{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"Adapted from Scouts: The Stories that Built a Movement (Published by Bonnier, 2019)","standfirst":"Did you know that John Lennon and Paul McCartney, two of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century, both got their start in the Scouts?","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003EBelieve it or not, Paul McCartney missed his first scheduled gig with John Lennon and the Quarrymen, the band they were both in before The Beatles, because of Scouts.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe gig was at the Cavern Club on 7 August 1957. However, Paul and his brother were away at Scout camp in Hathersage, Derbyshire.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn his 2008 song \u2018That Was Me\u2019, Paul McCartney takes a nostalgic look back at scenes from his extraordinary life.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018\u003Cem\u003EThat was me, at the Scout camp\u003C/em\u003E\u2019 he sings in the first line.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESometimes, Scouts just has to come first.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"type":"Image top","cta":"","body":"","link":null,"colour":"#ffffff","title":"","image":"/media/igpdm4og/396704804_736181671873265_4574396759155895525_n.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1da0da92ca18d30","imageFocus":"Centre","imageId":77612,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"Centre","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMemories of John Lennon\u0026nbsp;\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohn Lennon was part of the 3\u003Csup\u003Erd\u003C/sup\u003E Allerton Scout Group.\u0026nbsp;The Cubs met in St Peter\u0027s Church, which is the very place where John first met Paul on 6 July 1957.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDavid Ashton, a Scouts volunteer, was in same Cub section with John, later joining the volunteer team.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECatching up with David, he said, \u2018John Lennon turned up at Cubs and later at Scouts from time to time. I remember him being at Scouts Sports at Allerton and the Scout Swimming Gala at Garston Baths, but mostly he came for the normal Scout meetings, with their easy-going, relaxed atmosphere. We called ourselves The Backwoods Men.\u0027\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt seems that John enjoyed the best part of Scouts \u2013 frequent trips out of the city and into the countryside.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We prided ourselves in being able to live off the land,\u2019 says David, \u2018going camping and leaving the campsite as though no-one had been there. We had summer camps on farms for two weeks in North Wales and the Lake District, and weekend camps at Graces Farm near Cronton at Easter, Whitsun, and in the autumn.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EChild of nature \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe influence of this early contact with nature is easy to spot in their work.\u0026nbsp;From the album \u2018The Beatles\u2019 (more commonly known as The White Album),\u003Cem\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u2018\u003C/em\u003EMother Nature\u2019s Son\u2019 and \u2018Blackbird\u2019 idealised nature and rural spaces.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis is also seen in the original version of John\u2019s \u2018Jealous Guy\u2019\u003Cem\u003E, \u003C/em\u003Ewhich had been known as \u2018Child of Nature\u2019.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt was a theme they\u2019d return to throughout their group and solo careers, from McCartney\u2019s \u2018Heart of the Country\u2019, \u2018Country Dreamer\u2019 and \u2018Jenny Wren\u2019 to Lennon\u2019s \u2018Norwegian Wood\u2019, \u2018Across the Universe\u2019\u0026nbsp;and \u2018Free as a Bird\u2019.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPaul evidently enjoyed Scouts. \u2018I was a Scout,\u2019 he remembers, \u2018but I didn\u0027t get many badges. I got a Bivouac Badge for camping out.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA bivouac, sometimes known as a bivvy, is any of a variety of improvised camp site or shelter that is usually of a temporary nature. It\u2019s used especially people engaging in outdoor activities, such as bikepacking, Scouts or mountain climbing.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA positive influence \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother thing John and Paul shared was the loss of their mothers at an early age.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohn lost his mother, Julia, twice. Once when she handed him over to be fostered by his aunt and Julia\u2019s sister, Mimi. Sadly, years later, she died after being run over a drunk driver.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe women in his family were incredibly important to him.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The men were just invisible in my family,\u2019 said John, \u2018I was always with the women.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith an absent father, perhaps the volunteers he encountered in Scouts provided the missing male role models he needed.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s a sentiment with which David, who was in John\u0027s Cubs, agrees:\u0026nbsp; \u2018I think the (leaders) played a very important role in John Lennon\u0027s formative years, as they certainly did in mine.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFace to face with the Chief Scout \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThere\u2019s also talk of a meeting between John Lennon and the Chief Scout.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We once went to a Scout campsite near Ormskirk,\u2019 says David, \u2018There was great excitement as we were to meet the Chief Scout. We set up camp for the 3rd Allerton Scouts all on our own.\u2019\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDavid explained, \u2018The Chief Scout came and talked to us all personally. I remember John being at that camp, as he was in our patrol, the Badgers. He helped me carry a milk churn full of water back to our campsite in the woods.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA musical education \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EScouts also formed a key part of John\u2019s musical education.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOne gift his mother, Julia, gave him was teaching him some chords on the banjo, which he then transferred onto a guitar she bought for him.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis was an interest he developed further in Scouts.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018John\u2019s Scout leader, Bill Whiteside, had a brother, Charlie, who lived near Penny Lane,\u2019 recounts David, \u2018Charlie could play chords on a banjo and we often had a campfire singsong. I remember making nettle soup and bread twists on sticks, while Charlie taught John the chords to \u2018Way Down Upon the Swanee River.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHe also got to perfect his skills on the mouth organ, which was later to feature prominently on early Beatles hits, such as \u2018Love Me Do\u2019 and \u2018From Me to You\u2019.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe boys had learned to sing the song \u2018The Happy Wanderer\u2019\u003Cem\u003E,\u003C/em\u003E which John Lennon soon mastered.\u0026nbsp;This tune obviously stuck in his mind.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I used to embarrass authority by chanting out a weird version of \u2018The Happy Wanderer\u2019\u003Cem\u003E,\u003C/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;John later recalled. \u2018I day-dreamed my way through school. I wasn\u0027t there \u2013 I was at the movies or running around.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut did Scouts affect Lennon and McCartney on a more fundamental level?\u0026nbsp;In many ways, Scouts\u2019 values curiously came before 1960s notions of universal peace and love. The clothes may have been very different, but the message of spreading international peace and universal happiness are strikingly similar.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPerhaps that\u2019s why Scouts were later invited to feature in the 1967 Beatles TV film, \u2018Magical Mystery Tour\u2019.\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"02 November 2023","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[],"relatedLinks":[],"id":48495,"nodeName":"Twist and Scout: The surprising history of The Beatles and Scouts","title":"Twist and Scout: The surprising history of The Beatles and Scouts","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/igpdm4og/396704804_736181671873265_4574396759155895525_n.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1da0da92ca18d30","caption":"The Beatles statue, with one figure wearing a Scout necker","type":"jpg","size":74284,"width":720,"height":960,"altText":"The Beatles statue, with one figure wearing a Scout necker"},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Twist and Scout: The surprising history of The Beatles and Scouts","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC80ODQ5NSJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2020/february/twist-and-scout-the-surprising-history-of-the-beatles-and-scouts/"}