The Quarrymen - The Beatles

The Beatles

Lennon's mother was killed in a road accident on 15 July 1958, and Lennon lost interest in the group for months. Lowe gave up guesting with the group on piano as he lived too far away from where they rehearsed, and having to travel by bus meant he could only rehearse on weekends. The group continued to play, such as at the wedding reception of Harrison's brother, Harry, in Speke, on 20 December 1958, the Cronin/Jones wedding in Wallasey, December 27 1958, and at Art School dances every other Friday, where they were billed as "The College Band" (although the first two performances were without Hanton).

After two further performances (on 1 January, at a Speke Bus Depot social club party at Wilson Hall organised by Harrison’s father, and on 24 January, at a party at Woolton Village Club) they played at the Pavilion Theatre in Lodge Lane, where the management was looking for a regular group to play 30-minute sets between the bingo sessions. The first set at the Pavilion Theatre went well, but in the interval Lennon, McCartney and Hanton drank beer supplied by the management, and then moved onto "Poor Man's Black Velvets": a mix of two half-pints of Guinness and cider together. As Lennon, McCartney and Hanton were obviously drunk the second set was a shambles, and on the bus ride home a drunken McCartney fiercely criticised Hanton for not being good enough. Shotton (who had been at the theatre to watch) stepped between them to stop Hanton physically attacking McCartney, and helped Hanton off the bus with his drums. Hanton was never contacted again; the next he heard of the group was on TV three years later, when they were called The Beatles.

Lennon and McCartney continued to write songs together, but as no engagements were forthcoming, Harrison asked to join Storm's Tornados, but Storm's mother refused, saying Harrison was far too young. Harrison then joined the Les Stewart Quartet with Les Stewart, guitarist Ken Brown, and Geoff Skinner. Mona Best opened The Casbah Coffee Club on 29 August 1959, and Brown arranged for the quartet to be its resident band. When Brown missed rehearsals to help decorate the Casbah, Stewart refused to play. Brown and Harrison recruited Lennon and McCartney at short notice to help them fill the residency, and they reactivated The Quarrymen name for the occasion. They played a series of seven Saturday night engagements in the Casbah for 15 shillings each per night, starting on 29 August to October 1959, featuring Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Brown as the "honorary Quarryman". They performed without a drummer, and with only one microphone connected to the club's small PA system. The opening night performance was attended by about 300 local teenagers, but as the cellar had no air conditioning and people were dancing, the temperature rose until it became hard to breathe.

After the success of the first night, Mona gave The Quarrymen a residency, but as there was no amplification, Lennon persuaded Mona to hire a young amateur guitar player called Harry to play a short set before The Quarrymen, but this was only so they could use his 40-watt amplifier. On 10 October, there was an argument between the band and Best over the group's fee for performing in the Casbah that night. Brown had showed up at the house, but was too ill to perform, so Best told him to rest upstairs in the Bests' living room. She later insisted that Brown deserved to be paid for showing up, but, led by McCartney, the rest of the group insisted on being paid his share of the group's fee. After an argument The Quarrymen walked out of the Casbah and ended their residency.

As the first prize was a TV appearance on Carrol Levis' Discoveries TV show, the group entered the Star Search competition as Johnny and the Moondogs, with only Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison. The first heat was held at the Liverpool Empire Theatre on 18 October 1959, and after they passed the audition they were asked to play at the Manchester Hippodrome for the local finals, on Sunday 15 November 1959. This date has been disputed as being Monday 24 November 1958, as UK theatres were closed on Sundays in those days. According to Ray Ennis of the Swinging Bluegenes (later called The Swinging Blue Jeans) the registration process in Manchester took all day, as there was a queue of musicians carrying amplifiers and instruments that stretched all the way around the building. Lennon (without a guitar), McCartney, and Harrison played Buddy Holly's "Think It Over", but the last train or bus left for Liverpool at 9:47, and at 9:20 there were still 12 acts to perform. As the trio only had £1 between them, it was impossible to stay any longer. As they were leaving, Lennon saw a cutaway electric guitar by the stage door, picked it up and walked off with it, later saying that the trip "wasn't a total loss."

During the school holidays of 1960, Lennon and McCartney performed together twice as the Nerk Twins, after hitchhiking to the Fox and Hounds pub in Caversham, Reading, which was managed by Mike Robbins and his wife Elizabeth (McCartney's cousin). Robbins had previously been in a group called the Jones Boys, and told stories to Lennon and McCartney about show business. Lennon and McCartney worked in the bar for the whole week for £5 each, performing on Saturday 23 April 1960, and again on Sunday, before returning to Liverpool.