Mike McCartney – “I Should’ve Been a Beatle Too”

[stavros]

We’re talking about life’s ‘if onlys’ when Mike McCartney drops his astonishing bombshell. He hates the word ‘if’....................
Then Mike lobs in his hand grenade of a confession. ‘I was nearly in The Beatles,’ he says. ‘I was The Beatles drummer, but I broke my arm in the Scouts.’ Hang on, Mike. Rewind. You were a Beatle?
‘It was when John [Lennon] used to come to the house in Forthlin Road with The Quarrymen, before George [Harrison] was even there. I broke my arm at camp and it affected the nerves that control the wrist. They were dead.
‘I had to have electric shocks and hot stuff put on my arm to get the nerves back. For a couple of years, I had to wear a support strap with a wire.
‘It’s back to that word. If I hadn’t broken my arm, I’d have been a Beatle. But I did break my arm and I’m not a Beatle. You always have to deal in reality, not dreams.’ Crikey. He has never spoken about this humongous ‘if only’ before.



Mike is a hugely proud man. So much so, that when he tried his hand at showbiz with The Scaffold, as Beatlemania was beginning to rip through the country, he changed his surname to McGear.
‘The Beatles were getting so famous, being called McCartney was like being Presley or Sinatra,’ he says. ‘If I’d gone on being McCartney, it would have seemed that I was cashing in. I couldn’t do that.’
........................................
‘I was nearly in The Beatles,’ he says. ‘I was The Beatles drummer, but I broke my arm in the Scouts.’

Mike gave up showbusiness in 1982 when The Scaffold disbanded, and his first marriage to Angela Fishwick, with whom he had three daughters, ended. Mike won custody of the girls, now in their 40s..........

‘I was best man at his weddings to Linda and Heather. When he married Nancy, James [Paul’s son] was best man because he’d grown up. Paul’s so very happy now.’ Mike, too. He has been happily married to wife Rowena for 33 years and has three boys — Josh, 31, Max, 26 and Sonny, 23.


He pauses, then says, ‘You could look at this another way. If I hadn’t broken my arm, if I had joined The Beatles, maybe we’d have ended up fighting like Liam and Noel Gallagher in Oasis. So, it’s fortuitous and lucky I didn’t join. I have a nice, close, stable relationship with my brother.’
Which is something he wouldn’t change for all the ‘ifs’ in the world.

Full story : www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2607398/I-Beatle-Maccas-little-brother-reveals-HE-bands-drummer-Scout-camp-accident-wrecked-dream.html

So there you go Pete Best and Ringo. Had it not been for an accident with the Boy Scouts we'd have had a McCartney "Drum and Bass" section in our favourite band.

I once met Micky "Macca" at a New Years Eve Party in 1998 (going on into 1999) and found him a rather odd guy. I can't ever imagine the Beatles with him taking any part at all in the band.

I will now leave this story for others to ponder.

[anyoneanyhow]

Would John be good with two McCartneys?

Do you think Tune In caused Mike to go public with this?

What are the odds the Beatles could gave become so huge with a different line-up? Would there gave been a a Lennon-McCartney songwriting team? would John have been cut out?

[kc]

Maybe the publishers can add one of those stuck in sheet addendums (just kidding) to their unsold stock? A revised second edition might be needed eventually though. They can publish it after volume three arrives. You know, in about ten of fifteen years time. I'm glad I haven't bought or read Tune In yet. I'll get there sooner or later.

[anyoneanyhow]

Apr 20, 2014 19:24:42 GMT -5 kc said:

Maybe the publishers can add one of those stuck in sheet addendums (just kidding) to their unsold stock? A revised second edition might be needed eventually though. They can publish it after volume three arrives. You know, in about ten of fifteen years time. I'm glad I haven't bought or read Tune In yet. I'll get there sooner or later.

The Mike McCartney as drummer with hurt ran story is in Tune In.

[kc]

My mistake if the story is in Tune In. However, the article asserts that the information is new, whereas Lewisohn's book was published about six months ago.

[anyoneanyhow]

Apr 20, 2014 21:45:26 GMT -5 kc said:

My mistake if the story is in Tune In. However, the article asserts that the information is new, whereas Lewisohn's book was published about six months ago.

Yeah, sometimes the papers run stories from years back as if they were new. But you're right, new info always comes up in a Beatles history, at some point the omissions in a Tune In will also become apparent. But I finished the book recently, and think it was very well researched and presented. And presented without bias, without an agenda.

[kc]

I have two of Lewisohn's previous books: Recording Sessions for the studio work and Chronicles for the live performances. I want facts and plenty of them. He certainly provides them. So, I like his style of work, though others might find it a bit dry.

