ames Paul McCartney was born on 18 June 1942 in Walton Hospital,
Liverpool, England, where his mother, Mary Patricia (née Mohin;
1909–1956), had qualified to practise as a nurse. His father, James
("Jim") McCartney (1902–1976), was absent from his son's birth due to
his work as a volunteer firefighter during World War II.[4] Paul has one younger brother, Michael
(born 7 January 1944). Though the children were baptised in their
mother's Catholic faith, their father was a former Protestant turned
agnostic, and religion was not emphasised in the household.[5]
McCartney attended Stockton Wood Road Primary School in Speke from 1947 until 1949, when he transferred to Joseph Williams Junior School in Belle Vale because of overcrowding at Stockton.[6] In 1953, with only three others out of ninety examinees, he passed the 11-Plus exam, meaning he could attend the Liverpool Institute, a grammar school rather than a secondary modern school.[7] In 1954, he met schoolmate George Harrison on the bus from his suburban home in Speke. The two quickly became friends; McCartney later admitted: "I tended to talk down to him because he was a year younger."[8]
McCartney's mother Mary was a midwife and the family's primary wage earner; her earnings enabled them to move into 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton, where they lived until 1964.[10]
She rode a bicycle to her patients; McCartney described an early memory
of her leaving at "about three in the morning [the] streets ... thick
with snow".[11] On 31 October 1956, when McCartney was fourteen, his mother died of an embolism.[12] McCartney's loss later became a point of connection with John Lennon, whose mother, Julia, had died when he was seventeen.[13]
McCartney's father was a trumpet player and pianist, who had led Jim Mac's Jazz Band in the 1920s. He kept an upright piano in the front room, encouraged his sons to be musical and advised Paul to take piano lessons, but Paul preferred to learn by ear.[14][nb 1] He gave Paul a nickel-plated trumpet for his fourteenth birthday, but when rock and roll became popular on Radio Luxembourg, McCartney traded it for a £15 Framus Zenith (model 17) acoustic guitar, since he wanted to be able to sing while playing.[17] He found it difficult to play guitar right-handed, but after noticing a poster advertising a Slim Whitman concert and realising that Whitman played left-handed, he reversed the order of the strings.[18] McCartney wrote his first song, "I Lost My Little Girl", on the Zenith, and composed another early tune that would become "When I'm Sixty-Four" on the piano. American rhythm and blues influenced him, and Little Richard was his schoolboy idol; "Long Tall Sally" was the first song McCartney performed in public, at a Butlins holiday camp talent competition.[19]
Informally represented by Allan Williams, the Beatles' first booking was for a series of performances in Hamburg, starting in 1960.[25][nb 2] In 1961, Sutcliffe left the band and McCartney reluctantly became their bass player.[27]
They recorded professionally for the first time while in Hamburg,
credited as the Beat Brothers, as the backing band for English singer Tony Sheridan on the single "My Bonnie".[28] This brought them to the attention of Brian Epstein, a key figure in their subsequent development and success. He became their manager in January 1962.[29] Ringo Starr replaced Best in August, and the band had their first hit, "Love Me Do", in October, becoming popular in the UK in 1963, and in the US a year later. Their fans' hysteria became known as "Beatlemania", and the press sometimes referred to McCartney as the "cute Beatle".[30][nb 3][nb 4]
In August 1965, the Beatles released the McCartney composition "Yesterday", featuring a string quartet. Included on the Help! LP, the song was the group's first recorded use of classical music elements and their first recording that involved only a single band member.[33] "Yesterday" became the most covered song in popular music history.[34] Later that year, during recording sessions for the album Rubber Soul, McCartney began to supplant Lennon as the dominant musical force in the band. Musicologist Ian MacDonald wrote, "from [1965] ... [McCartney] would be in the ascendant not only as a songwriter, but also as instrumentalist, arranger, producer, and de facto musical director of the Beatles."[35] Critics described Rubber Soul as a significant advance in the refinement and profundity of the band's music and lyrics.[36] Considered a high point in the Beatles catalogue, both Lennon and McCartney said they had written the music for the song "In My Life".[37] McCartney said of the album, "we'd had our cute period, and now it was time to expand."[38] Recording engineer Norman Smith stated that the Rubber Soul sessions exposed indications of increasing contention within the band: "the clash between John and Paul was becoming obvious ... [and] as far as Paul was concerned, George [Harrison] could do no right—Paul was absolutely finicky."[39]
