The Quarrymen | Biography & History | AllMusic google+ Artist Biography by Bruce Eder The odds are extraordinarily high that, under ordinary circumstances, the Quarrymen (or Quarry Men -- no two sources agree on the spelling) would have been forgotten decades ago, along with thousands of other skiffle bands that sprang up throughout England in the mid- to late -'50s. As it worked out, however, they proved one of the great sources of talent in the history of popular music, having been founded by John Lennon , and Paul McCartney and George Harrison having passed through their lineup. With a lapse of about six months, the Quarrymen essentially evolved into the Beatles . The Quarrymen were founded by John Lennon at the Quarry Bank School in Liverpool in the middle of 1957. As with most non-professional skiffle bands, the group's lineup was fairly fluid, depending upon who was available on any given week.

The core of the original group, apart from Lennon on guitar, included Pete Shotton (washboard), Eric Griffiths (lead guitar), Rod Davis (banjo), Bill Smith (tea chest bass), and Colin Hanton (drums) -- Smith was succeeded quickly by either Ivan Vaughan or Nigel Whalley (who later became their manager), but by June of that year, Len Garry had taken over the bass chores. Their sound was skiffle, a highly animated, heavily rhythmic variant on American folk and country music, although even at that early date, Lennon tried to stick as many rock & roll tunes as he could into their repertory. He found allies in a pair of new members: Paul McCartney and George Harrison . In July, McCartney joined as a singer-guitarist, and this lineup was stable for approximately six months. The Quarrymen played local youth clubs and dances, picking up a small following around Liverpool and a little money in the bargain. And in February of 1958, George Harrison , all of 14 years old, who'd been playing with his brother Peter in a skiffle band called the Rebels (who played exactly one official gig), joined on guitar and vocals.

John Lowe also came in on piano at that time, adding to the range of the group's sound, which was starting to feature a lot more rock & roll, including "Whole Lotta Shakin'," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Bebop-A-Lula," and "Twenty Flight Rock." By the summer of 1958, skiffle music had already seen its day as a dominant commercial brand of music. A few top acts, like Lonnie Donegan , the Vipers Skiffle Group , the Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group , and Johnny Duncan , still sold records, but teenage audiences in England were now a lot more interested in authentic American rock & roll. That summer, a newly signed band on EMI Records' Columbia label, Cliff Richard & the Shadows , who weren't all that much older than the Quarrymen , topped the British charts with a single -- an original song, no less, by Ian Samwell , a founding member of the Shadows -- called "Move It, which sounded American with a vengeance. Its success was a nail in the coffin of skiffle music as a national phenomenon, although it was still possible for groups that aspired to nothing more to play local youth clubs for pocket money.

The Quarrymen were already trying to toughen up their sound, and that wasn't the only change taking place in the band. By the middle of 1958, Garry and Griffiths were gone, the former from a serious meningitis infection and the latter pushed out by the presences of McCartney and Harrison on guitar. The Quarrymen were reduced to a more manageable quintet of Lennon , McCartney , Harrison , Hanton , and Lowe , but the winnowing process begun by the bandmembers and bad luck on Garry 's part was difficult to halt. As 1959 opened, Hanton was gone, and then the Quarrymen 's lineup had all but collapsed. Lennon and McCartney were the only ones left as Lowe exited and Harrison passed through an outfit called the Les Stewart Quartet before rejoining the Quarrymen in August of that year, alongside Lennon and McCartney and a guitarist-singer named Ken Brown. He later jumped to a band called the Black Jacks, whose drummer was one Pete Best . By the fall of 1959, the Quarrymen had transformed themselves into a trio called Johnny & the Moondogs , who added Lennon 's art school friend Stu Sutcliffe on bass.

By the spring of 1960, they were a quintet called the Silver Beetles (later the Silver Beatles ), with Tommy Moore on drums -- he was succeeded by Norman Chapman, who, in turn, was succeeded in August of 1960 by Pete Best . By then, the band was named the Beatles . And the rest, as they say, was history. Within a year, Sutcliffe was out of the lineup, McCartney was playing bass, and the Beatles had made their first recordings in Hamburg. Apart from some recollections provided to biographers of the Beatles and Lennon , little has been heard about or from Garry , Griffiths , Davis , Hanton , or Shotton in the 40 years-plus since they last played with Lennon . In the summer of 1997, however, the surviving non- Beatle members of the Quarrymen reunited for a benefit performance in Liverpool, at the same church where they first played together 40 years before, and this led to an album and a tour.

Their performances, which included gigs at top clubs like The Bottom Line in New York, got a lukewarm reception from most critics and healthy enthusiasm from serious Beatles fans -- although, in fairness, given the absence of Lennon , Harrison , or McCartney in the lineup, the group's sound was distinctly non- Beatles . It was an opportunity to hear the kind of music that the Beatles started with, however, and a rare chance to hear authentic skiffle music outside of England, and at anytime after the '50s. The Quarrymen: Members of John Lennon's first band make Danbury stop - Connecticut Post The Quarrymen: Members of John Lennon's first band make Danbury stop Erik Ofgang, Correspondent Published 5:07 pm, Monday, October 4, 2010 Friendly, witty and cheerful, it's easy to picture Rod Davis hanging out with John Lennon in Yellow Submarine mode, driving their teachers crazy. "He didn't like authority," recalled Davis, 68, of his childhood friend and bandmate Lennon. "I think he discovered fairly early that there wasn't a great deal that could be done to him in the way of punishment.

We'd call him a disruptive pupil these days, but he was also quite funny." In the mid '50s Davis played with Lennon in a skiffle band named The Quarrymen , that ultimately recruited a young guitar player by the name of Paul McCartney . After a couple years and personnel changes, the group changed its name to the Beatles . Davis, who plays guitar and banjo, and two other original members of The Quarrymen -- drummer Colin Hanton and Len Garry , who plays tea-chest bass -- are touring the U.S. this month to celebrate what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday. On Friday, Oct. 8, the band will play at the Palace Theatre in Danbury. The group's performance will be followed by a sneak preview of the new John Lennon biopic, "Nowhere Boy." Davis discussed the band that became the Beatles in a recent interview: Q: How did the band originally form? A: A couple of guys in the Quarry Bank School , which is the school I went to, decided to form a group and one of those guys was John Lennon. And they had three or four of them playing together.

