Lennon's original band to play at remote festival

THE band that John Lennon made his first public appearance with 50 years ago today are to play at a festival being held in his honour in the remotest corner of mainland Scotland.

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The Quarrymen will spend three days at the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival in Durness - even playing in Britain's own natural Cavern...Smoo Cave, the country's longest sea cave.

It now means that the festival being held in Lennon's beloved Durness - where he spent many childhood holidays - carries the endorsement of his family and artists who knew him and his original band. It will be attended by his sister, Julia Baird and Stan Parkes, Lennon's oldest surviving relative who were both at John's first Quarrymen gig 50

years ago today. At the same event Lennon met Paul McCartney for the first time.

Now as well as The Quarrymen, the cream of British arts will be descending on Durness, a village of just 356 people, for three days between September 28-30 for the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival. The Quarrymen - who normally only play a couple of gigs a year - got back together in 1997 to celebrate the most momentous meeting in pop music history. They enjoyed themselves so much and interest from fans was so great that they decided to re-form the group forty years on!

The current Quarrymen lineup comprises three of those five original musicians - Colin Hanton on drums, Len Garry, former bass player, now playing guitar and replacing Lennon as lead singer and Rod Davis, from Quarry Bank School, at first the banjo player but now on guitar. Davis played when Lennon was in the group, Garry played with Lennon and McCartney, and Hanton played with all The Beatles - except Ringo Starr - on the famous Percy Phillips recording session which produced "In spite of all the danger" and "That'll be the day" which feature on the famous

Beatles "Anthology" album. The Quarrymen, of course, eventually evolved into The Beatles.

The other members of the original group were Lennon's lifelong friend, washboard player Pete Shotton, who retired in Dec 2000 for health reasons and guitarist Eric Griffiths who died in January 2005.

"We really wanted to play this festival because Durness meant so much to John," said Rod Davis.

"We have played all the other important places like The Cavern so this was the missing piece in the jigsaw for us.

"We can't wait to come and play and talk to people about John and those times. And playing in Smoo Cave really excites us. It will be just like The Cavern!" The Quarrymen play the music which influenced the birth of The Beatles,

the skiffle and Rock ''n'' Roll of the mid fifties.

Beatle biographer Hunter Davies wrote the story of The Quarrymen, which was published in 2001. In it he chartered how on July 6, 1957 John Lennon and The Quarrymen were playing at St Peter's Rose Queen Celebrations and Garden Fete in their home village of Woolton.

They were on stage singing their version of the Del Vikings 'Come go with me' when one of their old friends Ivan Vaughan arrived with a schoolmate from Liverpool Institute High School. That schoolmate was Paul McCartney

and that was the moment The Beatles began. Later that day McCartney met Lennon face to face and demonstrated his prowess on the guitar. Lennon realised that he had to persuade the talented "Macca" to join The Quarrymen and a few weeks later he became part of the group.

Shortly before his death Lennon tried to buy Durness, where he spent many a happy holiday in his childhood. He previously returned in 1969 with Yoko Ono and their respective children Julian and Kyoko, but suffered a car crash which hospitalised them for several days in Golspie.

Film writer Derek Yeaman, who has meticulously researched that incident, will also be presenting a talk on those events during the festival. The cream of British arts including top musicians, poets, writers, artists and photographers are taking part in the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival.

Among those taking part are chart toppers Nizlopi, the Queen's Master of Music Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, artist Peter Howson, poets Carol Ann Duffy and John Cooper Clarke and singers Julie Fowlis and Donnie Munro. Bands like Mr Hudson and The Library, King Creosote, Blazin Fiddles and Eclipse and writer Kevin MacNeil are also taking part. A whole range of up and coming bands and performers are also on the bill - and there is a rave in Smoo Cave. Details can be found at www.northhighlandsscotland.com/festival

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