Mendips: John Lennon's house

A middle class hero protected in green and education



Teenager John in front of Mendips

Sunday morning. Liverpool. Even my socks are wet by the usual showers. I'm going to visit the Sancta Santorum - the place to go if you love John Lennon. Do I love John Lennon? It's much easier to love someone who wrote your favorite songs than someone you live with day in day out. So it's not comparable. I'm on my way to Mendips, donated by Yoko to the National Trust ten years ago: the place were Lennon lived longer than in Kenwood, Tittenhurst or even Dakota.

By Dominique Verschuren

Miriam M'Cauley is the perfect guide. She’s friendly - taking time to laugh, joke and make contact with her audience. The perfect person to keep the legend alive. She was (and still is?) in love with George Harrison, but all four Beatles conquered her heart. M'Cauley can't tell us enough times how lovely Mendips is. And she's right. It's smaller than I expected, more cosy than I thought, but it is indeed a nice place to grow up, located in a lovely green area called Woolton. This is England's greenery at its finest.

I guess without knowing it she refers a myth to the garbage: John Lennon, the working class hero. She proves: it’s complete nonsense. M'Cauley: "A bell system in the house. You could say it's a middle class area. People who lived here were bank managers, consultants, that type of thing. This area is still very popular. A lot of Liverpool’s footballers live here."

But this is not the whole story. John's first address, 9 Newcastle Road, definitely looks more working class. And in a way John was. John’s auntie Mimi Smith had ambitions to reach a higher status than her background. That’s why he grew up in more supporting circumstances: the house (uncle George Smith owned different houses), the education, the structure, the civilization... Mimi only wanted two things: she wanted to keep her cousin under control in which she totally failed. And secondly she wanted him to climb up the ladder which succeeds heavily. Ironically because the first purpose failed.

Battle for little John

John entered Mendips definitely in the summer of 1946. Just after he came back from Blackpool. His mother took him with her, after arguing with his father about John's destiny. Back in Liverpool he would join to life with Julia and her new boyfriend John 'Bobby' Dykins. But Mimi wanted him. Her argument was convincing. Julia had proved for six years that she was not the best mother you could wish. Too young at heart to raise up a child. But Julia won't let John taking away. So Mimi sent an inspector from Liverpool Social Services to Julia who lived together with a new boyfriend, while she was officially married, in a small house without a proper room for the little John. Reasons enough to take John to Mendips. In Mendips John had his own bedroom. There were three rooms: one to receive visitors, one for dining, and a morning room, full of light with lovely side on the garden and easy to heat in the winter.

John's bedroom

After Julia arranged preparations to get John back, it was already too late. According to his niece Leila, Mimi stood in front of John as she wanted to protect him and said to her sister: "You're not gonna get him!"

Mendips carved deep inside his soul

In Mendips John had a lovely time of structure and balance. The education he got, made him complete enough to develop himself as the great innovator of pop music. He was an intellectual in rock history, at the same level with Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Bowie and Bono. And the fundaments he got from his uncle George and his auntie Mimi. Certainly in the first ten years before Elvis conquered his heart and soul he was raised up in a old traditional way. Later on John became a media junk, passive as well active. He not only appeared constantly on the telly, he was also addicted to watch. He innovate popular culture with his music and knew how to manipulate the mass. That's why it is so special to know how he was raising up before Elvis took it over from Mimi and George.

Cause there always stays something deep inside him which was a heritage of those first years in Mendips. M'Cauley: "When John went to live in the Dakota buildings he took the clock with him with "George 'too good' Smith" on it. People would say, why did he take a clock? Well, you only need silence to know why he took it. Most people of John's age remember going to the house and this was the sound they hear. It wouldn't be the television or the radio. It would be the ticking of the clock.”

(Thanks to Helen Williams)

How Julian Lennon always carries his father along

The Shadow

Few exhibitions in Liverpool are so touchy as White Feather. White Feather. The Spirit of Lennon is Julian Lennon's foundation to protect organism in general and their environment. White Feather refers to Julian's father who once said that if he died early he would tell by a white feather that he's doing fine.

By Dominique Verschuren

White Feather is in other words The Julian Lennon Collection. What does he collects in particular? Gold records, postcards, pics, costumes, jewelry, a motor, handwritten lyrics... too much to count. Mostly from his father. After 50 years it seems that Julian is still looking for his father by collecting everything about his dad. To keep him closer than he ever had. In the first 17 years of his life, Julian's age when John died, he saw his father bloody seldom. History repeats itself: like John screamed for his mother in the song with the same title - "Mother you had me, but I never had you" -, so try Julian to complete his father with ever piece he can get. And also Julian has to face the truth: although he can collect his own Charles Forster Kane Xanadu he will never fill the empty gap inside himself.

Even with the name of the foundation he tries to get his father closer: The Spirit of Lennon. Not "Julian Lennon", just "Lennon".

A difficult relationship

Julian Lennon has been born on April 8th 1963 in Liverpool. At the same moment his father rocked his ass off somewhere else in the country. The Beatles scored just their second number one hit, From Me To You.

Julian came too early in John's life. With his 22 years he was too much a child to be a real father. More than once he said he wanted to be a good dad, but even more times he failed. Reading papers, a lifelong addiction of John, costs less energy and give a bigger intellectual pleasure than playing with a two-year-old kid. He could be very impatiently, Cynthia Powell, John's first wife and Julian's mother, remembered: "While eating, Julian made a typical three-year-old's mess of the food and everything else on the table. John stood up and blew his top, screaming at this little boy who couldn't understand this man who he very rarely saw!"

Ironically John knew very well how he was rejected by his own parents. So he was really willing to be a good father, as he told reporter Larry Kane: "I just want him to grow up happy. That's the main thing. (...) Just love, that's the main thing, you know. He's just going to be happy and know he's wanted.' Despite Lennon's will to compensate his parents the impression Julian always would keep was different: "Living with my dad was about as cozy as living with a stranger. Although my father proclaimed "All you need is love" to the masses, he was unable to express his feelings to his own family. How can you talk about peace and love and have a family in bits and pieces, no communication, adultery, divorce?"

