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The Quarrymen
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
The Quarrymen was the skiffle group that John Lennon started in Liverpool in November 1956 with school friends from Quarry Bank High School, which gave the band its name. Skiffle was a craze in Britain at the time: it required neither expensive instruments nor great skill. Pete Shotton played washboard, another band member a tea-chest bass, and Lennon played guitar with banjo chords that his mother Julia had taught him. The repertoire came largely from Lonnie Donegan, supplemented with rock 'n' roll by Elvis Presley.
Music and breakthrough
On 6 July 1957 the group played at a church fete in Woolton. There a friend introduced Lennon to Paul McCartney, who showed how he tuned his guitar and sang Twenty Flight Rock. Shortly afterwards McCartney became a member. At the beginning of 1958 he brought in his school friend George Harrison, although Lennon at first thought him too young. Skiffle gave way to rock 'n' roll, with Buddy Holly as an important example, and Lennon and McCartney began writing songs together. In July 1958 the group cut a record directly onto disc in a small studio in Liverpool, with That'll Be the Day by Buddy Holly and In Spite of All the Danger, a song by McCartney and Harrison.
Influence
Afterwards Lennon, McCartney and Harrison were left. They played under names such as Johnny and the Moondogs, and in 1960 they became The Beatles. The Quarrymen shows how the greatest pop group of the 1960s grew out of the do-it-yourself culture of skiffle.
Listening
In Spite of All the Danger · The Quarrymen, 1958Apple Music ↗
Discography
Studio albums
- 1994Open for Engagements
- 1997Get Back – Together
- 2004Songs We Remember
- 2012Grey Album
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 3: The BeatlesNL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Skiffle Genre
Thousands of teenagers started a band this way, among them John Lennon with The Quarrymen.