Welcome to the Quarrymen’s Official Website
How many people were ever regular members of the Quarrymen?
Good question! If you believe all the reports of people who claim to have played in the Quarrymen the resulting list would be larger than the membership of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra!
The exact membership has been a matter of confusion for many years. However, as a result of a lot of extensive research by many dedicated historians and careful contemplation and consulting of source documents and materials by the surviving Quarrymen – we have been able to determine the history of the group lineups as best we think can ever be done.
Broadly speaking there are two types of lads associated with the Quarrymen. Those who were with the band for at least a few months and performed at multiple public appearances. Those were regular members. And there were some good friends who who were only around for a comparatively short time. Either because they faded out very quickly for various reasons or because they played only on a few occasions -helping out at rehearsals and/or a few live shows. Those good friends are considered honorary members at the very least.
During the four years that the band performed as The Quarrymen (1956-1960) - a total of ten youngsters passed through the ranks of the group as regular members - with a handful of others lending an occasional hand. The instrument listed is the instrument played during the 1956-1960 period.
REGULAR MEMBERS:
John Lennon - 1956-1960: guitar & vocals (d: 1980)
Pete Shotton - 1956-1957: washboard
Eric Griffiths - 1956-1958: guitar (d: 2005)
Bill Smith - 1956: "tea-chest" bass member of the first
unnamed lineup and played with the Quarrymen at a couple
of early appearances before leaving the group.
Rod Davis - 1956-1957: banjo
Len Garry - 1956-1958: "tea-chest" bass
Colin Hanton - 1956-1959: drums
Paul McCartney - 1957-1960: guitar & vocals
George Harrison - 1958-1960: guitar & vocals (d: 2001)
John Duff Lowe - 1958: piano at a number of shows and on the Percy Phillips’ recording in 1958
FRIENDS & HONORARY MEMBERS -
who also made occasional appearances
Ivan Vaughan - 1956-1958: "tea-chest" bass at a few rehearsals & shows (d: 1993)
Nigel Walley – 1956-1958: "tea-chest" bass at a few rehearsals & shows - then became Manager
Ken Brown - 1959: guitar at a few shows as an "honorary" Quarryman (d: 2010)
Stuart Sutcliffe - 1960: electric bass at a few rehearsals in Spring 1960 before the Quarrymen name was dropped – finally settling on “The Beatles” in August 1960 (d: 1962)