The Quarrymen perform at the Woolton Parish Church Garden Fete on July 6, 1957
The gig may not have seemed auspicious for 16-year-old John Lennon. His skiffle group the Quarrymen – named for Quarry Bank Grammar School that John attended – were playing at a church dance at St. Peter’s in the Woolton suburb of Liverpool. In the audience was Paul McCartney, who had just turned 15. Despite the raw and loose performance Lennon and his mates gave, Paul was duly impressed.
After the Quarrymen performed, they crossed the road with their instruments to the Woolton Village Hall, where they were slated to play another show that evening. Paul followed and was introduced to John by their mutual friend Ivan Vaughan. McCartney asked Lennon if he could borrow his guitar. He played Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock” and then sat down at the hall’s piano and belted out Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally.” It was John’s turn to be impressed.
“I half thought to myself, ‘He’s as good as me,’” Lennon later told Hunter Davies, who wrote the first biography of The Beatles. “Now I thought, if I take him on, what will happen? It went through my head that I’d have to keep him in line if I let him join [the band]. But he was good, so he was worth having. He also looked like Elvis. I dug him.”
If you’re a new Best Classic Bands reader, we’d be grateful if you would Like our Facebook page and/or bookmark our Home page.
Two weeks later McCartney was asked to join Lennon’s band, and in essence, The Beatles were born.
The St. Peter’s church where Lennon and McCartney met for the first time is known for another link to the Beatles. Its yard also contains the grave of Eleanor Rigby. The Beatles’ “red” and “blue” albums were upgraded in 2023. They’re available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
Related: Our writer got a small check from John Lennon. Did he cash it? Would you?
- James Taylor Announces 2025 Tour - 12/11/2024
- Remember David Gates, Who Led the ’70s Group Bread? - 12/11/2024
- Ringo Starr Celebrates Upcoming Country Album With Some of Rock’s Biggest Stars - 12/11/2024
3 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationPaul had seen John around Liverpool before their July 6 meeting, but didn’t know his name. In a recent interview, he said he remembers seeing him getting on a bus, and in line at a fish and chips shop.
Love reading about how they found one another. The first time I saw them, I was 5. It was February 9th, 1964 on the Ed Sullivan Show!
Sir Paul is my favorite, as we are both left-handed.
If you want to see a terrific movie about John’s growing up years, watch “Nowhere Boy.” There a scene of The Quarrymen and how John and Paul met.