Today in Beatles History: July 6

** The following events in Beatles history all took place on July 6. **

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Beatles * [J] John * [P] Paul * [G] George * [R] Ringo * [O] Other
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1957
The Quarry Men perform at a Garden Fete held at St. Peter's Church,
Woolton, Liverpool. After an outside performance on a makeshift
stage in a field behind the church, The Quarry Men begin setting up
their instruments in the church hall for an evening dance; they are
scheduled to play alternating sets with the George Edwards Band. A
15-year-old friend of Ivan Vaughan, Paul McCartney, had arrived
during the afternoon performance, and he had been impressed with
John Lennon's stage presence. Paul is introduced to John by Ivan
as The Quarry Men are setting up for their evening performance.
John is a bit drunk. Paul, eager to impress John, picks up a
guitar and plays versions of the recent hits "Twenty Flight Rock"
(Eddie Cochran) and "Be-Bop-A-Lula" (Gene Vincent). John is indeed
impressed, and even more so when Paul writes down the lyrics for
him, which John has trouble remembering. The best bit comes when
Paul shows John and Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars,
something they'd been paying someone else to do for them. John
recognizes Paul's talent right away, and he realizes that The
Quarry Men need Paul to strengthen them, even though it might cost
John his position of dominance in the group. But since making
music is John's chief concern, he decides to invite Paul to join
The Quarry Men. [Note: an alternate source states that the songs
Paul played on this occasion were "Long Tall Sally" and "Tutti
Frutti"]. (1456)

[J] 1957
Bob Molyneux, using a reel-to-reel tape recorder belonging to his
father, records John Lennon and The Quarry Men at the evening
dance of the Woolton Garden Fete, St. Peter's Church, Woolton,
Liverpool, England. Hans Gottfridsson reports that a portion of
the recording is still in existence, and a sound clip purporting to
be that recording is available on various web sites. (3707)

[J] 1961
Release of the first issue of Bill Harry's Liverpool music
newspaper "Mersey Beat". Included in this issue is a witty article
written by John Lennon entitled, "Being a Short Diversion On The
Dubious Origins Of Beatles". In the piece, written in the style
that will later bring Lennon world-wide literary fame, he
attributes the naming of The Beatles to a mysterious man on a
flaming pie. (1272)

1962
The Beatles perform on board MV 'Royal Iris' on the River Mersey.
Another "Riverboat Shuffle" put on by the ****rn Club. Once again,
they share the bill with Acker Bilk, whose single "Stranger On The
Shore" remains in the Top Ten six months after its release.
Sometime that evening, Bilk gives each of The Beatles (John, Paul,
George, and Pete) a black bowler hat, his trademark. (1490)

1963
The Beatles perform at (Victory) Memorial Hall, Northwich. Before
their appearance, The Beatles attended the annual Northwich
Carnival, causing a lot of commotion. Paul McCartney personally
crowned the new carnival queen. (1838)

1964
US release of single "Ain't She Sweet/Nobody's Child" (Atco). 9
weeks on Billboard chart; highest position #19. (24)

1964
All four Beatles attend the London premiere of their first feature
film, "A Hard Day's Night". The movie is an instant success with
fans and critics alike. (2145)

1967
Release in Sweden of Beatles single "All You Need Is Love/Baby,
You're a Rich Man" (Parlophone). Ten weeks in the Swedish charts;
highest position #1. (3786)

[J] 1969
John, Yoko, and Kyoko leave Lawson Memorial Hospital in Golspie,
Scotland, having recovered sufficiently from wounds received in an
auto accident to be released by their doctors. They fly back to
London in a specially chartered helicopter. The Golspie newspaper
quotes the departing Lennon as having said, "If you're going to
have a car crash try to arrange for it to happen in the Highlands.
The hospital there was just great." (3085)

[P] 1974
Paul McCartney and Wings' LP "Band on the Run" is #1 in the UK
charts. (2494)

[R] 1978
US release of Ringo Starr single "Heart On My Sleeve/Who Needs a
Heart" (Portrait). (231)

[J] 1981
US re-release of John Lennon single "(Just Like) Starting
Over/Woman" (Geffen). Both songs previously issued as the A-side
of different singles. (288)

1984
The Beatles' first movie, "A Hard Day's Night", is released in the
US on videocassette and video laser disc. (2495)

1987
UK re-release of Beatles single "All You Need Is Love/Baby You're a
Rich Man" (Parlophone). 20th anniversary issue. Released as a
regular vinyl single and also as a picture disc, and also as a
cassette single. First Beatles single released in the cassette
format. A 12-inch vinyl single was also released this date. (779)


Hasta La Vista