While setting up their equipment to play, the Quarrymen’s sometime tea-chest bass player, Ivan Vaughan, introduced the band to one of his classmates from Liverpool Institute, the 15-year-old Paul McCartney.
This historic occasion was the first time McCartney met John Lennon, one year his senior. McCartney wore a white jacket with silver flecks, and a pair of black drainpipe trousers.
The pair chatted for a few minutes, and McCartney showed Lennon how to tune a guitar – the instruments owned by Lennon and Griffiths were in G banjo tuning. McCartney then sang Eddie Cochran’s ‘Twenty Flight Rock’ and Gene Vincent’s ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’, along with a medley of songs by Little Richard.
I remember coming into the fete and seeing all the sideshows. And also hearing all this great music wafting in from this little Tannoy system. It was John and the band.I remember I was amazed and thought, ‘Oh great’, because I was obviously into the music. I remember John singing a song called ‘Come Go With Me’. He’d heard it on the radio. He didn’t really know the verses, but he knew the chorus. The rest he just made up himself.
I just thought, ‘Well, he looks good, he’s singing well and he seems like a great lead singer to me.’ Of course, he had his glasses off, so he really looked suave. I remember John was good. He was really the only outstanding member, all the rest kind of slipped away.
Record Collector
Lennon was equally impressed with McCartney, who showed natural talent for singing songs that the Quarrymen worked hard to accomplish. McCartney also recalled performing on the church hall piano.
I also knocked around on the backstage piano and that would have been ‘A Whole Lot Of Shakin” by Jerry Lee. That’s when I remember John leaning over, contributing a deft right hand in the upper octaves and surprising me with his beery breath. It’s not that I was shocked, it’s just that I remember this particular detail.
John Lennon, Philip Norman
The particular detail was later recalled by McCartney in his introduction to Lennon’s first book, In His Own Write:
At Woolton village fete I met him. I was a fat schoolboy and, as he leaned an arm on my shoulder, I realised he was drunk. We were twelve then, but, in spite of his sideboards, we went on to become teenage pals.
In His Own Write, John Lennon
The Quarrymen’s set, remarkably, was recorded by an audience member, Bob Molyneux, on his portable Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder. In 1994 Molyneux, then a retired policeman, rediscovered the tape, which contained scratchy recordings of the band performing Lonnie Donegan’s ‘Puttin’ On The Style’ and Elvis Presley’s ‘Baby, Let’s Play House’.
The tape was sold on 15 September 1994 at Sotheby’s for £78,500. At the time it was the most expensive recording ever sold at auction. The winning bidder was EMI Records, who considered it for release as part of the Anthology project, but chose not to as the sound quality was substandard.
To this very day, it still is a complete mystery to me that it happened at all. Would John and I have met some other way, if Ivan and I hadn’t gone to that fête? I’d actually gone along to try and pick up a girl. I’d seen John around – in the chip shop, on the bus, that sort of thing – and thought he looked quite cool, but would we have ever talked? I don’t know. As it happened, though, I had a school friend who knew John. And then I also happened to share a bus journey with George to school. All these small coincidences had to happen to make The Beatles happen, and it does feel like some kind of magic. It’s one of the wonderful lessons about saying yes when life presents these opportunities to you. You never know where they could lead.And as if all these crazy coincidences weren’t enough, it turns out that someone else who was at the fête had a portable tape machine – one of those old Grundigs. So there’s this recording (admittedly of pretty bad quality) of The Quarry Men’s performance that day. You can listen to it online. And there are also a few photos around of the band on the back of the truck. So, this day that proved to be pretty pivotal in my life still has this presence and exists in these ghosts of the past.
The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present
After the Quarrymen’s show the group, along with Ivan Vaughan and McCartney, went to a Woolton pub where they lied about their ages to get served.
Later on, Lennon and Pete Shotton discussed the young McCartney, and whether to invite him to join their group. For Lennon it was a dilemma – should he admit a talented member who may pose a challenge to his own superiority within the group, or should he persist without McCartney, retaining his leadership yet likely consigning the group to failure?
They decided McCartney would be an asset, and roughly two weeks later Shotton encountered McCartney cycling through Woolton. Paul mulled over the invitation to join, and eventually agreed to join the Quarrymen’s ranks.
Also on this day...
