Pete Martin: Fixing a hole in Beatles history
Much has been written about the Fab Four, but a new book reveals that the friendship between Lennon and McCartney was more complex than we knew, writes Pete Martin. In Paul McCartney’s house in Liverpool, the wallpaper in the living room doesn’t go all the way round. The room is half-decorated in an exotic Japanesey bamboo print which gives way to a couple of different, cheaper papers.
If done up as intended, the effect might have been fairly chi-chi for a small council house in the Fifties. Or a bit over the top. Accurately restored by the National Trust from period photographs, 20 Forthlin Road, where Paul grew up, sends us a more subtle message today. The McCartneys were aspirational. But, after their mum Mary died when Paul was just 14, the family had to rely on dad’s meagre income. Former bandleader Jim earned only £6 a week. So perhaps the McCartneys had neither the cash nor the heart to pursue their interior design ambitions.
Source: The Scotsman
