A lad named Paul visited the fete with a friend and watched the Quarry Men perform the Del Vikings' "Come Go With Me". The lead singer John knew the chorus, all right, but wasn't so good on all the lyrics. So he kept making them up. The Quarry Men performed once and were supposed to go on again after a police dog demonstration, but the dogs ran late. Later, the Quarry Men performed during the evening dance when the "real" band, the typical schmaltzy dance music type, took breaks.
The whole proceedings have been remembered and memorialized in a new BBC documentary, combining interviews of Woolton residents and some of the band, too. There's even a story from a couple who'd been married that day, who tell how the groom's visiting relatives couldn't understand why so many people had turned up for the wedding.
That lad Paul also tells a story of how, before the band set up in the church hall, he hung out with the Quarry Men and their pals. He took hold of one of the guitars, tuned it properly, held it upside down (he was left-handed and had learned how to play right-handed guitars upside down) and played Eddie Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock". John was impressed by the proper tuning and the fact that Paul knew all the words and didn't have to make any lyrics up.
At any rate, a week or so later, John Lennon extended an invitation to Paul McCartney to join the Quarry Men.
Happy 50th.
(the BBC radio link requires a Real-type player of some sort in order to listen. yeah, yeah, tell it to mrs. trellis.)