I will eventually buy Tune In and its companions when they appear.


But to return to Stavros's thread, no, I don't like the thought of two McCartney brothers in the Beatles. Mike McCartney instead of Ringo? No Thank U Very Much.
How good a drummer was he? I don't recall him being associated with drumming otherwise. One can just imagine the possibilities for discord within the band with two brothers as members.

[Deleted]

Apr 20, 2014 17:59:50 GMT -5 stavros said:

We’re talking about life’s ‘if onlys’ when Mike McCartney drops his astonishing bombshell. He hates the word ‘if’....................
Then Mike lobs in his hand grenade of a confession. ‘I was nearly in The Beatles,’ he says. ‘I was The Beatles drummer, but I broke my arm in the Scouts.’ Hang on, Mike. Rewind. You were a Beatle?
‘It was when John [Lennon] used to come to the house in Forthlin Road with The Quarrymen, before George [Harrison] was even there. I broke my arm at camp and it affected the nerves that control the wrist. They were dead.
‘I had to have electric shocks and hot stuff put on my arm to get the nerves back. For a couple of years, I had to wear a support strap with a wire.
‘It’s back to that word. If I hadn’t broken my arm, I’d have been a Beatle. But I did break my arm and I’m not a Beatle. You always have to deal in reality, not dreams.’ Crikey. He has never spoken about this humongous ‘if only’ before.



Mike is a hugely proud man. So much so, that when he tried his hand at showbiz with The Scaffold, as Beatlemania was beginning to rip through the country, he changed his surname to McGear.
‘The Beatles were getting so famous, being called McCartney was like being Presley or Sinatra,’ he says. ‘If I’d gone on being McCartney, it would have seemed that I was cashing in. I couldn’t do that.’
........................................
‘I was nearly in The Beatles,’ he says. ‘I was The Beatles drummer, but I broke my arm in the Scouts.’

Mike gave up showbusiness in 1982 when The Scaffold disbanded, and his first marriage to Angela Fishwick, with whom he had three daughters, ended. Mike won custody of the girls, now in their 40s..........

‘I was best man at his weddings to Linda and Heather. When he married Nancy, James [Paul’s son] was best man because he’d grown up. Paul’s so very happy now.’ Mike, too. He has been happily married to wife Rowena for 33 years and has three boys — Josh, 31, Max, 26 and Sonny, 23.


He pauses, then says, ‘You could look at this another way. If I hadn’t broken my arm, if I had joined The Beatles, maybe we’d have ended up fighting like Liam and Noel Gallagher in Oasis. So, it’s fortuitous and lucky I didn’t join. I have a nice, close, stable relationship with my brother.’
Which is something he wouldn’t change for all the ‘ifs’ in the world.

Full story : www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2607398/I-Beatle-Maccas-little-brother-reveals-HE-bands-drummer-Scout-camp-accident-wrecked-dream.html

So there you go Pete Best and Ringo. Had it not been for an accident with the Boy Scouts we'd have had a McCartney "Drum and Bass" section in our favourite band.

I once met Micky "Macca" at a New Years Eve Party in 1998 (going on into 1999) and found him a rather odd guy. I can't ever imagine the Beatles with him taking any part at all in the band.

I will now leave this story for others to ponder.

Poor Mike, not only did he miss out on Musical talent in the McCartney family, he missed out on looks as well. He should have become a lyricist and helped out his brother instead of spending his life exercising his wrist.

[vectisfabber]

Loved the McGear album.

[mikev]

Apr 21, 2014 12:02:56 GMT -5 vectisfabber said:

Loved the McGear album.

When our college bookstoe closed, I saw McGear vinyl in the $2 bin. The guy realized he made a mistake, but sold it to me anyway.

It is a fine album, almost like a Rutles version of Wings. Well, it was Wings!

[John S. Damm]

I think it was in Howard Sounes book Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney where the writer claimed that it was Paul who insisted Mike change his stage name to McGear not the other way around.

Either way, I thought that was unnecessary, Mike was born a McCartney and if he wanted to go into show business why not use your legal last name! Talent rises to the top and even if the last name opens doors, it doesn't alone make one a star. Look at James McCartney, he is farther along in the recording artist game than anyone else of comparable talent yet all the help in the world by Dad didn't make James a star, even Paul climbing on stage with Ron Wood during one of James' shows.

Yet I have no problem with James using McCartney because that is who he is and I kind of felt bad that Mike either chose to or was told to use McGear. As a fan I'd rather know the artist's true identity.

[scousette]

Linda was able to use the McCartney name in her musical career. Why shouldn't Mike have been able to do so>

[vectisfabber]

And if you can find it, Mike Mac's White And Blacks is a brilliant book. Not just for Mike's photos, but also for the warm, loving text.

