#authorised biography

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"If one experiences something, the others all have to know about it,' says Pattie. 'They have crazes, just like you have crazes at school. But it keeps them all happy.

'They do waste a lot, when they take up a new craze. They buy a lot of stuff they're never going to use, but it often turns out useful. They spent a lot on cameras and film equipment, but it showed them they could make films, without having to know a lot.

'I know now that they are all part of one thing. I didn't realize it when I was first married. They all belong to each other. No one person belongs to one other person. It's no use trying to cling on or you would just become miserable. George is my husband, but he's got to be free to go with them if he wants. It's important to him to be free.

'George has a lot with the others that I can never know about. Nobody, not even the wives, can break through it or even comprehend it.

'It used to hurt me at first, as I slowly began to learn there was a part I could never be a part of. Cyn talked to me about it. She said they would always be a part of each other.'

Hunter Davies, The Beatles Authorised Biography

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John remembers that it was George’s youth that made him take some time before asking him to join.

‘It was too much, too much. George was just too young. I didn’t want to know at first. He was doing a delivery round and just seemed a kid. He came round once and asked me to go to the pictures with him but I pretended I was busy. I didn’t dig him on first sight, till I got to know him.

‘Mimi always said he had a low Liverpool voice, a real whacker. She said, “You always seem to like lower-class types, don’t you, John?”

‘We asked George to join us because he knew more chords, a lot more than we knew. So we got a lot from him. Every time we learned a new chord, we’d write a song round it.

‘We used to sag off school and go to George’s house for the afternoon. George looked even younger than Paul and Paul looked about ten, with his baby face.’

Hunter Davies, The Beatles Authorised Biography

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“Below in the studio, while Paul got the technicians to do things upstairs, George got a set of crayons out of his painted sheepskin jacket and started to draw a picture. Ringo stared into space, smoking, looking very unhappy, which is his natural expression when he’s not talking. John was at the piano, sometimes playing quietly, other times jumping up, pretending to be a spastic, or thumping out loud corny tunes. No one was watching him. He smiled fiendishly to himself through his spectacles”

Hunter Davies, The Beatles Authorised Biography

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"Everybody who has been close to the Beatles over the years says that George is the one who has changed most of all. Even fans, who have followed George's progress over a relatively short time, say he has changed. He was looked upon by many as the most handsome Beatle at one time. Now fans are always complaining about George letting his hair grow too unruly and untidy.

That is a superficial change. The inner ones are much more important. George, through being the youngest, was, for a long time, always considered the youngest in every sense. In comparison with John and Paul, most people who knew all three always looked upon George as just a boy. John and Paul were precocious, physically, sexually, and in their talent. They were writing songs long before George ever thought about it.

George did have a slight inferiority complex, although nothing serious. Cyn remembers him always hanging around when she wanted John on his own. So does Astrid, when she was trying to be alone with Stu.

George wasn't academic at school and didn't show many signs of being clever the way Paul did. Taking an ordinary apprenticeship, compared to Paul, the bright sixth former, and John, the art student, made people unfairly think George wasn't as egood as the others.

Julia, John's mother, was horrified when John dragged along another baby-faced friend to meet her. She'd already thought Paul just a kid.

'He was a lovely little boy', says Astrid, talking of their Hamburg days. 'He was just little George. We never judged him in any way, the way we used to work out how intelligent or clever Stu, John and Paul were. He didn't develop as quickly as the others had done.

'But he wasn't stupid. No one thought that for one minute. He made lovely jokes at his own expense, sending himself up for being young. I gave them all their Christmas presents one year, all wrapped up. John opened his first and it was an Olympia Press version of the Marquis de Sade. George picked up his and said, "What's in mine then, comics?"'

Hunter Davies, The Beatles Authorised Biography

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George says he probably did deliberately hang round John a lot. John was by this time about to start Art College, but was as deliberately aggressive and working class as ever, despite all Mimi’s upbringing.

‘I was very impressed by John,’ says George. ‘Probably more than Paul, or I showed it more. I loved John’s blue jeans and lilac shirt and sidies. But I suppose I was impressed by all the Art College crowd. John was very sarcastic, always trying to bring you down, but I either took no notice or gave him the same back, and it worked.’

Hunter Davies, The Beatles Authorised Biography

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“John had a gift for art which he always managed to do well, despite everything else. Pete in turn was good at maths. John was jealous of Pete’s interest in maths, which he could never do, and always tried to spoil it for Pete.

‘He tried to ruin my concentration by putting drawings in front of me. Some were obscene, but they were mostly just funny and I’d burst out. “Look at Shotton, sir,” the rest of the class would shout as I was in hysterics.

‘If I had to stand at the front of the class for some reason, when the master had his back to everyone, John would stand up and hold up a drawing behind the master’s back for me to see. I’d no chance. I couldn’t stop laughing at him.’

Hunter Davies, The Beatles Authorised Biography

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Paul McCartney on Jane Asher: Spot the difference

Paul (1967)

'Another problem,' says Paul, 'was that my whole existence for so long centred around a bachelor life. I didn't treat women as most people do. I've always had a lot around, even when I've had a steady girl. My life generally has always been very lax, and not normal.

I knew it was selfish. It caused a few rows. Jane left me once and went off to Bristol to act. I said OK then, leave, I'll find someone else. It was shattering to be with her.'

Hunter Davies, The Beatles Authorised Biography

Paul (1997)

"Living in the Asher house gave me the base and the freedom and the independence. That, alongside all the other things, because I wasn't married to Jane. I was pretty free. I remember John very much envying me. He said, 'Well, if you go out with another girl, what does Jane think?' and I said, 'Well, I don't care what she thinks, we're not married. We've got a perfectly sensible relationship.' He was well jealous of that, because at this time he couldn't do that, he was married with Cynthia and with a lot of energy bursting to get out. He'd tried to give Cynthia the traditional thing, but you kind of knew he couldn't. There were cracks appearing but he could only paste them over by staying at home and getting very wrecked."

Barry Miles, Many Years From Now

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Michael McCartney, Paul’s brother, took longer to get used to the changes he’s had imposed on his life. Paul has always been very close to his brother, in age and in taste, more than George has been with his brothers, which made it worse for Michael. ‘I suppose I couldn’t help being affected by our kid. He’s always had success. He was the first boy, the best-looking one, the one who got all the girls and then all the fame.’

Hunter Davies, The Beatles Authorised Biography