In 1966, the Beatles released the album Revolver. Featuring sophisticated lyrics, studio experimentation, and an expanded repertoire of musical genres ranging from innovative string arrangements to psychedelic rock, the album marked an artistic leap for the Beatles.[40] The first of three consecutive McCartney A-sides, the single "Paperback Writer" preceded the LP's release.[41] The Beatles produced a short promotional film for the song, and another for its B-side, "Rain". The films, described by Harrison as "the forerunner of videos", aired on The Ed Sullivan Show and Top of the Pops in June 1966.[42] Revolver also included McCartney's "Eleanor Rigby", which featured a string octet. According to Gould, the song is "a neoclassical tour de force ... a true hybrid, conforming to no recognizable style or genre of song".[43] Except for some backing vocals, the song included only McCartney's lead vocal and the strings arranged by producer George Martin.[44][nb 5]
The band gave their final commercial concert at the end of their 1966 US tour.[47] Later that year, McCartney completed his first musical project apart from the group—a film score for the UK production The Family Way.
The score was a collaboration with Martin, who used two McCartney
themes to write thirteen variations. The soundtrack failed to chart, but
it won McCartney an Ivor Novello Award for Best Instrumental Theme.[48]
Upon the end of the Beatles' performing career, McCartney sensed unease in the band and wanted them to maintain creative productivity. He pressed them to start a new project, which became Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, widely regarded as rock's first concept album.[49] Inspired to create a new persona for the group, to serve as a vehicle for experimentation and to demonstrate to their fans that they had musically matured, McCartney invented the fictional band of the album's title track.[50] As McCartney explained, "We were fed up with being the Beatles. We really hated that fucking four little mop-top approach. We were not boys we were men ... and [we] thought of ourselves as artists rather than just performers."[51]
Starting in November 1966, the band adopted an experimental attitude during recording sessions for the album.[52] According to engineer Geoff Emerick, "the Beatles were looking to go out on a limb, both musically and sonically
McCartney attended Stockton Wood Road Primary School in Speke from 1947 until 1949, when he transferred to Joseph Williams Junior School in Belle Vale because of overcrowding at Stockton.[6] In 1953, with only three others out of ninety examinees, he passed the 11-Plus exam, meaning he could attend the Liverpool Institute, a grammar school rather than a secondary modern school.[7] In 1954, he met schoolmate George Harrison on the bus from his suburban home in Speke. The two quickly became friends; McCartney later admitted: "I tended to talk down to him because he was a year younger."[8]
McCartney's former home, 20 Forthlin Road. The McCartney family moved into this address in 1955.[9]
McCartney's father was a trumpet player and pianist, who had led Jim Mac's Jazz Band in the 1920s. He kept an upright piano in the front room, encouraged his sons to be musical and advised Paul to take piano lessons, but Paul preferred to learn by ear.[14][nb 1] He gave Paul a nickel-plated trumpet for his fourteenth birthday, but when rock and roll became popular on Radio Luxembourg, McCartney traded it for a £15 Framus Zenith (model 17) acoustic guitar, since he wanted to be able to sing while playing.[17] He found it difficult to play guitar right-handed, but after noticing a poster advertising a Slim Whitman concert and realising that Whitman played left-handed, he reversed the order of the strings.[18] McCartney wrote his first song, "I Lost My Little Girl", on the Zenith, and composed another early tune that would become "When I'm Sixty-Four" on the piano. American rhythm and blues influenced him, and Little Richard was his schoolboy idol; "Long Tall Sally" was the first song McCartney performed in public, at a Butlins holiday camp talent competition.[19]
Career
1957–60: The Quarrymen
Main article: The Quarrymen
At the age of fifteen, McCartney met Lennon and his band, the Quarrymen, at the St Peter's Church Hall fête in Woolton on 6 July 1957.[20] The Quarrymen played a mix of rock and roll and skiffle, a type of popular music with jazz, blues and folk influences.[21]
The band invited McCartney to join soon afterwards as a rhythm
guitarist, and he formed a close working relationship with Lennon.
