18 Days of McCartney Day 2- Early Childhood

 Before reading this you may find it to your benefit to read about Paul's parents; Jim and Mary by clicking here. 

 It's hard to deny or get mad at a big hazel eyed, chubby cheeked child that Paul McCartney was. Everyone adored him for his chipmunk cheeks and innocence which, if he played his cards right, would get him out of some trouble. His brother, Michael on the other hand, didn't have Paul's fortune and was known more of the trouble one of the two,

"He was the one you felt you wanted to love and protect. With Paul, you loved him, but you knew you'd never have to protect him."- Olive Johnson on Michael, Shout by  Philip Norman

As a child Paul remembers his father being ‘a great crossword – puzzle man’ telling his kids to practice and keep the mind sharp, “it would improve our word power”. After leaving school at age fourteen his father had to educate himself, which wasn’t bad at all,

 “He taught me words that no one else knew and I was the only kid in my class who could spell ‘phlegm’.” - Paul McCartney, Anthology

Michael and Paul

His mother was a midwife and nurse, very kind and proper woman, trying to teach her kids to grow up using the Queen’s English instead of the Liverpool dialect of Scouse. One and a half years after Paul was born he received a baby brother, Peter Michael, who would be known as Michael or Mike. In The Beatles Anthology Paul describes his childhood as secure, being brought up as what he called “a pioneer family”, due to them always moving to fit with his mother’s job,

 “No sooner would we be established in one house than we would be moved to a new one, on the outskirts of Speke, say, where they hadn’t built the roads yet. We’d live there for a while and then it would be ‘whipcrack away’, and we were moving again.” 

The family lived from, 10 Sunbury Road, Liverpool but not shortly after they lived at 92 Broadway, Wallasey, this home was only temporarily, the family were given a home at 3 Roach Avenue, Knowsley due to Jim’s new job as a  Napier’s inspector, which was to be considered as war work. They then lived at a ground-floor flat in Sir Thomas White Gardens, Everton. In 1946 the family moved again to Speke staying at 72 Western Avenue and two years later they moved down the road to the new Liverpool estates, 12 Adwick Road where Jim would become secretary of Speke. Finally, the family settled down in 1955 at a three bedroom home 20 Forthlin Road, Allerton.

Liverpool suffered during World War II due to the docks and the ports that surrounded it, 

“we played on bomb-sites a lot and I grew up thinking the word ‘bomb-site’ meant ‘playground’. I never connected it with bombing. ‘Where are you going to play’? –‘I’m going down the bombie’”. - Paul McCartney, Anthology

As children they’d grow up speaking terms like shell shock and never know what it meant, it was the innocence of a child. Paul spent his days at the bombie’s and the docks, saying he had a very romantic feeling about the docks, at St John’s market- prior to it turning into a parking lot, or at the beach walking down Dungeon Lane. McCartney remembers the winters in Liverpool being freezing, “They were like being in Siberia…” getting chapped knees and  rashes.

Mary being a Catholic, Jim being a Protestant had decided to baptize their sons as Roman Catholics. The two boys didn’t do much with religion; they did how ever go to Sunday school, sing hymns at the Catholic schools they attended in their early childhood. Some of Paul’s earliest music came from churches and hymns, saying that he grew to like the sounds of them. He also auditioned to join church choirs in the Liverpool area, unfortunately at around age eleven he didn’t pass the audition at the Liverpool Cathedral.  

 “I was exposed to many religious arguments on the pierhead, and I came to the conclusion that ‘God’ is just the word ‘good’ with the ‘o’ taken out, and ‘Devil’ is the word ‘evil’ with a ‘D’ added. Really, all that people have done throughout history is to personify the two forces of Good and Evil. And although they’ve given them many names – like Jehovah or Allah – I’ve got a feeling that it’s all the same.”- Paul McCartney, Anthology

“A lot of people don’t like school. I didn’t like it very much, but I didn’t dislike it; and I quite enjoyed bits of it. I enjoyed English literature because we had a good master. What I didn’t like was being told what to do.”- Paul McCartney, Anthology

Paul at Joseph Williams

 Paul attended Wood Road Primary School from 1947 until 1949. Later on he transferred to Joseph Williams Junior School. Due to Paul passing the Eleven-Plus (an exam given to children around the ages eleven to twelve which will help schools decide on which secondary school would fit best with the student) he was admitted into the Liverpool Institute where he would become friends with Ivan Vaughan. Paul describes the school as dark, dank, and gloomy. He was always a promising student having report cards that read, “A very intelligent boy…” followed by “Very good work”.  One year his school decided to put on the play St. Joan, Paul would audition for the part of Warwick but like his choir auditions at the Liverpool Cathedral he didn't pass the audition and was given a small role as an inquisitor. Growing up Michael and Paul had believed that they would grow up to be doctors, since their mother was in the medical field. Unfortunately, Mary had suffered from cancer when Paul was fourteen years old, and passed away at age forty-seven on 31 October, 1956; she was laid to rest on 3 November at Yew Tree Cemetery.

