At certain times, walk by the sometimes gray and rainy Liverpool —and we say “sometimes”, because the lion is not as fierce as they paint it—, it makes one feel that you travel in time a good handful of decades ago.
It is perhaps, in some way, because the British city, which is debating Between your English or Irish feel, does not want to forget its glory years, when its streets recovered from a war and four young — John, Paul, George and Ringo: what more introductions for?—managed to place, in capital letters, this port enclave on the world map. They, the Beatles, created the soundtrack of our lives, no matter how much time has passed and no matter how many generations that have come after.
Statue of The Beatles in Liverpool, UK.
So today we have come to propose you a very special trip. Get a little closer to the fab4 through this guide to Liverpool, the city where they were born and grew up, fail and succeed. We are going to recreate their story in the main places of their lives. hit the play, that this starts now.
‘LOVE ME DO’ OR HOW IT ALL STARTED
sound the first chords of one of the most famous songs of his first record: nothing better than going to the origins to understand. And those roots, in the case of the four from Liverpool, are in the Woolton neighborhood, in the southern part of the city. There, at a festival in the gardens of the st peter church, played on July 6, 1957 The Quarrymen, the first group that John Lennon was part of, of those still a young teenager.
In the audience, another young man passionate about music that he did not hesitate to approach to chat with the musicians after finishing the performance. the kid was Paul MCCARTNEY, that before Lennon's astonished eyes he played—and sang—the Twenty Flight Rock of Eddie Cochran: his joining the group was imminent. That casual and improvised moment was, although they could not even suspect it, the germ of what would one day become the Beatles. What better start for our route than this?
Eleanor Rigby's headstone next to St Peter's Church, Liverpool, UK.
We take the opportunity to walk around Church Road and verify that, even 70 years later, it maintains all its essence: in the surroundings shared countless moments of their adolescence John and Paul. Next to the church, as in any self-respecting British Catholic temple, there are numerous tombstones. In one of them, an inscription is familiar to us: there rests Eleanor Rigby, protagonist —or not— of the song composed by McCartney years later. If the Beatle was inspired by her name to compose it, he never recognized it, but it does not seem a matter of chance.
To continue our particular journey, we seek please please me in the playlist: it is a good option as we get closer to Mendips, at 251 Melove Avenue, the house in which a very young Lennon lived between 1945 and 1966 with his aunt Mimi.
Years after the murder of the Beatle, Yoko Ono bought the house and she donated it to the National Trust: since then it is state heritage. To get rid of the bug and not be left with just looking at the façade, the ideal would be reserve a place in one of the guided tours organized by the organization itself and which include access to the interior. A route with a stop, also, in another important enclave: the terraced house at 20 Frothlin Road where Paul spent his childhood.
Lennon's house at 251, Melove Avenue, Liverpool (UK).
The homes of George Harrison and Ringo Starr, furthest from Woolton, they are not accessible to the public, but if we are curious, we can always come and have a look from the outside, located in the Arnold Groove 12 that of the former, at 9 Madryn Street that of the latter. Next to Ringo's, by the way, on the facade of an old pub to which the drummer dedicated the cover of his first solo album, it was inaugurated in March 2022 a mural by local artist John Culshaw in his honor. A fantasy of colors that recalls the Yellow Submarine with his face in black and white.
PILGRIMAGE TO THE RHYTHM OF ‘STRAWBERRY FIELDS’
Lennon told on multiple occasions that this land today partly recovered It was the playground where he spent much of his childhood: just five minutes from his father's house. aunt mimi, in it stood a nice victorian building Of which today there is no trace. What does remain is the entrance gate to which so many and so many admirers they have continued to make pilgrimages throughout the decades: painted red, the walls to which they are attached have countless signatures and messages full of affection. The land houses a new building with an exhibition about the group Visitable with prior ticket purchase. Also a souvenir shop and a cafe.
A bit further away, on a pleasant walk, is the famous Penny Lane. A simple street, without much to highlight, which curiously was the protagonist of one of the themes most successful —although, and which was not?— of the legendary group from Liverpool: for this reason the plate that indicates their name is a continuous transfer of unconditional of the group and curious people willing to queue if necessary to take their snapshot to home.
Mural by artist John Culshaw, a tribute to Ringo Starr, Liverpool (United Kingdom).
sounds the song into our headphones—Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane, who cares—as we reach its intersection with Smithdown Road: there, where the barbershop and the bank mentioned in the lyrics still survive the passing of the years, John, Paul and George met to take the bus to the center of the city. We throw a bit of imagination and we are able to visualize them there chatting and laughing. In short, dreaming. Planning a whole future full of successes, on the way to the heart of Liverpool.