When they found I'd bought a banjo, they said, "Would you like to join the group?" The problem was finding people who had instruments, not whether they could play it or not. They knew I couldn't play it 'cause I'd only bought it the day before. So they then proceeded to teach me how to play the banjo. Q: I know you've probably talked about this a lot, but can you tell me about the day Paul McCartney came to see you guys play? A: The Quarrymen played on the stage (at a local church festival) and that was when Paul McCartney first saw John. Later that evening Paul was introduced to John and he (Paul) played "Twenty Flight Rock" left-handed on the right-handed guitar, which impressed the heck out of John, and he knew all the words. A week or two later our washboard player, Pete Shotton , bumped into Paul McCartney and said, "We'd like you to join the group," so that's how it happened. Q: As you played with John did you realize how talented he was? A: John's real talent in those days was as a caricaturist. He was a brilliant caricaturist.

He was very good in front of a band, he was a good singer in front of a band, but I wouldn't have known a potential world class rock star if one hit me on the head with a brick. Q: What type of music do you play now at shows? A: We play the music we played in the mid '50s between '56 and '59, the kind of music which inspired John, Paul and George, and of course Ringo, 'cause he was also in a skiffle group. We play skiffle music; we also play early rock 'n' roll, the stuff from our repertoire at that time, because there's plenty of look-alike, sound-alike Beatles bands around. There's no need for us to compete with them. People want to hear what we did then and that's what we do, and we talk about how this happened, how that happened, and so on. We've been doing this for about 13 years and we haven't been lynched yet, so maybe we're doing the right thing. The Palace Theatre, 165 Main St., Danbury. Friday, Oct. 8, 8 p.m.

Doors open at 7 p.m. $40, $70. 203-794-9944, . Film of young Lennon gets screening "Nowhere Boy," about the adolescence of John Lennon, will be screened after the performance on Friday, Oct. 8, by The Quarrymen at the Palace in Danbury. The film stars 19-year-old Aaron Johnson . Kristin Scott Thomas plays Lennon's Aunt Mimi. The movie chronicles Lennon's early music career. It was 1956 when, as a 15-year-old student, he recruited five of his best buddies to form The Quarrymen. Over the next four years the band picked up in popularity, changing its roster in the process. By 1960, the three key members included Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison ; that year they changed their name to the Beatles. Two years later, Ringo Starr completed the band. "The release of this film is impeccably timed in conjunction with John Lennon's 70th birthday celebration, Oct. 9," said David Monte , managing director at the Palace Theatre in Danbury.

"It will offer an intimate look behind the scenes in the early days of the Beatles." Theatrical concert celebrates Lennon's music, life Before "Beatlemania" ever came to Broadway, before there were Beatles conventions in Connecticut and before downtown New Haven had its "revitalization," there was a show called "The Beatles: Away With Words." It was a multi-media presentation that was staged at the Shubert Theater . That was the mid-'70s and John Lennon was very much alive. His spirit is still alive. On Oct. 9, Lennon would have turned 70. On this date, a theatrical concert event, "Remember Lennon: Imagine 70," will be on stage at the Shubert Theater in New Haven and the next day at the Garde in New London. "Remember Lennon: Imagine 70" features a Lennon impersonator, a backing band and a multi-media presentation with rare video footage. The Shubert Theater is at 247 College St., New Haven. Saturday, Oct. 9, 7 p.m. 203-562-5666, 888-736-2663, .

The Garde Arts Center , 325 State St., New London. Sunday, Oct. 10, 3 p.m. 860-444-4410, . $12-up, with special optional VIP packages also available. Proceeds benefit Ethnic Heritage Center. . Before they were Beatles, they were Quarrymen SIGN UP for our free eNewsletter to get the latest in music collecting news and articles delivered to your inbox weekly and we'll give you. A FREE PDF: Beatles Price Guide * Before they were Beatles, they were Quarrymen Pin It By Gillian G. Gaar Most Beatles fans know that on July 6, 1957, then 15-year-old Paul McCartney accompanied his friend, Ivan Vaughn, to St. Peter’s Church in the Liverpool neighborhood of Woolton. He went to see his friend’s band, The Quarrymen, led by John Lennon. It was the historic day “when John met Paul.” A few weeks later, McCartney was invited to join the band, and the groundwork for the eventual emergence of The Beatles was laid. John Lennon (third from right) was the first of three future Beatles to join the Liverpool skiffle group The Quarrymen.

Although the day when Lennon met Paul McCartney at a church picnic on July 6, 1957, is considered a momentous occasion for Beatles fans and rock historians (and even is recorded in this photograph), Quarrymen member Rod Davis says he honestly doesn’t remember anything about it. Photo courtesy Rod Davis. The Quarrymen fizzled out by 1960, while The Beatles went on to worldwide fame. Ten years after that, The Beatles split up. But The Quarrymen are now back in business, having reformed in 1997 and still playing today. “Before the mid-’80s, nobody was interested in The Quarrymen at all,” says Rod Davis, who played banjo in the original Quarrymen and now plays guitar for the group. “I think people thought The Beatles just sprang out of nothing. However, in the mid-’80s, people started saying ‘Well, hang on a minute; what went on before we heard about The Beatles?’ So, of course, they then got interested in The Quarrymen.” Davis had first met John Lennon when they were in the same Sunday School class in Liverpool. “I was a fairly well-behaved kid,” Davis says.

“But John was a villain from the word go. John was the sort of lad that would lead people into bad ways, so I was always told ‘Keep away from that Lennon!’ He and [future Quarryman] Pete Shotton used to spend the couple of pennies that should’ve gone into the collection plate on bubble gum; they would arrive chewing, and the teacher wouldn’t be very happy about that.” Davis took piano lessons as a child, but he became more seriously interested in music when he first heard Lonnie Donegan’s “Rock Island Line.” Donegan’s lively take on a song originally popularized by Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter became a smash hit in the U.K., peaking at No. 8 (and reaching the same position in the U.S.), kicking off a national craze for “skiffle,” a homespun music with roots in jazz. Rod Davis treasures this copy of Lonnie Donegan’s skiffle record, “Rock Island Line.” It once was owned by Davis’ one-time bandmate in The Quarrymen: John Lennon. Rod Davis photo.

“All you have to do is talk to a rock and roller whose age is on the wrong side of 70 and they will say, ‘Oh yeah, it was “Rock Island Line” that did it for me,’” says Davis. “And it had that effect on everybody (in Britain), really. It was such a contrast from the music that had gone on before. And this was music that was within reach; you didn’t have to be classically trained to play it. It was just a fantastic opportunity for me and tens and thousands of other kids to get up onstage and enjoy themselves, have some fun and play music.” Soon after being entranced by “Rock Island Line,” Davis purchased a banjo. The following Monday at school, his friend, Eric Griffiths, told him that John Lennon had formed a skiffle group including Griffiths and Pete Shotton; would Davis like to join? He would. The lineup featured Lennon and Griffiths on guitar, Davis on banjo and Shotton on washboard. All four went to Quarry Bank High School for Boys. Len Garry, who attended the Liverpool Institute (where Paul McCartney was also a student) next joined on tea chest bass.

