What was the childhood of The Beatles?

Answer 1

John Lennon was raised by his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George (who was a dairy farmer) from the age of five, but his mother Julia was close by, and they saw each other almost daily. George taught young John to read from the newspapers, and Mimi kept a home library of classic books. Julia later had two daughters, and raised them with their father Bobby, with young John dropping by often. Julia bought him his first guitar, by mail order. John's real father Alfred wasn't around, but tried many times to get or stay in touch. (Mimi kept them apart.)

Paul McCartney had a younger brother named Mike, and their parents Jim and Mary both worked (him as a cotton broker, her as a school nurse and midwife). Paul won a prize at age ten, for a school essay he wrote. Both brothers were in the Boy Scouts. When they became interested in music, their father bought Paul a guitar and Mike a banjo.

George Harrison was the youngest of four children, and was seen as everyone's "baby brother". His father Harry was a bus driver, and his mother Louise gave dancing lessons at home. His mother lent George the money to buy his first guitar, and his brother Peter helped him out with it. (George paid his mother back working as a delivery boy, for the local butcher.)

Ringo Starr didn't see much of his father Richard, but was close to his mother Elsie and his grandparents. He spent nearly a year in the hospital early on after his appendix burst, and a further two years there in his early teens, when he came down with tuberculosis. When his mother met another man named Harry, he encouraged her to remarry, and his new stepfather bought him his first set of drums.

Answer 2

All of the boys in The Beatles led simple lives in the beginning; all four were born and raised in Liverpool, yet each with a seperate lifestyle. Paul was from a middle-class family with his retired musician father, his mother, a midwife, and his older brother Michael. His mother died when he was 14. John Lennon was mainly raised by his aunt, Mimi Smith, mostly due to the fact his father left the family when he was four and his mother didn't have the money to raise him. She died when he was 17. George Harrison was the youngest of 4 children to a lower middle-class family. Ringo Starr (originally named Richard Starkey) was an only child to a single mother. He had health problems as a child which resulted at lengthy stays at the hospital. It is a true example of how these people that rise to fame and that we idolize are just normal people with simple backrounds.

Answer 3

Obviously, it changed through their lives. For most of them, they had "difficult" childhoods - John was estranged from his parents; his father walked out when John was 2 and John was brought up by his aunt - he "re-met" his mother later, but she was killed in a road accident shortly afterwards. Paul's mother died of cancer when he was a teenager. Ringo's father also walked out of the family when Ringo was 2 and he was brought up in genuine poverty. George, uniquely for a Beatles had a "normal" upbringing - his father was a bus driver.

Once they became successful, they had to work extremely hard - there are books showing where the Beatles were for each day of their career - and it is remarkable how little time off they had and how much travelling and performing they did; famously in the middle of a UK tour, on their one "day off" - a Sunday - they went to Abbey Road studios and recorded their first album.

Once they finished touring; in 1966, Ringo admitted they became much lazier - if it hadn't been for Paul, they wouldn't have done much recording - all of them went through a fairly "odd" phase - John started taking drugs, George became very religious, Ringo became more of a family man - he had a young family and Paul still wanted to record music. In a sense, no-one, before or since, has been as famous or acclaimed as much as the Beatles so it's remarkable that they all came out of it as normal as they did.

After the band split, Paul became depressed but continued with his musical career; his then wife Linda is credited with providing a "normalising" influence. Ringo, unfortunately, became alcoholic - although he's long since recovered from that. George, who had a backlog of unreleased songs, released the best selling All Things Must Pass - and, briefly, became the biggest pop star in the world. He then became more withdrawn and a keen gardener.

John found the split very difficult - although he was probably the driving force behind it; he'd taken a lot of drugs - particularly LSD - which affected his mind (at one point he was convinced he was the second coming of Jesus); he released several albums in the early 1970s but essentially "retired" in 1975 to help raise his new son Sean.

Answer 4

They grew up in Liverpool. John was raised by his Aunt Mimi. His parents abandoned him, and at 17, once getting close to his mother again, she was unfortunately hit by a car and killed. Paul lost his mother to Breast cancer at a young age and grew up with his father and brother. George was the youngest out of four children and was poor growing up. Ringo was raised by his mother once his father left.

Answer 5

There was a mix; John's upbringing was in a middle class home but he had a lot of trauma; his parents split up when he was two, and he ended up with his aunt. When he was 14 he was reconciled with his mother, but she was killed in road accident when he was 17. Despite this, his aunt said he was always a happy child.

Paul also had a difficult childhood; his mother died of cancer when he was a teenager and she'd been the main wage earner for the family.

George was the only Beatle with a "normal" upbringing with both parents. His father was a bus driver, so his family wasn't particularly well off.

Ringo was the only Beatle who was brought up in genuine poverty. His father walked out of the family when he was 2.

Answer 6

none of them had jobs they were home less people and were poor .

Answer 7

their lifestyle is hard to describe but it is as shown in films 'Help!' & 'A hard days night'

Answer 8

Paul was born in the ww2, John was born at the start of ww2 and george was born at the end of ww2. Not sure about Ringo.

Answer 9

Awesome.