Macca and his mate Inny! - the guy who taught Paul McCartney how to play guitar!

 This is a nice piece from Rainy Days and Mondays

Ian James photo Paul McCartney

Reading about Paul’s time at the Liverpool Institute and wondering why we don’t talk about Paul’s close friend from the ‘Inny’ Ian James more often. Especially considering Ian has provided quotes like:

“What brought us together as soulmates was our love of music.”

And: 

“Paul and I would walk to my home from school and sit in the back yard where I taught him his first chords, before he bought his own guitar, and I’d change the strings around so he could practice. I still have the guitar although it’s barely playable now.”

And: 

“Immediately following the Skiffle craze, Rock ‘n’ Roll arrived and we couldn’t get enough of it. We’d go to all the travelling fairs where they played it non-stop and where we wore our infamous matching white jackets (with sparkles in the material) and drainies [fancied being the British Everly Brothers].

And: 

“Paul and I would visit all the record shops in Liverpool and know all the female staff by name. They would play us all the R ‘n’ R and R & B records that had just been released. I remember the record shop where I bought my first rock record—the double-sider Don’t Be Cruel/Hound Dog. Paul was with me at the time and he was with me when I bought Lend Me Your Comb by Carl Perkins which I’ve probably still got in the original 78 rpm.

Which decades later resulted in: 

“On the last visit to his office I walked up the last flight of stairs and just as I turned the corner into his office I heard the strains of Hound Dog blasting from the juke box he keeps in one corner. A nice thought from an old pal.”

Picture of Paul strumming Ian’s guitar (so cool he still has it!) in his office at MPL in London.

 Note the vintage photo of Ian propped up on the guitar as above