[nicole21290]

Mike's books are lovely, yeah. A very affectionate and humourous portrayal. As to this 'new' story? Here's the version of the story from the Sixties.

Portrait of Paul
by Michael McCartney
August 21, 1965
Woman Magazine

Paul and George used to lend each other records and, in general, help each other along. After school, they'd hold sing-songs together. I couldn't help but get interested, too, and at home Paul and I tried harmonising. We weren't at all bad. We often sang at family parties, our big number being "We are Siamese, if you please" from Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp.

Then I broke my arm and had to go into hospital. Who knows what might have happened if I hadn't broken that arm? We could have taken "We are Siamese if you please" to the top of the pops and become the Elderly Brothers. But Paul and George had already gone a long way together at that time.

-

When Dad and Paul saw how keen I was to learn the drums, they bought me a set. Unfortunately, a little while before, I'd broken my wrist. The bones had reset all right but a single nerve hadn't healed properly and the result was that I could only play the drums really well with one hand.

Even so, despite my bad wrist, I might have been with them today - imagine that, Mike RingoStarClub! - if it hadn't been for my brother. Paul is so gifted that he really could play any instrument he wanted to, if he set his mind to it. Anyhow, one day when I got up from the drums, he sat down in my place and began idly tapping on them - just to pass the time, really. But then, as he warmed up, he let himself go! It was real virtuoso stuff compared with my feeble efforts and I listened to him play in a sort of daze.

I didn't hesitate - I decided then and there to give up the drums. If Paul could play like that without any real practice - then what hope was there for me after all the work I'd put in on them? I realized that I'd simply never be good enough. So I quit - just like that! That's one way of passing up a fortune!

---

An interesting article all around, it was.

[stavros]

Great article that Nicole.

It also shows the humour of the guy. "Lily the Pink" remains his crowning glory in the entertainment business. Mike was one third of the 'Scaffold' along with local Liverpool comedian John Gorman and scouse poet Roger McGough (who also had a part in the Rutles and does voice overs to TV/radio commercials to this day).



The Scaffold also did :



In the above song I have never understood what the "Aintree Iron" is despite once working in Aintree and being born just the other side of the river from the great city of Liverpool. When I asked Mike he was very evasive with his answer back in 1998 (or was it 1999?)....

Anyway I am still none the wiser.

If you want to be none the wiser too then look here

[vectisfabber]

I have a soft spot for Liverpool Lou - a pretty mainstream offering.

[stavros]

Just for you Vectis



I must admit it has a nice folksy, singalong feeling to it.

Now I've heard the lyrics it's not actually about a a Liverpool toilet is it



Mike (with the Scaffold) also recorded the theme to the UK comedy series "Liver Birds".




Apparently it finished in 1975. I only have a vague memory of it myself.

[vectisfabber]

Carla James wrote Liver Birds, a big friend of the Macs esp Linda (co-wrote with Linda a couple of things which Linda recorded). Liver Bird Nerys Hughes was not Liverpudlian at all, but as Welsh as a flock of particularly attractive sheep. Not sue about Polly James or Elizabeth Estensen.

[andyb]

Polly James sounded Lancashire to me. Not sure exactly where though.

[beverfan]

Is there anyone from Wales here? I ask because Mike McCartney is currently on tour and will be appearing at Portmeirion’s Hercules Hall on April 29. So far the reviews have been glowing and are expected to continue. 
The Doors open at 19:30 and tickets are a bargain at £15.00

Read about Mike's upcoming performance at the Hercules Hall on April 29 here:

Mike McCartney set to dazzle Portmeirion’s Hercules Hall



Mike’s Sex, Drugs & Rock‘n’Roll (I Wish!) show is at Portmeirion on April 29. For Tickets please call on 01766 772390 or order online here:

Buy Mike McCartney Tickets Here

[andyb]

Am I allowed to swear?

[debjorgo]

Apr 26, 2014 21:51:55 GMT -5 beverfan said:

Is there anyone from Wales here? I ask because Mike McCartney is currently on tour and will be appearing at Portmeirion’s Hercules Hall on April 29. So far the reviews have been glowing and are expected to continue. 
The Doors open at 19:30 and tickets are a bargain at £15.00

Read about Mike's upcoming performance at the Hercules Hall on April 29 here:

Mike McCartney set to dazzle Portmeirion’s Hercules Hall



Mike’s Sex, Drugs & Rock‘n’Roll (I Wish!) show is at Portmeirion on April 29. For Tickets please call on 01766 772390 or order online here:

Buy Mike McCartney Tickets Here

"The Doors open at 19:20"? Cool. I like the Doors. I don't care too much for the Biev, but he does look cool in that photo.

