On 6th July 1957, Paul McCartney was introduced to John Lennon after watching The Quarrymen perform at St. Peter’s Church in Woolton, Liverpool.
What really did happen? Having spoken to all of the surviving members of the Quarrymen, I could finally get as close to the truth as is possible.
Watch for the story of that incredible day.
Although St. PETER’S Church is famous for being the place where John Lennon met Paul McCartney on 6th July 1957, John had been attending Sunday School here from the age of 5. Many of his friends from The Quarrymen also attended here too.
John, his best friends Pete Shotton and Nigel Walley also sang in the choir, though it won’t surprise you that John was thrown out of the choir too!
Join me as I go through the doors and into the church to see inside the famous St Peter’s where John sang in the choir
On 6th July 1957, the day John Lennon met Paul McCartney for the first time, there was a parade around the village of Woolton. At the front of the parade was a marching band, and at the back was The Quarrymen. In the above photo, you can see that John is singing, though nobody else is doing anything!
The Quarrymen (left to right) are: Pete Shotton, Eric Griffiths, Len Garry, John Lennon, Colin Hanton and Rod Davis. The photos of the parade were taken by Rod’s father James Davis. This photo appeared in my first book, Liddypool, and was inserted at the last minute, when the book was on the printing press ready to go! We literally said; “Hold the presses!” It was the first time it had appeared in a book.
When I was working on my second book, “The Fab one hundred and Four: The Evolution of The Beatles”, I gained permission from Rod Davis to reproduce all of the photos from the parade, the only book to include all of the photographs. These include the marching band, brownies and guides, the youth group, the Rose Queen and another of The Quarrymen. They are incredible. You can get your copy of the book here.
As the parade finished, everyone left the parade, as The Quarrymen clambered down from the wagon, and walked along the side of the church to the field behind the church. In that crowd watching closely was Ivan Vaughan, and his school friend Paul McCartney. Who could have predicted what would happen this day would still be talked about all these years later.
David Bedford
