The Quarrymen - 1997 Reformation To Present

1997 Reformation To Present

The surviving members of the original line-up of The Quarrymen reunited in 1997 for the 40th anniversary of their performance at the 1957 Woolton village fete—which was the occasion of the first meeting of Lennon and McCartney. All five surviving original members, Pete Shotton, Rod Davis, Len Garry, Eric Griffiths and Colin Hanton, performed. Following this, the group continued to perform—undertaking tours of the UK, USA, Germany, Japan, Russia, Cuba and other countries. The group's repertoire focuses on the skiffle and early rock 'n' roll they played in their original incarnation with the added roots rock historical perspective of illustrating how American roots music inspired the nascent Beatles.

In 2000, producer and The Beatles' historian Martin Lewis produced the group performing the Del-Vikings song Come Go with Me (the first song McCartney recalled hearing Lennon sing on the first day they met) – for use on the soundtrack of the Michael Lindsay-Hogg film Two of Us—a film about the last day that Lennon and McCartney saw each other—in April 1976.

Eric Griffiths died in 2005, and Pete Shotton retired, owing to ill-health. As of 2010, the surviving three founder-members continue to perform around the world. They are occasionally augmented by honorary member Duff Lowe who played piano with the group briefly in the summer of 1958. In September and October 2010 the band undertook a US tour celebrating the 70th anniversary of their founder (Lennon). They appeared in a charity concert for Amnesty International honouring Lennon in New York City on Lennon's birthday, Saturday 9 October 2010.