Paul McCartney

(1942 ----- )

James Paul McCartney was born on June 18, 1942 at Walton Road Hospital in Rice Lane, Liverpool. He was the first son of Mary and James McCartney. His brother, Peter Michael McCartney, was born eighteen months later. Paul's mother was a midwife, whose death from breast cancer in 1955 when Paul was just 14, troubled Paul deeply. Paul's father was a cotton salesman during the day for A. Hannay Co., and a jazz musician with Jim Mac's Jazz Band at night.

The antithesis of John, Paul did very well in school. He passed his 11-Plus examination in 1957 and entered the Liverpool Institute, a very popular high school. There, he met a younger student by the name of George Harrison whom Paul later brought with him into John's group, The Quarrymen.

As a child, Paul showed no particular interest in music. Both he and his brother were sent to piano lessons, but these didn't last long. Then he was given a trumpet by an uncle, and he began to teach himself . His musical talent probably came from his father. Of all The Beatles, Paul's family was the only one with any musical background or interest.

At the Liverpool Institue, Paul became about the most sexually precocious boy of his year. His dealings with young girls, however, had little effect on his grades. He was a top student, but he soon found that school was interfering with his social life.

Like John and the others, Paul was influenced by the skiffle craze in Britain and by Bill Hayley's early rock songs. Still, it was Elvis that formed the greatest impression on him.

Paul first met John through a mutual friend, Ivan Vaughan. Vaughan invited Paul to see The Quarrymen play at the Wooton Parish Church Fete at St. Peter's church. Paul was reluctant to go, but Vaughan told Paul that it would be a good place to meet girls, something Paul was very much interested in even at the young age of 14. Later that afternoon, Paul borrowed a guitar and impressed everyone with all the chords he knew. About a week later, John asked Paul to join The Quarrymen, and Paul accepted.

Paul's first public performance with The Quarrymen was at a dance at the Conservative Club in Broadway. Paul was supposed to play a solo that night, but for some reason, he never did. What he did do after the dance was play John some songs that he had written himself. John was impressed and later tried to write songs of his own. Neither wrote anything of much value, but the two began collaborating, each egging the other on to better works. From that day until the end of The Beatles, they never stopped, and together they became "Lennon & McCartney," one of the most renowned song writing duos of the twentieth century.

Once they had become established song writers, Paul and John would often write independently of one another. John's songs were more raw rock 'n' roll, while Paul's tended to be more romantic. Songs like "Yesterday," "Michelle," and "Lovely Rita" are typical McCartney songs. Nevertheless, an early agreement between Paul and John assured that all Beatle songs that either wrote would bear the trademark of "Lennon & McCartney."

Paul met Jane Asher at a pop concert at Albert Hall. She was then seventeen and had been appearing on the TV pop-record program "Juke Box Jury." The Radio Times asked her to go along to the concert to give her impressions of The Beatles. After the concert, she was invited back to their hotel for a drink. That night Paul and Jane spent the evening together. "I realized she was the girl for me," Paul once said. Jane, however, summed up her impression of the boys by exclaiming, "They couldn't believe I was a virgin."

Paul wanted Jane to give up acting to be with him constantly. She refused. This led to a number of arguments, but Paul was still enamored of her. It was for Jane Asher that he wrote "I'm Looking Through You" and "And I Love Her." Marriage seemed inevitable, and on Christmas Day, 1967, Paul asked Jane to be his wife. She accepted.