by Michael Gallucci July 6, 2013 6:10 AM

The first time John Lennon met Paul McCartney, Lennon was about ready to go onstage with his band the Quarrymen. One of the group members knew McCartney from school, so he introduced him to his bandmates. Lennon was 16; McCartney was 15. It was July 6, 1957, and the most significant meeting in rock history was about to go down.

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The six-piece Quarrymen were setting up for their 8 p.m. performance in the garden of Liverpool’s St Peter’s Church. After chatting for a few minutes, McCartney showed Lennon how to tune his guitar. He then played a few classic rock ‘n’ roll songs — including cuts by Gene Vincent and Little Richard – to show Lennon what he was capable of.

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Then the Quarrymen performed. “I just thought, ‘Well, he looks good, he’s singing well and he seems like a great lead singer to me,’” McCartney said of Lennon’s performance to Record Collector magazine in 1995. “Of course, he had his glasses off, so he really looked suave. I remember John was good. He was really the only outstanding member, all the rest kind of slipped away.”

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Incidentally, that Quarrymen show was recorded on tape and sold for approximately $120,000 in 1994.

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After the show, the Quarrymen, along with McCartney and another pal, went to a pub, where they lied about their ages to get served. Lennon was so impressed with McCartney’s natural talent and knowledge of music that he and the other members of the group later asked McCartney to join them, even though Lennon was a bit hesitant to invite such a powerful figure into his group.

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A year later, George Harrison joined the band. By early 1959, everyone else had quit, leaving the trio of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison without a real group. Within a year, they picked up another member, a drummer (Pete Best) and renamed themselves the Beatles. You know the rest.

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Ultimate Classic Rock

Hands down THE BEATLES are THE BEST. Ever.

I wonder if Stuart Sutcliffe hadn't passed away, would his art career have taken off?

Stuart Sutcliffe - The Lost Beatle

Pete Best 2004 interview

Freda 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.

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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.

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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.

Freda Kelly, Ryan White (Director) and Kathy McCabe (Producer) taking questions at the SXSW Festival, Austin, Texas, March 9, 2013, following the world premiere of "Good Ol' Freda."

Paul (right corner with Buddy Holly glasses) watching The Quarrymen

The Quarrymen 2010 interview

George Harrison watching early Beatles footage in 1976

chewymusic said:

Hands down THE BEATLES are THE BEST. Ever.

I've lived in off Penny Lane all my life and regulary walk passed famous beatles lankmarks like the church where John & Paul met and the bus stop they used to rendevoux at and stuff. It's so cool to walk passed these dusty old places that look so normal, so boring, so average - but are all actually the birth place of all Pop Culture as we know it !! Liverpool has fallen off the map since then, but these forgotten places still feel a bit magical to me.

TheScouser said:

I've lived in off Penny Lane all my life and regulary walk passed famous beatles lankmarks like the church where John & Paul met and the bus stop they used to rendevoux at and stuff. It's so cool to walk passed these dusty old places that look so normal, so boring, so average - but are all actually the birth place of all Pop Culture as we know it !! Liverpool has fallen off the map since then, but these forgotten places still feel a bit magical to me.

Cool

Cry For A Shadow

"New" Beatles Music May B...In October

The first BBC album

A cave that everyone figured had been fully mined may be ready to spring forth with even more jewels. Reports across the web say that a new set of Beatles performances on the BBC will be released in October.

According to the WogBlog, an internal release list from Universal Music shows an October 4 released date for Live at the BBC, Volume 2, a followup to the original 1994 album of recordings from the network.

The site also mentions that many of the Beatles' performances on the BBC were lost as the network regularly recorded over shows on tape as a cost cutting measure. It's unknown if this new set will be original BBC tapes or those that may have been recorded and archived by others.

The release may tie in with the new book The Beatles: The BBC Archives: 1962-1970, which will also be released in October. The author, Kevin Howlett, previously released The Beatles at the Beeb.

Planned release date: October 1, 2013

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In the mid-1960s the often rigid and colourless British way of life was irrevocably transformed by the emergence of a cultural underground movement. Led by a loose collective of young radicals, they introduced new social, sexual and aesthetic perspectives. Operating out of the heart of London, their various activities, from 'The International Times' - a bi-weekly journal that no hipster could be seen without - to the psychedelic nightclub UFO, promoted alternative lifestyles and values, and sparked a social revolution. This film not only traces the history of this underground scene, but also explores its impact on the pre-eminent British group of the era, The Beatles.

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Although they were well established by the time the movement emerged, Paul McCartney in particular, was closely linked with several of its key players, and through his exposure to cutting edge concepts brought ideas directly from the avant-garde into the mainstream. Featuring many new interviews with key players from the time including; IT editor and long term friend of Paul McCartney, Barry Miles; founder of IT and UFO club organiser, John 'Hoppy' Hopkins; founder of UFO and Pink Floyd producer , Joe Boyd; Soft Machine drummer, Robert Wyatt; drummer from experimental improvisational collective AMM, Eddie Prevost; proprietor of Indica, the counter-cultural gallery, John Dunbar; Underground scenester, vocalist with The Deviants and IT journalist, Mick Farren; plus author of 'Days in the Life: Voices from the English Underground 1961 - 1971', Jonathon Greene; Beatles expert, Chris Ingham and Mojo jounalist Mark Paytress. Also includes rare archive footage, photographs from private collections and music from The Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Soft Machine, AMM and others.

Lennon tooth owner aims to clone Beatle

The dentist who won John Lennon’s tooth at auction in 2011 is aiming to clone the late Beatle, he’s claimed.

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Michael Zuk paid $32,000 for the souvenir two years ago, and at the time said he’d put it on display in his practice.

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Now he’s revealed he’s working with US scientists in an attempt to extract DNA from the tooth.

Zuk states: “I am nervous and excited at the possibility that we will be able to fully sequence John Lennon’s DNA – very soon, I hope.

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“With researchers working on ways to clone mammoths, the same technology certainly could make human cloning a reality.

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“To potentially say I had a small part in bringing back one of rock’s greatest stars would be mind-blowing.”

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The item came to auction via Barry Jarlett, the son of a woman who was once Lennon’s housekeeper. At the end of the 1960s he handed the tooth to her saying: “Will you dispose of this? Or, as your daughter is a Beatles fan, you can give it to her.” Lennon died in 1980 after being shot by Mark Chapman.

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Zuk had previously sent the tooth on a tour of the UK to promote mouth cancer awareness and he’s been selling a range of Lennon DNA pendants. His research programme is being filmed by a UK documentary team.

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He’s set up a website called JohnLennonTooth.com.