✨paul is a slag✨

sarah - 31 - she/her - lapsed historian

[goodmorningcheesburger]

Paul face timing Ringo because he saw the magical mystery tour bus!!! so friggin cute! 😭😭😭

[mcbeardymullet]

so do people just not google things anymore

[dragonflydarling]

[sgt-paul]

Paul during an interview in Newcastle, in 1973.

[thedyingcowboy]

This has to be the gayest John/Paul pic imo

[mcbeardymullet]

got paul mccartney holding a ram tattooed on me the obsession hit new peaks

[motherlennon]

PAUL MCCARTNEY. July 1973.

[michonnegrimes]

behind the scenes of A HARD DAY’S NIGHT

[mcbeardymullet]

…his spunk was jacked up several notches

- Bob Spitz (2005) on Paul McCartney meeting John Lennon on 6th July 1957

[mcbeardymullet]

🧵in this thread i will explore The Historiography of the 6th of July 1957, aka when John Lennon and Paul McCartney met pt. iii

(part i) (part ii)

right buckle up, we’re at Mark Lewisohn’s ‘Tune In Extended Edition’ (2013) 

Lewisohn digs into the details, particularly about the songs played, and Mimi’s reaction. re: John’s outfit, Lewisohn states the photos show he wasn’t dressed like a Teddy Boy. I ain’t an expert, but i reckon one could argue John was, at least with the hair, in teddy boy land. 

On the meeting itself, Lewisohn states it initially took place in the scout hut, but Paul’s showing off was in the church hall. Beer was drunk (gasp), Paul got on the piano, and John thought he looked like Elvis.  

we’re nearly there everyone, Craig Brown's ‘One, Two, Three, Four’ (2020) 

Again, we have the Scout Hut → Church Hall movement but with more focus on Paul being shy until he started to perform. Nicely, Brown summarises how the tale of the Woolton Fete meeting has warped and changed over the years. 

onto ‘Paul McCartney: The Lyrics’ (2021, p. 119, 235 & 383)

Not anything new really apart from the 'seeing John around prior to the fete' anecdote. also, a slightly sassy 'they weren't a great band but john was good'

the penultimate text, Ian Leslie’s ‘John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs’ (2025). Like Lewisohn, Leslie spends a lot of real estate on the songs performed, and particularly ‘Come Go with Me’, highlighting it was, as the kids would call it today, a deep cut. 

On the meeting, Leslie doesn’t mention the scout hut, and notes that John & Paul were introduced outside the church hall. Once in the Hall, Paul performed and John’s beery breath arrived. Leslie doesn’t mention how Shotton’s recollection changed over the years. Hurumph. 

and finally, we have the 25th Anniversary Reissue of ‘The Beatles Anthology’ (2025)

...again, not much to note other than the beatles anthology is a very pretty book.

And so, that concludes our foray into how the meeting between Lennon and McCartney occurred on the July 6th 1957, and wot has done been written about it. happy july 6th mclennon monday 2026 to you ALL.

[mcbeardymullet]

🧵in this thread i will explore The Historiography of the 6th of July 1957, aka when John Lennon and Paul McCartney met pt. ii

(part i) (part iii)

in David Pritchard & Alan Lysaght’s ‘The Beatles: An Oral History’ (1998, pp.13-15), we get various different named figures recollecting that fateful day at Woolton from NON DESCRIPT sources

All rather expected, apart from Julia Baird emphasising Mimi *wasn’t* there. 

in the Paul sanctioned Barry Miles ‘Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now’ (1998, pp. 26 - 27)

Extra details include John & Paul excitedly bonding over music (classic), and Paul’s outfit being partly modelled on the song ‘A White Sports Coat and a Pink Carnation’ released Jan ‘57

whew we’ve hit the 21st century - Tony Barrow, ‘John, Paul, George, Ringo, and Me’ (2005, p.46)

Well, well, well, this is quite the different impression - Barrow alleges Paul initially thought the Quarrymen were “not very cool” and that “John was a bit of a slob.” then they started playing and all was grand. Ofc, there is no citation for Paul’s words. Just vibes. 

let’s see what Cynthia has to say in Cynthia Lennon, ‘John’ (2005)

Well. Short and sweet, with a splash of inaccuracy re: Paul’s age

now we reach the dizzying heights of Bob Spitz’s ‘The Beatles’ (2005) 

So we have a few new/interesting moments. (1) Colin Hanton says there was NO DRINKING thank you very much. (2) Mimi was pleased vs. Mimi was horrified conundrum (3) The meeting took place in the scout hut, NOT the church hall

Len Garry attests there was a stony atmosphere (5) Paul’s sports coat looked ‘comical’ on him >:( (6) paul bought his own guitar. may i also take a moment to give emphasis to the line “his spunk was jacked up several notches”

next up, it’s back to everyone's favourite bitter troll Philip Norman with ‘John Lennon: The Life’ (2005, pp. 103 - 108) 

Points of interest: Michael notes that Mimi *may* have rounded up the family members to attend the fete, the ‘was john drunk’ debacle is refuted by most of the Quarrymen members AND alongside borrowing a guitar, paul also showed off his skills on the piano. 

in Peter Ames Carlin’s ‘Paul McCartney: A Life’ (2009, pp. 25 - 27):

There’s not much of note in this version. We do get recognition of Paul potentially spotting John round town prior to their introduction at the fete. Again, we have the meeting at the scout hut rather than the hall, and Paul *also* being a bit ‘sloshed’ (mentioned in the beatle’s anthology)

(cont. here)

[mcbeardymullet]

🧵in this thread i will explore The Historiography of the 6th of July 1957, aka when John Lennon and Paul McCartney met (part i)

(part ii) (part iii)

(note: this has been formatted for twt)

As the legend goes, on the 6th of July 1957, a young John Lennon performed at a church fete in Woolton, watched by a younger Paul McCartney. Thereafter, younger Paul showed off to young John and the rest was history…

Usually in these source busting threads i have something to, y’know, investigate but for this special edition we are just going to traverse the history books of see how this momentous meeting has been reported on, point out bits of interest, glaze over repetitions etc.

