The Beatles 1957-1961

Chapter 1

1957-1961

Liverpool, Merseyside, England, July 6, 1957. 16-year old John Lennon meets 15 year old Paul McCartney at a church garden party. Lennon's band The Quarrymen had just played a set, and Paul had been impressed enough to come up to chat with him. As it turns out, McCartney was a musician too, and performed a song for Lennon backstage. Lennon was also impressed, and asked McCartney to join the group as a rhythm guitarist. McCartney said yes. The two quickly got along due to their shared love for American rock and roll. In February 1958, McCartney invited his buddy George Harrison to watch the band. Harrison loved what he saw and also wanted in. After impressing the band with his amazing guitar skills, they enlisted him as lead guitarist. By January 1959, Lennon's buddies who had formed the original band were out of the picture, and it was just him, Paul, and George. They continued to perform, though, sometimes performing as Johnny and the Moondogs. Whenever they could find a random drummer, they would play a show. Meanwhile, Lennon had begun studying at Liverpool College of Art, and there he met a dude named Stuart Sutcliffe. He was actually the one who convinced the band to change their name to The Beatals, yes, spelled that way. Later they were The Sliver Beetles, the The Sliver Beatles, and then finally just The Beatles. So they were
The Quarrymen/The Beatals/The Sliver Beetles/The Sliver Beatles/The Beatles,
5 names. They were The Beatles by August of 1960. It was around this time that they got a residency in the famous red light district of Hamburg, West Germany. They also got a drummer named Pete Best. For the nest 3 1/2 months, the now five-piece band played lots of shows in Hamburg. Even though they were all back in Liverpool in early 1961, they'd be back to Hamburg several times over the next couple years. Around that time, Sutcliffe left the band to go back to school and pursue painting, and McCartney took over bass. Tragically, Sutcliffe would die from a brain hemorrhage the next year on April 10, 1962. Throughout 1961, The Beatles began to build up a following with the growing Merseybeat movement. A producer named Bert Kaempfert hired The Beatles now a four-piece, to tour as Tony Sheridan's backing band for some recordings for Polydor Records.

To Be Continued...