Julian and John at the end of 1970's

After the divorce Julian saw his father so now and then. They spent Christmas 1974 in Disneyland, a good time together. Some years later it went wrong. Cynthia writes in her biography: "Everyone was having fun, so Julian giggled. John was screaming to him: 'Stop that bloody laughing! I can't stand it.' Julian escaped to his room, stressed and crying. John's behaviour was cruel and since then it influenced Julian. Still he laughs very seldom." 

That was April 1979, the last time that father and son met each other.

Ashamed of your own weakness

Like his father also Julian was conceived by accident. Moreover John was ashamed of Julian's weakness. He saw so much of Cynthia in the little boy. But that's not the whole story. Julian not only looks similar to his father in his appearance. John also recognized his own insecurity on his son. Wasn't he too much faced with himself as he saw his shy son? Julian is the ultimate product of a scary, doubting father and a timid mother.

Chuck Berry illustrate perfectly how people look at Julian. During the concert Hail Hail Rock 'n' Roll the rock-'n'-roll-pioneer announced him with the words: "John... Julian... Lennon!" Julian don't know where to look, how he has to interprete these words, as a compliment or as an injury? Berry is not the only one who confused him with his father. Like everyone who starts talking about his father. How do you answer the question "How was your father?" if you never had your father?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YcPtitpLkk

How do you build up your own life and career as the outside world always asks for your father? His father as an everlasting shadow, because Julian stands in his own father's shadow. So he had to deal with his destiny as being John Lennon's son: "My father's name and reputation has made me even more keen to follow on. I see my work as a continuation, though I'm aware of the dangers of comparison. I'll do it my way, and don't want to be compared with him." With White Feather. The Spirit of Lennon he keeps searching brick by brick for his father till he collect all puzzle pieces. Just like John was searching for his mother.

ps: Lately I saw they replaced the White Feather exhibition by the story of how Elvis met The Beatles.

(Thanks to Helen Williams)

                                          Julian's world wide smash hit "Too late for goodbye's"

                                                     Julian's Beatle-esk ballad "Valotte"

The facts behind the drama

John Lennon in Blackpool

Blackpool in the 1940's

John Lennon in Blackpool. It almost sounds like a romantic title of an adventure book. Like Tintin in America. What was he doing there? And why? He performed several times in this North-English town with The Beatles like they did in every place in Britain. So not very exceptional. No, the reason to write about Blackpool in relation to John Lennon happens rather despite him than because of him.

By Dominique Verschuren

Every biographer gives attention to what happened to John Lennon in Blackpool. Some writers just a paragraph, some others two pages. But strangely enough no one ever seemed to come to Blackpool searching for the place where it all happens. Tony Sharkey, local history librarian of Blackpool: "As far as I can remember you're the first who asked about that address. It may have been cropped up previous years. But you're the first person who, to my knowledge, research it any depth."

Bill Harry, founder of the magazine Mersey Beat and good friend of John Lennon from College of Art, wrote about John in Blackpool. Sharkey: "I don't know about his research or where he got his information. His information is maybe based on interviews and verbal reports rather than records."

Harry is not the person calls the address, 25 Ivy Avenue, explicit. You can find that detail here: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carousel/pob/pob40.html. But Harry certainly is the writer who shows up with the specific date: Saturday June 22, 1946. When I asked him about his information Harry wrote me: "I had the address, the people they stayed with, all the details. But my computer went kaput and 10 years research has disappeared, together with that information." Mail dated: 14 maart 2011. Harry website is: http://triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/beatles/johnlennon-blackpool3.shtml.

Unfortunately Harry was wrong. According to Tim Riley. He wrote Lennon. The Definitive Life. What has that supposed to be, the definitive life? As if there exists something like a provisional life when someone died? Anyway, Riley dated 4 days later: wednesday June 26. In other words, nothing is definitive in Lennon's life. About every details there's discussion. That makes it impossible to write about him on facts. Lennon adjudged historiography bankrupt.

If you've been a child to Blackpool, you'll be a fan for life

So let's tell a story. What happened exactly with John Lennon in Blackpool, somewhere in June 1946?



Alfred Lennon

Alfred Lennon spent his holiday in Blackpool with his son. Both enjoyed very much: donkey ride, leisure centre... They stayed for a period in the house of the parents of Freddie's friend, Billy Hall: 25 Ivy Avenue. These people just decided to migrate to New Zealand. A bloody good idea, Freddie must have thought and wanted to follow with the 5 years old John. But something happened. Julia showed up to get her child back. The parents argued about him. Fruitless. So Fred asked John: What do you want? Come with me to New Zealand or stay with your mother in Liverpool? John wanted his parents got back together. That was out of the question. So he preferred to join his father. Julia accepted the decision and walked away. At that moment the little John started to panic. He run to his mother, she took him with her and disappeared. Fred saw his son back when John was already a Beatle and had conquered the world.

 

Sharkey: "Blackpool was very popular in the years you're talking about. 7 to 10 million visitors a year. Blackpool didn't close down during the war, in the 1940's Blackpool was a very lively place. Britain recovered because the effects of the war, people filled in to Blackpool. Blackpool is a town to dance, to go to the theatre, to amuse, to have fun.  I always say: If you've been a child to Blackpool, you'll be a fan for life. To understand Blackpool you have to join in."

A history hole

Searching for the place is not easy. If you're looking in The Local and Family History Centre in the Central Library of Blackpool for the address where it all happened you walk up to a strange wall. It's the wall which hide moments in history. Sharkey: "The problem you have is the time, 1945-1946. The boundary of Blackpool excluded the area where Ivy Avenue was. The electoral register is entitled to vote instead of finding people in terms of their purpose. Ivy Avenue technically must be listed under the Fylde constituency and not the Blackpool constituency. We don't have that file, while it has to be in theory."