 “My mother’s death broke my dad up. That was the worst thing for me, hearing my dad cry.”- Paul McCartney, Anthology

 It was during this time that Paul had learned to “put a shell on”.  With his mother gone and his father distraught and working, Paul and Michael had taken up little house chores with help from his aunts and uncles, 

“Auntie Milly and Auntie Jinny came on Tuesday, and that was  a golden day in my week because I could come home and not have to do anything.”

Jimmy Mac Jazz Band

Music was in Paul’s blood, his father played trumpet and his Uncle Jack played Trombone in a jazz band called Jimmy Mac Jazz Band. Not only did Jim play trumpet but he also knew clarinet and a self-taught pianist, he’d always play the piano which lead to Paul’s infatuation for the instrument. His father would tell his sons to learn the piano; it’s a great way to get invited to parties. Paul and Michael would ask their dad to teach them but he refused to, saying that they must learn properly and not self-trained like himself, 

“In the end, I learnt to play be ear, just like him, making it all up.” 

Paul did eventually take lessons from an elder woman at her home; he hated it. Going to her home made him uncomfortable, he didn’t like the smell, “it smelt of old people” and in the end he gave up on it due to the homework being a bit challenging, but for what it’s worth he did enjoy something’s she showed him but he never learned how to read or write sheet music. With more practice he’d be playing at parties, with help from his Uncle Ron who would always know the right time for anything. 

“I had a lovely Uncle Ron, who would come up and say, ‘All right son. Now, you know “Carolina Moon”?’ and I’d say, Yeah.’ He’d say, ‘Well, don’t play it yet, wait till I tell you. I’ll give you the OK.’ I’d wait and everyone would get steamed up, you could feel the party rise and the atmosphere building, and at about eleven he’d come up to me and tap me on the shoulder – ‘All right, son, go for it.’” 

These family parties would always take place on New Year’s Eve; Paul describes them as some of his favorite parties. Having the family together, as kids he’d work behind the bar, Uncle Jack telling jokes, and the atmosphere. 

 The Following video is Paul McCartney's "That Was Me" from his Memory Almost Full album;

But Paul's early music will be saved for 18 Days of McCartney Day 3, where Paul's idols, trumpet days, and the beginning of a new artist will be shared.

18 Days of McCartney Day 1- Jim and Mary McCartney

It's June and you know what that means; Paul McCartney's birthday month! To honor the worlds "Most Successful Composer and Recording Artist of All Time" (Says the Guinness World Records) I will post facts about Sir Paul's life until his 72nd Birthday on 18 June, as done with previous posts like 9 Days of Lennon and 25 Days of Harrison (7 Days of Starr will be coming in July). So I recommend all you Maccalcoholic's to Get Back  as we become a  Backwards Traveler down The Long and Winding Road through Sir James Paul McCartney's Yesterday s. So relax and let's Appreciate because 18 Days of McCartney is Coming Up.

Our story begins on 18 June, 1942 in Walton, Liverpool where Mary and Jim McCartney gave birth to their first son, James Paul McCartney.

 "My mother was a nurse and came from Fazakerley, Liverpool."- Paul McCartney, Anthology

There's not much written about young Mary Patricia Mohan, who was born on 29 September, 1909. Her mother was Mary Theresa Danher, born  from Toxeth Park and her father was born in Tullynamalrow, Ireland in 1880 as Owen Mohan but would change the spelling of his last name to Mohin during his school years so he wouldn't be mistaken with other students last names. Owen moved to Liverpool when he was older were he worked as a coalman. Mary and Owen were married on 24 April, 1905 at St. Charles Roman Catholic Church. The couple gave birth to their daughter, Mary,named after her mother, at 2 Third Avenue, Fazakerley, Liverpool. At age two her parents had divorced and her father had met and married his new love, Rose. The couple met while Owen was on a trip to Monaghan, Ireland and soon found love and started lives together as Rose brought her two children from her previous marriage into the picture. Mary Patricia soon realised that her new step-mother didn't care to take care of her new husband's daughter and decided she wanted to live with her aunts. By age fourteen Mary started working at Smithdown Road Hospital as a nurse trainee which would lead her to then take a three year training course at Walton Road Hospital on Rice Lane where she was given title as a state registered nurse. It was in June, when Mary was about thirty one years old she was brought into shelter during an air raid on Liverpool where she met thirty eight year old Jim McCartney.

