The beginnings of The Beatles. History of The Beatles Part 2

  

In March 1957, John Lennon forms a band called The Quarry Men. The Beatles Prelude. The name came from The Quarry Bank High School. The band consists of: John on guitar and banjo, Pete Shotton - tara, Rod Davis - banjo, Colin Hanton - drums, Eric Griffiths - guitar, Len Garry, Ivan Vaughn, Nigel Whalley - alternately on the "bass stick". July 6, 1957 John and his friends perform at a festival in Woolton, Liverpool. The event is organized by the parish of St. Peter's Church. It's a great day. Ivan Vaughn is no longer in the band but brings along a colleague from the Liverpool Institute. Ivan feels these two guys should get to know each other. And so John meets Paul and includes him in the team. He is impressed by the fact that the new friend can tune a guitar and knows a few rock and roll hits. Paul performs a few Little Richard songs in front of his new friends. It turns out that young McCartney also knows the lyrics of the songs. John is impressed and knows he must have this guy on his team. However, the decision whether Paul can join the team is made after a few weeks of dilemmas. Lennon knows it's his team, but he's worried that a new member of the team, possibly much more talented than himself, will threaten his leadership position in the pack of friends. However, common sense and intuition prevail that such a person can only bring benefits and teach him how to play better. Paul then said:

"John had a bit of a flair... Then I played the guitar upside down. I played "Twenty Flight Rock" and I knew all the words, The Quarry Men were blown away that I knew them and that I could sing. That introduced me to The Beatles. I knew all the words because my friend James and I had just learned them."

"I used to pedal around Woolton a lot on my way to Ivan (Vaughan). I used to live a short distance away in Allerton. (You could take shortcuts through the golf courses, so it was convenient for me and John then it was very important whether you lived next to each other or not. no). I replied that I had to think about it. I was very excited about the proposal and through Ivan I agreed."

August 7, 1957 - The Quarry Men make their debut at Liverpool's popular Cavern Club. Paul is at a scout camp at the time, he was already a member of the band but he still had his stage debut ahead of him. During the same concert, apart from John's band, Ron McKay's Skiffe Group, Dark Town Skiffle Group and Deltones Skiffe Group performed. The owner of the Cavern was Alan Sytner, who played golf at the same club as Nigel Whalley, manager of the Quarrymen. Sytner heard John and the gang playing at the Cildwall Golf Club, but he agreed to their performance because of his acquaintance with Whalley. 18 October 1957 - concert at the Conservative club in Clubmoor Hall (also in Liverpool). Paul James McCartney appears on stage next to John. The story begins. The Beatles are born. Paul plays solo guitar. Among other things, the band plays Arthur Smith's 1946 instrumental hit Guitar Boogie.