (well, not reasonable, but not outrageous) so we decided to take the tour and learn as much Beatles history as possible. It was well worth the price and a great tour. It is hard to believe in fate, karma or predestination, but you have to wonder how three boys with such tremendous talent managed to meet in an industrial town not at all known for music in the late 50”s and turn the music world on its head.

The first stop was the old Records Hall. It is now an immigration center and the immigrants seeking refugee status do not like having their pictures taken so no pictures. But, in 1962, it was the place where John Lennon secretly married Cynthia. The wedding was kept secret because in the words of Brian Epstein, “this could be bigger than Elvis” and they did not want the millions of young girls to know that a Beatle was married. Cynthia’s mother refused to attend the wedding because she was marrying that, “no good guitar player who would never amount to anything.” In attendance were Paul, George and Brian Epstein and Cynthia's bridesmaid.

Below, the Maternity Hospital where John Lennon was born. Today it is student housing for the University of Liverpool. The hospital building still has shrapnel damage from the bombs that were dropped across the street. Fortunately, the maternity hospital was not directly hit. Julie Lennon (Stanley) gave birth to John here on October 9, 1941.

John and Cynthia’s first home. Actually, this was Brian Epstein’s “love nest.” Homosexuality was not acceptable in those days so Brian kept a private residence for his affairs. He lent it to John and Cynthia who lived there for four months.

The street where the Brian Epstein apartment was located. You can see in the street where the old street car tracks have been paved over.

Below, outside the Liverpool Institute of Art where Paul and George studied, there is an art sculpture a pieces of luggage. On each piece of luggage is the name of a famous person who has visited Liverpool. Edward and Elaine are on the guitar cases labeled Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Paul and George met while attending school here.

Our “Fab Four Taxi Tour.” This cab is named, “Lady Madonna.”

The house where Ringo Star was born. Today it is a row of decrepit houses that are no longer occupied due to their deteriorating conditions. The row of homes were owned by the Liverpool Housing Counsel and were furnish to persons of low income who paid rent based upon their income. Ringo’s babysitter lived across the street. If you look carefully at the photo below, you can see “BEATLES” in the mortar of the brickwork. After The Beatles became famous, the occupant of the house used the mortar to permanently mark this home where a Beatle stayed.

John Lennon’s second home with his mother, Julie, and below the pub around the corner where Julie worked.

Below, we arrive at Penny Lane made famous in the Beatles song by the same name. If you listen to the lyrics of the song, Paul is simply writing about an area of town he saw on the bus everyday on his way to and from school. Bus #86 took Paul from his home to his high school each day along Penny Lane. The bus still runs today.

In the lyrics to the Penny Lane song there is a note of a, “shelter in the round about” where a barber shop is located that is visited by the banker down the street. Below is the shelter in the roundabout and the Penny Lane Barber Shop where John and Paul got their hair cut.

Paul and John’s photos on the wall of the barber shop from the days when they had their hair cut here. AND, since Edward happened to need a haircut soon, he got his haircut in the Penny Lane Barber Shop.

Edward exits from the Penny Lane Barber Shop satisfied with his haircut.

The second home where John lived with Julie.

The fire station mentioned in the Penny Lane song.

The childhood home of Paul McCartney. Paul’s mother was a midwife for this neighborhood.

Above, the McCartney house and the interior of the Lady Madonna Taxi. Below, the gates of Strawberry Field. Strawberry Field was actually an orphanage. The orphans could often be seen at the gates watching the more well to do who lived in the area going to school and going home to their families. John Lennon climbed the fence of the orphanage often and played on the grounds with the orphans and later wrote Strawberry Field (not Fields) about this site.

Below, a childhood home of John Lennon. In this house he lived with his “Aunt Mimi” who took him from his mother. Julie at the time got pregnant while her husband, Freddy Lennon, was away in the merchant marines. He had been gone for four years and when he returned home Julie met him at the door 8 months pregnant. Needless to say, there was a divorce and Julie moved into a one bedroom apartment with the father. Aunt Mimi was incensed over the 5 year old John living in these conditions and got a court order to become John’s guardian. Since Aunt Mimi had a 3 bedroom home and Julie had a 1 bedroom apartment where she was living with a man to whom she was not married, it was an easy decision be the court in those days.

Edward is posing as in a photo taken of John Lennon in this same spot.

While living in this house, Aunt Mimi often told John that playing guitar was a nice hobby but not something at which he could actually make a living. She also complained about those riffraff boys, Paul and George, that he hung out with along with the noise from the outside storage shed that the 3 boys used as a rehearsal hall.

The Lade Madonna Taxi.

The boyhood home of George Harrison.

In this church building on July 6, 1959, John Lennon was playing with his band, The Quarrymen. John worked in a rock quarry, thus the name. A friend of John’s, Isaac Vaughn, invited Paul to attend the fund raiser at the church wanting to introduce him to John. Paul had already decided to attend the fair since there would be girls there. So, on July 6, 1959 Paul attended the fair and was introduced to John Lennon and the rest is history.

The Eleanor Rigby tombstone. Neither John nor Paul knew Eleanor. She died years before they were born. But, John was a choirboy in the adjacent church and he and Paul used to sneak cigarette breaks in the cemetery since there was a low wall near Eleanor’s headstone behind which they could hide. The song about Eleanor has some accurate lyrics, but whether she was one of the “lonely people,” we will never know.

Below, stop at Christ the King Cathedral. We were told that it was worth a visit as the inside is remarkable and it is.

The bell tower containing the Matthew, Mark, Luke and John bells known locally as the John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Below, the church has impressive open architecture with a sanctuary over 200 feet across with no column supports.

Below, interior photos of the famous Philharmonic Dining Rooms Pub. It is one of the most elegant pubs we have ever seen. It gets its name from the Royal Philharmonic Hall across the street. John Lennon said that one of the biggest prices he paid for fame was the inability to go into “The Phil” for a pint of beer. Note the elegant décor, walls and tiles.

These artistic figures are located all around Liverpool. There is one painted all yellow that is called the “Lamb nana” and represents the bananas imported from Central America into the port of Liverpool and the sheep imported into the port from New Zealand.

Above and below, she shell of a bombed out church from the World War II bombing of Liverpool. The bomb was an incendiary bomb which burned out the interior without damaging the structure of the building. It is kept as a memorial to those killed in the bombing of Liverpool.

Below, photos of the bomb damage of Liverpool outside the church shell.