When They Were Boys (14 page)

That humility is shared by most of the Quarrymen, especially Rod Davis, the banjo man, who has the distinction of saying he was actually replaced by Paul McCartney.

Davis played at both concerts at the church, but amazingly, he missed “the moment.”

“I must have gone for a pee. The vital moment in rock 'n' roll history, and I went for a pee and missed it all, you see. . . . Paul remembers what happened because for him it was important. And he tells people [he] played either on Eric [Griffiths] or John's guitar, that way, left-handed, and he had to play the chords upside down. That would be pretty amazing, but so is everything about the guy.

“It was on the platform in a field outside the church hall. I missed it. A few weeks later, Paul was in, I was out,” the affable Davis remembers. “I didn't know him well, but he made himself liked very quickly in the band.
And John's mum and Aunt Mimi seemed to really enjoy being around him.”

So did Sam Leach. An active early promoter of the Beatles, Leach saw the Quarrymen playing at the Hamilton Club. As would happen many times in Merseyside events, fighting broke out on the floor. But that night something else happened—a first. The fighting stopped when the boys started playing. And Leach stopped in his tracks.

“Couldn't believe it, Larry. All of them—they all stopped fighting. It made me look a lot closer at the band,” Leach recalls. He was especially impressed with Paul and John. In a classic first meeting, Leach, a gregarious and personable man—a few years older than the band members—recalls following the boys to a dressing room that had been converted from a toilet, and how Paul lit the flame, mostly with his personality.

S
O
, I'
M IN THIS “DRESSING ROOM” AND
I
SAY TO THEM
, “Y
OU WILL BE BIGGER THAN
E
LVIS
.” T
HEY JUST STARE AT ME LIKE
I'
VE LOST MY MIND
. J
OHN LOOKED AT ME LIKE
I
WAS MENTAL
. T
HERE WAS SILENCE
. T
HEN
P
AUL GOT UP, SMILED THAT TOOTHY SMILE OF HIS, AND SAID, QUITE VIGOROUSLY
, “Y
OU HAVE WORK FOR US
, M
R
. L
EACH
?” J
OHN'S EYES ROLLED
. I
ANSWERED
, “Y
ES
,”
AND IMMEDIATELY BOOKED THEM AT MY NEW PLACE, THE
C
ASANOVA
C
LUB
. P
AUL WAS SHREWD
. H
E KNEW I WAS OPENING A NEW CLUB
. H
E TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE MOMENT
. H
E BELIEVED IN THE GROUP
.

Paul was as savvy as a teenager could be.

John's sister Julia Baird remembers the early duets between John and Paul at her mother's house, and Paul's undaunted optimism. She recalls little of the reported petty jealousies between the boys, but Paul's determination was clear and present. She says of Paul,

H
E WAS JUBILANT AND BUOYANT, HE PLAYED THE MAJOR ROLE IN BUTTRESSING
J
OHN, BUT HE WASN'T THE ONLY ONE INFLUENCING
J
OHN
. T
HERE WAS
R
OD
D
AVIS
. R
OD LEFT THE BAND BECAUSE OF
P
AUL, BUT ALSO BECAUSE HIS PARENTS PULLED HIM OUT TO GET READY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
. J
OHN LOVED
R
OD
. T
HERE WAS LATER
S
TU
S
UTCLIFFE, WHOM
J
OHN LOVED
. P
AUL UNDERSTOOD THAT AND LET
THAT FRIENDSHIP PLAY OUT
. A
LTHOUGH
P
AUL WAS PRESENT, HE STAYED AWAY FROM THAT AND FROM
J
OHN'S
O
BSESSION WITH
C
YNTHIA
. I
T WAS LIKE A LITTLE MÉNAGE À TROIS WITH
C
YNTHIA
, S
TU, AND
J
OHN
. P
AUL WAS SMART; HE KNEW WHEN TO DISTANCE HIMSELF
.

Baird, younger than John, was smitten with his friends.

“You can imagine what it was like when Jackie and my mother would watch them practice. Paul was handsome even then, and John was so determined. You had this feeling from the chemistry that something special was going to happen, and please don't forget my mother's role in being so present for that.”

The observations Sam Leach had of the teenaged boys seems to put Paul in the leadership position, not John.

E
VEN WHEN WE WENT TO SHOWS
, [P
AUL
]
HAD THE IDEAS, MADE THE DECISIONS—ABOUT WHAT CLUBS TO PLAY IN, FOR EXAMPLE, NEW THINGS TO TRY ON STAGE
. H
E WAS THE IDEA MAN
. J
OHN WAS A BIT LAZY WHEN IT CAME TO DOING STUFF
. P
AUL [WROTE]
“C
AN'T
B
UY
M
E
L
OVE
”
ALL ON HIS OWN WITHOUT
J
OHN
. . . . T
HEN
J
OHN CAME BACK WITH A REBUTTAL IN
“Y
OU
C
AN'T
D
O
T
HAT
.” A
RETALIATION, IF YOU WILL, TO
P
AUL
. T
HE NEXT ONE WAS BY
P
AUL
, “I S
HOULD
H
AVE
K
NOWN
B
ETTER
.” A
N APOLOGY BY
P
AUL TO
J
OHN
. A
ND SO ON—THEIR RELATIONSHIP GOT PRETTY TEMPESTUOUS
.

That recorded controversy could seem a stretch, but the fact is, the relationship was always on the edge, even in the beginning, the very beginning. Paul managed to test the limits of John's patience, without blowing anything up at first. Eventually, of course—twelve years after they came together—their differences proved insurmountable and finally led, quite sadly, to the breakup of the Beatles.

