2 If you can sing or play an instrument: Editors of People, The Beatles: Celebrating Beatlemania, America 1964 (New York: Time Home Entertainment, 2019), 28.

3 a fat schoolboy: Norman, John Lennon, 108.

3 “Like I’m writing an essay or doing a crossword puzzle”: Robin Hilton and Bob Boilen, “All Songs +1: A Conversation with Paul McCartney,” All Songs Considered, NPR.org, June 10, 2016.

3 He’s drunk: Barry Miles, The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years (London: Omnibus Press, 2001), 11.

4 He’ll get you into trouble, son: Barry Miles, Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now (New York: Henry Holt, 1997), 32.

4 You saw him rather than met him: Editors of People, The Beatles, 28.

Chapter 2

5 “We never get auditions because of the jazz bands”: Hunter Davies, The Beatles: The Authorized Biography (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968), 60.

6 Bill Haley and His Comets: “The Startling Blast of ‘Rock Around the Clock,’ Sixty Years Later,” David Cantwell, The New Yorker, July 27, 2015.

6 “A guitar’s all right, John, but you’ll never earn a living by it”: Warren Hoge, “Liverpool Journal; The House That Can’t Forget a Boy with a Guitar,” New York Times, May 6, 2003.

6 “I wanted to write Alice in Wonderland and be Elvis Presley”: Ray Connolly, Being John Lennon: A Restless Life (New York: Pegasus Books, 2018), 31.

6 you’ll regret it when I’m famous: Philip Norman, John Lennon: The Life (New York: Ecco, 2008), 67.

6 gingery hair: Mark Lewisohn, Tune In, vol. 1, The Beatles: All These Years (New York: Crown Archetype, 2013), 181.

7 “It went through my head that I’d have to keep him in line”: Connolly, Being John Lennon, 39.

7 “They’ll eat you alive if you start playing rock ’n’ roll in the Cavern!”: Bob Spitz, The Beatles: The Biography (New York: Back Bay, 2006), 65.

7 Cut out the bloody rock ’n’ roll: Spitz, The Beatles, 65.

7 New Clubmoor Hall: Lewisohn, Tune In, 144–45.

8 “It wiped me out as a lead guitar player”: Paul McCartney, interview by Roger Scott, Capital Radio (London), November 17, 1983.

8 “John, your little friend’s here”: Barry Miles, Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now (New York: Henry Holt, 1997), 44.

8 “John and Mimi had a very special relationship”: Lewisohn, Tune In, 14.

8 “I think she quite liked me”: Lewisohn, Tune In, 14.

8 “taking the mickey”: Philip Norman, Paul McCartney: The Life (New York: Little, Brown, 2016), 74.

9 drawing gorgeous girls for toothpaste posters: Lewisohn, Tune In, 137.

9 “Front porch, John Lennon, front porch”: Norman, Paul McCartney, 82.

9 “the echo of the guitars”: Barry Miles, The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years (London: Omnibus Press, 2001), 12.

9 Paul Anka used in his hit “Diana”: Austin O’Connor, “10 Things You May Not Know About Paul Anka,” AARP, April 17, 2013.

Chapter 3

10 Face up to your dad!: Mark Lewisohn, Tune In, vol. 1, The Beatles: All These Years (New York: Crown Archetype, 2013), 149.

11 “Can you give me guitar lessons?”: Lewisohn, Tune In, 14.

Chapter 4

12 “holding a mirror up”: Philip Norman, Paul McCartney: The Life (New York: Little, Brown, 2016), 83.

12 “I was aggressive because I wanted to be popular”: Hunter Davies, The Beatles: The Authorized Biography (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968), 13.

12 “eyeball to eyeball”: Mark Lewisohn, Tune In, vol. 1, The Beatles: All These Years (New York: Crown Archetype, 2013), 11.