A Magical Tour of the Beatles Hometown
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The Beatles statue on the Liverpool waterfront (Photo courtesy of Lloyd LaCuesta)
My wife and I joined the magical mystery tour in guide Ian Doyle’s bright yellow, psychedelic painted English cab. His commentary was interspersed with music of the Fab Four and visualizing the lyrics with the actual places.
Ian Doyle’s yellow cab (Photo courtesy of Lloyd LaCuesta)
Yes, there is a “Penny Lane”
And a “Strawberry Fields”
And in a quiet church cemetery, the gravestone where the name memorialized in a Beatles song jumps out...”Eleanor Rigby.”
The gravestone at St. Peter’s Parish which inspired the song “Eleanor RIgby” (Photo courtesy of Lloyd LaCuesta)
The Rigby family gravestone (Photo courtesy of Lloyd LaCuesta)
And there are the back stories of the boys from Liverpool.
The working class home of Ringo Starr.
The house on 10 Admiral Grove where Ringo Starr used to live. (Photo courtesy of Lloyd LaCuesta)
The house where George Harrison grew up.
George Harrison grew up here at 174 Macket’s Lane (Photo courtesy of Lloyd LaCuesta).
And the houses where tourists come the most, the family homes of Paul McCartney, who used the acoustics of his bathroom
Paul McCartney’s house (Photo courtesy of Lloyd LaCuesta)
...and John Lennon’s boyhood home where neighbors heard music streaming out the windows.
John Lennon’s home (Photo courtesy of Lloyd LaCuesta)
Both homes are English National Trust Landmarks.
Liverpool itself is a very charming town, and footprints of John, Paul, George and Ringo are everywhere.
The Penny Lane Barber Shop (Photo courtesy of Lloyd LaCuesta)
The gate to Strawberry Field (Photo by Mona Lisa Yuchengco)
The Cavern Club, where the Beatles played (Photo courtesy of Lloyd LaCuesta)
I was 17 when the lads from Liverpool first came to perform in the US. During the next five years they were the basis of the soundtrack of my life and for millions of others as we journeyed through the turbulent Sixties and young adulthood.
Coming to the place where it all began put some emotional perspective into my own 70-year ramble.
It was a fun and memorable trip to pay homage and say thanks for the musical journey.
Lloyd LaCuesta
Lloyd LaCuesta is a retired broadcast journalist and Adjunct Journalism Professor at San Jose State University.
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