John Lennon & Jon Hague******************** a friend and Jon Hague,
(Jon's painting of the Beatles in the background) *************** John & Cynthia Lennon, on my grandmother's car
My uncle, Jon Hague, was a young art student at
Liverpool Art College when he made friends with another student there, John Lennon. Yes, it’s true. The family myth goes that John even asked Jon to play drums in the band. When Jon declined because he didn’t know how to play, John said, “That’s alright, none of us know how to play.” When we stayed with him this last June, he told us that John was a tough guy and would protect him from the bullies. He was a good friend to have.
Jon went on to become a recognized artist and the Beatles sponsored an Art Show for him. One day, he was talking with John about a house that he would like to buy. The next day, someone showed up with the deed to the house as a present for my uncle. Really! This is a 13 bedroom house that he still owns.
Now, here’s the good part: We were in England in 1963, staying with my grandmother, in North Wales, when the Beatles came to town. Jon wanted to see them, so he took me with him to the Grand Hotel, where they were staying in a room at the top of a gorgeous circular staircase. I have very distinct memories of climbing all those stairs. We knocked at a door and walked into a room with a man still in bed. It was Paul McCartney, jumping out of the bed IN HIS UNDERWEAR! We ate cornflakes from room service and the other guys shows up. My most vivid memory is of going out on the balcony with one of them (which one?) and watching some girls screaming bloody murder when they spotted him.
It just so happened that all this took place on my fourth birthday and we were going to have a party, so Paul and John came back to my grandmother’s house for cake. Yes, that’s right, the Beatles sang “Happy Birthday” to me….nah, nahinee, nah, nah.
You can think that I’m making all of this up because it sounds like a far-fetched fantasy, but it is the truth, I swear. This is before they came to America and they promised to come visit us in California, but of course, they got too big for that. All of these books mention my uncle as a source:
Lennon, Cynthia. John
Harry, Bill. The Beatles Who’s Who
Spitz, Bob. The Beatles, The Biography