HOPE STREET: HOPE IS NEVER LOST
There could be no other name for the long avenue that joins the two great cathedrals of the city: the Catholic and the Protestant look at each other out of the corner of their eyes from their two extremes. And, between one and the other, a whole Beatleian chapter to tell. Starting by the institute they attended Paul McCartney and George Harrison, today transformed into the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, financed in part by Paul himself, which even shows up once a year to offer a master class. There they met and shared thousands of moments and musical interests in common. That is why McCartney did not hesitate to introduce his partner to John. the third beatle he had just made his appearance.
Coincidentally, two steps from the institute was the Art Center where Lennon went, so the three friends did not hesitate to skip classes when they could. One of his favorite places to hang out was always Ye Crake's little pub, in one of the intersections: Lennon also frequented it together with Cynthia, his first wife, whom he met while he was studying. Among his other companions, Bill Harry —founder of Mercey Beat magazine— or Stuart Sutcliffe, who for a time was also part of the group. What can sound? Come on, let's give the play a I want to hold your hand.
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Liverpool (UK).
We continue through the long avenue while we are flanked by slender buildings of Georgian style. In the middle of the street, a handful of suitcase sculptures honors those who emigrated during the war. Among the gear, a guitar: John's, of course. We stop to recharge our batteries with a pint and a delicious foot in The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, where the Fav4 often met. They were so assiduous that they came to recognize that one of the things that saddened them the most about fame was not being able to have a beer in this original place again. Yes indeed: in 2018, McCartney went through it again with James Corden while filming an episode of their television show.
With get-back setting the pace —and a happy stomach—, we make one last stop in neighboring Arrad Street, at the end of the avenue: there was the maternity hospital where John Lennon was born. They say that the night his mother gave birth, the last World War II bombing in the city. Whether or not it's true, it never hurts to have a little dramatics to the history.
Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool (UK).
THE STORY OF THE BEATLES, SEEN TODAY
The spring sun, gently embracing, is projected on the reddish bricks of the Albert Dock celebrating his revival. It has been more than a decade since this Docklands from abandoned warehouses it was transformed into a shopping and leisure center full of restaurants and life. Of course, between shops, galleries, cafes and pubs, there was also room for The Beatles Story, the most complete Beatles museum imaginable.
A way fun to learn everything about the group while many secrets are revealed. Recreations of the key places in their lives—from the Casbah, the first basement joint they played in, to clubs of their time in Hamburg—the writing of the Mersey Beat, where the first reports about his performances were written, or the mythical Abbey Road Studios. Original costumes, a 1962 contract to play two and a half hours at The Cavern for £30, or all the curiosities referring to the fan phenomenon that they generated all over the world. Also your mystic age, his days in India or his solo careers: Lennon's white room with the song by imagine in the background, it makes the hair stand on end.
The Beatles Story, Liverpool (UK).
a fun souvenir shop and a cafe where you can have a coffee with Ringo's face drawn round off the experience. If you want to extend something more, one option is to sign up for the Magical Mystery Tour, a tour of two hours by bus through the most emblematic places related to the four. All a must.
Later, and taking advantage of the fact that we are next to the Mersey, the river that witnessed of all the events that shaped the life of the 4 from Liverpool, we walked along its shore until we reached the place where they stand the three Graces: the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building. On the sidewalk, facing the sea, four bronze sculptures of the Beatles make them, forever, part of this city. Work by Chris Butler and Andy Edwards, was placed in 2015 in tribute to the 50 years since the group's last concert in Liverpool, at the Empire Theater.
REMEMBER THE 60S DANCING
has little to do with the atmosphere that was lived 60 decades ago in Matthew Street, but, of that there is no doubt, the music continues to be the protagonist. And if then the teenagers crowded the doors of The Cavern Club to see a local group perform that was already giving something to talk about, today they do aliens willing to revive those glorious years of the beginnings of the Beatles. As soon as we enter the street, we are received Lennon himself: a sculpture of the musician, guitar in hand, decorates a corner in front of the club.
A club that opened its doors in January 1957 in the cellars of a fruit warehouse, and through whose stage the Beatles passed for the first time on November 9, 1961. From that day on they returned up to almost 300 times: already in 1963, the most famous club in the world, was too small for them. Today, going downstairs in this temple to music live, it means enjoying the best atmosphere: the Beatles are, of course, the most honored on stage. while they play versions of Help!, come together either here comes the sun, we approach the bar, where one of the cocktails dedicated to the members of the group will be the best escort to give everything on the track.
Although the reconstruction was done to the millimeter exactly the same as the original Cavern Club, the reality is that this was destroyed in 1973 due to some subway works that were never carried out. In 1984, however, the city decided to recover it : on its walls, dozens of posters and souvenirs commemorate the passing of great international bands —from The Who to the Rolling Stones, from Queen to Stevie Wonder — who, throughout their history, have not wanted to stop playing in the mythical room that saw birth to the Beatles.
Neither do we: here we stay to put the best finishing touch to our guide to Liverpool. A tour of the city where, no matter how many years pass, the Fav4 will be forever immortal. in our headphones sounds, by the way, in my life.