Len Garry
|
Len played tea-chest bass with the Quarrymen from 1956 until 1958 and he now plays guitar and has been lead vocalist with the revived Quarrymen since 1997.
f me, I did not get to know them. John Lennon himself also spent a short time at Mosspits! Len went to the Liverpool Institute High School, where he became a close friend of Ivan Vaughan. It was here he got to know Paul McCartney, who was a fellow member of his German class. In 1955 he met John Lennon & soon became "one of the gang" who would hang around Calderstones Park. In 1956 a lad called George Lee, a friend of Eric Griffiths and John Lennon at Quarry Bank School, suggested to John that he form his own group. This was at the height of the skiffle craze, and sure enough in the autumn of 1956 the band that was to become the Quarrymen took shape, with another Quarry Bank lad called Bill Smith on tea chest bass. Bill however, never turned up for practices and so Len soon stepped into his shoes and became a permanent member of the band, staying with the group until August 1958 when he fell seriously ill with tubercular meningitis, spending some 7 months in hospital. Some of his notable appearances with the Quarrymen included their first ever booking at the "Cavern" in early 1957, on the back of the lorry at Rosebery Street, and probably their best known gig at the St. Peter's Church Rose Queen on 5 July 1957, the day Ivan Vaughan brought his friend Paul McCartney to hear John Lennon's band! Freda KellyFreda Kelly was just a shy Liverpudlian teenager when she was asked to work for a local band hoping to make it big. Though she had no concept of how far they would go, Freda had faith in The Beatles from the beginning, and The Beatles had faith in her.
History notes that The Beatles were together for 10 years, but Freda worked for them for 11. Many people came in and out of the band's circle as they grew to international stardom, but Freda remained a staple because of her unfaltering loyalty and dedication. As the Beatles' devoted secretary and friend, Freda was there as history unfolded; she was witness to the evolution – advances and setbacks, breakthroughs and challenges – of the greatest band in history. In Good Ol' Freda, Freda tells her stories for the first time in 50 years. One of few documentaries with the support of the living Beatles and featuring original Beatles music, the film offers an insider perspective on the beloved band that changed the world of music. |
"The hour we spent with Len and Colin (original Quarrymen) is one of the most profound and moving experiences we've ever had" Colin Hanton
Colin played drums with the Quarrymen from 1956 until 1959, appearing with John, Paul and George and he has been playing with the revived Quarrymen since 1997.
He was born in Walton Hospital on 12 December 1938 and lived in Bootle during the war years. The family moved to Woolton in 1946 when he was about seven or eight. This was where he first got to know Rod Davis, who lived in a nearby street. When he left school Colin decided he wanted to be a carpenter and the careers master sent himoff to a furniture company called Guy Rogers in Speke where he became an apprentice upholsterer. He bought a drum kit on hire purchase from Frank Hessy's Music Shop in Liverpool. It was very unusual for anyone to have a set of drums at all in those days and of course the attraction of skiffle music was that you didn't need expensive instruments. He used to meet Eric Griffiths on the bus going to work and when he told him about the drumkit he asked Colin to join the Quarrymen. One by one the other original members of the Quarrymen dropped out or were replaced and Colin found myself as the drummer playing with John, Paul and George. In 1958 they made a record, John, Paul, George, John Duff Lowe on piano and Colin - the famous recording of "In spite of all the danger" and That'll be the day" which appeared on the Anthology. He left the Quarrymen after playing a booking at LCPT Club in Norris Green. They'd drunk a few beers during the interval and an argument started on the way home on the bus. He got off to catch another bus & they never contacted him again. He saw John a few times and he told Colin that they had got a drummer called Pete, which must have been Pete Best. After that they all lost touch completely. Colin put his drums away and never played them again until The Quarrymen got together to practise for the 40th Anniversary at St. Peter's in 1995! |
