Writer Jude Southerland Kessler means serious business when talking about The Beatles. Not because she knows all the words to every song ever written or because she owns all of the music produced within the last half-century. Rather, Jude’s passion for the British rock band has transformed into her own personal homage in celebration of one of the most acclaimed and well-known songwriters in world history.
Clocking in at almost 800 pages in length and as the first of a five-part series, Kessler's debut historical novel Shoulda Been There chronicles the first 20 years of John Lennon’s life by giving the reader a “fly-on-the-wall” perspective that is not often found in the thousands of currently published Beatles-related books on the market.
Kessler had exposure to The Beatles at a very young age. “When I was in the fourth grade, a friend of mine showed me a black and white 45 picture of The Beatles…and she said ‘Look, these are The Beatles. And you have to pick one of these boys to fall in love with.’” Choosing George Harrison at first, Kessler rethought her decision and ultimately picked John Lennon. Seeing the similarities in her and John, Jude was immediately drawn to his “studious nature” and qualities as a leader.
After several years of moving from place to place, Kessler was looking for a way to stay busy after transferring to yet another unfamiliar town. It was in 1986 that it occurred to her that her love of The Beatles might help keep her occupied. “There has never been a book written that was a scholarly, researched, factual novel in which you felt like you were really living the events that John Lennon lived and that you were there with him,” Kessler notes, “I wanted to give readers a book that would walk the line between a nonfiction book and what they call ‘fan-fic’...I wanted it to be the real thing.”
What is the significance behind the title, Shoulda Been There? For readers, first glance at the title of the book can be very misleading. “When John would tell a joke, if you didn’t get it, he would just give you a little, sardonic sneer and say, ‘Oh yeah? Well ya shoulda been there.’ And it was one of his trademark expressions. A lot of people think that it means you should have been there when The Beatles were around. This initial book is really about the important role that parents play….That little boy that never grew out of the need to have those people there who were never there,” Kessler says.
Heavily researched and thoroughly documented, Shoulda Been There lets the reader share the first twenty years of Lennon’s life with him in Liverpool, well before The Beatles were in the worldwide spotlight. It chronologically weaves through various points in his childhood, allowing the reader to get a glimpse into a life that was, at times, less than desirable.
The main focus of the novel is not how The Beatles rose to stardom, but how events in Lennon’s life transformed him into such a successful artist. In what Kessler calls a “landmark event,” Lennon was taken from his father and abandoned by his mother as a child; these “traumatic” events would remain with him for the rest of his life.
Of the thousands of books written about The Beatles, Jude says, “All of the books tell you what John did. When you read my book, although it’s extremely factual, it lets you enter John’s world and live what John lived. You ride with him on the top of the Double Decker bus to get his first guitar; you go with John to Hamburg…you live his life with him.”
In order to get the most authentic story possible, Jude’s project led her to Liverpool seven times over the course of 20 years. During these trips, Jude searched high and low for friends and relatives who knew him best, including Lennon’s friend Bill Harry, creator of the popular 1960s magazine, Mersey Beat, who featured The Beatles at the start of their career. Harry, who spent much time talking to Jude, wrote the Foreword for Jude’s book. Rod Murray, Lennon’s roommate at Liverpool College of Art, also provided several intimate interviews, allowing Jude to get firsthand witness of John Lennon’s life. Allan Williams, the first manager of The Beatles also provided interviews, and Jude has included one on a CD that comes with the book.
In March, 1995, Jude’s writing on John Lennon was well received and provided her with a once-in-a-lifetime experience that she confidently recalls as “the best day of my life.” As guests at a dinner in Liverpool at Lennon’s bar across the street from the Cavern Club, Jude and her husband had the opportunity to spend time with some of the people who knew Lennon and The Beatles the best, including their first manager, Allan Williams. What resulted at the end of the meal was an unexpected scuffle between Williams and the owner of Lennon’s bar over someone sitting in Jude’s seat. Jude’s husband then said to her, “If I told you when you were nine years old that the owner of Lennon’s bar and The Beatles’ first manager we’re going to be fighting over you, who would have thought?”
As musicians who have transformed popular culture across the spectrum, Jude says it is easy to see why The Beatles are still relevant today. “All of the rules changed with them,” she states, “They brought in the look of mod, they changed hair. Everything they did was different. You’re not talking about a rock and roll band, you’re talking about a group of artists in every single sense who changed the world by what they did.”
For Jude, who spent five years living in the Philadelphia area, traveling to Liverpool was a very similar experience. “You’re with funny, down to earth, witty, open, honest people,” she says, fondly reflecting on her conversations with those in Liverpool who knew Lennon well.
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