In other words we cannot check if Mr. and Mrs. Hall really lived at 25 Ivy Avenue in June 1946. I found a proof that they were not living anymore late 1946. I have a look at the list of names with the voters based for Parliamentary Elections in 1946/1947. If I look at 25 Ivy  Avenue the names Pocock and Dootson showed up two times. Not the name Hall. Does that mean that the Halls effectively migrate to New Zealand? It seems so, but we can't be sure, according to a strict historical rule. But what about June 1946 or before? So that scene is not only a hole in Lennon's heart, but also a history hole.

It's how British sources work. Sharkey: "British society don't keep records of where people move to. A listing in an election registers somebody captures in time: here was where they were living. An election register hasn't the purpose to tell when somebody left the property and where he moved to."

Sharkey refers me to inform in the Lancashire Archives in Preston, next big town near Blackpool. Viv Berry, searchroom supervisor of the Lancashire Archives in Preston, passed the ball back to Blackpool...

Why is Blackpool so important?

Why do I want to know this? Why is it so important?

How longer the Beatles legend exist the larger and more exorbitant it becomes. In other words more and more rumours are replaced by other stories which can hardly been proved. Very often different points of view exist about one event or moment. And how more biography's are written the more stories are so-called confirmed. Stories which exclude each other. Then you still don't know what is the truth and what's just rubbish.

John Lennon, above in the middle

What happened there in Blackpool in the summer of 1946 influenced John's whole life. Of course not only this moment, there were more traumatic moments which effects on his personality and his music. You don't have to be Freud to conclude. So Blackpool is in some way symbolic for a dark part of his youth (not his complete youth by the way!). What happened there at 25 Ivy Avenue is important to Lennon's life. Of course a house doesn't change anything about the situation, but it is indispensable for making the picture complete. It just happened somewhere. The words were spoken in a room, the decisions were taken (or not) between those four walls. It was a moment in a place which had indirectly influences on millions of people all over the world. And that makes it worth to search for.

 

If you want to know more about the particular house, Mark Standing tells us. See the article on this blog: The secrets of Ivy Avenue 25, an ordinary house with an extraordinary history.

 

(Thanks to Helen Williams)

How became the Beatles so typical Beatles?

"We're not British, we're Scouse!"

Irresistible they were. The four Beatles together worked like magic. Not only their music but also their performance, their attitude. The press conference at New York Airport on February 7th 1964 says enough. In some minutes they put the sceptical journalists in their pockets. From where came that appeal? For the answer we only have to dive in the city of their roots. The Beatles are typical as every Scouser: funny, a bit cynical, and certainly quick. But there's more about the Scousers.

By Dominique Verschuren

Wikipedia learns us that Scouse is in fact a dialect in the first place. It's spoken in a large area of the Merseyside. The dialect really stands on itself, as well the attitude of the Liverpudlian. You have Britain and you have Liverpool, I learned during my visits to the city. Even the word 'enclave' is not misplaced.

Beside the dialect you also recognize the typical Scousers mentality. Neil Brannan, the guide on the Magical Mystery Tour bus, explains:  "If you're going to say in the South, I go to Liverpool for the day, people would say: why? It's full of rubbish, full of thieves. While they never been to Liverpool. A lot of people who visit Liverpool said: I wish I spend more time in Liverpool. It's more relaxed, everybody is more friendly. Scousers are very hospitable."

And Scousers are proud. Brannan is the first to admit: "Very, very proud. We have the Beatles, we have the football, we have the history, the port...  Liverpool people are the most patriotic people of every city. We're not British, we're Scouse. It doesn't mean anything in particular. It just mean that down there in London, they don't care about us. So why should we care about them?"

Hospitable, funny and quick

The word Scouse should come from lobscouse. Borrowed from the Norwegian word lapskaus. Sailors introduced this meal of meat and 'rest vegetables' to the Mersey Port. In the 19th century it became so popular that the locals were called "Scousers".

From food it's a very small step to the main typical thing about Scousers, according to Brannan: "Liverpool is more famous for its hospitality than anything else. At this pub here, The Cavern Club, once a guy from Japan stood alone at the bar. And there a guy from Russia stood alone at the bar. And guy from South America the same. Within 20 minutes they were all standing in one group at the bar. Cause we Scousers say: 'Come join us, come and have a drink. Don't stand on your own.' A typical Scouser is in my opinion: Hospitable, funny and quick. " It is indeed not really difficult to be in touch with a Liverpudlian. Holding a map in your hand and there's a real change people voluntary ask you if you're lost. Or drop the word 'Beatles' and you're taking off.

 

Also the Beatles were untiring speakers. During and besides press conferences. They were irresistible funny and very quick with a reaction. Everybody knows John's legendary sense of humor, often cynical, similar to George's. Although John was a bit quicker. Paul was more polite and diplomatic, but sometimes very to the point and Ringo always appeared with his dry remarks. Together they could melt the heart of the greatest sourpuss. And you also hears it in the music; it's one of the main ingredients of their success. Scousers don't taken them self too serious, neither did the Beatles. Certainly in the beginning they tend to tone down them self. And during Beatlemania they were searching to keep standing with their feet on the ground. No wonder if you see where they come from. The Beatles are so typical Scouse.

The 'welcomeness' of the port

Light years away from that New York Airport in 1964 there is the Saturday night in Liverpool anno 2012. The Cavern is much more for the locals than during the week. Outside on Mathew Street you find no trace of Beatle-tourists. The locals occupy the area, the police watch them as Big Brother. All women, I mean all women, are dressed shorter than short, with high heels and three layers of make-up. At two o'clock in the night they're walking with a chicken skin from the cold, very unbalanced or on naked feet with the high heels in their hand. The cold seems to be the only reason why you don't see couples fucking. Cause sex floats in the air and lies on every corner of the street.

Also very typical Scouse? The night porter in the hotel lobby only says: "Scousers life for now, don't think about tomorrow. Tomorrow it's just another day." Heathen, just a Liverpudlian mother of two small kids who I met by coincidence one day before on Menlove Avenue, notice the changes in the 21st century: "Scousers are cynical, rough sense of humor. John Lennon also had that. These days is getting more and more cynical in a nasty way and also behaviour. But I think you see that development everywhere, not only in Liverpool."

