0:15

Pushkin.

0:20

We admired a singer

0:22

at that time called Bruce Chanelle

0:24

I think his name was, who had a

0:27

song called Hey Baby where

0:29

there was a harmonica riff. So

0:39

we started doing Hey Baby.

0:42

I sang it. John played the harmonica.

0:50

I think that was one of the contributory factors

0:53

for when we're going to write something that's

0:55

a good idea, This harmonica thing's a good

0:58

idea. John could play it

1:00

well. We could write something that

1:02

would feature a harmonica.

1:11

You know, instruments come in sort of vogues.

1:13

I mean you think of skiffle. Guitar

1:17

was like a harmmonic. It's what everyone got

1:19

for Christmas, is what everyone got, and

1:22

that then spawned the

1:24

sixties revolutions.

1:33

I'm Paul will do and I've

1:35

been fortunate to spend time

1:38

with one of the greatest songwriters

1:40

of our era.

1:41

And will you look at me, I'm going

1:43

on to it. I'm actually a performer.

1:46

That is Sir Paul McCartney. We

1:48

worked together on a book looking at the lyrics

1:51

of more than one hundred and fifty of

1:53

his songs, and we recorded

1:56

many hours of our conversations.

1:59

It was like going back to an old snapshot

2:01

album looking back on work

2:04

I hadn't ever analyzed.

2:07

This is mc cartney, a

2:09

life in lyrics, a master

2:12

class, a memoir, and

2:14

an improvised journey with

2:16

one of the most iconic figures

2:19

in popular music. In

2:21

this episode, love Me.

2:23

Too, BA love Me

2:25

Do you know?

2:27

I love you?

2:29

Always be true

2:33

so lovely.

2:40

For a group like the Beatles to

2:42

come into existence,

2:45

you need quite a few planets

2:48

to align, but you also

2:50

need prodigious talent, clever

2:53

strategy, and instiable

2:56

drive. In this episode,

2:58

we trace the origins of one of the

3:00

earliest Beatles songs. These

3:03

days, it's difficult to remember a time

3:06

before the Beatles, but

3:08

back when Paul McCartney and John

3:10

Lennon wrote Love Me Doo, there

3:13

were merely school boys trying

3:15

to make a hit.

3:16

In the afternoons, I sometimes had a rather kind

3:18

of light class that I could get

3:21

out of, and so I

3:24

would say I had a dentist's appointment or something,

3:27

and they didn't check too heavily,

3:29

so I would be able to get on the bus, go

3:31

back home and arrange to meet

3:33

John, who ran about

3:36

that time, was going to the art college

3:39

next door in my school, so

3:41

we'd meet up at my house. Is now National

3:43

Trust Establishment twenty

3:46

fourth in the road, and we would

3:48

meet there because that was the most convenient

3:51

place, and my mom

3:53

and dad wouldn't be there, so

3:56

we would go there and

4:00

start just knocking around, showing

4:02

each other stuff that we'd written

4:04

already, and then writing

4:09

new stuff together. And

4:11

this's involved a couple of songs that

4:13

have never been published or never been heard,

4:17

songs like just

4:20

Fun was one of them, and

4:22

they were very rough little things, but you

4:24

know, it was the start.

4:25

Right now? You still have copies of those?

4:28

Are there still copies of it?

4:29

You know? I

4:32

do? I say, or did have

4:35

an old school exercise book. It's a nice

4:37

little blue book, hardback,

4:40

and in that I wrote just fun,

4:45

Just fun. They said that our love was just fun

4:48

the day that our friendship begun. There's

4:50

no blueboon that I can see. There's never

4:53

been in history, because

4:55

our love was just fun, kind

4:57

of country pond. And

5:00

then Too Bad about Sorrows was sort of too

5:03

bad about Sartrouse. Wow,

5:05

Wow wow, ooh, Do

5:08

do I think it's a

5:10

little too opy thing? This was

5:12

the start. And

5:14

then I'd written in angel voices.

