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John Lennon: The Boy Who Became A Legend
John Lennon’s school friend reveals how he turned Lennon onto rock ‘n’ roll - and left the future Beatle speechless Michael Hill was one of the few to have known John Lennon from the age of five and, in his new book, offers a rare insight into the childhood of the famous Beatle. The book, titled “John The Boy Who Became A Legend” offers a fresh and unique look at the formative years of Lennon, and how, in Michael’s house, he knew that rock ‘n’ roll was his destiny. Hill had purchased “Long Tall Sally” by Little Richard on a school trip to Amsterdam and, at one of their regular lunchtime visits with John, Pete Shotton and Don Beattie to Hill’s house to listen to records, Lennon was almost lost for words. Lennon “Little Richard was one of the all time greats. The first time I heard him a friend of mine (Michael Hill) had been to Holland and brought back a 78 with ‘Long Tall Sally’. That’s the music that brought me from the provinces of England to the world. That’s what made me what I am.............When I heard it, it was so great I couldn’t speak.” Rod Davis, a mutual friend of John Lennon and Michael Hill, was one of the original Quarry Men, Lennon’s group that became The Beatles. Davis wrote the foreword to the book and said about "Unlike so many authors who have written about John, Michael Hill was actually there, sharing John's schooldays fro the age of five until they both left Quarry Bank High School in 1957 to go their separate ways in life. Michael's book reveals some amazing insights into hitherto unprobed corners of John Lennon's life, and for me personally, he brings back many memories of our days at Quarry Bank School. It's a fascinating read." To fully understand the life of John Lennon and how the boy became a legend, you have to read Michael Hill’s book, one of the few true eyewitnesses to the childhood of the famous Beatle. About The Author Michael Hill first met John Lennon at Dovedale Primary School at the age of five and accompanied him to Quarry Bank School, and was even offered a chance to join Lennon’s first group, The Quarry Men. After a life in Marine Insurance, he is happily retired in Australia. Website www.johnlennonlegend.com Email Michael at michael.hill@bigpond.com
306 pages, Paperback
Published January 17, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 6, 2017
There are many books about the Beatles, but ones which are often the most enjoyed by fans are those written by people who knew them personally. Michael Hill was a good friend of John Lennon’s through all his school days. In fact, he went to both primary and secondary school with him – attending both Dovedale Road Primary School (along with Jimmy Tarbuck and with George Harrison and Ivan Vaughan in younger years) and Quarry Bank (where John was joined by his friend, Pete Shotton, who lived in Woolton and attended another primary school). Paul McCartney was introduced to John by Ivan Vaughan, whose parents sent him to a different secondary school from Quarry Bank, for the simple reason that they did not want their son near Lennon’s disruptive influence! At the Liverpool Institute, Ivan was in the same year as Paul and the two became friends, leading to him then being the link which brought the two together.
As fans will know, John arrived at Dovedale Road when his Aunt Mimi took over his care and after he was expelled from his previous primary school, Mosspits Lane, after bullying other children. Indeed, Michael Hill’s first impressions of John as a five year old was that he misbehaved and was aggressive; and, indeed, he paints a portrait of a very troubled young child. That is not to excuse his behaviour which was often difficult, and involved both physical and verbal bullying, even as an adult; but Michael was aware that John’s home life was different from his classmates and that his behaviour was troubling. Indeed, things that Michael writes off as boyish pranks, or misdemeanours, are actually quite serious – or would be viewed as such now – and continued throughout John’s education.
That aside, Michael’s main claim to influence on John’s life is that he introduced him to the music of Little Richard. Michael’s mother worked during the day, leaving his house empty at lunchtime , and he owned a record player, as well as a large collection of records (at least compared to his classmates); so that, by the time his friends were at Quarry Bank, his friends would congregate at his house to eat fish and chips (rather than the healthier school lunch provided by the school) and listen to music. Obviously, John was already an Elvis fan when he heard Little Richard, but any new music was quickly pounced on, as rock and roll was rare to find on the radio and records were expensive. Both John and Paul were huge Little Richard fans, with Paul later singing many of his songs in their live act. Michael Hill’s record collection certainly did help shape John Lennon’s musical tastes, not only did he introduce him to Little Richard, but to country singers, such as Hank Williams – although he never managed to get him to share his love for Jazz, which was so popular at the time.