 

It can be true what Heathen says, but even then it's remarkable how polite and friendly the Liverpudlians still are. Certainly comparable with other Europeans. Brannan has an explanation: "Hospitality has also something to do with the port. Hamburg, Ostend, Calais. I think the port has something to do with the 'welcomness'. You always expect the stranger in a port. It must have something to do with it."

 Part of the press conference at New York Airport, 7 February 1964:

Press conference in Melbourne, 1964:

 

(Thanks to Helen Williams)

The secrets of Ivy Avenue 25, an ordinary house with an extraordinary history

"If John Lennon had chosen to go to New Zealand, there would never had been the Beatles."

Mark Standing at 25 Ivy Avenue

Some houses are holy. Only because a Beatle has lived there. Mendips, Forthlin Road, Dakota, Tittenhurst Park, Friar Park, Cavendish Avenue... But one house has been forgotton in this list. A house which is so important because it was the silent witness of a decision that changed the world. A decision from a 5 year old kid. His name was John Lennon. The house you can find in Ivy Avenue, Blackpool. Mark Standing (47), the owner: "What if John had chosen to go to New Zealand, there would never been the Beatles. Essentially it could be put in a very, very big historical turning point and it happened right here."

By Dominique Verschuren

In June 1946 Alfred Lennon spent holiday with his son in Blackpool. It was a lovely time, the two together. They stayed a while at 25 Ivy Avenue, in the house of Billy Hall, Fred's friend, and his wife. They decided to migrate to New Zealand. That was a good idea, Fred must have thought. So he decided to join, with the little John. One day, Julia, John's mother showed up to get her child back. The parents argued about him. Fruitless. So Fred asked John: What do you want? Come with me to New Zealand or stay with your mother in Liverpool? John wanted his parents got back together. That was out of the question. So he preferred to join his father. He gave the same answer when Fred asked him once again. Julia accepted the decision and walked away. At that moment the little John started to panic. He ran to his mother. She took him with her and disappeared. Fred saw his son back when John was already a Beatle and had conquered the world.

This scene, this dramatic story, should have happened at 25 Ivy Avenue in Blackpool. Mark Standing, the owner of the house, discovered that just a couple of years ago: "The way I found out was that a friend wanted to send me something in the mail. He wanted to find the postcode. So he googled this address and he came up with list's of John Lennon's houses. That was in 2005. I read the website, quite interesting and sent an e-mail to all my friends with the news: John Lennon lived in my house!"

That sounds great: 'John Lennon lived in my house.' But how reliable is that? Standing: "On that website they put a note to a paper where they confirmed it. It's a bit of circular. The prove of the website is that I seen it on the website and it's now on the paper. So which comes first: the chicken or the egg? The website came first, I'm saying it now in the newspaper about the website. So they take me as a prove which is not totally true. I don't know anything else. I believe it, cause there is no prove to disprove it."

A colleague of John Lennon

Probably the room where 5 year old John
slept during the summer of 1946
(april 2012)

Like that other inhabitant of 25 Ivy Avenue Standing is a musician. He even performed for audiences of thousands of people through whole Europe. He played rock music in the 1980's. But his perspectives are much larger. Standing: "Starting as an bass- and six strings guitarist, last years I'm more in the drumming things: Brasilian, African style. I give workshops with youngsters to create music. We listen to each other during lessons and during playing we try to change and to develop. I can make a living of it. I am what they called the community artist. As a freelancer."

Standing is very artistic. His house is full of sculptures, made by himself. "I do some drama work as well,  acting and improvising. We made plays for youngsters about the dangers of alcohol, about aids, about stranger-a-danger." Just like Lennon Standing never followed guitar lessons and he has a free mind. Experimental music is his greatest love. "Making sound loops, little snips from the television, noises and sounds, put them together. Just like Revolution 9 from the White Album, but then with more rythm. My record company since 1983 called PUMF. I used to release cassettes from the bands I was in. Since 1983 I have 100 releases. Not too much. There was always a change that someone would hear my music and make a lot of money out of it. I want to stay free. It's so sell out these days."

Behind the fronts

Ivy Avenue is now a part of a neighborhood with the same kind of houses. That was different in the time Lennon stayed here. Standing: "I think the house is from the 1930's, so quite new when John stayed here with his father. At the backside there was a Greyhound stadium where they organized races. This street was very far from Blackpool centre, a bit isolated, but close to the beach." In these days Blackpool was a real family beach place. With the leisure parks and the donkey ride. Standing: "Last 20, 30 years it changed, people come for Stag-and-hen parties. Looking for fights and sex, and getting drunk. Blackpool is not a family place anymore."

All those same kind of houses, what happens behind the front? The drama between John and his parents is definitely not the only story of 25 Ivy Avenue. Standing bought the house from his ex-wife, Jenny. "I think she moved in here in 1983. She was here with her husband of the time. They split up and then we got together. We also split up. We had 12 years together. She had a little boy, Matthew. We married and I became his step dad. From his age of four till sixteen. He had difficulty, because he didn't saw his real father that much. He was very anger, shouting to me. She choose for her son. It was difficult... after twelve years. That was in 2003. I stayed here, Jenny wanted to move. Her job had changed. So I bought the house from her. I had already the studio and build the garage anyway. We have kept in touch for one, two years. I haven't seen her for a long time. She's married again. Well, life moves on. Since a year I have a new girlfriend, Emma. Also with kids, but now I'm more a friend than a father. We have both our own spaces and that's a good idea."

House with history

The Blackpool scene was crucial in John's youth. When he came back in Liverpool his mother and aunt Mimi were fighting for the little boy. Mimi took John over and he didn't see his mother for years. So in a short period he lost both his parents. It's one of those traumatic moments that build up a particular view of himself, dictated by demands. He shout it all out on his 1970 song Mother. "Mother, you had me but I never had you/I wanted you but you didn't want me/Father, you left me but I never left you/I needed you but you didn't need me.'

John, 5 years old

Even beside those emotional consequences, that what happened in this place, in this living room, was important in a more historical way. Standing is very aware of that fact: "If the conversation was: 'John, you can choose. You can come with me to New Zealand or you go back to Liverpool with your mum' and if John had chosen to go to New Zealand, there would never been the Beatles. He changed the world, would the world be the same if he'd gone with his dad? Essentially it could be put in a very, very big historical turning point and it happened right here. I can see the importance of what might have happened."

