Mon. May 23rd Liverpool
on the first 'stage' of the Casbah. McCartney painted the ceiling.
Busy day—-
Went to the Casbah Club. Completely fascinating. (For the non-Beatle geek, this is the club Pete Best [original drummer for the Beatles]‘s mom opened in their family home’s basement. It’s a large-ish house on the outskirts of Liverpool.
Roag Best in front. Silouhette of Lennon, as done by Cynthia soon-to-be Lennon on wall behind.
Pete Best’s younger 1/2 brother Roag [pronounced Rogue] gave us the tour. Highlights: the ‘stage’ where the Beatles really did begin. And a carving in the wall where Lennon had scratched “John–I’m back”, when the newly turbo-powered Beatles had returned to the Casbah after playing in Hamburg for the first time …which was the conclusion of a story in which Lennon had had his ears boxed by Mrs. Best when he’d started to carve “John” in the wall during a previous visit.
Roag was a great and charming story-teller. If anyone in the band had had a small digital recorder in their pocket, his spiel would make a great keepsake. Hmmm. I’ll have to check with the more technically savvy members of our little group.
"John--I'm back"
Afterwards, it began to rain and bluster pretty hard. The whole gang of us (band +Jaime and her mom Mary Ann + David Summer) met in the town center [after getting soaked trying to find a cab (and me still trying to baby my throat in what was like TV commercial weather for cold and flu season)]. We found an ATM that worked for us (not always easy) and an easy bathroom to access (McDonald’s)—and hey, don’t spread it around, but we actually just went ahead and ordered some grub there too…yeah I know “what? eating at McDonald’s while you’re in England?”…..but there ya go.
We were planning on taking the Magical Mystery Tour Bus (looks like the one in themovie) for their over-view of Beatle sites. (Many of us had done this on the previous trip..but some of us were new to this). After a bit of mix up….thanks to our Guro of Local Customs and Language David Summers for stepping in and sorting this out….we got a tour—Jaime and Jamie’s Mom on the bus, the rest of us in a Beate tour taxi. It was a great tour…seeing all the Beatle’s childhood homes, Strawberry Fields, and stopping for a goodly while on the Penny Lane intersection—then back to The Pineapple to get ready for this evening’s show.
"the shelter in the middle of the roundabout"
The gig was at The Cavern Pub (just across tiny Matthew Street from The Cavern proper). The show went well—lots of good energy fueled by the fact that my voice was nearly there (as opposed to ‘very much not there’ on that last set at the Cavern). We were cut a bit short it seemed…but the band had a blast—esp. laughing at me as I’d call out songs and then proceed to play them in the wrong order…it turned into a tour-long laugh as I seemed to pretty much consistently do this.
Neptune and I hung out for maybe an hour watching bits of sets here and at the Cavern before going home early. The whole gang hung out in the pub–me and Neptune eating Tesco-bought sandwhiches (mmmm prawns) and drinking tea (yeah, we’re hardcore!) until bedtime.
hanging out in the Pineapple pub
boys in back: John, David Summers, Neptune, Leland--girls in front: Jaime's mom Mary Ann, Jaime Holt