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October 20, 2008
Back In The U.U.U.K.
In 1957, four young lads from Liverpool formed a rock and roll group. They didn’t set out to change the world or popular music or fashion in general. As it turned out, they didn’t, as none of that happened and the group went nowhere; however their friends, The Beatles, did quite well.
Nearly 20 years ago a friend of mine sent me a postcard from Liverpool which claimed (as read aloud by my Depression era-raised father) “Liverpool is a dirty, dirty, dirty city. It is like the asshole of Lowell.” Sorry, Lowell friends. I’m only quoting.
As a lifelong Beatles fan, I decided to make the most of my trip to the U.K by making a side trip to Liverpool where the Fab Four were born, raised, learned their musical craft and often drank tea.
When my friend (who shall remain nameless for his own safety) was there, he said that there wasn’t that much in the way of Beatles tourism, which quite surprised me. I was very pleased to see that is no longer the case and that in fact, Liverpool has come a long way in twenty years (as has Lowell). Not only has the city had a revival, but it has been named the “European Capital of Culture 2008” which kicked off with former Beatle’s drummer Ringo Starr performing atop St. George’s Hall to begin the festivities.
There are various Beatle tours and I opted for the Magical Mystery Tour bus, which passed by the houses where the boys were born or grew up in, including John Lennon’s Aunt Mimi’s house where she told him “The guitar’s all very well John, but you’ll never make a living out of it.” Sadly, Ringo’s childhood home is the only one on its block still lived in, as the others are boarded up, awaiting demolition by the city.
After a trip to the gates of Strawberry Fields, we go to Penny Lane. The bank is still on the corner but of course the banker moved his motor car, perhaps at the request of the police. The barber shop is still there but it is a hair salon now and the bus shelter is still in the middle of the roundabout (a “rotary” to us Yanks) but the pretty nurse who sold poppies from a tray has probably long since retired.
The absolute “must see” in Liverpool is The Cavern Club where the Beatles made their name and were discovered by their future manager, Brian Epstein. Okay, so it’s not the original Cavern Club, but a reconstructed version on nearly 70 percent (50 percent according to one postcard, but 70 percent according to two bartenders and a patron there) of the original site, using some 115,000 of the original bricks.
While I was there I discovered that Neil Innes, a member of the cast of Eric Idle’s (Monty Python’s Flying Circus) classic Beatles spoof The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, would be performing the next evening.
The next day, after a tour of Albert Dock where I visited a surprisingly interesting Maritime Museum, I stopped to have lunch by the water next to a tall ship that flew the skull and crossbones famous "Jolly Roger." There were few crew members on deck but none possessed a wooden leg, an eye patch or a parrot. Also located at Albert Dock is a museum called The Beatles Story, which true to its name, revolves around the story of The Beatles. It contains lots of Beatles memorabilia as well as recollections of those who knew the Beatles in their youth, not to mention members of the Beatles forerunners, The Quarrymen.
The Cavern, which is replicated exactly like the original, is a long, narrow room with large brick columns on each side, beyond which contains more space for patrons on the outer sides of the room. Frankly, it’s not a great place to watch a show and patrons from the club’s heyday recall that the poor ventilation, the smoke, the sweat and condensation on the brick walls from the sweat, caused a putrid smell that made one’s presence in the packed room known to passersby upon exiting the club.
Before Neil Innes’ show, the club featured a trio from Japan called “The Japanese Sketch.” I knew they were pretty good because I had heard them the day before playing outside the club for spare change. The lead singer apologized for his broken English, which was certainly better than my Japanese, and then went into a nearly flawless Paul McCartney impression on the song “Yesterday.”
Neil Innes and his band Fatso (which included Rutles drummer Barry Wom, aka John Halsey) performed in an adjacent room, which was much better suited for performing than the rebuilt Cavern Club and after a 30 second song called “Test, 1-2, Test” he launched into three Rutles songs. For those of you unfamiliar with this brilliant Beatles parody, see: YouTube.
After a wonderfully entertaining show, I went back into the main club where a Beatles tribute band called “The Mersey Beats” played. So what if the guy playing George looked more like Paul than the guy playing Paul or that the guy playing John looked more like "Screech" from Saved By the Bell? The packed house made it seem like I was transported back to 1961, minus the smoke, which club and restaurant patrons aren’t allowed to do in Britain these days.
After that I went across the alley to The Cavern Pub which contains several rare photos of the Beatles at The Cavern Club, and I was able to impress a few locals with me Liverpudlian accent. Indeed, it was like being in a colorized version of the movie A Hard Day’s Night although, I know that was mostly shot in London.
For Beatles fans, one needn’t make the long trip from London to get to Liverpool, as they have their own airport, the John Lennon Airport (I think Gerry Marsden from “Gerry & The Pacemakers” has a taxi stand).
So, if Beatle fans are wondering if there’s much to do and see in Liverpool, I can only say:
“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”
Posted by dmargarita at 1:56 PM