5:18

In that little blue notebook

5:20

where the two school boys had scribbled their

5:23

very first lyrics. There was evidence

5:26

Lennon and McCartney envisioned

5:28

themselves following in the footsteps

5:31

of other songwriting giants.

5:34

And at the top of the page, I've written another

5:36

Lennon McCartney original.

5:39

So you already had a sense, even

5:42

though you were what sixteen, a

5:45

little older perhaps that you would

5:47

have a future.

5:48

Yeah, did you? I mean I think it was more a

5:50

sort of wish than a sense. It was

5:52

more you know, this thing,

5:54

if you visualize it, it might

5:56

come true. And you know, when

5:59

you think of Lena McCartney, was because we'd heard

6:01

of Gilbert Sullivan, Rogers and

6:03

Hamstein. Lenna McCartney

6:05

as good as two of us, and we

6:08

can make it one. That was type names

6:11

liber and Starer, Coffin and King,

6:13

well, these were magic names to us. We

6:15

didn't realize Coffin King was Carol

6:18

King. I didn't realize it was a girl.

6:21

And an amazingly young woman.

6:22

I was very young, yes, yeah, but you

6:25

know it was thrilling to know that

6:27

there were these people out there and this is what

6:29

we wanted to be and love

6:31

me do game Around that period,

6:35

One after nine or nine robbed

6:37

me doing one after nine or nine actually got

6:39

published and actually got recorded.

6:43

My baby did on one Affter

6:45

nine or nine.

6:48

I did, the

6:51

others didn't get recorded.

6:53

And the school exercise book. I

6:55

found it probably about ten

6:58

fifteen years ago, put

7:00

it in my bookcase and I've

7:03

since lost it time. I don't know where

7:05

it is. I think it might show up somewhere,

7:07

but it's the first ever so

7:10

Lenna McCarney manuscript

7:13

anyway. Yeah, well, oh dear is right, but you know

7:15

you have to let these things go right, maybe

7:18

down

7:21

on one Apple.

7:25

Another duo which had

7:27

a profound influence on

7:29

young Lennon and McCartney was

7:32

the Everly Brothers.

7:34

There are certain people that

7:37

you can credit for pretty much

7:39

everything we did, because I think

7:41

that's I think that's true of everyone. I

7:43

think everyone's got a

7:46

hero that.

7:49

Forms them, like

7:59

Thista. How

8:05

did I exist? Alista?

8:08

So so as John and I were

8:10

two male vocalists

8:14

who sang in harmony, our

8:16

biggest influence was the Evely

8:18

Brothers, who we loved adored

8:21

to this day. I

8:23

just think they the greatest, And

8:26

it was different. You'd have barbershop

8:28

quartets, you'd heard the Beverly

8:30

Sisters, the Three Girls, you'd

8:32

heard all that, but just two guys,

8:36

good lucking guys. This is

8:38

good.

8:40

Oh yeah, you

8:43

gotta weelbou.

8:48

So. Yeah, we love them and idolized

8:51

them and wanted to be like them.

8:57

Oh yeah.

8:58

It's like when people later would see the Beatles

9:01

on the Ed Sullivan Show.

9:02

But even ladies and gentlemen like Live from

9:04

New York.

9:11

I mean trillion people

9:14

who say that I knew

9:16

that's what I wanted to be.

9:19

On our show in New York, the Beatles played to the greatest

9:21

TV audience it's ever been assembled

9:24

in the history of American TV.

9:26

When I saw you foreheaded

9:28

monster on the Telly and

9:31

you I've got to be part of this. Our

9:33

current manager of Beatles Apple

9:35

Records, says that Bruce

9:38

Springsteen says that David Lehnerman

9:40

says that they all formed

9:43

on that night, formed

9:46

this future for themselves. And

9:48

there we were in Liverpool form in this future

9:50

and the same kind of deal.

10:00

When you say goodbye.

10:02

Lennon and McCartney were working

10:04

in the wake of all these great

10:07

songwriting dues who wrote

10:09

songs for others to sing, and

10:13

singers like the Everly Brothers who

10:15

sang other people's songs. But

10:18

there were also people like Buddy Holly

10:21

who could do it all.