"My dad was born in Everton and was a cotton salesman who'd left school when he was fourteen."- Paul McCartney, Anthology

Jim McCartney was born on 7 July, 1902 becoming the third out of seven children. His mother was Florence "Florrie" Clegg, who was born 2 June, 1866 and Joseph "Joe" McCartney was his father, born 23 November, 1866 who worked as a tobacco- cutter. Florrie and Joe were wed on 17 May, 1896 in Christ Church Kensington, Liverpool. The two were very seldom people, Joe who was always in bed by 10 o'clock, never drank, and the worst thing he would every say was Jaysus, while Florrie was nicknamed "Granny Mac" and was always willing to help and was usually called to help during other families issues. Jim was born at 8 Fishguard Street, Everton, Liverpool and would soon become the fifth piece of a nine piece family, his six other siblings being; John (Jack), Edith, Ann, Millie, Jane (Jin), and Joe- who was named after Jim's other brother who died as a baby. After Jim's birth the family moved to 3 Solva Street in Everton, just three miles away from Liverpool City centre where Jim would attend the Steers Street Primary School. At age ten Jim had fallen off a wall where he suffered from loosing his hearing in his left ear. Just like his future wife, Jim started working at age fourteen, his first job paying six shillings a week as a cotton sample boy at A. Hanney & Co five days a week for ten hours a day.  It wasn't a big shock that his future son would became a great musician, Jim,  music lover, led his own Jazz band, Jimmy Mac's Jazz Band where he would play trumpet and the piano- which he learned how to play by ear. Jimmy Mac's Jazz Band would play at socials, cinemas, and even dances; their biggest achievement was when they were given the opportunity to provide the music for a silent Hollywood film, The Queen of Sheba. As time went on World War II had started and Jim was now too old to be drafted and disqualified anyways due to him only being able to hear through the right ear. The cotton exchange was closed during the war which lead to Jim now working at Napier's engineering works, where he made shell cases; if that wasn't enough he was also a volunteer firefighter. Jim went through his life as a bachelor and was very content in his ways of life until he met Mary Mohan who he married the following year on 15 April, 1941.

Michael, Jim, Mary, and Paul

Mary's job now required her to be a domiciliary health visitor and midwife leading her to take off on bicycle during the day or night to homes where she was needed which lead her away from her home most of the time, where she felt guilty about not being around as much as she'd like to for her two sons, James Paul and his brother, younger by two years, Michael.  Her gentleness and kindness was known throughout those around the McCartney's, showing their support and love towards the family the McCartney's would sometimes have surprises like ornaments or sugar placed on their back door or on their steps. But Mary's busy twenty-four hour job came to a halt when she picked up a job as a school nurse in the Walton and Allerton district.

Mary had been suffering from pains in her breast but didn't think too much of it and avoiding the doctors as much as possible, even though a small lump appeared on the breast, in the fear that she might be diagnosed with nurse's hypochondria. Olive Johnson, daughter of Mary's friend Bella and Paul and Micheal's babysitter, recalls one night,

"When she got home, she went straight to bed," Olive says, "I went up later and found her crying. 'Oh, Olive,' she said to me, 'I don't want to leave the boys just yet.'" - From Shout by Philip Norman

 After a few days the pain was so severe Mary was admitted to a hospital where she was diagnosed with breast cancer and was put into surgery for mastectomy, which did little success; the cancer had already spread too far.

"That was the worst thing for me, hearing my dad cry. I'd never heard him cry before. It was a terrible blow to the family. You grow up real quick, because you never expect to hear you parents crying." -Paul McCartney, Anthology

Michael, Mary, and Paul

It was Wednesday 31 October, 1956 that Mary McCartney, age forty-seven, had passed away after loosing her abrupt battle of cancer. Paul was fourteen years old and Michael twelve. It's told that before her operation she laid school clothes out for her sons and told her sister-in-law, Dill Mohin, "Now everything's ready for them  in case I don't come back." and how she would of loved to watch the boys grow up. She was buried on 3 November at  Yew Tree Cemetery, Finch Lane, Liverpool.
 Mary is honored by both sons, Michael having an album called Women in 1972 with a picture of his beloved mother, and Paul McCartney being inspired by a dream he had of his mother telling him that everything was going to be alright, Let it be. 

Mother Mary come's to me, 

Speaking words of wisdom; 

Let It Be.

The following video is Michael McCartney (McGear) 's "Woman"  ;

Jim, with help from Bella, Olive, and his sisters all took help in raising the two boys. It was almost a decade later that Jim had fallen in love with Angie Lucia, a Liverpool widow born in 1929. After three meetings Jim and Angie had decided to get married, Jim being sixty-two years old and Angie being thirty-four the two were wed on 24 November, 1964. Angie had brought her daughter Ruth, whom she had with her previous husband, Eddie. Jim legally adopted Ruth, who was four years old at the time she was brought into the McCartney family, making Ruth legally Paul and Micheal's step-sister. Ruth was very musical, playing piano, guitar, and singing; this would become a bond with Jim and her, also with Paul- in fact The Beatles "Golden Slumbers", came from a sheet of piano music Ruth had out with the same title.

Paul, Jim, Angie, and Ruth

Jim had passed away on 18 March, 1976 at age seventy-two from bronchial pneumonia just two days after his son launched his Wings Over Europe tour. Paul had come back to attend his father's funeral who was cremated four days later. Angie on the other hand is now eighty-five years old and helps run McCartney Multimedia with her daughter Ruth and Ruth's husband Martin Nethercutt. In her late seventies Angie also starts her own brand of organic tea.

The following video is The Beatles "Let It Be";

Check back tomorrow for Day 2 of 18 Days of McCartney with Paul McCartney's early childhood