The website which Standing referred to is:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carousel/pob/pob40.html

(Thanks to Helen Williams)
 

On the Magical Mystery Tour with Neil Brannan

"For me every day is a Beatle day"


Best introduction to Beatles history is the Magical Mystery Tour. In the oldest bus Liverpool could find people from all over the world come together for a ride under the "blue subarban skies". Well, forget it. The weatherwoman was very clear yesterday: showers will be our part. But there's a guy who let the rainbow colored bus shines. Neil Brannan (37), captain of the tour for 11 years. "More and more nobody knows what's really true or not about the Beatles. It's so huge. I only give factional information."

By Dominique Verschuren

Brannan is our guide. So he was during my first trip 5 years ago. He's still making the same jokes: "During a reception Queen Elizabeth II said to Sir Paul McCartney: 'I have Beatle-records at home.' Paul answered her: 'I have Queen-records at home.'" Even the Filipino's understand it. And they are not alone. Tourists from Scotland, France, Holland, Germany, Norway, Austria, Canada, Peru... The Beatles are the strongest magnet Liverpool could wish.

Neil Brannan

No doubt about it, Brannan is an entertainer. Neil: "I'm doing it now for 11 years. I was dj in the Cavern, the club where the Beatles became big. Some guy suggests me: 'You have to be in that bus!' Me in that bus? Why? 'You speak every night to people you never met before. You have to teach that people that history.' 'But I can't teaching that,' I said. He gave me a book. I join the tour and I enjoyed it. Now I do it full time: 6 days a week. It feels like 8 days a week."

Listening to the songs with the same name in the bus we are for a moment a part of the real Penny Lane and we see a glimp of Strawberry Field. Brannan speaks with a lot of love about 'our John' or about Paul who he met a couple of times. Macca is his favorite Beatle, nevertheless he admit he's not a huge Beatle-fan. Brannan: "Everyone in Liverpool knows a Beatle-song. Every Scouser is proud they came from Liverpool. On the Beatle-fest, an event organized every year, there you met real fanatics. I can't call myself on the same level as the tourists who travel 10.000 miles to come to here. I don't go home and listening to Beatle-music. It's work for me, but it's never boring because of the music and because of the people. For me every day is a Beatle-day."

While school pupils in their uniform walks through Liverpool suburbia anno 2012, the rainbow bus from pastime paradise continues his journey. With the Magical Mystery Tour Brannan promotes a part of the legend of the Fab Four. Of course. Nevertheless he's a man of facts: "I only tells about where the Beatles lived from when till when. I'm not going to tell about the persons, cause I don't know them personally. I've met 1000's of Pauls 'cousins', you know. And they all have their own stories. But more and more nobody knows what's really true or not. I only give factional information."

That's the main reason why he skipped an old remark from 5 years ago. Only because he can't prove it. Brannan: "As we passed Sefton Park there's a big statue in the shape of a penis. Then I said that's because Ringo, cause he lost virginity in this park."

(Thanks to Helen Williams)

 

John Lennon Diary - Dominique in Liverpool 2012

Hello everybody,

I'm staying here for a while to breathe the atmosphere of the ultimate Beatles Town. Cause Liverpool certainly drives on the Beatles Industry. But of course I show the story behind The Beatles and John Lennon. I know my way in this town, I have contact with people who have special links with Lennon and I like you to inform about my adventures here.

You can follow my steps in this Liverpool Diary on my blog: The atmosphere of this place, my own thoughts and something extra. So turn on, tune in and cop out (like an old acid mantra said - well more into John Lennon we can hardly be!).

Enjoy!
Dominique

http://dominique-verschuren.blogspot.com

Op audiëntie bij Sir Paul in het Antwerpse Sportpaleis

Paul McCartney gaf gisteren een drie uur durend concert in het Antwerpse Sportpaleis, waarmee hij zijn reputatie weer extra glans gaf. Zijn reputatie als showman die alle kneepjes kent om zijn publiek te vermaken. Hij praatte zelf 'Nederlands': "alles kitz...achter de rits?" En zijn reputatie als de succesvolste liedjesschrijver van de twintigste eeuw.

Bijna zeventig is hij intussen, maar blakend van energie. En indrukwekkend: het duurt al snel enkele liedjes voordat het werkelijk tot je doordringt dat hij daar staat: Paul McCartney, een ruime kwart van The Beatles. Dat werd al meteen duidelijk toen hij All My Loving inzette. Daarna volgde de rest van de soundtrack van de tweede helft van de twintigste eeuw. Of liever de periode 1960-1980, want de nadruk lag tijdens het concert dat onderdeel uitmaakt van de On The Run-tournee, op een nieuw liedje als het kwetsbare My Valentine na, vooral op materiaal dat inmiddels uit een ander tijdperk stamt. En dat is wat het publiek wilde horen: fans van middelbare leeftijd tot tieners die juist de Beatlecatalogus aan het ontdekken zijn. Het patrimonium gaat van generatie op generatie.

Opvallend was het vele materiaal van Band On The Run: naast het obligate titelstuk kwamen ook Jet, Mrs. Vanderbilt, Let Me Roll It en Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five voorbij. Macca's gebruikelijke hommages aan John Lennon (Here Today) en George Harrison (Something) lokte bij de echte fans een spontane ode aan Ringo uit (Yellow Submarine) waar de klantvriendelijke ex-Beatle meteen op inspeelde. Maar echt opmerkelijk waren The Word en Daytripper, bij vriend en vijand bekend als Lennon-nummers. Vroeger maakte de bassist duidelijk een onderscheid tussen de Lennon en de McCartney songs. Blijkbaar hoe langer de tijd verstrijkt en de Beatle-mythe universeler wordt, hoe meer McCartney zich hoeder voelt van alle Beatleliedjes. Geef hem ongelijk: als geen ander hielp hij mee om er klassiek materiaal van te maken.