I’ve examined the usual books noted as the ‘canon’ of Beatles history texts, as well as whatever other books I have copies of and found interesting. I’ve focused on monographs rather than articles & interviews. That’s it. That’s the methodology. 

I’ve included page numbers where possible but some of my collection are e-books and hence nae page numbers

So let’s kick off with the John Lennon’s ‘In His Own Write’ (1964, p. 11)

Short n sweet from ar Paul. Paul labels himself a ‘fat schoolboy’ (be kind) & says John was drunk. He also states ‘we were twelve’, but i think this is paul trying to do a funny and highlight they were but wee ‘uns rather than literal twelve year olds. also sideboards = sideburns 

next up, Billy Shepherd’s ‘The True Story of the Beatles’ (1964, pp. 11-12)

Oh, Billy. June 15th 1955? You’re a month and two years out of date! We’ll blame Paul for the whole ‘we were 12’ thing. Other than that, we have Ivan being the key person to bring Paul to the fete (for music reasons) and introducing him to John. 

oh i’m sure you’ve been waiting for this one: Hunter Davies, ‘The Beatles: The Authorized Biography’ (1969, p. 23, pp. 35-36) 

June 15th, 1956? I don’t think! Beyond that faux pas, Davies’s rendition of events became the blueprint for beatle books and introduced some key beats of the story: (1) John dressed full teddy boy and Mimi disapproved (2) John got ‘roaring drunk’ 

(3) Ivan took Paul to the fete [paul thought there would be girls there] (4) Paul wore a white sports coat and drainies (5) They met in the Church Hall (6) Paul showed off his skills (7) John’s beery breath (7) Shotton not impressed (8) Paul looked like Elvis

roll on everyone's favourite biased “expert”, Philip Norman’s ‘Shout!’ (1981, pp. 42-44)

FINALLY! THE CORRECT DATE! (probs cheers to lewisohn for that, who was a researcher for shout!). Other than that, the main beats are similar to Davies’s rendition, but with some fleshed out details. 

(1) Mimi visited the Fete unaware John was performing and was shocked to see him there (2) Shotton recalls the introductions were stiff (oo-er) and Paul was cocky (oh i say) 

a couple of years later, Peter Shotton described the meeting in ‘John Lennon: In My Life’  (1983, p. 53-54)

Shotton reiterates a standoffishness but, in contrast to his view in ‘69, says he was impressed by Paul's 'cool reserve'. He also states Paul had his own guitar (wrong) and that John was immediately impressed by Paul.

next up we have the paul crab truthers Peter Brown & Steven Gaine’s ‘The Love You Make…’ (1983, pp. 21 - 22)

Brown & Gaines mainly focus on Paul. tho the initial date of the fete is correct, B&G then state Paul was 14. Doh. They iterate Paul went to pick up the ladies, segue into his first sexual escapades, and then say the fete was in 1956. Silly mistakes, boys.

We then get the familiar details of Paul wearing a white sports coat and black drainies, borrowing a guitar to show off, and John’s beery breath. This time, John is ‘begrudgingly impressed’.

onto the completely agreeable and non-controversial Albert Goldman ‘The Lives of John Lennon’ (1988, pp. 67-68)

Goldman largely keeps to the status quo of the story/regurgitates Davies’s work. He stresses Mimi’s disapproval of John’s garb, and highlights Paul’s outfit of the white sports jacket with SPARKLES and TOIGHT black drainies. Then we have John’s beery beery breath once again.

going off the beaten path of The Canon, we have Geoffrey Giuliano’s ‘The Lost Beatles Interviews’ (1994, pp.289-292)

This is a printed version of a 1986 interview between Julia Baird, John’s sister, and ar Paul. Paul admits to being terrible with dates (we know) but otherwise is consistent with his earlier recollections - the songs, minor beery breath, sports coat etc. The most interesting tidbit comes from Julia who states John’s family (sans Mimi) went to the fete to see John perform.

We also get a lovely long bit about how suave and Buddy-holly like John looked, swooooon.

next up Ray Coleman’s ‘Lennon: The Definitive Biography’ (1995, pp.157-160) 

The outliers In this version include john buying beers from the office and getting lightly inebriated for the fete. Though initially shocked, Mimi says she was *happy* to see John perform, contrasting with John’s well documented recollection.

(cont. here)

[fishandshesmygills]

the point of fanfiction is to write something so self indulgent that nobody else has thought of it before or cares

[irisasis]

Paul McCartney, George Martin (1964) Photographer: Dezo Hoffmann

[ghostofthedistantfuture]

Mike McCartney's longstanding beef with Pinterest...

[motherlennon]

his algorithm is about to go crazy lmfao

[mcbeardymullet]

keep thinking about john lennon's recorded diary on september 5th 1979 and his comments on this section of the truman capote self interview:

and john's reaction being "I just thought shit cause I was always waiting for them to lessen but I suppose that's going to go on forever"

resonating with a gay writer referencing another gay writer who never quite reconciled with their sexuality

ok

[motherlennon]

if you want to get to him you have to go through his boyfriend first