Colin Hanton, who had already left school, played drums and came to the group through Griffiths. Though the group came together in 1956, no one is certain exactly when. “We have various theories, but no hard evidence,” says Davis. “I personally think it started some time in early 1956.” But Hanton, in Hunter Davies’ book “The Quarrymen,” thinks it was the summer or fall of 1956. “And I spoke to Pete Shotton about this some time ago, and he said he didn’t think the summer of 1956 was when the Quarrymen started, because ‘That was the summer John and I discovered girls,’” Davis says. Since most early shows were at friend’s parties, there are no records of exact dates played. “It’s so long ago,” Davis says. “And it was obviously totally unimportant to us then.” The name “Quarrymen” was chosen as most of the members went to Quarry Bank (and despite the various name spellings that have appeared over the years, the group’s name is spelled as one word).

“We started out by pinching just about every skiffle number Lonnie Donegan had ever recorded,” Davis says of the band’s repertoire. “So there was quite a lot of acoustic country stuff. There was ‘Rock Island Line,’ there was stuff like ‘John Henry’ and ‘Bring a Little Water, Sylvie,’ and quite a few old Carter Family numbers which had been recycled by Lonnie Donegan, such as ‘My Dixie Darling,’ ‘Worried Man Blues.’ We played all that kind of thing. “And then gradually, people realized that the same chords that worked for skiffle also worked for rock ’n’ roll. And whilst Donegan was pretty good, he wasn’t anything like as sexy and glamorous as Elvis. So most people were knocked sideways by Elvis, and wanted to be Elvis and play rock ’n’ roll. Personally, I didn’t. I wasn’t terribly impressed by Elvis. I was much more interested in the American acoustic country end of things, rather than rock ’n’ roll.” This early photo of John Lennon (center) with his Quarrymen bandmates sold for $1,195 via Heritage Auction Galleries. The group also had a uniform of sorts, black jeans and white shirts.

This caused some embarrassment for Davis when the group played the Lee Park Golf Club in 1957. The zipper on Davis’ second-hand jeans split right before the group went on, “And I spent the entire gig crouching behind the banjo,” says Davis. “And the joke I say now is thanking the Lord I wasn’t a ukulele player! So that particular gig stuck in my mind.” Alan Sytner, who’d just opened a new club in Liverpool in January 1957 called the Cavern, was also at the Golf Club show, and he offered the Quarrymen the chance to play the venue. Though Aug. 7, 1957, is given as the date the band first played the club, the band members insist they played the Cavern before then; the Aug. 7 date simply marked the first time their name was mentioned in the club’s ads. And though billed as “Quarrymen Skiffle Group,” the band was already straining to move over to rock ‘n’ roll. “I remember arguing on stage with John, because he wanted to play rock ’n’ roll, and the Cavern was actually a jazz cellar in those days,” says Davis.

“There was quite a big divide — people who liked jazz, which was considered to be a bit more intellectually student-like, and the rough-and-tumble world of rock ’n’ roll. Because skiffle had emerged from traditional jazz music, you absolutely had no problems playing skiffle, because you’d be playing quite a few blues numbers and this kind of thing. But if you played rock ’n’ roll, then the audience got annoyed, and so did the management. And I do remember arguing with John; I don’t know which tune it was he wanted to play, but it was a rock ’n’ roll number, and I was saying ‘Don’t do it.’ John used to say things like, ‘Now we’re going to play you a Leadbelly number,’ and then play a rock ’n’ roll number just to annoy everybody. And the management would send down a note saying, ‘Cut out the bloody rock ’n’ roll!’ You were living on the edge playing rock ’n’ roll in the Cavern, because the audience and the management did not like it one bit.” At this stage, shows were more about having a laugh.

“Yeah, we were just up on stage trying to impress the young ladies in the neighborhood — failing miserably, in my case, but it wasn’t for want of trying!” says Davis. “It was really just a bunch of kids having fun.” That began to change when McCartney came into the Quarrymen’s orbit. The Quarrymen played three sets at the St. Peter’s Church Garden Fete on July 6, two in the afternoon on the church grounds, and an evening performance in the church hall. “On the day Lennon met McCartney, I personally don’t remember anything about it,” Davis confesses. “At least, I don’t remember anything about Paul McCartney. I had started saying to people, well, I think it happened during the gap between the afternoon performance and the evening performance; I’d gone home for my dinner. However, that didn’t get much of a laugh. So I started to say I went for a pee. It’s just a cheap laugh. The greatest moment in rock ’n’ roll history, and I went for a pee! But I have to be very careful when I make jokes like this, because people soon believe you; I’ll start yet another myth.

And, of course, you can’t remember things straight yourself, and then it gets even worse.” McCartney impressed Lennon by not only being able to tune a guitar, but also to play one fairly well himself, famously demonstrating his skills with an impromptu performance of “Twenty Flight Rock.” Lennon later asked him to join the group — by which time Davis had left. Though the Hunter Davies book says his last show was the Aug. 7 Cavern date, Davis has since realized he was actually in France with his family on holiday at that time. By the time he returned, he could see The Quarrymen were heading in a more rock ’n’ roll direction, and he lost interest. “I’d faded out at the end of July, and Paul McCartney came in to take over my slot,” Davis confirms. “It wasn’t ‘You’re out and he’s in.’ In fact, the group really left me. But there we are.” He also notes that McCartney’s arrival gave the group a new direction. “When Paul came in, things started to get a little bit more serious,” he says.

“Paul’s father had actually had a band, Jim Mac’s Jazz Band, so Paul was much more aware of the career possibilities than any of the rest of us were, because here his own dad had had a band. So things got a lot more structured and serious when Paul arrived. You can tell that by looking at the photograph of us in July ’57, when we were at St. Peter’s Church, a bunch of guys in checked shirts, and in November ’57, when you have John and Paul in smart white jackets and everybody in little bootlace ties. I mean, already Paul’s influence was evident, you know?” The Quarrymen never did play many shows; Mark Lewisohn’s “The Beatles Live!” lists only five known dates for 1958. By then, George Harrison had joined the group, and sometime during that year Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Colin Hanton and John “Duff” Lowe (on piano) recorded two songs at a private home studio; “That’ll Be The Day” and “In Spite of All the Danger” later appeared on “Anthology 1.” In 1959, The Quarrymen played a handful of dates at Liverpool’s Casbah Coffee Club.