He makes a much better Elvis than he did a Beatle.

I'm assuming you're being a little ironic with that name/avatar.

[vectisfabber]

Portmeirion is of course the location for the original 1960s Prisoner TV series, for those who want to kill two birds with one stone.

[John S. Damm]

Wow, in all of these years I have never listened to any songs by The Scaffold until this Thread and it is clear that I did not miss a thing! What novelty freaks!

Sorry, Mike McGear, you are no Beatle!

[stavros]

Apr 27, 2014 12:34:45 GMT -5 John S. Damm said:

Wow, in all of these years I have never listened to any songs by The Scaffold until this Thread and it is clear that I did not miss a thing! What novelty freaks!

Sorry, Mike McGear, you are no Beatle!

You need to drink to Lily the Pink to get it.

They were indeed very much a novelty act that probably appealed to a British audience (and generally a Liverpudlian one). They certainly were no Beatles. Although they could have covered "You Know My Name" and "What's the New Mary Jane" quite easily.

Are you familiar with the McGear album John?

[scousette]

Apr 24, 2014 16:12:46 GMT -5 stavros said:

Great article that Nicole.

It also shows the humour of the guy. "Lily the Pink" remains his crowning glory in the entertainment business. Mike was one third of the 'Scaffold' along with local Liverpool comedian John Gorman and scouse poet Roger McGough (who also had a part in the Rutles and does voice overs to TV/radio commercials to this day).



The Scaffold also did :



In the above song I have never understood what the "Aintree Iron" is despite once working in Aintree and being born just the other side of the river from the great city of Liverpool. When I asked Mike he was very evasive with his answer back in 1998 (or was it 1999?)....

Anyway I am still none the wiser.

If you want to be none the wiser too then look here

I thought the lyric was "Thank U very much for the Aintree I N" meaning Aintree Institute.

[stavros]

Apr 27, 2014 15:55:42 GMT -5 scousette said:

I thought the lyric was "Thank U very much for the Aintree I N" meaning Aintree Institute.

That is one line of thought I've heard of.

I will refer you to the comments Mr McCartney posted to the Guardian news site.

AS I actually wrote "Thank U very much for the Aintree Iron" for Scaffold, I trust that I'm the best judge as to the authenticity of your readers' answers. Stephen Bold says that he once heard me define the Aintree Iron as "iron hoof: poof", ie Brian Epstein, "a resident of Aintree". I suggest he buys a hearing aid! I have never commented on Brian's sexuality, and I could never have said that he was a resident of Aintree, as he didn't live there. As for Neil Burgess, who says the Iron was a railway "gravitational marshalling yard" . . . what a load of grid iron! Sorry, Neil, you're light aeons away. As it's now coming up to 30 years since I created this mischievous little monster, I'd like to thank U all very much for your continuing curiosity, and look forward to the next 30 years of miles-off guesswork.

Mike McCartney, (ex-McGear, ex-Scaffold), Liverpool.

If you want to be none the wiser too then look here

This was very similar to the answer I and a couple of friends were given from the man himself with a sense of strange pomposity added to it.

[vectisfabber]

No, it was Aintree Iron.

Roger McGough is on the Isle of Wight fairly soon, for the local Literary Festival.

[John S. Damm]

Apr 27, 2014 15:40:47 GMT -5 stavros said:

Apr 27, 2014 12:34:45 GMT -5 John S. Damm said:

Wow, in all of these years I have never listened to any songs by The Scaffold until this Thread and it is clear that I did not miss a thing! What novelty freaks!

Sorry, Mike McGear, you are no Beatle!

You need to drink to Lily the Pink to get it.

They were indeed very much a novelty act that probably appealed to a British audience (and generally a Liverpudlian one). They certainly were no Beatles. Although they could have covered "You Know My Name" and "What's the New Mary Jane" quite easily.

Are you familiar with the McGear album John?

Well that's my kind of band! I was sober when I played these videos here, that was my problem!

I take it Mike was the straight guy in the band, the one who tried to sing normal and the other two were cut-ups! He sure looked the part while the other two look decidedly un-Rock and Roll!

I have heard a song or two from McGear and I have read it is the "lost" Paul classic!

[stavros]

Apr 27, 2014 16:19:14 GMT -5 John S. Damm said:

I take it Mike was the straight guy in the band, the one who tried to sing normal and the other two were cut-ups! He sure looked the part while the other two look decidedly un-Rock and Roll!

I have heard a song or two from McGear and I have read it is the "lost" Paul classic!

Yes John Gorman was (still is) a comedian and Roger McGough is a poet and apparently had quite a part in scripting Yellow Submarine although it was left uncredited.

According to this article

They played it all for laughs.