Op deze glans van onvergankelijkheid vloog de avond richting de climax met Band On The Run, Back In the U.S.S.R., A Day in the Life, Let It Be, Hey Jude en een spectaculaire Live and Let Die, inclusief een vuurwerkshow. Tegen die tijd stonden ook de buitenste ringen van hun stoelen op en duurde het applaus na ieder nummer langer en langer. In de twee toegiften schudde de Liverpudlian achteloos nog wat Beatle-evergreens uit zijn mouw: Daytripper, Drive My Car, Get Back, Yesterday, waarna hij traditioneel afsloot met de laatste minuten ooit door The Beatles op plaat gezet: Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, The End. "The love you take is equal to the love you make" was spreekwoordelijk op een avond waarop vijftienduizend toeschouwers op audiëntie gingen bij Sir Paul en dankbaarheid terugkregen. En andersom.

En toch, na afloop bleef ook een reeks classics in het hoofd hangen die hij nog had kunnen spelen: I Want To Hold Your Hand, Can't Buy Me Love, Fool On the Hill, Mull Of Kintyre, We Can Work It Out, Silly Love Songs, Lady Madonna, Penny Lane, Maybe I'm Amazed, Hello Goodbye... Wie doet hem dat na?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmcvhBo8TAg

Door Dominique Verschuren

You’ve got to hide your love away

Het verborgen leven van John Lennon


Wie de Beatles hoort, ziet onmiddellijk horden uitzinnige (veelal) vrouwelijke fans voor zich die ongedwongen hun hormonen de vrije loop laten. Maar in de marge van het omvangrijke verhaal van de Fab Four ontbreken ook de homoseksuele avontuurtjes niet. Met name over de geaardheid van John Lennon gonzen de hardnekkigste geruchten.

Door Dominique Verschuren

John Lennon in 1963

De discussie over de mogelijke homoseksualiteit van John Lennon is grotendeels terug te voeren op slechts een voorval in zijn turbulente leven.

Toen de Beatles in april 1963 de eerste treden van de showbusiness beklommen en met hits als Please Please Me en From Me To You de Beatlemania in Engeland aanwakkerde, genoot John Lennon van een welverdiende vakantie met manager Brian Epstein. Zittend op het terras in Barcelona vertelde de homoseksueel Epstein zijn pupil in geuren en kleuren wat hem zo aantrok in bepaalde mannen die daar flaneerden. John liet aanvankelijk dit spel over zich heenkomen zoals een schrijver die een ervaring rijker wordt. Plotsklaps veranderde het onschuldige schouwspel van karakter toen het tweetal terugkeerde naar de hotelkamer.

Epstein had volgens de Beatle aan diens oren gezeurd om seks te hebben, waarop John had geriposteerd: “Vooruit, stop hem maar in mijn kont.” “Om eerlijk te zijn, John, hou ik niet zo van dat grove werk,” legde de impresario uit. “Ik hou meer van strelingen.” Waarop John Lennon zich liet aftrekken. Als reden voerde Lennon later aan dat hij het te doen had met die weinig benijdenswaardige joodse gay Brian Epstein. “Arme sukkel, hij kan er ook niets aan doen dat hij zo is.”

They’re going to crucify me

Hoe weten wij zo nauwkeurig wat zich in Barcelona heeft afgespeeld tussen die twee jongemannen?

In 1991 verscheen de zwart/wit film The Hours & Times, met in de hoofdrollen David Angus and Ian Hart als respectievelijk Epstein en Lennon. In de film zien we het koppel op het terras zitten terwijl ze hun fantasieën de vrije loop laten. Even later zit Hart in de badkuip van de hotelkamer waar Angus hem masturbeert. De vraag die opduikt luidt uiteraard: is dit de ware gang van zaken geweest? En: waarop is het script gebaseerd? IMDB.com, de onfeilbare website voor informatie over alle films die mondiaal ooit zijn uitgebracht, houdt het op het volgende: “A fictionalized account of what may have happened when John Lennon and Brian Epstein went on holiday together to Spain in 1963.” Het heeft er alle schijn van dat het scenario geen natuurgetrouwe weergave is. Maar waar de film precies afwijkt van de werkelijkheid is koffiedik kijken.

Misschien dat de scenaristen de mosterd gehaald hebben uit het controversiële boek van Albert Goldman: het lijvige The lives of John Lennon (1988), waarin de auteur de onttovering van de legende van de Beatles en Lennon tot een erezaak verheft. Met een niet aflatende ijver verdiept Goldman zich talloze malen in de homoseksuele kant van Lennon, zelfs tot ver in de jaren zeventig als hij inmiddels met Yoko Ono in New York woont. De biograaf bedient zich van de nodige speculaties en insinuaties zonder die met onweerlegbare bewijzen te staven. Naast de pikante details over de zogenaamde ‘Barcelona-affaire’ beweert Goldman dat Lennon ‘vermoedelijk’, ‘waarschijnlijk’ en ‘misschien wel’ in Bangkok seks heeft gehad met jonge knapen, en dat hij en Brian Epstein gedurende het leven van de laatstgenoemde – Epstein stierf op 27 augustus 1967 aan een overdosis pillen – een seksuele liaison onderhielden en soms samen in sm-kelders te vinden waren. Opvallend genoeg kom je elders in de uitvoerige lectuur over de Beatles nauwelijks iets tegen over deze apocriefe geschiedenis. Betekent dat dan dat Goldman de seksuele escapade in Barcelona uit zijn duim heeft gezogen?

