6 July 1957: The Day That Shaped Pop History 🎸

(The Beatles Bible)

6 July 1957 was a key day for the history of modern music: it was the day when John Lennon met Paul McCartney for the first time.

It was a sunny afternoon and there was a simple church fete at St Peter’s Church in Woolton South Liverpool, the annual Woolton Parish Church Garden Fete, with
refreshments, ice cream vans, craft stalls, games, police dog demonstrations and music.

The entertainment began at two p.m. with the opening procession to the Church field. There were two lorries, the first lorry carried the Rose Queen, with her cortege, all dressed in pink with ribbons and roses in their hair, and the second the band. They were the Quarrymen, a skiffle/rock and roll group. formed by John Lennon in Liverpool a few months before. (Skiffle is a kind of folk music that often uses a combination of manufactured and improvised instruments).

They first played on the back of the moving lorry, and then on a permanent stage in the field behind the church.

15-year-old Paul McCartney was there, because he had been invited by his schoolmate Ivan Vaughan, one of the players. He was deeply impressed by John’s performance, despite his rudimentary guitar skills and his tendency to make up the lyrics he didn’t know.
After the show Ivan introduced the band to him. And now it was Paul’s turn to impress John, when he pulled out the guitar he was carrying on his back, showed him how to tune it and played some of his favourite songs.

♪♫♬ After a week, John invited Paul to join the band, and together they changed the face of music. ♪♫♬