10:22

You know, you know me, baby dude,

10:24

you tell me baby that someday,

10:27

well you real

10:29

loudly, lad, would you

10:31

sing goodbye?

10:33

Buddy Holly to us was

10:36

amazing for a number of reasons. He

10:39

sang and played guitar. Elvis

10:42

just sang and Scotty Moore

10:44

played guitar. He

10:46

normally played guitar, he played

10:49

the solos. Normally, if

10:51

you played guitar, there was another guy in the group was the lead

10:53

guitar played the solos. But Buddy

10:55

sang and played the guitar and played

10:58

the solos. He also wrote

11:00

the stuff. So this

11:03

was like all inclusive,

11:05

one man band, and we really

11:08

thought that was great. So this is what

11:10

we have to do.

11:14

Buddy Holly inspired the

11:16

youngsters to explore their full

11:19

musical potential, and he

11:21

also helped John Lennon overcome his

11:23

embarrassment about wearing glasses.

11:26

He also wore these big horn room glasses,

11:29

as did John. And if

11:31

ever there would be a girl coming up, John with

11:33

witness glasses off and put them in his pocket and

11:36

squint as she went by, and

11:39

you look pretty good the glasses. But

11:42

when Buddy get along, the glasses stayed

11:44

on. It was like Harry Potter

11:46

with all the kids.

11:48

Like Buddy

11:52

Holly had more than just the musical

11:55

chops and the suave image

11:57

that John Lennon and Paul McCartney covet

12:00

it for themselves. The name

12:02

of his group, Buddy Holly and

12:04

the Crickets, had a certain entomological

12:08

ring to it.

12:09

The name the Crickets. You know, we

12:11

wanted something with a dual meaning, and

12:14

it turned out they didn't know how the dual meaning

12:17

the crickets. They didn't know about the

12:19

game cricket. Oh, I say, They

12:21

just thought it was grasshoppers. So

12:24

we said to them. I met them years later, said,

12:26

fantastic man, the Beatles. We

12:29

loved crickets, chirpy

12:31

little things and the great game of

12:33

cricket. A brilliant name for a

12:36

group. And they went, you

12:38

know, oh no, we just heard a grasshopper

12:40

in the studio wall.

12:41

You know, did you

12:43

do you remember setting around

12:46

thinking Buddy Holly and the Crickets

12:49

the Beatles will be a

12:51

great name for us.

12:53

My memory of it was that we

12:56

were striving to find something

12:58

with a dual meaning because of

13:00

the Crickets. This is the idea. Now

13:02

the actual origin of it is clouded

13:05

in mystery. You

13:08

know I missed you. It

13:10

was just a club split up. I missed you. Because

13:12

there are all sorts of theories about this, says

13:14

The Wild Ones with Marlon

13:17

Brando, and at one point Lee Marvin

13:19

says, he Johnny, Johnny or Johnny,

13:22

I think he's cool. Come on, Johnny, we all

13:24

missed you. Miss Johnny.

13:26

We love you, you know, coming back to the gang or something

13:29

like that. Johnny, we love you. The Beatles love.

13:31

You, Beatles,

13:33

Mister Beatles, Mister.

13:35

It turns out the Malls, the girls

13:37

in the Motorcycle Gang were called

13:40

Beatles, says The Beatles

13:42

love you, Johnny for all times.

13:45

And I know John and Stuart

13:47

his art school friends. Stuart

13:50

Sucliffe loved that film,

13:52

as we all did. I think

13:54

they had seen it. I think we just loved it

13:56

and hadn't seen it anyway, So that's

13:59

one of the theories.

14:04

Today it's easy to

14:06

forget how the creation of

14:09

the Beatles required thousands

14:12

of small choices. Songs

14:15

which are now canonized were

14:17

once simple phrases. Two

14:19

boys having fun when no parents

14:21

were home, one of them with a

14:23

notebook in hand the other

14:26

playing a harmonica.

