THE touching tale behind The Beatles’ most successful single will be told at a deeply personal exhibition coming to Liverpool next week.

Paul McCartney’s handwritten recording notes for the 8m-selling hit, Hey Jude, are at the heart of the White Feather: The Spirit Of Lennon exhibition, which delves deep into the star’s family life.

Until now, his son Julian and ex-wife Cynthia’s extraordinary and often painful life has remained largely untold.

But, in a lengthy on-camera interview, Beatles Story managing director Jerry Goldman convinced them to open up.

At the centre of the interviews is the back story behind Hey Jude.

Mr Goldman said: “You have no idea how personal this exhibition is.

“I went to Julian’s pad in the south of France and got them talking to me.

“In the course of the conversations, I asked some really searching and personal questions.

“For example, when you see Cynthia talking about how she felt the moment Paul knocked on her door after her split with John, you can really see the emotions right there, clear to see.”

McCartney had travelled down to Lennon’s family home in Surrey after Cynthia found out about his affair with Yoko Ono.

McCartney specifically went to see five-year-old Julian because he had become almost an uncle to the youngster.

On the trip down, his ever-fertile musical mind came up with Hey Jules, a song intended to comfort a little boy caught up in a very public marital breakdown.