A year later, when the band was headed to Hamburg, Germany, band members contacted Pete Best, whose mother owned the Casbah, to be their new drummer. By then, only Lennon, McCartney and Harrison remained in the group, and they had just changed the name to The Beatles. Davis, who’d gone on to Cambridge University, never saw The Quarrymen or The Beatles play again. But he continued expanding his own musical horizons, taking up guitar, mandolin and fiddle and joining a band while at university called the Trad Grads, who released the single “Rag-Day Jazz-Band Ball” on Decca in 1962. That same year, Davis ran into Lennon in Liverpool. He was interested to hear that Davis was still making music and asked if he’d consider joining The Beatles in Hamburg. “My mother was going on for weeks afterwards, mumbling under her breath, ‘He’s not going to Hamburg with that Lennon!’” Davis recalls. He ultimately elected to stay at university, meaning he ended up walking away from The Beatles twice. “Well, there you go,” he says philosophically. “Maybe third time lucky! Who knows.” But, Davies was nonetheless pleased when The Beatles became successful.

“All of us were absolutely delighted,” he says. “Because in the U.K., there’s London, and there’s everywhere else. Anything that was really important had to happen in London. And so it was quite fantastic that a group of our mates who were from Liverpool and not from London were actually making it big. And, of course, when they went really, really big, that was even better; we were even more delighted.” Despite what he says in Hunter Davies book, Davis is no longer sure that he did see The Beatles playing on the rooftop of their Apple Corps. Headquarters on Jan. 30, 1969. “I’m now beginning to think that was imagination and I never actually saw them in the first place,” he says. “I’d been working near London at the time, and I had to go into London quite a lot. And I always tried to make a point of going to a particular museum which was just at the end of Savile Row. So I was in the right part of the world at the right time, put it that way. And maybe I’d seen it on television and … it’s very difficult to know.

So all I am certain of is that I am uncertain as to whether I saw them or not!” But he does have a priceless relic from his Quarrymen days: A 78 RPM disc of Donegan’s “Rock Island Line” that he purchased from Lennon in 1957 for two shillings and six pence. “It was a shellac 78, so it was quite brittle,” Davis says. “And the hole in the middle of the record was all chipped and banged. My father repaired the hole by sticking a piece of plastic over it and re-drilling it, because the 78 had been skidding around on the gramophone, ’cause the pin wasn’t tight in the hole. And I subsequently got it autographed by Lonnie Donegan, by the lady who played the washboard, and by the man who played the double bass. And it’s actually in the British Music Experience museum in London. But I still own it. So one day, when I’m short of a few bob, as we say in England, I may have to sell it.” The Quarrymen in 2006: Len Garry, Colin Hanton, John “Duff” Lowe and Rod Davis.

Hanton and Lowe are featured on The Beatles’ “Anthology” for their work on “That’ll Be Teh Day” and “In Spite of All The Danger,” which they recorded with George Harrison, Paul McCartney and John Lennon in 1958. Photo courtesy Rod Davis. Davis had kept in touch with Colin Hanton over the years, and finally met Duff Lowe in the early ’90s. Davis and Lowe released a CD in 1995, “Open For Engagements,” and attended a Beatles convention in Los Angeles that same year. Davis was surprised at the great level of interest in his former group. “I was astounded,” he says. “They knew more about me playing with The Quarrymen than I knew about playing with The Quarrymen. People were asking me things; I would confess I hadn’t got a clue. It was quite extraordinary.” The original Quarrymen finally reunited in 1997, thanks to the efforts of Cavern City Tours, which hosts Beatle Week in Liverpool. The company threw a party on Jan. 16, 1997, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Cavern, and all The Quarrymen were invited.

“They invited dozens of people from all over the U.K. to the Cavern for a fantastic booze up,” Davis recalls. “Loads of free booze. At one point we decided to go out and have a meal, and someone said, ‘Hey, you can’t go now, there’s a TV crew coming to film you guys.’ And we said, ‘We haven’t even been together for 40 years, let alone played together!’ And they said, ‘Ah, come on, everybody’s having drink; it’s only a bit of fun.’ So we got up on stage and staggered through a couple of numbers. We had a Paul McCartney lookalike and a John Lennon lookalike with us. I think we just played two numbers, but I honestly can’t remember what they were. And after that, there were some Beatles fans in Liverpool and they said, ‘We want to try and recreate the day Lennon met McCartney, in July ’97; are you up for it?’ Eventually we agreed. And that’s how we got back together again.” The Quarrymen ended up recreating the group’s original 1957 performance on July 5, 1997, at St.

Peter’s Church, unveiling a commemorative plaque on the church hall the following day. Since then, the band members have appeared at numerous Beatles-related events and released various recordings. The group’s shows endeavor to give people a taste of what those early days were like. “We mostly start off with ‘Rock Island Line,’ because that’s where it all came from,” says Davis. Len Garry has moved to guitar from tea chest bass, and Pete Shotton left the group in 2000 for health reasons, meaning there’s no regular washboard player. “So we always take a washboard with us. And sometimes we take a tea chest bass with us; I’ve got one which collapses and goes into a suitcase. So we get people up from the audience to play the washboard and the tea chest bass. You’d never get the opportunity to do that with Paul McCartney or with Ringo! If it’s a charming young lady playing the washboard, we tell her every time she drops the thimble, she has to kiss the drummer, so the drummer has a good time. And so we play a couple of rock ’n’ roll numbers, skiffle numbers — the stuff that influenced John, Paul, George and Ringo.

We play more or less in the same style, a fairly rough-and-ready, thrown-together style. Although, in the last year or two, I have started doing lead guitar solos, which we never did in those days, because nobody had any electric guitars or amplifiers, and we couldn’t do it anyway! But we have made a few concessions to modernity. And in our introductions, we tell the odd little story. So that’s what it’s all about really, a bit of nostalgia and a bit of fun, and we don’t take the music or ourselves too seriously.” These days, with The Quarrymen living in different parts of the country, shows happen when their schedules allow. “We don’t go out actively searching for gigs very much,” Davis admits. “We just wait for them to come to us on the Internet. And if they’re interesting and they fit in with our otherwise hectic lifestyles then we do them. Last year was a bit quiet. This year’s also a bit on the quiet side. It just depends.” The group did play in Hamburg at the 50th anniversary of the Star Club. Davis maintains the band’s website ( where you can read the latest news, order CDs and see video clips.