- 2019: Paul McCartney live: BC Place, Vancouver
- 2018: Ringo Starr live: Salle des Étoiles Sporting Club, Monte Carlo, Monaco
- 2018: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Salle Des Etoiles, Monte Carlo
- 2011: Paul McCartney launches design competition for graphic designers and illustrators
- 2010: Apple Records’ remastered back catalogue to be released
- 1992: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Empire Theatre, Liverpool
- 1990: Paul McCartney live: RFK Stadium, Washington, DC
- 1973: Wings live: Odeon, Birmingham
- 1966: The Beatles’ first trip to India
- 1964: World première of A Hard Day’s Night
- 1963: The Beatles live: Memorial Hall, Northwich
- 1962: The Beatles live: Riverboat Shuffle, MV Royal Iris, River Mersey
- 1961: Mersey Beat launches
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Bob Molyneux is infact my father. I was reading this and thinking how Special he is. Unfortunately i wasn’t around when this all happened, i was born in 1995 just a year after. So odd to find my Dad on the internet. 🙂 – Jemima molyneux
Wow. Have you ever heard the recording? I’m assuming your Dad had a copy made before selling it…
Copies of the recording can be found on youtube and elsewhere on the internet.
How lovely, my Grandmother was one of the women running this village fete, my six year old mother was there also.
The 6th of July is also my Birthday.
I was born on July 6th, 1957 around the same time that they (Paul & John) met (in between the first and second set). Paul has said that this was a mysterious thing so I feel very connected to the boys. Even if I had been there at the time I would still would have wanted to be just like them. That feeling has lasted my entire life. I do believe in magical fate!
I was born on July 6, 1957! I always felt there was a spiritual connection with John Lennon & Paul McCartney and myself.
that is unbelievably awesome. lucky you.
I was born July 6, 1957, too!!!
Quite A Day In The Life…
And I saw McCartney (from the 10th row) in Miami July 7 (the birthday of Paul’s father and Ringo!), 2017 for my 60th birthday.
A concert I’ll never forget…
Sometimes you look at some sites and they get times and dates wrong… tis funny that Paul, who was there, so you think he would know, got their ages wrong when they met. He says’ they were 12 when actually he was fifteen and John sixteen…. you see, even when it’s from the horse’s mouth, it ain’t always right!
…later recalled by McCartney in HIS INTRODUCTION to Lennon’s FIRST BOOK, In His Own Write:
…I was a FAT SCHOOLBOY
….I realised he was drunk. We were twelve then, but, IN SPITE of his SIDEBOARDS, we went on to become teenage pals.
Printed IN John’s book. Page 11 matter of fact. (check your copy)
Later on in the intro Paul added,
“…he left school and played with a group called the Beatles, and here he is with a book.
Again I think – ‘Is he deep?’ ‘Is he arty, with it or cultured?’
Paul didn’t get their ages or anything WRONG. Just joking of course.
On the back cover of the book, the author says of himself,
“I was bored on the 9th of Octover 1940 when, I believe, the Nasties were still booming us led by Madalf Heatlump.
Anyway they didn’t get me….as far as I’m conceived this correction of short writty is the most wonderfoul larf I’ve ever ready.”
Yes,exactly. He was just emphasizing the fact of how young they were.
Paul also mentions John’s beery breath and that he was drunk. Paul had just turned 15 at the time and John was going on 17. John was just a bit short of being a year and 8 months older than Paul. For people in their mid teens, that can make quite a difference. Add that to the fact of their very different upbringings…meaning that the way John grew up would make grow up quicker and Paul’s would make him on the young side and more innocent for his age.
Paul still felt like a kid. He saw John as being more worldly, this evidently had an impact on him.
As you pointed out, apollo c vermouth, the words of Paul:
…I was a FAT SCHOOLBOY
….I realised he was drunk. We were twelve then, but, IN SPITE of his SIDEBOARDS, we went on to become teenage pals.
He’s pointing out that they were very young, but very different. He was using the term sideboards (sideburns) mostly figuratively.
Well, obviously „we were 12“ was said as a joke
John had his first band before Paul. I am sure he didn’t need to know how to tune a guitar or play ukele chords. Something isn’t right there. Someone is really trying to gain credit. Even in the photo here John knew chords. I don’t know how some run him down. Including Paul. John was the heart of the Beatles.
Lol, what’s said in the article is true, whether some Lennon fans like it or not. His fisrt band was precisely The Quarrymen, which Paul would join. He didn’t know how to tune in a guitar, not many people knew then.
He played banjo chords, tuning to the A string and leaving the bottom E string loose.