14:32

At one of those writing sessions, twenty

14:35

fourth in road a little garden

14:38

path past my dad's lavender

14:40

hedge. You know, we would write,

14:42

let me doing John come up with this little harmonica

14:45

roof. It's so simple,

14:47

I mean, are yes, there's

14:49

nothing to it. It's a will

14:51

have a wisp little song, lovely.

15:01

So what do you think made

15:04

it become such

15:07

a potent powerful.

15:09

I think our image

15:11

and our energy as the four

15:13

Beatles was what was potent.

15:16

And it had a very

15:18

fresh sound. That's the

15:20

sort of thing that people noticed. And we had a very

15:22

fresh image. Nobody looked

15:25

like us. And we'd

15:27

been working at it a long time in

15:30

Liverpool. Originally as

15:32

really a bunch of rockers, you

15:34

know, the cliffs and everything. Gone

15:37

over to Hamburg as the

15:39

rockers had got a little bit

15:41

leatherified there, and

15:43

then it moved from leather to suits

15:46

at the request of Brian Epstein.

15:49

Brian Epstein, an

15:51

entrepreneurial young man from a

15:53

family of successful retailers

15:55

in Liverpool, had stumbled

15:57

upon the Beatles at a nineteen sixty

16:00

one lunchtime concert. He

16:02

had no experience managing artists,

16:05

but he did have lots of confidence. So

16:08

in short order he signed the contract

16:10

to manage the band and told

16:12

them to get suited up.

16:15

Yeah, so we all went over to Beno Dawn,

16:17

who was in the Wirral backing

16:19

haired a tailor. We'd

16:21

never been to a tailor really, you

16:23

know, so certainly not on maps.

16:26

We all went over and got suits. So

16:28

we had this image. We had all the experienced

16:31

musical experience of Hamburg of

16:33

playing a lot your ten thousand hours,

16:35

mister Gladwell's ten thousand hours.

16:39

So when we kind of then came

16:42

on the scene and was seen on television,

16:45

we had a freshness,

16:47

complete simplicity. Let

16:49

me do it's got a slightly

16:52

sort of bluesy thing. I

16:55

mean, it's not a blues but it's got

16:58

a simplicity, like

17:01

a little sort of down

17:03

home on the porch with

17:05

a couple of guitars on harmonica.

17:14

At the heart of these simple lyrics

17:17

is a familiar story, a

17:19

young man yearning for a

17:21

woman to.

17:22

Love Salmon Salma.

17:29

It's a funny thing. You try and recreate

17:32

that stuff now and

17:34

it's almost impossible. But

17:36

why Because you were sixteen,

17:39

That's why you were looking

17:41

at the world and the world

17:44

was good, and there

17:46

was this marvelous rock and roll

17:48

future unfolding itself, and

17:51

you were about to become part of it.

17:54

So your longings for

17:56

a girl which was impossible

18:00

to achieve, you know, nobody

18:03

had that little, perfect high school

18:05

sweetheart, you know. So there

18:08

was this great long for

18:10

your career is you

18:12

didn't know what you were going to do,

18:14

and it was a dread of all dreads. I

18:17

was about to go to teachers training college

18:20

and I was trying to put that off forever.

18:23

I did not want to go into that mold.

18:26

So there was all these different kinds

18:28

of longings. John and I's

18:30

mothers had both died, which

18:32

was this amazing bond between

18:35

us. We both understood

18:38

the anguish

18:41

of that, and

18:43

at that age it's largely

18:45

unspoken. You just said, oh, your

18:47

mother died, Yes, so did I.

18:50

We knew. I knew the circumstances of his mother.

18:53

He knew the circusan in mind, and

18:55

we would talk about it a little bit, but

18:58

being young boys, you

19:00

didn't talk about it much. So

19:03

all this was rolled up into this package,

19:06

this longing, and

19:10

it's spilled out, which is

19:12

the best way to write me.

19:21

Some of this longie for

19:24

their mothers for love. For

19:26

artistry was fairly abstract,

19:29

but they also had more concrete

19:32

ambitions. They had met other

19:34

songwriting teams who turned

19:36

out hits and made good money.