There’s also an interesting “Myth Busting” section. Davis hopes the band will be able to put out a DVD next, “a live concert in front of an English-speaking audience. Therefore, hopefully, they’ll understand our jokes.” In 2004, Davis got the chance to catch up with another ex-Quarryman, Paul McCartney, when Davis was in Hove attending a wind surfing competition. “I was sitting outside my camper, and a friend came up and said, ‘I’ve just seen Paul McCartney with his dog, going for a walk,’” he says. “Paul had a house there. I said, ‘I can’t miss this opportunity,’ because I hadn’t actually ever spoken to Paul since 1957. So I went around the block very quickly, and there was a man in a hoodie with a scruffy dog talking to a couple of officials from the wind surfing event. They know my history, so they said, ‘Hey Rod! Look who this is!’ So I walked over there and shook hands with Paul.” “Who the heck are you, then?” McCartney asked. “Well, I’m the guy you replaced in the Quarrymen in 1957,” said Davis.

“Wow, that’s going back a bit!” McCartney exclaimed. “What did I do? Did I elbow you aside?” “Not really,” Davis laughed. “I was a banjo player, and it was becoming a rock ’n’ roll group, and you can’t really be a banjo player in a rock ’n’ roll group. And I didn’t really like rock ’n’ roll anyway!” “What I should’ve said — but I wasn’t quick enough — was ‘They weren’t going anywhere at the time!’” says Davis today. “Which was true, of course. Who knows? If I’d been a guitar player, or a better banjo player, he wouldn’t have had a career, would he? Anyway, that was really quite nice. One day it would be very nice to find Paul McCartney sitting in, playing bass with the Quarrymen. That would be a lot of fun. I’m sure he’d enjoy it.” So Paul McCartney has a standing invitation to sit in with The Quarrymen? “Oh, absolutely!” says Davis.

“Absolutely!” The Quarrymen | New Music And Songs | The Quarrymen About The Quarrymen The odds are extraordinarily high that, under ordinary circumstances, the Quarrymen (or Quarry Men -- no two sources agree on the spelling) would have been forgotten decades ago, along with thousands of other skiffle bands that sprang up throughout England in the mid- to late -'50s. As it worked out, however, they proved one of the great sources of talent in the history of popular music, having been founded by John Lennon, and Paul McCartney and George Harrison having passed through their lineup. With a lapse of about six months, the Quarrymen essentially evolved into the Beatles. The Quarrymen were founded by John Lennon at the Quarry Bank School in Liverpool in the middle of 1957. As with most non-professional skiffle bands, the group's lineup was fairly fluid, depending upon who was available on any given week.

The core of the original group, apart from Lennon on guitar, included Pete Shotton (washboard), Eric Griffiths (lead guitar), Rod Davis (banjo), Bill Smith (tea chest bass), and Colin Hanton (drums) -- Smith was succeeded quickly by either Ivan Vaughan or Nigel Whalley (who later became their manager), but by June of that year, Len Garry had taken over the bass chores. Their sound was skiffle, a highly animated, heavily rhythmic variant on American folk and country music, although even at that early date, Lennon tried to stick as many rock & roll tunes as he could into their repertory. He found allies in a pair of new members: Paul McCartney and George Harrison. In July, McCartney joined as a singer-guitarist, and this lineup was stable for approximately six months. The Quarrymen played local youth clubs and dances, picking up a small following around Liverpool and a little money in the bargain. And in February of 1958, George Harrison, all of 14 years old, who'd been playing with his brother Peter in a skiffle band called the Rebels (who played exactly one official gig), joined on guitar and vocals.

John Lowe also came in on piano at that time, adding to the range of the group's sound, which was starting to feature a lot more rock & roll, including "Whole Lotta Shakin'," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Bebop-A-Lula," and "Twenty Flight Rock." By the summer of 1958, skiffle music had already seen its day as a dominant commercial brand of music. A few top acts, like Lonnie Donegan, the Vipers Skiffle Group, the Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group, and Johnny Duncan, still sold records, but teenage audiences in England were now a lot more interested in authentic American rock & roll. That summer, a newly signed band on EMI Records' Columbia label, Cliff Richard & the Shadows, who weren't all that much older than the Quarrymen, topped the British charts with a single -- an original song, no less, by Ian Samwell, a founding member of the Shadows -- called "Move It, which sounded American with a vengeance. Its success was a nail in the coffin of skiffle music as a national phenomenon, although it was still possible for groups that aspired to nothing more to play local youth clubs for pocket money.

The Quarrymen were already trying to toughen up their sound, and that wasn't the only change taking place in the band. By the middle of 1958, Garry and Griffiths were gone, the former from a serious meningitis infection and the latter pushed out by the presences of McCartney and Harrison on guitar. The Quarrymen were reduced to a more manageable quintet of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Hanton, and Lowe, but the winnowing process begun by the bandmembers and bad luck on Garry's part was difficult to halt. As 1959 opened, Hanton was gone, and then the Quarrymen's lineup had all but collapsed. Lennon and McCartney were the only ones left as Lowe exited and Harrison passed through an outfit called the Les Stewart Quartet before rejoining the Quarrymen in August of that year, alongside Lennon and McCartney and a guitarist-singer named Ken Brown. He later jumped to a band called the Black Jacks, whose drummer was one Pete Best. By the fall of 1959, the Quarrymen had transformed themselves into a trio called Johnny & the Moondogs, who added Lennon's art school friend Stu Sutcliffe on bass.

By the spring of 1960, they were a quintet called the Silver Beetles (later the Silver Beatles), with Tommy Moore on drums -- he was succeeded by Norman Chapman, who, in turn, was succeeded in August of 1960 by Pete Best. By then, the band was named the Beatles. And the rest, as they say, was history. Within a year, Sutcliffe was out of the lineup, McCartney was playing bass, and the Beatles had made their first recordings in Hamburg. Apart from some recollections provided to biographers of the Beatles and Lennon, little has been heard about or from Garry, Griffiths, Davis, Hanton, or Shotton in the 40 years-plus since they last played with Lennon. In the summer of 1997, however, the surviving non-Beatle members of the Quarrymen reunited for a benefit performance in Liverpool, at the same church where they first played together 40 years before, and this led to an album and a tour.

