Our childhood friends’ parents often play larger roles in our lives than we fully realize when we’re young, and a teenage Paul McCartney watching George Harrison’s dad was certainly no exception. Years before McCartney and Harrison would become a part of one of the biggest rock bands of the time, they were schoolmates and pals familiar with each other’s home lives.
Videos by American Songwriter
When someone’s parent was acting, as the teens might say, lame, friends knew about it. When someone’s parent did something incredibly cool, friends knew about that, too. And one fateful day at the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys, George Harrison’s father became a “hero” in the eyes of their group of mates.
Paul McCartney Said George Harrison’s Dad Was A “Hero”
As the leather jacket-clad, pompadour-haired Quarrymen’s outward appearance might have suggested, Paul McCartney and George Harrison’s style and attitude often made them the target of canings by their teachers at the Liverpool Institute High School. During a television interview, McCartney described his school’s practice of caning students across their open palms. “We never really did anything wrong. But we might have, like, tight trousers and Ted hairdos. That pointed you out as somebody who’s a troublemaker.”
The former Beatle recalled a day when a teacher missed Harrison’s palm when he was caning him and left two large welts on the inside of his wrist. That afternoon, Harrison was having tea with his family when his father, Harold Hargreaves Harrison, pointed out the marks. The next day, someone popped into the classroom of the teacher who caned Harrison and asked him to step outside in the hallway.
George’s father was standing there, waiting for the instructor. “He said, ‘Did you do that to my son?’” McCartney said, pointing to his inner wrist. After the teacher confirmed that he was the one who left the marks on Harrison’s arm, Harold punched the teacher in the face. McCartney punched the air and pointed to the ground. “Whack! Right there. Oh, he was a hero. He was just the school hero.”
The Beatle Said His Dad Was Less Sympathetic
George Harrison’s father might have been quick to come to his son’s defense when a teacher caned him across the wrist, but not everyone’s parent was as quick to go into defense mode. Paul McCartney’s dad was far less sympathetic to the rebellious schoolboys’ troubles. During the same interview, McCartney recalled, “I used to tell my dad, you know, ‘I got caned.’ Dad said, ‘Well, you probably did something wrong.’”
Even if McCartney’s dad wasn’t willing to get into a fisticuff with his son’s teacher, at least the group of schoolmates had Harrison’s father to look up to in the perpetual fight between students and their teachers. “Teachers were pretty brutal in those days,” McCartney said during an appearance on the This Cultural Life podcast. “They were allowed to whack you, and so they did. [I was] a bit of a skiver really, but [only] until you had to knuckle down.”
Based on his track record with his teachers, we’d guess Harrison was much the same way.
Photo by ANL/Shutterstock
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.