The Quarrymen - Line-ups

Line-ups

The group first rehearsed in Shotton's house on Vale Road, but because of the noise his mother told them to use the corrugated air-raid shelter in the back garden. Bill Smith performed at only two shows and rarely turned up for rehearsals, so Lennon decided that he should be replaced by his friend Len Garry. At the time of this decision, Smith had the group's tea-chest bass, so Lennon and Shotton decided to break into Smith's parents' garage and "liberate" the instrument. Another Lennon friend, Ivan Vaughan, occasionally played at rehearsals when Garry was not available. Colin Hanton was an apprentice at Guy Rogers' upholstery company in Speke, and travelled to work on the same bus as Griffiths used to get to school. Hanton mentioned that he had a set of drums, but said that he was only an amateur. Griffiths went to Hanton's house to watch him play. Griffiths invited Hanton to join The Quarrymen, as having a drummer was a clear advantage for a group in Liverpool at the time, because they could then play rock 'n' roll songs as well as skiffle tunes.

Rehearsals were moved from the cold air-raid shelter to Hanton's or Griffiths' house—as Griffiths' father had died in WWII, and his mother worked all day. The band also often visited Lennon's mother at 1 Blomfield Road, listening to her collection of rock 'n' roll records by Elvis, Shirly and Lee's "Let the Good Times Roll", and Gene Vincent's "Be-Bop-A-Lula" which they added to their repertoire. Another school friend, Nigel Walley, occasionally lent a hand playing tea-chest bass, but lost his instrument when he left it at a bus stop, so decided to become their manager. Although he did not secure the group many paid engagements, he sent flyers to local theatres and ballrooms, and put up posters designed by Lennon: "Country-and-western, rock n' roll, skiffle band — The Quarrymen — Open for Engagements — Please Call Nigel Walley, Tel.Gateacre 1715". Walley did manage to secure two intermission concerts at the Gaumont cinema (near Penny Lane) on Saturday afternoons, and The Quarrymen performed at parties and skiffle contests in the Liverpool area.

Canadian impresario Carroll Levis organised a skiffle contest, at which he instructed all eight acts to play for just three minutes each. The Quarrymen played "Worried Man Blues", and were loudly applauded, but a group from Wales called the Sunnyside Skiffle Group "jumped all over the stage" and outshone the static Quarrymen, and were asked by Levis to fill in the last few minutes of the contest with a second song. Lennon argued heatedly with Levis backstage, saying the Sunnyside Skiffle Group had brought a bus full of supporters with them, and were given "the upper hand" advantage by Levis. After the competition, Levis used a clap-o-meter (a machine to measure the decibels of the audience's reaction to the groups) as they were asked to walk back out onto the stage. The Quarrymen and the Sunnyside skiffle Group both tied by reaching ninety on the meter, but after a second test, The Quarrymen lost by a small margin.

Whilst playing golf with Dr. Joseph Sytner, Walley—who had left school at 15 to become an apprentice golf professional at the Lee Park Golf Club—asked Dr. Sytner if his son, Alan, could book The Quarrymen at The Cavern, in Mathew Street, which was one of three jazz clubs he managed. Sytner suggested that the band should play at the golf club first, so as to assess their talent. The band set up in the downstairs lounge of the golf club, and were surprised when nearly one hundred people filed in to listen. Just before the performance, the zip on Davis' jeans broke, and he had to cover his crotch with his banjo. The performance was a success, a hat was later passed and almost £15 was collected, which was much more than any other groups were paid.

Alan Sytner phoned Walley a week later and offered the group an interlude spot playing skiffle between the performances of two jazz bands at the Cavern. Before the Cavern performance, The Quarrymen played (gratis) for St. Peter's Youth Club, in St. Barnabas Church hall, and were the main act at a Quarry Bank school dance. During this time Lennon heard Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally" for the first time at classmate Michael Hill's house near Penny Lane, and thought Richard a better singer than Elvis. The group learned how to play numerous Elvis songs such as, "Don't Be Cruel, "All Shook Up", and "Heartbreak Hotel", as well as songs by Eddie Cochran, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Before the Cavern Club performance, the group argued amongst themselves about the set list, as rock 'n' roll songs were definitely not allowed at the club, but skiffle was tolerated as it was considered to be an off-shoot of jazz. After beginning with a skiffle song, Lennon called for the others to start playing "Don't Be Cruel". Davis warned Lennon that the audience would "eat you alive", but Lennon ignored this and started playing the song himself, forcing the others to join in. Halfway through, Sytner pushed his way through the audience and handed Lennon a note which read, "Cut out the bloody rock 'n' roll".

After playing at an outdoor birthday party at Hanton's aunt's house, Shotton decided to leave the band, saying "I hate this, John—it's not for me". Lennon promptly picked up the washboard and smashed it over Shotton's head, leaving only the wooden frame hanging on Shotton's shoulders, and then said, "Well, that solves that then, doesn't it?" At Lennon's pleading, Shotton agreed to play a few more engagements (with his repaired washboard) before finally leaving. On Saturday 22 June 1957, The Quarrymen played a major performance;— two sets on a stationary flatbed truck at an outdoor party in Rosebery Street, Liverpool, to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the granting of Liverpool’s charter by King John.