Gay in het puriteinse Engeland



Brian Epstein (links) en John Lennon

Jaren voordat deze gebeurtenis in films en boeken opdook, gonsde het thuis in Liverpool al van de geruchten over de citytrip van Lennon en Epstein. Op een feestje ter gelegenheid van de eenentwintigste verjaardag van Paul McCartney in juni 1963 kwam het seksuele avontuurtje pijnlijk op straat te liggen. Terwijl iedereen zich opperbest vermaakte, plaatste de lokale diskjockey en vriend van Lennon, Bob Wooler, een vileine opmerking over Johns ‘huwelijksreis naar Spanje’. Deze kwinkslag viel in het verkeerde keelgat en als door een wesp gestoken sloegen bij de dronken Lennon de stoppen door. Hij bewerkte Wooler zolang met een schop dat de deejay afgevoerd moest worden naar het ziekenhuis waaruit hij pas na weken werd ontslagen. Als reden voor zijn woede-uitbarsting erkende Lennon later dat hij als de dood was dat hij het stigma van flikker opgeplakt kreeg.
Lennons krampachtige reactie licht een tipje van de sluier op over de angst dat zijn reputatie als homo zijn carrière zou schaden, goed en wel voordat ze ook maar van de grond was gekomen. Bovendien zegt dit incident ook veel over de benepen cultuur die er begin jaren zestig heerste in de Engelse maatschappij. Sinds de dagen van Oscar Wilde, die werd veroordeeld voor seks met iemand van hetzelfde geslacht, bleek er bitterweinig veranderd. Homoseksualiteit was nog altijd streng verboden. Dat Epstein zijn geaardheid strikt geheim hield wekt als zodanig geen verbazing op. Slechts enkele intimi in de Beatles-entourage waren op de hoogte.

Daar stond tegenover dat in Liverpool, als tweede havenstad van het land, de gay-scene hevig tierde. In de kroegen, maar vooral op zee werd de wetgeving tegen sodomie met voeten getreden. Brian Epstein was bepaald niet de enige holebi in de stad. Sterker nog: veel managers van de eerste popgroepen waren gay. Paul McCartney hierover: “Iemand heeft eens gesteld dat de showbusiness door homoseksuelen wordt gerund en er is inderdaad een grote invloed van homoseksuelen. Veel hoofden van firma’s en mensen met machtposities zijn homoseksueel en het moet ons enorm geholpen hebben dat we een homoseksuele contactpersoon hadden. Ze voelden zich gelukkiger bij ons omdat ze op zijn minst makkelijker met onze manager konden omgaan.” Het is dan ook geen toeval dat Epstein feilloos het imago van de Beatles kon creëren, omdat hij zich als geen ander wist te identificeren met hun doelpubliek: tienermeisjes en jonge vrouwen.

Toen hij de jongens voor het eerst zag optreden trof hij niets minder dan zijn natte droom aan: “Ze waren overduidelijk enorm opwindend. Ze leken een soort persoonlijke aantrekkingskracht te hebben. Ik was volledig gefascineerd door ze.” Vrijwel niemand twijfelt eraan dat Epstein in het bijzonder een oogje had op Lennon, maar ter bescherming van de carrière van The Beatles zou hij zijn fantasieën in toom houden. Tot die ene keer in Barcelona...

Who am i supposed to be?

Nieuwe getuigenissen over dit voorval kwamen onlangs naar buiten, toen Larry Kane, een bevriend journalist van John Lennon, een aantal Beatle-insiders aan het woord liet. Tony Bramwell, een lid van de Beatle-familie, stelt gedecideerd vast: “Ik vind het klinkklare onzin.” Pr-man Tony Barrow, laat meer ruimte open: “John was uitdagend, altijd vastbesloten om anders te zijn. Ik zou nooit ‘nooit’ zeggen. Maar hen beiden kennende, zou ik zeggen dat het nooit is gebeurd. Het was wel duidelijk dat Brian zich op een seksuele manier tot John aangetrokken voelde.” Paul McCartney ventileert in het Anthology-boek op principiële gronden zijn eigen visie: “Het was altijd duidelijk dat Brian homoseksueel was en we konden met hem praten over homoseksuele zaken, maar hij zou nooit zeggen: ‘Hallo, Paul, je ziet er goed uit vandaag.’ Ik was zeer duidelijk a-homoseksueel op grond van mijn jacht op de vrouwelijke horden en ik denk dat we allemaal die indruk wekten. Er is later gesuggereerd dat John op de een of andere manier een homoseksuele relatie met Brian had gehad, maar ik betwijfel het. Alle intieme momenten die we deelden, gingen altijd over vrouwen.”

De twee hoofdrolspelers zelf hebben in de loop der jaren mondjesmaat iets losgelaten over de in nevelen gehulde affaire. Epstein zou Larry Kane hebben toevertrouwd dat er niets gebeurd was, simpelweg omdat het niet tot de mogelijkheden behoorde. “Het heeft zich nooit voltrokken,” antwoordde Lennon in 1973 toen het onderwerp ter sprake kwam. “Maar we hadden wel een intense relatie. En het was mijn eerste ervaring met iemand waarvan ik wist dat die homoseksueel was. Dat heeft hij mij bekend.” In het Anthology-verhaal wordt Lennon geciteerd uit een vraaggesprek dat hem in 1972 was afgenomen, waarin hij terugblikte op de schermutseling met deejay Bob Wooler: “Bob had geïnsuneerd dat Brian en ik in Spanje wat gehad hadden. En ik moet bang geweest zijn voor de flikker in mezelf, dat ik zo kwaad werd.”

Voelde Lennon zich werkelijk een homo? Of was hij meer bevreesd om zijn reputatie van stoere Beatle te grabbel te gooien? Negatieve publiciteit kon Lennon op zijn moment van doorbraak immers missen als kiespijn. Waarschijnlijk voelde hij zich geïntimideerd door de aanhoudende ‘verdachtmakingen’ die het hem zo goed als onmogelijk maakten zijn vermeende homokant te verbergen. Een paar jaar later, toen de wereld inmiddels aan zijn voeten lag, liep hij een soortgelijk trauma op doordat hij zichzelf had verloren in de incarnatie van ‘Beatle-John’: een publiekelijke façade waarmee hij zich niet kon vereenzelvigen. Kortom, de vervreemding boezemde hem angst in, omdat hij in zijn nichterige kant zichzelf niet meer herkende. Hij moest die zijde onder controle zien te houden, het mocht hooguit bij een experiment blijven.

