Liverpool
College of Art
Hope
Street
Liverpool
1 (not Hamburg)
A
quick rant.
I
will freely admit that while I am a knowledgeable and well read Beatles fan
with a keen interest in Liverpool history I'm also at best an amateur
writer. That said, my Dad used to remind
us that if we were going to do something, we should try and do it properly and
so, above all else, what I strive for on this blog is 100% accuracy. If I post
a photograph I'll try and tell you the precise date it was taken, where it was
taken, and by whom (for accreditation purposes).
This
is because I am very wary of adding to the pages of misinformation and
inaccurate research that you can find on line. Spend more than a few minutes on
a Beatles themed Facebook page and you'll find pictures accompanied by
mistakes, half truths and lies. It amazes me how much rubbish people accept at
face value without having had sight of any supporting evidence. It amazes me
how much time I spend trying to correct these mistakes, justifying my
corrections with proof and sometimes receiving nothing but abuse for it,
especially from people who "were there at the time".
I
shouldn't let it bother me (the mistakes, I can handle the abuse) but it does.
That's nothing in comparison to how annoyed I get when I find errors in the
media. Whilst I'm sure there are exceptions it seems to me that as today's
reporters and journalists are getting younger so the accuracy of their
reporting gets worse. Do they actually check their research before they go to
print?
What's
even more disappointing is when the piece originates on our own doorstep. Over
the last few years I've seen countless errors in the once reliable Liverpool
Echo, and today this page from our very own Museum of Liverpool's website was
brought to my attention.
Well
they got the heading right. It is indeed a photograph of John Lennon and his
future wife Cynthia Powell.
So
far so good, but in the three short paragraphs under the photo there are at
least five (count-em!) errors.
The
Museum are using a cropped, black and white version of a lovely but not
particularly rare photo of John and Cynthia sitting on a Ford Car with two art
school friends - Tony Carricker (with his hands on John) and Jonathan Hague.
The
photograph was taken outside Liverpool Art College on Hope Street circa 1960
before the Beatles first went to Hamburg.
I took the photo below standing on the same spot in October 2010.
When
the Beatles went to Hamburg for the first time John quit Art College. The
photograph must have been taken before that first trip in August 1960.
Cynthia
did not accompany the Beatles to Hamburg in 1960.
The
Beatles first met Astrid Kirchherr in Hamburg and so she could not have taken
the photograph.
I
wonder then how the Museum of LIVERPOOL (let's not forget) can accredit the
copyright of this photograph to Astrid?
I
doubt Stuart took it either. In fact, the photo has recently appeared elsewhere
as ©Tony Carricker.
While
we're at it, here's another photo from the same day. John and Co. fooling about
on the Art College steps. The columns either side of the door look much whiter
today!
It's
only one stupid photo of John Lennon, why is this so important?
You
may well ask (my wife did).
I
agree. In the scale of things it's not a big deal. There are far more important
things in life to be concerned about but consider this: The photograph is 57
years old, within people's living memory. If our newspapers and museums can't
check their facts about recent events - when all the evidence is there - then
how do we know anything they tell us about the Tudors or the Romans or the
Dinosaurs is accurate?
Thanks
to P.H. for the heads up.
The
modern day photos of the Art School are © M P Ashworth (2010)