Their performances, which included gigs at top clubs like The Bottom Line in New York, got a lukewarm reception from most critics and healthy enthusiasm from serious Beatles fans -- although, in fairness, given the absence of Lennon, Harrison, or McCartney in the lineup, the group's sound was distinctly non-Beatles. It was an opportunity to hear the kind of music that the Beatles started with, however, and a rare chance to hear authentic skiffle music outside of England, and at anytime after the '50s. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi Hear more of The Beatles - Biography - IMDb The Beatles Jump to: Overview (1) | Mini Bio (1) | Trivia (40) Overview (1) The Fab Four Mini Bio (1) The Beatles were an English rock band that became arguably the most successful act of the 20th century. They contributed to music, film, literature, art, and fashion, made a continuous impact on popular culture and the lifestyle of several generations. Their songs and images carrying powerful ideas of love, peace, help, and imagination evoked creativity and liberation that outperformed the rusty Soviet propaganda and contributed to breaking walls in the minds of millions, thus making impact on human history.

In July of 1957, in Liverpool, 'Paul McCartney (I)' met John Lennon . Both were teenagers. Paul impressed John with his mastery of acoustic guitar, and was invited to join Lennon's group, The Quarrymen. George Harrison joined them in February of 1958. In 1959 they played regular gigs at a club called The Casbah. They were joined by vocalist Stuart Sutcliffe, and by drummer Peter Best, whose mother owned The Casbah club. Early incarnations of the band included The Quarrymen, Johnny & the Moon Dogs, and The Silver Beetles. John Lennon dreamed up the band's final name, The Beatles, a mix of beat with beetle. In 1960 The Beatles toured in Hamburg, Germany. There they were joined by Ringo Starr , who previously played with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. In Hamburg, The Beatles made their first studio work as a backing band for singer Tony Sheridan's recordings for the German Polydor label, however, in the credits the band's name was changed to The Beat Brothers. From February 1961 to August 1963, The Beatles played a regular gig at the Cavern.

They were paid five pounds for their first show, rising to three hundred pounds per show in 1963. In two and a half years The Beatles gave 262 shows at the Cavern in Liverpool. Brian Epstein was invited to be the manager of the Beatles in November 1961. His diplomatic way of dealing with the Beatles and with their previous manager resulted in a December 10, 1961, meeting, where it was decided that Epstein would manage the band. A 5-year management contract was signed by four members at then-drummer Pete Best's home on January 24, 1962. Epstein did not put his signature on it, giving the musicians the freedom of choice. At that time McCartney and Harrison were under 21, so the paper wasn't technically legal. None of them realized this and it did not matter to them. What mattered was their genuine trust in Epstein. He changed their early image for the good. Brian Epstein made them wear suits and ties, classic shoes, and newer haircuts. They were advised to update their manners on stage and quit eating and drinking in public. Brian Epstein worked hard on both the Beatles' image and public relations.

He improved their image enough to make them accepted by the conservative media. Most if not all of their communication off-stage was managed by Brian Epstein. On January 1, 1962, The Beatles came to London and recorded fifteen songs at the Decca Records. They were not hired, but the material helped them later. During the year 1962, they made several trips to London and auditioned for various labels. In May of 1962 Epstein canceled the group's contract with Tony Sheridan and the German label. Brian Epstein was persistent in trying to sign a record deal for the Beatles, even after being rejected by every major record label in UK, like Columbia, Philips, Oriole, Decca, and Pye. Epstein transferred a demo tape to disc with HMV technician Jim Foy, who liked their song and referred it to Parlophone's George Martin. On June 6, 1962, at the Abbey Road studios, they passed Martin's audition with the exception of Pete Best. George Martin liked them, but recommended the change of a drummer. Being asked by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison; Epstein fired Pete Best.

After a mutual decision the band was completed with Ringo Starr , who duly became the fourth Beatle. In September of 1962 The Beatles recorded their first hit Love Me Do, which charted in UK, and reached the top of the US singles chart. London became their new home since 1963. On February 11, 1963, The Beatles recorded the entire album 'Please, Please me' in one day, working non-stop during ten-hour studio session. In May and June, 1963, the band made a tour with Roy Orbison. In August of 1963, their single She Loves You became a super hit. Their October 1963 performance at the London Palladium made them famous in Great Britain and initiated the Beatlemania in the UK. The show at the London Palladium was broadcast live and seen by twelve million viewers. Then, in November 1962, The Beatles gave a charity concert at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London. There, performing for the rich and famous, John Lennon made his famous announcement: Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands?

And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry. In early performances the Beatles included popular songs from the 40s and 50s. They played rock-n-roll and R&B-based pop songs while they gradually worked on developing a style of their own. Their mixture of rock-n-roll, skiffle, blues, country, soul, and a simplified version of 1930s jazz resulted in several multi-genre and cross-style sounding songs. They admitted their interest in the music of Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Little Richard and other entertainers of the 40s, 50s and early 60s. Beatles' distinctive vocals were sometimes reminiscent of the Everly Brothers' tight harmonies. By 1965 their style absorbed ethnic music influences from India and other Oriental cultures, and later expanded into psychedelic experiments and classical-sounding compositions. Their creative search covered a range of styles from jazz and rock to a cosmopolitan cross-cultural and cross-genre compositions. Initially the Beatles were a guitars and drums band. In the course of their career every member became a multi-instrumentalist.

George Harrison played the lead guitar and also introduced such exotic instruments as ukulele, Indian sitars, flutes, tabla, darbouka, and tampur drums. John Lennon played a variety of guitars, keyboards, harmonicas and horns. Paul McCartney played bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, piano and keyboards, as well as over 40 other musical instruments. The Beatles were the first popular band that used a classical touch of strings and keyboard instruments; their producer George Martin scored Baroque orchestrations in several songs, such as Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, In My Life, and a full orchestra in Sgt. Pepper. John Lennon and Paul McCartney played piano in many of their songs. Their jamming on a piano together led to creation of their best-selling hit I Want to Hold Your Hand in 1963. At first the Beatles were rejected by Dick Clark after testing a recording of their song on his show. Then Brian Epstein approached Ed Sullivan, who discussed them with Walter Cronkite after seeing them on his CBS Evening News in 1963. Brian Epstein also managed to get their music played by influential radio stations in Washington and New York.

The US consumer reaction was peaking, a single 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' was released in December 1963 by the Capitol Records. Their sensational tour in the USA began with three TV shows at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, in February of 1964. After that The Beatles endured several years of extremely intensive recording, filming, and touring. They stopped public performances after 1966, but continued their recording contracts. By 1985 The Beatles had sold over one billion records. Music became their ticket to ride around the world. Beatlemania never really ended since its initiation. It still lives as a movable feast in many hearts and minds, as a sweet memory of youth, when all you need is love and a little help from a friend to be happy. The Beatles' first two feature films, A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help (1965), were made in collaboration with an American director, Richard Lester . Their humorous, ironic, and farcical film performances are reminiscent of the Marx Brothers' comedies. Later The Beatles moved into the area of psychedelic innovations with the animated film Yellow Submarine (1966).

