This page contains information on the key line-ups in The Beatles' history.
Some of the dates are, by necessity, approximate. Additionally, some names which were only used for a very brief time - often a matter of days - have been excluded. These included The Silver Beatals, The Silver Beats, and Long John and the Silver Beetles.
The Les Stewart Quartet was a group George Harrison belonged to during 1959, during a time in which The Quarrymen found themselves without a drummer or a promising future.
A range of guest musicians appeared on The Beatles' recordings over the years, but were never part of the core line-up. The group were also joined by Billy Preston during the sessions for Let It Be and Abbey Road in 1969; however, as they were billed as "The Beatles with Billy Preston", it is apparent that the group remained just four people.
Also included are the 1964 dates during which Jimmie Nicol stood in for Ringo Starr, although he was never anything other than a temporary substitute.
| Name | Dates | Members |
| The Black Jacks/The Quarrymen | Summer 1956 |
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| The Quarrymen | March-April 1957 |
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| The Quarrymen | April-August 1957 |
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| The Quarrymen | August-October 1957 |
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| The Quarrymen | October 1957 - February 1958 |
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| The Quarrymen | February-March 1958 |
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| The Quarrymen | March-September 1958 |
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| The Quarrymen | September 1958 - January 1959 |
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| The Quarrymen | January-February 1959 |
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| The Les Stewart Quartet | August-September 1959 |
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| The Quarrymen | September-October 1959 |
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| Johnny And The Moondogs | October 1959 - January 1960 |
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| The Beatals | January 1960 - May 1960 |
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| The Nerk Twins | 23-24 April 1960 |
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| The Silver Beetles | May-June 1960 |
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| The Silver Beatles | July-August 1960 |
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| The Beatles | 12 August 1960 - December 1960 |
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| The Beatles | December 1960 |
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| The Beatles | January 1961 - 15 August 1962 |
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| The Beatles | 16-17 August 1962 |
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| The Beatles | 18 August 1962 - September 1969 |
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| The Beatles | 3-13 June 1964 |
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| The Beatles | September 1969 - April 1970 |
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1956? I see the history of The Quarrymen according to this listing starts in March 1957. What do you base that upon? What do you think of the biographies here? Are they trustworthy? Best of wishes. /Per A J Andersson
I'm sure the biogs are trustworthy, as it's the Quarrymen's own site.
Their earliest documented performance is 22 June 1957. However, the Quarrymen say there were several before then. As no firm dates exist we'll have to take their word for it. They do, however, say the group formed in 1956 so I've adjusted the dates in this article accordingly.
As nobody was really keeping notes at the time, a lot of this is relies on piecing together fragments of evidence to come up with a best interpretation. If better information comes to light I'll gladly amend the details.
Very interesting - I didn't know there were quite so many short-lived line-ups.
Just one minor quibble: I know you can't list every instrument each Beatles played, but just as you've listed harmonica for John from a certain point, can you add the periods when piano was a major instrument for Paul in performance? Not only Lady Madonna/Hey Jude/Let It Be/Long and Winding Road, etc., but also the period in Hamburg when (apparently) he played piano a lot.
So there was no Quarrymen between March 1959 and September 1959 ?
This timeline implies that when George left the Quarrymen in February 1959 and joined the Les Stewart Quartet the Quarrymen became defunct.
Otherwise you should have listed just John and Paul as the Quarrymen from March to September 1959. You did not.
Interesting, never knew there were so many members