Check back in time to see The Beatles

Well Rick Salinger

Liverpool, England. (CBS) – In the English city where they were born and became famous, tourists can travel back in time to get acquainted with “The Beatles”.

Day 1

For those who have lived their lives under The Beatles soundtrack, a trip to Liverpool is like a pilgrimage.

My flight from Denver last month brought me first to London. When I think of the Beatles, it inevitably leads my mind to an image that is forever etched in my brain. This is a photo on the cover of the album where John, Paul, George and Ringa are walking along Abbey Road. So I drove to that famous crossing in northwest London.

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You can say that you are in the right place when all the other Beatles fans are photographed on the street, hoping that you will not be missed.

This transition is right next to the white building, which, not coincidentally, is the Abbey Road recording studio. That day I had to be content with just watching a few unrecognizable musicians wandering back and forth.

Now in the next building, conveniently located, there is a souvenir shop to help you unload British pounds.

Being in London also reminds me of 1969, when the Beatles performed their famous concert on the roof of a downtown building.

Day 2

Everything was going well in my schedule for the scheduled 2 and a half hour train ride from London to Liverpool. Then someone had the misfortune to cross the tracks at the same time as the train on that line, and was knocked down.

All trains were canceled as the Eustace station turned into a sea of ​​passengers who had nowhere to go.

The tracks were blocked for three hours. When my train was finally called, it was like crushing buffaloes on a platform to find a seat in the car.

I spent time on the trip listening to an audiobook about the early years of The Beatles. It detailed how they overcame hardships and poverty to achieve their amazing success.

Due to my late arrival in Liverpool I quickly checked into a hotel, changed clothes and got a 10-minute walk down Whitechapel to the Cavern Club. It’s on Matthew Street, it’s a pedestrian center filled with bars where music is buzzing. Towards the end was a yellow sign reading “Cavern Club.”

Reaching the destination, I looked forward to the stairs. I asked myself, “Will this be my time travel in that black and white movie The Beatles that I’ve watched so often, or will it be a big disappointment?”

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I paid £ 4 ($ 5.20) and started smiling. I went to where so much history was made in an era when my musical tastes were hopelessly stuck.

On the wall you can not miss the bright yellow poster from October 31, 1965 with the ad “Great night of pop music with The Who.”

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The Beatles have played at this club about 300 times. Now I was finally going to catch their act. I carefully planned this trip around this nightly entertainment program because it involved the Beatles tribute band.

Around 10:45 p.m., “The Beatles” baked their first chords, and the party began. The band members wore wigs and sounded close enough to the original “Fab Four” for me. Everyone started dancing and singing along. People from different countries gathered here suddenly became best friends for a night united in the harmony of the Beatles.

Three very friendly “gentlemen” from Liverpool asked me where I was from. Probably I gave the right answer because I was not allowed to buy myself a drink until the end of the night.

On the tight stage in the band’s repertoire were strictly early Beatles. “Please, Mr. Postman,” “Ticket to Travel,” and more. They performed until the early hours.

This journey into the past ended with the song “I Want to Hold Your Hand”. My Liverpool friends kindly asked me if I wanted to join them at the casino, but by then I had already exceeded my personal limit by two ciders, and this morning there was an important point in my schedule (pronounced there as shed-ule).

The “Magical Mystery Tour” arrived to pick me up at 11 a.m., departing from Albert Doc.

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When this song sounded in the tour bus, we first headed to Ringo Starr’s house. Then he was known as Richard Starkey.

The area was very poor and was called “Dingle”. The guide told how he replaced drummer Pete Best, who performed hundreds of concerts. Best became the manager of the employment center. Fortunately, he made good money when his work with the Beatles was placed in an anthology album.

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For two hours we also visited the former homes of John, Paul and George and listened to their music. The most important moment for me was to drive around Penny Lane, looking at the sites mentioned in the texts, such as “shelter in the middle of the roundabout” (now an empty pub and restaurant) and see there is a shop where a barber shaves another client.

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Penny Lane was also in my heart for at least a few minutes, then we arrived at a strawberry field where “nothing real, nothing to admire”.

(Credit: CBS)

These are graffiti-filled red gates leading to a not very large open area in the Salvation Army Orphanage.

We stopped briefly at St. Peter’s Church, where John and Paul met in 1957 when John was playing with the Quarrymen. There is a cemetery where Eleanor Rigby could have been buried if she had been real.

Returning to the center of Liverpool, we drove past the magnificent Liverpool Cathedral, where the guide told us that Paul had not passed the audition to enter the choir.

Stories similar to the life of the Beatles have filled many books. Since the time machine doesn’t exist yet, for me it was the closest thing to life in an important part of Beatles history.

CBS4 Rick Salinger is a Piboda Prize-winning reporter who has worked for the radio station for more than two decades, dealing with news and investigations. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.