Their surrealistic TV movie The Magical Mystery Tour (1967) became the cause for the first major criticism of their work in the British press. Their film music was also released as studio albums. Original music by The Beatles as well as re-makes of their songs has been also used, often uncredited, in music scores of feature films and documentaries. Some of The Beatles concert and studio performances were filmed on several occasions and were later edited and released after the band's dissolution. In 1999 the remastered and remixed film The Beatles Yellow Submarine Adventure (2000) delighted a younger audience with incredible animation and songs. All four members were charismatic and individually talented artists, they sparked each other from the beginning. Eventually they made a much better group effort under the thorough management by Brian Epstein . His coaching helped consolidate their talents and mutual stimulation into beautiful teamwork. Paul McCartney had the privilege of a better musical education, having studied classical piano and guitar in his childhood. He progressed as a lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, as well as a singer-songwriter. McCartney wrote more songs for the Beatles than other members of the band.

His songs Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, Blackbird, When I'm 64, Let It Be are among the Beatles' best hits. Yesterday is considered the most-covered song in history with over three thousand versions of it recorded by various artists. McCartney accepted the agreement that was offered by John Lennon in 1957, about the 50/50 authorship of every song written by either one of them. Most of The Beatles' songs are formally credited to both names, regardless of the fact that many of the songs were written individually. On June 25, 1967, The Beatles made history becoming the first band globally transmitted on TV to an estimated 400 million people worldwide. The Beatles were a segment in the first-ever worldwide satellite hook-up and their new song "All You Need Is Love" was broadcast live during the show. Two months later The Beatles lost their creative manager Brian Epstein , whose talent for problem-solving was unmatched. "That was it, the beginning of the end", said Lennon. Evolution of each member's creativity and musicianship also led to individual career ambitions. John Lennon was experimenting with psychedelic poetry and art. His creativity was very unique and innovative.

Lennon wrote Come Together, Girl, Revolution, Strawberry Fields and many other Beatles' hits. An out-of-context reprinting of Lennon's remarks on the Beatlemania phenomenon caused problems in the media. His comparison of Beatles' popularity to that of Jesus Christ was used to attack them publicly, causing cancellations of their performances and even burning of their records. Lennon had to apologize several times in press and on TV, including at a Chicago press conference. In 1967 John Lennon met Japanese artist Yoko Ono , whom he later married. George Harrison was the lead guitar player and also took sitar lessons from Ravi Shankar . Harrison had his own inner light of creativity and spirituality, he wrote Something, Taxman, I me mine, and other hits. Ringo Starr sang 'Yellow Submarine' and a few other songs. He has made a film career and also toured with his All Stars Band and released several solo albums. His 1973 release "Ringo" was the last album to feature all four living Beatles, although not on the same song. The Beatles created over 240 songs, they recorded many singles and albums, made films and TV shows. Thousands of memorable pictures popularized their image.

In their evolution from beginners to the leaders of entertainment, they learned from many world cultures, absorbed from various styles, and created their own. Their cross-style compositions covered a range of influences from English folk ballads to Indian raga; absorbing from Johann Sebastian Bach , Ludwig van Beethoven , Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , Karlheinz Stockhausen , Elvis Presley, Everly Brothers, Little Richard, and others. The songwriting and performing talents of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, fused in the Beatles' music. Lennon and McCartney initiated changes in music publishing industry by breaking the Tin Pan Alley monopoly of songwriting. Their legacy became possible due to highly professional work by Brian Epstein and George Martin. In 1994 three surviving members reunited and produced Lennon's previously unknown song 'Free as a Bird'. It was preserved by Yoko Ono on a tape recording made by Lennon in 1977. The song was re-arranged and re-mixed with the voices of three surviving members. The Beatles Anthology TV documentary was watched by 420 million people in 1995. The Beatles represent the collective consciousness of several generations.

Millions of viewers and listeners across the universe became conditioned to the sounds and images of The Beatles. Their influence on the modern world never stopped. Numbers may only show the tip of the iceberg (record sales, shows admissions, top hits, etc.). As image-makers and role models they pushed boundaries in lifestyle and business, affecting customers behavior and consumption beyond the entertainment industry by turning all life into entertainment. A brilliant blend of music and lyrics in their songs made influence on many minds by carrying messages like: give peace a chance and people working it out. A message more powerful than political control, it broke through second and third world censorship and regulations and set many millions free. Steve Jobs , being a big fan of Paul McCartney and The Beatles, referred to them on many occasions and also was interviewed on a showing of a Paul McCartney concert. When asked about his business model, Steve Jobs replied: My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each other's negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts. Great things in business are never done by one person, they are done by a team of people.

The Beatles made impact on human history, because their influence has been liberating for generations of nowhere men living in misery beyond the Iron Curtain. Something in their songs and images appealed to everybody who wanted to become free as a bird. Their songs carrying powerful ideas of real love, peace, help, and imagination evoked creativity that outperformed the rusty Soviet propaganda and contributed to breaking chains and walls in the minds of millions. The Beatles expressed themselves in beautiful and liberating words of love, happiness, freedom, and revolution, and carried those messages to people across the universe. Their songs and images helped many freedom-loving people to come together for revolutions in Prague and Warsaw, Beijing and Bucharest, Berlin and Moscow. The Beatles has been an inspiration for those who take the long and winding road to freedom. Even after The Beatles had gone, the individual members continued to spread their message; from the concert for Bangladesh by George Harrison and Ringo Starr in 1971, to 2003 "Back in USSR" concert by Paul McCartney on the Red Square in Moscow, and his 2004 show near the Tsar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg where the Communist Revolution took place, just imagine.

In 2005 the Entertainment magazine poll named The Beatles the most iconic entertainers of the 20th Century. In July of 2006, the guitar on which Paul McCartney played his first chords and impressed John Lennon, was sold at an auction for over $600,000. In July 2012, Paul McCartney rocked the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He delivered a live performance of The Beatles 's timeless hit "Hey Jude" and engaged the crowd of people from all over the world to join his band in a sing along finale. The show was seen by a live audience of 80000 people at the Olympic Park Stadium in addition to an estimated TV audience of two billion people worldwide. The Quarrymen - Listen to Free Music by The Quarrymen on Pandora Internet Radio more The Quarrymen The odds are extraordinarily high that, under ordinary circumstances, the Quarrymen (or Quarry Men -- no two sources agree on the spelling) would have been forgotten decades ago, along with thousands of other skiffle bands that sprang up throughout England in the mid- to late -'50s.

