The Quarrymen

The odds are extraordinarily high that, under ordinary circumstances, the Quarrymen (or Quarry Men--no two sources agree on the spelling) would have been forgotten decades ago, along with thousands of other skiffle bands that sprang up throughout England in the middle/late-1950's. As it worked out, however, they proved one of the great sources of talent in the history of popular music, having been founded by John Lennon, and Paul Mccartney and George Harrison having passed through their line-up.



With a lapse of about six months, The Quarrymen essentially evolved into the Beatles. The Quarrymen were founded by John Lennon at the Quarry Bank School in Liverpool in the middle of 1957. As with most non-professional skiffle bands, the group's line-up was fairly fluid, depending upon who was available on any given week. The core of the original group, apart from Lennon on guitar, included Pete Shotton (washboard), Eric Griffiths (lead guitar), Rod Davis (banjo), Bill Smith (tea chest bass), and Colin Hanton (drums)--Smith was succeeded quickly by either Ivan Vaughan or Nigel Whalley (who later became their manager), but by June of that year, Len Garry had taken over the bass chores.

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