Len Garry

1957–1958

In 1953 Garry was a pupil at Liverpool Institute High School for Boys, where he met Ivan Vaughan, who later introduced him to Paul McCartney.^[1] The two knew each other briefly as they were in the same German class. Two years later, Garry met John Lennon^[1] and in 1956 the Quarrymen were formed. The Quarrymen's original tea-chest bassist, Bill Smith, stopped showing up for practice and Garry became the band's new tea-chest bassist.^[1] This group, consisting of John Lennon, Eric Griffiths, Pete Shotton, Garry, Colin Hanton, and Rod Davis, formed the first stable line-up.

Garry performed with the Quarrymen at two of their most historical performances, on Rosebery Street, on 22 June 1957, and at their first performance at The Cavern Club.^[1] Garry remained with the group for a few months, but had to drop out after falling severely ill with tubercular meningitis.^[1] He did not return to the group. He recalled:^[1][3]

In 1955 I finally met John Lennon when Ivan Vaughan invited him to Woolton, where I bumped into Lennon, Shotton, Ivan and Nigel walking along Vale Road. I 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 I soon stepped into his shoes and became a permanent member of the band, staying with the group until August 1958 when I fell seriously ill with tubercular meningitis, spending some 7 months in hospital.

A few months after Garry's departure, the Quarrymen recorded their first singles: "That'll Be the Day" and "In Spite of All the Danger". Garry was one of two members of the Quarrymen who did not attend Quarry Bank High School^[2], after which the band was named after, the other being Nigel Walley. Garry was in the same room as John Lennon, when he and McCartney first met on 6 July 1957:^[4]

I remember Paul coming along that night at St Peter's Church Hall, picking up a guitar – I didn't even know he was left-handed – and playing a couple of chords. I think he was trying to audition for us. John always wanted someone to support him, no matter what he did, and Paul came along at the right time. It wasn't just about playing guitar together or singing, it was about composing as well.

1994–2026

In 1997, Garry reunited with surviving members of the Quarrymen to perform a concert to commemorate 40 years since the group's formation.^[5] They embarked on a tour of the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Japan, among others. Garry participated on all subsequent Quarrymen releases, including their three albums Get Back – Together (1997), Songs We Remember (2004), and Grey Album (2012). Their later material primarily consisted of rock and roll and skiffle songs from the 1950s. Garry was portrayed by actor Frazer Bird in the 2009 biopic Nowhere Boy.^[6] The Quarrymen performed in New York City, for what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday in 2010.^[5]

With The Quarrymen