As it worked out, however, they proved one of the great sources of talent in the history of popular music, having been founded by John Lennon , and Paul McCartney and George Harrison having passed through their lineup. With a lapse of about six months, the Quarrymen essentially evolved into the Beatles . The Quarrymen were founded by John Lennon at the Quarry Bank School in Liverpool in the middle of 1957. As with most non-professional skiffle bands, the group's lineup was fairly fluid, depending upon who was available on any given week. The core of the original group, apart from Lennon on guitar, included Pete Shotton (washboard), Eric Griffiths (lead guitar), Rod Davis (banjo), Bill Smith (tea chest bass), and Colin Hanton (drums) -- Smith was succeeded quickly by either Ivan Vaughan or Nigel Whalley (who later became their manager), but by June of that year, Len Garry had taken over the bass chores. Their sound was skiffle, a highly animated, heavily rhythmic variant on American folk and country music, although even at that early date, Lennon tried to stick as many rock & roll tunes as he could into their repertory.

He found allies in a pair of new members: Paul McCartney and George Harrison . In July, McCartney joined as a singer-guitarist, and this lineup was stable for approximately six months. The Quarrymen played local youth clubs and dances, picking up a small following around Liverpool and a little money in the bargain. And in February of 1958, George Harrison , all of 14 years old, who'd been playing with his brother Peter in a skiffle band called the Rebels (who played exactly one official gig), joined on guitar and vocals. John Lowe also came in on piano at that time, adding to the range of the group's sound, which was starting to feature a lot more rock & roll, including "Whole Lotta Shakin'," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Bebop-A-Lula," and "Twenty Flight Rock." By the summer of 1958, skiffle music had already seen its day as a dominant commercial brand of music.

A few top acts, like Lonnie Donegan , the Vipers Skiffle Group , the Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group, and Johnny Duncan , still sold records, but teenage audiences in England were now a lot more interested in authentic American rock & roll. That summer, a newly signed band on EMI Records' Columbia label, Cliff Richard & the Shadows, who weren't all that much older than the Quarrymen, topped the British charts with a single -- an original song, no less, by Ian Samwell, a founding member of the Shadows -- called "Move It, which sounded American with a vengeance. Its success was a nail in the coffin of skiffle music as a national phenomenon, although it was still possible for groups that aspired to nothing more to play local youth clubs for pocket money. The Quarrymen were already trying to toughen up their sound, and that wasn't the only change taking place in the band. By the middle of 1958, Garry and Griffiths were gone, the former from a serious meningitis infection and the latter pushed out by the presences of McCartney and Harrison on guitar.

The Quarrymen were reduced to a more manageable quintet of Lennon , McCartney, Harrison, Hanton, and Lowe, but the winnowing process begun by the bandmembers and bad luck on Garry's part was difficult to halt. As 1959 opened, Hanton was gone, and then the Quarrymen's lineup had all but collapsed. Lennon and McCartney were the only ones left as Lowe exited and Harrison passed through an outfit called the Les Stewart Quartet before rejoining the Quarrymen in August of that year, alongside Lennon and McCartney and a guitarist-singer named Ken Brown. He later jumped to a band called the Black Jacks, whose drummer was one Pete Best . By the fall of 1959, the Quarrymen had transformed themselves into a trio called Johnny & the Moondogs, who added Lennon 's art school friend Stu Sutcliffe on bass. By the spring of 1960, they were a quintet called the Silver Beetles (later the Silver Beatles), with Tommy Moore on drums -- he was succeeded by Norman Chapman, who, in turn, was succeeded in August of 1960 by Pete Best . By then, the band was named the Beatles .

And the rest, as they say, was history. Within a year, Sutcliffe was out of the lineup, McCartney was playing bass, and the Beatles had made their first recordings in Hamburg. Apart from some recollections provided to biographers of the Beatles and Lennon , little has been heard about or from Garry, Griffiths, Davis, Hanton, or Shotton in the 40 years-plus since they last played with Lennon . In the summer of 1997, however, the surviving non- Beatle members of the Quarrymen reunited for a benefit performance in Liverpool, at the same church where they first played together 40 years before, and this led to an album and a tour. Their performances, which included gigs at top clubs like The Bottom Line in New York, got a lukewarm reception from most critics and healthy enthusiasm from serious Beatles fans -- although, in fairness, given the absence of Lennon , Harrison, or McCartney in the lineup, the group's sound was distinctly non- Beatles . It was an opportunity to hear the kind of music that the Beatles started with, however, and a rare chance to hear authentic skiffle music outside of England, and at anytime after the '50s.

~ Bruce Eder Get Back Together - The Quarrymen | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic Get Back Together google+ AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder The five original members of the Quarrymen (sans John Lennon ) reunited in 1997 for a benefit concert in Liverpool at St. Peter's Church, where they first played in 1957, which led to this 15-song recording and an international tour. That may seem the height of exploitation, except that it turns out they're still a good skiffle band -- one will even pick up a few insights into the roots of Lennon's and the Beatles ' music, if one can keep the perspective of 1950s' England in sight. The main influence is Lonnie Donegan , whose skiffle sound was the basis for most English teens taking up rock & roll from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s. Today it's no trick to play American rock & roll in an authentic American style, but the Quarrymen 's laid-back, relaxed, natural style must have set them apart from much of the competition in Liverpool circa 1957.

If lead guitarist Eric Griffiths had an attack anything like he does on this record back then, then he had a more than fair amount going for him, at least as a top rhythm player -- and given that rhythm guitar was what the Beatles ' (and the Liverpool) sound proved to be all about, it's sad that he never stayed in the music. The renditions of "Twenty Flight Rock" and Lonnie Donegan numbers like "Lost John" are spirited and enthusiastic, and revive a sound that fairly overwhelmed English youth circa 1956-57. Colin Hanton keeps a good beat, and Len Garry is a good, solid singer, while Rod Davis acquits himself well as a bluesy singer on "When the Sun Goes Down" and the Elvis-style rendering of "Don't Be Cruel," which has a certain honesty about it -- this was the way they knew and loved the song. It might not be the Rosetta Stone to the Beatles ' music, but Get Back-Together is a rare chance to hear some more than decent skiffle music, and if the Beatles connection is the excuse needed to get people to listen, so be it. Track Listing

Question: Who's band was The Quarrymen?
Answer: John Lennon