Paul McCartney - The Early Years

Being known as the "cute Beatle," James Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool England on June 18th, 1942 as son to father James and mother Mary McCartney. 

Paul's mother, whom he was very close to, was a midwife, a skill that she learned while working as a nurse in the Maternity Ward at the same hospital that her son Paul was born in, Walton General Hospital in Liverpool. His father worked during the day for A. Hannay Co. as a cotton salesman, and then as a jazz musician with Jim Mac's Jazz Band at night. 

At school, Paul was an exceptional student. After breezing through primary school and junior school with flying colors, he passed a test called the 11-plus exam, which got him into a sort of elite type of high school known as the Liverpool Institute.  This is where he first met his band mate and friend, George Harrison.

In 1955, when he was just 14, Paul's mother died tragically from breast cancer, after suffering an embolism, likely due to a post mastectomy operation to stop the spread of her cancer.  This incident greatly affected him, and was a large aspect of the bond that he and John Lennon, who also lost his mother at a young age, formed. 

Musically, Paul started out on the trumpet, probably due to the fact that his father would often take him to local brass band concerts to expose him to music.  He quickly traded the trumpet for an acoustic guitar however after a style of music called Skiffle became popular. 

Skiffle music was a type of music that combined an influence of both folksy and bluesy styles.  It was an interesting music that combined conventional instruments like the acoustic guitar and piano with unique object such as the washboard, the comb, a musical saw, etc. 

Paul found that playing his first acoustic guitar was nearly impossible being a lefty, until he saw a poster of a famous musician of that time playing left handed with the strings being strung the opposite way. 

At 15, Paul met John Lennon, who was actually playing in his own little Skiffle band called the Quarrymen. The two were introduced through a mutual friend named Ivan Vaughan.  

McCartney apparently left an impression on the group after teaching them how to tune a guitar and showcasing his talents through a couple of songs because two weeks later the group invited Paul into the band. 

Not long after, the Quarrymen were practicing in Paul McCartney's living room.  This shows the support that Jim McCartney had of his son, even though at the time he didn't much care for the fact that Paul was hanging out with the apparently troublesome Lennon. 

Through an endless stream of band member changes as well as name changes, eventually George Harrison was brought into the band on guitar, Paul moved from guitar to bass, and the Quarrymen became the Beatles.  Not long after, the guy usually known as "the fifth Beatle" Pete Best was asked to leave and in came Ringo Starr - and the rest was history.