John didn’t know how to tune to standard guitar tuning. His mother, Julia, played banjo, so she taught him how to tune a guitar like a banjo, and taught him banjo chords. Paul taught him “proper” guitar tuning and chords.
A few comments.
-The recording seems to have 2 versions of ‘Puttin’ on the Style’, one quite slow and one fast. Strange that they said it was without Colin Hanton because there are very loud drums on the faster version, and the recording is said to be from the evening performance.
-Len Garry and Pete Shotton totally dispute that John was drinking or that they went to the pub afterwards. (the book Len Garry wrote had a CD attached, with him and Shotton at various sites of their youth discussing different events)
-In the picture of them playing in the field, JOhn seems to be playing a regular G chord on his guitar.
Woah. July 6th is also my dads birthday. He was about 2 years old then but he grew up to be a massive fan of The Beatles. And he didn’t even know that Mcartney and Lennon met on his b-day, of all days ! Guess you learn something new everyday 😀
Wow what a fantastic pic.. The young man in the white T-shirt (back to camera) is me!!! and the lad with his sleeves rolled up is my brother. We were visiting my auntie’s house who lived across from Johns aunt Mimi, so off to the fete we went and spent the time glued to the Quarrymen oblivious to what would transpire in the future!!! I was 8 and my brother almost 12. Great memories and now an actual pic!!! Brilliant
Great story Roy, that is amazing that you were there.
A meeting that at the time seemed like such a trivial thing… and it changed history
i met john in June a few weeks before he played with the Quarrymen. He was staying in Largs in Ayrshire with his cousin Stan. He said he wanted to be as big as Elvis and that he had a skiffle group with his friend Pete and that his mother had taught him to play the banjo. I laughed and said he’d never make it with a banjo. I knew him over the course of three weeks. I was ten years old and I must say John was a big and sometimes a bad influence, stealing unashamedly from Woolies and Simpsons the local store. My little brother was Downes Syndrome and John had a thing about disabled people. He would point and laugh hysterically at them. There was something lacking in his upbringing I would say,maybe not his fault. We both loved the Goons and Hancock and he did turn me on to Rock and Roll. He knew even then about the beatniks and told me they were Cool!!! On a trip doon the watter on the Talisman John stood at the prow and said “I made all this!” I would say he had a bit of a God complex. I loved the guy, and in the absence of my two best friends who were on holiday and never met him we were as thick as thieves! My grandmother said of John, “He’ll go far that laddie, gin they dinna hing him”, and I think she got it about right! We fell out over his attitude to my brother. My father told me he was a bad influence and to ignore him in the street. I did as I was told and hid round the corner when he shouted,”Don’t turn your back on me!” i never saw him again in the flesh but of course he was everywhere and I loved the music! And always will!
Thank you for sharing your recollections, Ian! They were lovely to read.
Thanks for the memories, Ian. I have no doubt about your observations and conclusions of John.
Did you ever write to him or call him after? just curious
Just a dumb question from a dumb Yank …..why is it on the first ad the date is July 6, 1957 which isn’t the way the date is written in U.K. but the date on the programme is correct?
There’s not a standard UK way of writing dates in this way. Sometimes it might be 6 or 6th July, other times it might say July 6 or 6th. It really depends on the writer’s preference. That said, it’s probably more common nowadays to write it the first way, with the number before the month (and if we were abbreviating it we’d always write DD/MM/YY, not MM/DD/YY).
Anybody know who took these photos? Can’t find out for the life of me…
The two photos of the Quarrymen on the back of a truck were taken by my father, James Davis, and the well known shot of Lennon and the Quarrymen was taken by Geoff Rhind, a schoolmate of ours from Quarry Bank.
Rod Davis – Quarrymen
Hi Rod! It’s an honour to have you on the site. If you spot any inaccuracies or admissions do feel free to let me know in the comments sections.
60 years ago to the day. Yet another proof of why the universe is based on randomness. If this rendezvous would not have happened- not only that these two amazing talents on their own right would have never achieved the level of creativity that they have achieved together (certainly driven by fierce competition), our own life would have been totally different and duller. We are blessed that the two did meet.
Indeed “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”
BTW- this is probably the best thing that ever came out of church
61 years ago today… Wow… It feels like something that could happen everyday around here.
There’s a great little youtube clip which proves the exact location at the fete where John would have been performing.
I met Len Gary at the Church a few years ago at a revival
I have been listening to The Beatles for years and only now discovered the audio tape, probably the most important piece of music history the world will ever see survive this long.