Koortsachtige hunkering naar een beetje liefde

John en Yoko in 1980

De geruchten over de ‘Barcelona-affaire’ werden ook gevoed doordat Epstein en Lennon al een tijdje heel close waren, zij het puur zakelijk. Ze deelden een droom: van The Beatles de grootste popgroep aller tijden maken. Uren, dagen verkeerden ze in elkaars gezelschap om plannen te smeden hoe ze zo gestroomlijnd mogelijk de wereld konden veroveren. McCartney hierover in Anthology: “John was een slimme vogel. Brian was homoseksueel en John zag zijn kans schoon om aan meneer Epstein duidelijk te maken wie de baas was in de groep. Ik denk dat hij daarom met Brian op vakantie is gegaan. Dat moest hij helemaal zelf weten – zo’n jongen was hij; hij wilde dat Brian zou weten naar wie hij moest luisteren. Zo lag de verhouding. John was duidelijk de leider, al werd dat nooit met zoveel woorden gezegd.” McCartney zat niet ver naast de waarheid. Mocht er iets seksueels zijn gebeurd in Barcelona, dan is het niet denkbeeldig dat dit te maken had met de machtspositie binnen The Beatles.

Maar dat is nog niet alles. Alsof het al niet ingewikkeld genoeg is, maakt een totaal andere invalshoek het incident nog complexer. Epstein en Lennon onderhielden namelijk helemaal geen relatie als minaars. John beschouwde Brian in de eerste plaats als een beschermheer. Toen Epstein in de zomer van 1967 het leven liet, sloeg de schrik Lennon danig om het hart: “We stortten in. Ik wist dat we problemen hadden toen. Ik had totaal geen valse voorstelling van onze capaciteiten om wat dan ook te doen behalve muziek maken en ik was bang. Ik dacht: ‘Nu hebben we het gehad’” Lennon verloor met de dood van zijn impresario niet alleen een zakelijk leider, maar ook een vader.

Om Lennons angst te verklaren volstaat een duik te nemen in zijn jeugdjaren. Lennon heeft nooit de liefdevolle bescherming gekend van een natuurlijke moeder of vader. Op vijfjarige leeftijd stond hij voor een hartverscheurend dilemma toen hij moest kiezen tussen zijn vader en moeder. Hij koos zijn moeder Julia, maar die was te jong en te onstuimig voor het moederschap en dus kwam hij onder de hoede van zijn tante te staan. Mimi Smith zorgde ervoor dat het Lennon aan opvoeding en opleiding niets ontbrak, maar moederliefde heeft zij hem nooit kunnen geven. In zijn tienerjaren groeide hij opnieuw naar Julia toe, maar toen John achttien was kwam zij om bij een verkeersongeluk. Zo verloor hij haar voor de tweede keer, en nu voorgoed. Vanaf dat moment tekende zich een vast patroon af in Lennons leven om in een koortsachtige hunkering naar liefde op zoek te gaan naar een beschermer. Brian Epstein die vanaf 1961 de zaakjes van de Beatles ging regelen bleek dus voor John méér dan enkel een zakelijk leider. Hij was zijn hoeder. (John klampte zich nog geen jaar na de dood van Epstein vast aan Yoko Ono.) Niet lang voor zijn dood zou Lennon erkennen dat hij meer om Brian had gegeven dan dat hij ooit van een vrouw kon houden.

You’ve got to hide your love away

In zijn boek over de muziek van The Beatles laat Mark Hertsgaard zijn licht schijnen op You’ve got to hide your love away, een van de eerste ballads die Lennon in 1965 onder invloed van Bob Dylans muziek opnam voor de elpee Help! Hoewel You’ve got to hide your love away later het eerste liefdeslied voor homoseksuelen is genoemd, is niets minder waar. “Het drukte (...) inderdaad de angst, schaamte en hopeloosheid uit die veel homoseksuelen hebben ervaren onder druk van de afkeuring van de maatschappij,” schrijft Hertsgaard. “Dit is niet zozeer van belang omdat het iets zou zeggen over Lennons seksuele voorkeuren – wat ook niet zo is – maar wèl om wat het zegt over zijn vermogen om in zichzelf op zoek te gaan naar waarheden die meer dan levensgroot zijn, waarheden die dwars door grenzen van leeftijd, ras, klasse of welke indeling dan ook heenbreken, die mensen aanspreken die zich door die grenzen geïsoleerd voelen.”

De hineininterpretatie van You’ve got to hide your love away als hart onder de riem voor onzekere holebi’s past perfect in de mythe van de homoseksuele John Lennon, waardoor de akoestische song de allure krijgt van een openhartige autobiografische schets. Maar de vermoedelijke homoseksuele perikelen van de Beatle sluiten eerder aan bij het beeld van een waaghals die zijn tomeloze nieuwsgierigheid bevredigt door geen enkel experiment uit de weg te gaan. Lennon probeerde alles uit: marihuana, lsd, heroïne, transcendentale meditatie, psychoanalytische therapieën, I tsing, occultisme, avantgarde kunst... En seksueel was hij onverzadigbaar. Een homoseksuele ervaring is in dit licht niet zo vreemd. Maar het is te kortzichtig om hieruit automatisch een – al dan niet latente - homoseksuele of biseksuele geaardheid af te leiden.

Geraadplaagde bronnen:
- Albert Goldman, The lives of John Lennon, 1988. (vert. De levens van John Lennon, 1989, Sijthoff, Amsterdam. ISBN: 9021803615)
- Larry Kane, Lennon revealed, 2005. (vert. John Lennon. De man, de mythe en de waarheid, 2005, Pimento, Amsterdam. ISBN: 9049900127)
- The Beatles Anthology, 2000. (vert. Anthology. Het verhaal van The Beatles voor het eerst verteld in hun eigen woorden en met eigen foto’s, 2000, Nijgh & Van Ditmar, Amsterdam. ISBN: 9038803168)
- Mark Hertsgaard, A day in the life. The music and artistry of the Beatles, 1995. (vert. A day in the life. De Beatles en hun muziek, 1995, De Prom/Houtekiet, Baarn. ISBN: 9068014552)
- Pete Shotton and Nicholas Schaffner, John Lennon in my life, 1983, Stein and Day, New York. ISBN: 0812829166
- www.imdb.com