19:39

John and I looked at thought, there, right, we

19:41

could do that. What a good idea.

19:43

If we get hits, that will

19:46

then get money and

19:48

it may not buy us love, but it will buy us

19:50

a car. I must admit,

19:52

you know, we were young guys without any money, coming

19:55

from Liverpool with dreams, and

19:58

once we realized that to write a hit song

20:01

would get you some money, it

20:03

was very attractive, very attractive thought.

20:06

And it wasn't just the money. It

20:09

is then the joy of pulling

20:11

our song out of a hat, being

20:13

able to play it with our band, which

20:16

needed songs. So we were sort

20:18

of feeding the machine.

20:21

Take one No.

20:26

Later, when the Fab four removed from

20:28

writing in the parlor room to writing

20:30

in the studio, they learned

20:32

to crank out hits at

20:34

an impressive piece.

20:37

Take four.

20:41

One are

20:44

recording hours? Well,

20:47

what now classical people do? It's

20:49

it's the norm for recording.

20:52

You normally go in ten

20:54

o'clock, you get yourself together,

20:56

you start at ten thirty. You

20:59

then will work three hours. You

21:01

don't have an hour break, and you work

21:04

two thirty to five thirty and

21:06

that's it. And in those two periods

21:09

of three hours, it was expected

21:12

that we would be able to finish two songs. So

21:16

we did. And that was the output

21:18

and the great the flow of

21:21

just having to come up with two complete

21:23

things. But the great thing

21:25

about this was you were finished by five point

21:27

thirty.

21:31

When a harmonica like the Beatles

21:33

playing not a toy, but a Genuinehoner

21:36

marine band harmonica, just like those

21:38

played by the Beatles.

21:39

Maybe what allowed the Beatles to come together

21:41

was the force of their longing. Maybe

21:44

it was the long studio days, the

21:46

churning out of albums, the

21:49

carefully crafted image. Whatever

21:51

the case. They went from looking

21:53

at other artists dreaming

21:56

of becoming them, to being

21:58

the artists others would

22:00

dream of becoming.

22:02

Play along with the Beatles with your own genuine

22:04

Honer marine bend harmonica from

22:06

Klim.

22:10

When what

22:12

the Beatles would become was

22:15

beyond what any of its

22:17

members could have dreamt off when they were

22:19

sixteen and playing harmonica

22:21

in their living rooms.

22:23

There were all sorts of things. As I say that

22:25

you instinctively knew don't

22:29

try too hard,

22:32

don't work

22:34

too hard at reaching for it, because

22:37

the more you reach,

22:41

the more it will receive. Just

22:43

kid on that you don't even want

22:45

it right, something will happen

22:49

where everyone else around us be worrying

22:51

no more other thing. I was going to, Oh my god,

22:53

am I going We always related back

22:56

to this accident

22:58

we'd had on the motorway going from running up

23:00

to Liverpool, where we'd skid it off

23:02

in the snow down the bank with

23:04

our van and at the bottom of the van

23:06

were this, how the hell are we ever

23:08

going to I get home, it's

23:11

snowing, we're freezing, and

23:13

someone in the group said something will happen,

23:16

and it was like that became

23:18

a mantra, and you know, as I say,

23:21

it's actually a very good one. It's

23:23

this. It's not reaching for it,

23:25

it's letting it go.

23:27

Love me, Love

23:31

me, Love

23:55

me? Do you know

23:58

I love you? Oh?

24:01

Be true?

24:03

So please

24:07

love.

24:08

Me, Love

24:21

me Do from the Beatles nineteen

24:24

sixty three album Please Please

24:26

Me. In

24:29

the next episode, McCartney

24:31

starts over with a ragtag

24:34

band on the run.

24:35

I just thought we would just start something

24:38

that feels good and we'll build

24:40

it up like the Beatles did.

24:50

McCartney. A Life in Lyrics

24:53

is a co production between iHeartMedia

24:56

NPL and Pushkin Industries.