Where paul McCartney got his big break ...
Paul McCartney has performed thousands of live shows throughout his 60 years in showbiz but not many people know that his first big break came here in Filey in 1957.
It was 60 years ago this month that the now world-famous Sir Paul McCartney performed live on stage for the first time.
Thesummerof1957wasperhaps the most important period in Paul McCartney’s life. The youngmusicianhadturned15in June and had been playing guitar for less than a year.
Inspired by his father, Jim, Paul had also taught himself to playpianoandhadalreadywritten a handful of tunes.
He met John Lennon for the first time at the Woolton Village Fete on 6 July when John was performing with his Skiffle group The Quarry Men.
Paul was asked to join the group and agreed to do so but first he had a Boy Scout camp to attend. Both Paul and his brother Mike spent ten days in the Peak District.
Paul took his guitar with him and performed songs by Elvis Presley around the camp fire. Meanwhile, The Quarry Men continued performing live and performed their second gig at The Cavern Club on 7 August without Paul.
Early on during the summer campMikeMcCartneybrokehis arm after falling from a tree and was taken to hospital in Sheffield. Feeling sorry for Mike, afterhehadmissedoutonmostof thesummercamp,JimMcCartney arranged a second holiday fortheboys.Hearrangedforthe familytospendaweekatButlin’s Holiday Camp in Filey.
The McCartneys had holidayed at Butlin’s before. They had spent holidays in Pwllheli in Wales but this was their first and only holiday in Filey.
Paul’s older cousin, Bett and herhusbandMikeRobbinsboth worked in the holiday camp. MikewasaRedcoatandBettwas a general factotum.
Among her jobs was waking up the holidaymakers every morning with “Wakey-wakey! Rise and shine, campers!” over the tannoy. It was through Bett and Mike Robbins that Jim McCartney was able to fix the family a holiday in Filey.
Thefamilyspentalotoftime attheholidaycampduringtheir weekstay.PaulandMikeparticularly enjoyed spending time at the Gaiety Theatre. There was also the boating lake, gardens, and a stunning outdoor pool with a fountain.
The holiday camp was a short walk from the beach and onatleastoneoccasionthefamily spent a day there. Paul took alonghisguitar,hetookiteverywherewithhimbackthen(even into the toilet).
Mike McCartney, then 13, was already a keen photographer and he took along his camera when the McCartneys went to Filey beach. Brett and her two-year-old son Ted joined them that day.
Paulwasdressedinthesame white sports coat he had worn the day he had met John Lennon around seven weeks earlier. They sat on the beach and enjoyed ice creams.
Mike took a photo showing Brett, Ted, Paul and Jim enjoying a cone. Afterwards, Paul sat in Ted’s pushchair, picked up hisguitarandplayedsomeElvis Presleynumbers.Miketookanother photo. These two photos aretheonlyknownphotosofthe family’s holiday in Filey.
Three times a week Butlin’s held ‘Butlin’s National Talent Contest’ which was supervised by Redcoat Mike Robbins. Among those that auditioned one morning in late August was 15-year-old Paul McCartney.
HeaskedhisbrotherMiketo perform with him. The pair had sung together before. As a duo they would sing The Siamese Cat Song from Disney’s Lady and The Tramp. It was their party piece.
Mike didn’t feel up to performing that day. His arm was still in a sling and besides, at 13, he was too young to enter the contest. Paul got on the stage at the Gaiety Theatre and before his introduction he spoke to Mike Robbins.
Paulinsteadthathisyounger brotherjoinedhimonstageand without warning Mike Robbins introduced them as The McCartney Brothers. They only ever performed one song together; a cover of The Everly Brothers’ hit Bye Bye Love. Afterwards Mike left the stage, a little embarrassed, and Paul performed solo for the first time, treating theaudiencetoacoupleofLittle Richard numbers.
After the holiday the family returned to Liverpool, where PaulMcCartneybecameanofficialmemberofTheQuarryMen. ThegrouplaterevolvedintoThe Beatles and took the world by storm.MikeMcCartneycontinuedtotakephotosandbecamea respected photographer.
He too rose to fame in the sixties under the name Mike McGear as a member of Scaffold. Mike Robbins went on to became the landlord of The Fox and Hound pub in Caverham where John Lennon and Paul McCartney performed as The Nerk Twins in April 1960.
Ted Robbins went on to become an actor and TV presenter starring in Phoenix Nights, Benidorm, and Coronation Street. Mike McCartney’s photos of Paul in Filey were includedinhisbook‘Remember’from 1992 while Paul used one of the photos for the cover of his 1999 single ‘No Other Baby’.
Neither The Beatles nor Paul McCartney performed in Fileyagain.RoryStormandThe Hurricaneswiththeirdrummer Ringo Starr performed at Butlin’s in Skegness in August 1962, just days before Ringo joined The Beatles.
The closest The Beatles ever came to performing in Filey was when they played at Scarborough’s Futurist in 1963 and stayed at the Hylands Hotel.