Harrison joined in 1958 as lead guitarist, followed by Lennon's art
school friend Stuart Sutcliffe on bass, in 1960.[22] By May 1960 the band had tried several names, including Beatals, Johnny and the Moondogs and the Silver Beetles.[23] They adopted the name the Beatles in August 1960 and recruited drummer Pete Best shortly before a five-engagement residency in Hamburg.[24]1960–70: The Beatles
Main article: The Beatles
McCartney (second from left), with Lennon, Harrison and Starr, arrives at Kennedy International Airport in February 1964.
In August 1965, the Beatles released the McCartney composition "Yesterday", featuring a string quartet. Included on the Help! LP, the song was the group's first recorded use of classical music elements and their first recording that involved only a single band member.[33] "Yesterday" became the most covered song in popular music history.[34] Later that year, during recording sessions for the album Rubber Soul, McCartney began to supplant Lennon as the dominant musical force in the band. Musicologist Ian MacDonald wrote, "from [1965] ... [McCartney] would be in the ascendant not only as a songwriter, but also as instrumentalist, arranger, producer, and de facto musical director of the Beatles."[35] Critics described Rubber Soul as a significant advance in the refinement and profundity of the band's music and lyrics.[36] Considered a high point in the Beatles catalogue, both Lennon and McCartney said they had written the music for the song "In My Life".[37] McCartney said of the album, "we'd had our cute period, and now it was time to expand."[38] Recording engineer Norman Smith stated that the Rubber Soul sessions exposed indications of increasing contention within the band: "the clash between John and Paul was becoming obvious ... [and] as far as Paul was concerned, George [Harrison] could do no right—Paul was absolutely finicky."[39]
In 1966, the Beatles released the album Revolver. Featuring sophisticated lyrics, studio experimentation, and an expanded repertoire of musical genres ranging from innovative string arrangements to psychedelic rock, the album marked an artistic leap for the Beatles.[40] The first of three consecutive McCartney A-sides, the single "Paperback Writer" preceded the LP's release.[41] The Beatles produced a short promotional film for the song, and another for its B-side, "Rain". The films, described by Harrison as "the forerunner of videos", aired on The Ed Sullivan Show and Top of the Pops in June 1966.[42] Revolver also included McCartney's "Eleanor Rigby", which featured a string octet. According to Gould, the song is "a neoclassical tour de force ... a true hybrid, conforming to no recognizable style or genre of song".[43] Except for some backing vocals, the song included only McCartney's lead vocal and the strings arranged by producer George Martin.[44][nb 5]
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, "the most famous cover of any music album", wrote Beatles biographer Bill Harry.[46]
Upon the end of the Beatles' performing career, McCartney sensed unease in the band and wanted them to maintain creative productivity. He pressed them to start a new project, which became Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, widely regarded as rock's first concept album.[49] Inspired to create a new persona for the group, to serve as a vehicle for experimentation and to demonstrate to their fans that they had musically matured, McCartney invented the fictional band of the album's title track.[50] As McCartney explained, "We were fed up with being the Beatles. We really hated that fucking four little mop-top approach. We were not boys we were men ... and [we] thought of ourselves as artists rather than just performers."[51]
Starting in November 1966, the band adopted an experimental attitude during recording sessions for the album.[52] According to engineer Geoff Emerick, "the Beatles were looking to go out on a limb, both musically and sonically
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