Rod Davis, who never had any real contact with Paul McCartney in the early days, did have an accidental encounter with him in the beach town of Brighton in the summer of 2005.

I
WAS THERE FOR [A] WINDSURFING [COMPETITION]
. A
FRIEND SAID
, “I
JUST SAW
P
AUL
M
C
C
ARTNEY WALK BY WITH A BIG DOG
.” A
ND
I
SAID
,
“Y
OU'RE JOKING
.” A
ND HE SAID
, “N
O
. . . .” S
O
I
WALKED AROUND AND THERE HE WAS, TALKING TO THE OFFICIALS OF WINDSURFING—HE HAD A HOODIE ON AND A BIG SCRUFFY DOG
. S
O,
THEY KNEW ME, AND SAID
, “H
EY, LOOK WHO THIS IS,” SO
I
WALKED OVER, SHOOK HANDS, AND HE SAID
, “W
HO ARE YOU, THEN
?” A
ND
I
SAID
, “I'
M THE GUY YOU REPLACED IN THE
Q
UARRYMEN IN 1957
.” A
ND HE SAID
, “G
OOD
G
OD, THAT'S GOING BACK A BIT, ISN'T IT
? W
HAT HAPPENED
? D
ID
I
ELBOW YOU ASIDE
?” A
ND
I
SAID
, “N
O, IT WAS NO BIG DEAL
.” A
ND I WAS A BANJO PLAYER
, AND YOU CAN'T HAVE A BANJO IN A ROCK 'N' ROLL BAND, AND IT WAS BECOMING MORE ROCK 'N' ROLL
. A
ND I SHOULD HAVE SAID AT THE TIME, BUT
I
DIDN'T THINK OF IT
, “T
HEY WEREN'T GOING ANYWHERE, ANYWAY
!” B
UT
I
DIDN'T THINK OF IT AT THE TIME
. A
ND HE SAID
, “O
H, YOU MUST'VE BEEN THERE IN THE PHOTOGRAPH ON THE STAGE [AT THE
R
OSE
Q
UEEN CONCERT
].” A
ND
I
SAID
, “Y
EAH
, I
WAS STANDING BEHIND
J
OHN'S RIGHT SHOULDER
. I'
M IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
.” S
O WE CHATTED A BIT AND THEY WERE TRYING TO GET HIM TO PRESENT PRIZES FOR THE WINDSURFING, AND HE SAID
, “I'
M NOT GONNA BE THERE TOMORROW WHEN IT FINISHES
,”
BLAH BLAH BLAH, AND THE DOG GOT RESTLESS AND OFF HE WENT
. S
O THAT'S THE ONLY TIME
I
REMEMBER SPEAKING TO
P
AUL
.

I can just imagine Paul's face as he said, “Did I elbow you aside?” as if he were concerned about ending Davis's career. Paul, who is so amazingly private, has this ability to charm and please, a trait apparently embedded early by a soothing mother and an inspirational father. Davis, who missed the Woolton meeting in 1957 because he was “taking a pee,” seems excited that he finally met the man, ever briefly, who quickly replaced him in John's band, freeing him up for a career in much higher education, and intellectual, if not hugely financial, success.

There is much to be learned in the ensuing pages about Paul McCartney, his agenda and manipulations, and, of course, ability.

James Paul McCartney, admired as he is today, is many things to many people, but in the early days that shaped the life of a young and starving band, he offered talent, a creative edge, and unswerving commitment to
excellence. But there was another contribution—his role as a leader. He cheerfully learned to endure and persist with his mission, along with his new friends, while they jointly faced the indignity, humiliation, and conditions of life as a band without a home. That vacancy would soon take them to the land of the unexpected.

WHEN

THEY

WERE

BOYS

P
ART
T
WO:
F
EVER

 

M
eet me at the Jac. It was the Toilet Bowl. Heavy scents of paint and lipstick, coffee and jealousy. Allan W. ran the day, but John, Paul, George, and Stu captured the night. Underground was really underground. Bill Harry, a man with two first names, and a promotional giant. George emerges, and he's got a free ride, on the bus. The hormones are raging, and so are the boys, hungry for a chance, facing rejection, not-so-sizzling in Scotland. Rory arrives on the scene, stormy Rory, and gives the boys a hot shot. And a young boy remembers the hormones raging.

There were long pauses in the Quarrymen's transition from adolescent dreamers to genuine music makers. In the Quarry Bank days—at the primitive concerts in the neighborhoods, on the backs of trucks, and wherever they managed to find a crowd—the seeds were planted for the bloom that would follow.

In the very beginning, it was just a matter of attention-getting, like John's escape from the angry and jealous boys, remembered by Rod Davis, at the bandstand concert. But even then, in the rickety days of skiffle, as Colin Hanton wildly beat the drums and John's lips enveloped the microphone as if he would swallow it altogether, there were stirrings, especially in the girls. But the boys eventually hit a wall, finding it hard to hit their stride without larger audiences. By the fall of 1959, they were desperate but determined to find even a small break, and willing to do anything to get some attention. Their music, much of it covering of the day's hits, was not unique, but as time would tell, their style was recognized, and not for the reasons that would make their success ingenious and universal in scope.

Before the frustrated genius of Paul and John would surface, ahead of the eventual harmony of style and range that would explode anywhere a radio was present, the Quarrymen were beginning to radiate an animated sexuality.

It was, in the early stages, a stirring. And it was so contagious that by the end of 1960, it was and would remain forever simply out of control. But before the new decade began, there were humble beginnings.

Very humble.

CHAPTER FOUR

SEE YOU AT THE JAC

“
They were coffee-shop layabouts . . . just hanging around.

I never looked at them as a group but truants from school.