Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon composed classics like I Saw Her Standing There and When I’m 64 at 20 Forthlin Road in Liverpool.
The property, which is now owned by the National Trust, will be home to The Forthlin Sessions, where artists chosen by Mike McCartney and local partners will be able to compose music and perform in the same location as the Beatles.
The house where Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon first collaborated on songs is prepared to welcome a new generation of budding artists.
Sir Paul grew up in the terraced house on Forthlin Road in Allerton, Liverpool, which is now held by the National Trust.
Its living room was regarded as “the crucible” of the Lennon-McCartney relationship by one Beatles historian, when successes such as I Saw Her Standing There and Love Me Do were penned.
To commemorate Sir Paul’s 80th birthday in June and the 60th anniversary of the Beatles’ first song Love Me Do in October, the National Trust is establishing The Forthlin Sessions, which will allow unsigned musicians the opportunity to visit the terraced house, create, and play music.
“I hope some of the magic rubs off on them,” said Sir Paul’s younger brother Mike McCartney, who will assist in the selection of the musicians.
The National Trust purchased the home 30 years ago and utilized photographs shot by photographer Mike to restore it to the condition it was in when The Beatles’ star grew up there, replete with mismatched wallpaper and damaged carpet.
“I was 12 when my mother died, and my father had to raise two boys, so the house was in a sorry state,” Mike told the PA news agency.
“If you had a bath, you were connected by the ceiling because all the paint flaked down.”
“The armchair springs protruded from the seat and ripped our clothes to shreds.”
Despite the décor, Mike characterized the family’s old home as a “special house,” where their father offered the sons guitars as a means out of poverty.
Mike, who went on to participate in The Scaffold, was given drum equipment and a banjo that came “off the back of a lorry,” while Sir Paul was given a guitar and began calling his friend, John Lennon, around to make music.
“You could hear them crafting the songs,” Mike added. I’d be in another room when I heard them composing.
“Our child would blast music throughout the house, including the bathroom.”
Mike views the house as “proof that you can create something special from nothing.”
“I’m proud of my family and the outcome of that house for all of us,” he added.
“If that can be shared with anyone, especially young people, especially if they have nothing and see they can do something from nothing as we did, then I will be even more proud.”
According to Colin Hall, a Beatles historian, Sir Paul would skip school and return to the house with Lennon to create while his father was at work.
“I think the Forthlin Road living room is the crucible where the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership was nurtured and began, that’s where it took wings,” he remarked.
He claimed that guests were frequently taken aback by how little the former council house was.
“Because the house is so ordinary,” he continues, “that’s what inspires me.”
The Forthlin Sessions will be open to any unsigned, UK-based music artist over the age of 18.
“Our places don’t have to be stuck in time,” said National Trust Director-General Hilary McGrady, “they’re here to keep sparking creativity, dreams, and new ideas.”
