February

George Joins

Despite his friendship with Paul McCartney, George Harrison didn’t get to see The Quarry Men until 6 February at the Wilson Hall, Garston. ‘I remember being very impressed with John’s big thick sideboards and Teddy Boy clothes.’ He did an impromptu audition on the bus home. A few days later McCartney asked John Lennon what he thought. ‘He gave it a second or two and then he replied, “Yeah man, he’d be great”. And that was it, George was in.’ From the outset George played lead while John and Paul played rhythm guitars.

June & July

First Recording

In the summer of 1958 The Quarry Men: John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison plus John ‘Duff’ Lowe on piano and Colin Hanton on drums, recorded two songs at the grandly named Phillips’ Sound Recording Services, actually Peter Phillips’ living room at 38 Kensington, Liverpool. They cut Buddy Holly’s ‘That’ll Be The Day’ and a McCartney/Harrison song, ‘In Spite Of All The Danger’, onto a 78 rpm acetate that each Quarry Man kept for a week. John Lowe kept it for 23 years, before deciding to auction it; Paul McCartney stepped in and bought it. He had engineers restore the sound as much as possible and pressed 50 copies for family and friends. The songs were publicly released on The Beatles’ 1995 Anthology 1.

Personalities | Introducing The Beatles
Personalities | The Beatles | The Formative Years (1959) | Key Events