1997

The Cavern’s 40th Birthday Party Jan ‘97:

   In January 1997 the Cavern decided to hold a 40th Birthday party and invite all the bands who had played there in the early days to the unveiling of the “Cavern Wall of Fame” in Mathew Street, which contains an inscribed brick with the names of all those groups. The unveiling was to be done by Billy J Kramer who had flown over from the USA especially to be there.
   The Quarrymen played at the Cavern a number of times during 1957. The booking was probably made through Nige Walley, who eventually became the group’s manager. Nige was an assistant golf pro at the Lee Park Golf Club in Liverpool, where Cavern owner Alan Sytner was a member. Nige got the Quarrymen a booking at the Golf Club, one which was memorable for Rod Davis as he split the zip on his jeans just before going on stage and had to play all evening with
a strategically placed banjo and is was almost certainly as a result of this gig that the Quarrymen appeared at the Cavern. Although Mark Lewisohn has said that their first gig there was in Aug 1957, they played there a number of times before that in what were billed as “Skiffle Sessions” - the August gig was the first one in which the “Echo” advertisement mentioned the Quarrymen by name.
   Anyway, all five of the surviving original group actually turned up, Pete Shotton, Len Garry, Eric Griffiths, Rod Davis and eventually Colin Hanton plus John Duff Lowe who joined in 1958. They had a great time listening to the many vintage groups and enjoyed the free booze. Then about 7pm it was suggested that as a local TV company were coming round the Quarrymen should actually get on stage and play something. This was a bit radical as the guys had not played together since the 1950’s, although Len, Duff and Rod did get together for a short time during the ‘90s. Gary Gibson joined them in the John Lennon role and Lawrence Gilmour as Paul McCartney. Somehow they go through several numbers together and as a result Jean Catharell, Phil Matthews, Kath and George Gunby, all of them huge Beatles fans, asked if the Quarrymen would be interested in trying to recreate the 6th July 1957, the day John met Paul, at St Peter’s Church in Woolton on July 5 and 6 1997.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE QUARRYMEN AT THE CAVERN IN JAN 1997:

At first they were horrified at the thought, then they said “Why not?”, it was going to be in aid of the fabric of the St Peter’s Church Hall and it would be a laugh, and so it proved.

Woolton Village Fete - July 1997

   All the members of John Lennon's original Quarrymen Skiffle Group, Pete Shotton (washboard), Eric Griffiths (guitar), Rod Davis (banjo), Len Garry (tea chest bass) and Colin Hanton (drums), with of course the sad exception of John himself, were reunited in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton at the village fete where they played forty years ago on the day John Lennon first met Paul McCartney.
   The event was organised by Jean Catharell of Liverpool Beatlescene, Kathleen and George Gunby and Phil Matthews of Yesterday Once More and by St. Peter's Church itself, with assistance from Beatles Consultant Martin Lewis - in aid of the "Help!" fund for the restoration of the Church Hall where the two Beatles first met.
Messages from the Queen and Sir Paul!
   Thanks to the publicity efforts of Martin Lewis messages of support were received from Her Majesty the Queen, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Yoko Ono Lennon, Cynthia Lennon, Sir George Martin and last but not least, Sir Paul McCartney himself!
   The Quarrymen toured the village playing on the back of a lorry in the fete procession, just as they did forty years before, even the lorry driver was the same man!
   Then on a blazing summer's day the Quarrymen played to a crowd of over 3,000 people on the Church Field, many of them Beatles fans who had travelled from all over the world just to be there.
   Later that day, supported by Beatles tribute band Ringer, the Quarrymen played to a packed audience in the Church Hall itself, an evening absolutely full of nostalgia and emotion. Among the numbers they played was "Putting on the style" - a Lonnie Donegan number which they had played on the same stage forty years before and which had been recorded by the young Bob Molyneux standing in the audience. This tape was subsequently sold at Sotheby's for £69,000, the most expensive recording ever!
   They also played "Twenty Flight Rock" which was the tune played by the young Paul McCartney which impressed Lennon so much that Paul was invited to join the band.
Pete Shotton sings!
   The most nostalgic moment of the whole weekend came at the end of the Quarrymen's set when Pete Shotton sang solo on stage for the first time in his life. In tribute to his best mate John he sang "Imagine" with such feeling and emotion that there were tears in the audience. Pete said later that people always wept when he tried to sing, so he was quite used to it.
Commemorative plaque
   On the following morning, after a service at St. Peter's Church, the Quarrymen unveiled a plaque on the Church Hall which commemorated their 1957 performance and the meeting of John and Paul.

The Quarrymen in 1997:

Derby Convention Nov ‘97:

The Original Quarrymen - Pete Shotton- Eric Griffiths - Rod Davis - Len Garry - Colin Hanton - appeared at the Playhouse, Derby on Sunday, 9 November at the Derby Convention for the launch of their new CD "Get back - Together". Hundreds of Beatlefans poured into the Derby Convention to enjoy the fun. As well as appearances by The Beatles' Mr. Fixit, Alastair Taylor and the terrific tribute band, the "Fab Four", the audience was treated to a mini "This is Your Life" on the Quarrymen.
   The guys were totally astounded at a tape recorded message from their old manager, Nigel Walley. Later on they were surprised to learn that Jonathan Bailey, the Head Boy of Quarry Bank School when they were in the 5th year and who had booked the Quarrymen for school dances, was also in the audience. Their surprise was even greater when they discovered that Jonathan was now the Bishop of Derby!
   Yet another surprise came in the form of Rob Molyneux, who as a young man had taped the Quarrymen's performance on the evening of the day John met Paul. Rod's recording went for £79,000 at Sotheby's, creating a record in the Guinness Book of Records for the most expensive recording ever! A snatch of this recording featured in EMI's MUSIC 100 Exhibition during 1998.
   To the delight of the crowd, the Quarrymen played a set which included most of the numbers on their new CD and between numbers Phil Matthews, who was hosting the proceedings, persuaded them to talk about the early days of the group.
   Nige Walley turned up in person later in the afternoon, claiming jokingly that he still had the Quarrymen under contract! He was invited to climb on top of the tea-chest bass as it was being played, a trick he loved to perform in his youth, but he sensibly turned this offer down and joined in on washboard on the Quarrymen's last number, " Twenty Flight Rock!"
   Thanks go to Kathleen and George Gunby, of "Yesterday Once More", to Phil Matthews, Dave Ravenscroft and Chris Raisin for a fantastic day's enjoyment.

John Lennon’s
Original Quarrymen