Photographer and musician Mike McCartney spoke to the ECHO about a new exhibition about The Beatles' time in Hamburg
Mike McCartney said 'John wasn't a typical lad' as he spoke about The Beatles in their formative year. Mike is a celebrated photographer, member of satirical comedy-music trio The Scaffold, and the younger brother of The Beatles legend, Sir Paul McCartney.
The 82-year-old spoke to the ECHO as letters between him, brother Paul and Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe went on display at an exhibition in Hamburg. The exhibition, which is part of Hamburg’s Hafengeburtstag Port Festival, features a rare collection of Beatles photographs and personal letters written during the band’s years in the German city.
The original lineup of The Beatles— Paul McCartney , John Lennon , George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best— performed over 250 gigs there between 1960 and 1962. The years developed their skills, and led to their first recording which would be picked up by Brian Epstein. Reminiscing about their younger years in Liverpool, Mike told the ECHO John Lennon 'wasn't a typical lad' as he recalled their friendship before the band travelled to Hamburg.
He said: 'John wasn't a typical lad. John was different. John was quite unique. Everyone thought that he, well, we both had a similar thing that occurred to us.
'Our mums were ripped away from us when we were young men. His mother died in a police accident in Menlove Avenue, and our mum died in the hospital of cancer. I was only 12.
'It's one of those things that will never leave you in life. So John had that feeling. We had that feeling in our house. Whenever he came round, he was great, he was cool, but we had an affinity.
'My brother and I had an affinity with John because we'd lost somebody so important to us and it was unsaid, it was. We didn't need to say anything, but we had an affinity.
' Asked whether he had an inkling of what would come to be, Mike said: 'Being Liverpudlians, being Scousers, being brought up in the magic of Liverpool, the extraordinary living of Liverpool, the way Liverpool people are so resilient, they're so taking a mickey, they're so funny, naturally, it gives you a good basis for life. He added: 'Everything is meant in the world. There's no such thing as coincidence.
Everything is meant and what you've got to do is go along with it. There's no going back.
' The exhibition was devised by the Combined Authority in response to Hamburg inviting Liverpool City Region to be the official partner of its port anniversary - the Hafengeburtstag. Further information can be found here .
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