I found this a very enjoyable read. I have read Pete Shotton’s book, but I think this was the first that really told us any great detail about John’s time at primary school from someone who was there. It was a good portrait of the era too – from school trips, to Saturday morning pictures, from pranks (including, bizarrely, swopping peoples garden gates around!), to discovering music together. Although Michael saw the Beatles play and saw John on a few occasions in the Sixties, their life really took different roads after they left school. Although this is more of interest to fans that have to read everything about the Beatles, rather than casual readers, I am always grateful to read the memories of those who were there and are willing to write their stories for us. Beatles fans are lucky to have great writers, such as Mark Lewisohn, who have dedicated great time, effort and research into telling their story properly, but any memoirs, such as this, do help to fill in any gaps and give a real sense of the time and place.
Rated 3.5
As fans will know, John arrived at Dovedale Road when his Aunt Mimi took over his care and after he was expelled from his previous primary school, Mosspits Lane, after bullying other children. Indeed, Michael Hill’s first impressions of John as a five year old was that he misbehaved and was aggressive; and, indeed, he paints a portrait of a very troubled young child. That is not to excuse his behaviour which was often difficult, and involved both physical and verbal bullying, even as an adult; but Michael was aware that John’s home life was different from his classmates and that his behaviour was troubling. Indeed, things that Michael writes off as boyish pranks, or misdemeanours, are actually quite serious – or would be viewed as such now – and continued throughout John’s education.
That aside, Michael’s main claim to influence on John’s life is that he introduced him to the music of Little Richard. Michael’s mother worked during the day, leaving his house empty at lunchtime , and he owned a record player, as well as a large collection of records (at least compared to his classmates); so that, by the time his friends were at Quarry Bank, his friends would congregate at his house to eat fish and chips (rather than the healthier school lunch provided by the school) and listen to music. Obviously, John was already an Elvis fan when he heard Little Richard, but any new music was quickly pounced on, as rock and roll was rare to find on the radio and records were expensive. Both John and Paul were huge Little Richard fans, with Paul later singing many of his songs in their live act. Michael Hill’s record collection certainly did help shape John Lennon’s musical tastes, not only did he introduce him to Little Richard, but to country singers, such as Hank Williams – although he never managed to get him to share his love for Jazz, which was so popular at the time.
I found this a very enjoyable read. I have read Pete Shotton’s book, but I think this was the first that really told us any great detail about John’s time at primary school from someone who was there. It was a good portrait of the era too – from school trips, to Saturday morning pictures, from pranks (including, bizarrely, swopping peoples garden gates around!), to discovering music together. Although Michael saw the Beatles play and saw John on a few occasions in the Sixties, their life really took different roads after they left school. Although this is more of interest to fans that have to read everything about the Beatles, rather than casual readers, I am always grateful to read the memories of those who were there and are willing to write their stories for us. Beatles fans are lucky to have great writers, such as Mark Lewisohn, who have dedicated great time, effort and research into telling their story properly, but any memoirs, such as this, do help to fill in any gaps and give a real sense of the time and place.
Rated 3.5
December 23, 2021
The Kindle version of this book is an absolute mess - formatting problems, words jammed together, sentences that are completely jumbled up - so it takes some determination to dig through this. It’s quite repetitive and not as well written as Julia Baird’s or Pete Shotton’s books, but it’s nevertheless quite evocative of John’s school days in the 40s and 50s and contains some interesting nuggets - for the hardcore fans, that is.
January 4, 2021
A brilliant, personal account of the very young John Lennon. It is well written and contains a great deal of information that I did not know. Excellent book.
July 24, 2023
Beatle Fan Must Read
The young, pre- musician Lennon as told by his schoolmate who was the one who introduced Lennon to the music that turned him to rock and roll.
The young, pre- musician Lennon as told by his schoolmate who was the one who introduced Lennon to the music that turned him to rock and roll.
February 2, 2025
Enjoyable look at Lennon's school days, before Art College.
Read
February 24, 2019Beautifully written memoir that stands alone as a vivid remembrance of childhood in Liverpool. The cherry-on-top is that Michael's friend was John Lennon.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews