7 March
2017
Historian
is certain that 1958 film shows future Beatles.
Could
this be the first piece of film showing future Beatles Paul McCartney, John
Lennon and George Harrison, along with Paul’s brother, Mike McCartney?
They
are on screen for just a couple of seconds – and you can’t make out the tiny
figures in the distance – but local historian and Fab Four fan Peter Hodgson,
from Kirkby, believes a Liverpool City Police recruitment film from 1958
contains a world first.
Peter
Hodgson from Kirkby, pictured with Paul McCartney from Speke in 1995 (Photo:
handout)
Peter
says: “The film is called Service. The version I found that had been posted on
YouTube is dated 1950 but after doing a bit of digging I discovered it was
actually made in 1958. The McCartneys’ then home, in Forthlin Road, backed onto
the police training centre – and the centre’s annual summer show is featured on
the film.
Paul
McCartney arrives in Liverpool, at Speke airport. 28th November 1984.
In the
biography, Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Barry Miles writes: “The back
of the house overlooked the grounds of the Police Training College,
headquarters of the Liverpool Mounted Police. Paul and his brother would watch
them training horses, knocking pegs out of the ground with lances just as they
had done in the British Raj.”
And
Paul told him: “We used to sit on the concrete shed in the back yard and watch
the Police Show every year for free.”
After
we showed him the film, Mike McCartney told the ECHO: “Wow! That could
definitely be us. It was a really big occasion in Liverpool and that’s what we
used to do every summer – take deckchairs and climb onto the concrete shed and
watch a free show. And I think there is every chance John would have been there
that year – absolutely. His friend, Pete Shotton, was a police cadet. And
George could easily have been there, too. It’s bloody mad – absolutely
fascinating and unbelievable!”
John,
Paul and George were in The Quarrymen at the time – indeed, on July 12, 1958,
The Quarrymen recorded two songs at Phillips Sound Recording Services, a home
studio owned and run by Percy F, Phillips at 38 Kensington, Liverpool. It was
the first recording session featuring John, Paul and George.
Peter
Hodgson says: “I love watching old films about Liverpool on You Tube and I made
the connection with Forthlin Road when I saw the Mather Avenue police show
footage. Then I worked out which house was the McCartneys’ and thought ‘Bingo!’
I nearly fell off my chair when I saw it. I consulted two local experts, Blue
Badge tour guide Jackie Spencer and historian Mark Ashworth – and then I found
the information on a Merseyside Police website which confirmed it was 1958.
“I have
also been in touch with author Mark Lewisohn, regarded as one of the world’s
leading authorities on the Beatles, and he emailed back to say ‘What a find!’”
The
Beatles (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
By
Paddy Shennan
Link to
the Echo's webpage:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/first-ever-film-footage-john-12703422
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