A legendary music partnership was founded the first time John Lennon and Paul McCartney met.
The Imagine hitmaker would recall the time he met McCartney, and why he asked him to join The Quarrymen that same day. Speaking on their first encounter during the first episode of The Beatles‘ Anthology, Lennon would say it was a simple decision to ask the Let It Be legend to join. Lennon would say it took just one day for McCartney, who he believed would “make the group stronger,” to agree to join the band. Lennon’s sister would also recall the pair’s meeting, at a church fete where Lennon was performing with The Quarrymen.
Lennon said: “I was the singer and I was the leader, I made the decision to have him in the group. Was it better to have a guy who was better than the people I had? Obviously. Or not? That decision was to let Paul in to make the group stronger. I turned round to him right then on first meeting him and said, ‘Do you wanna join the group?’. I think he said yes the next day.”
Julia Bird, Lennon’s sister, would say the pair met at the church fete, which was confirmed by both men during The Beatles‘ Anthology documentary. Writing in her book, Imagine, Bird offered some further details on the meeting.
McCartney would say Lennon didn’t know the words to the song he was performing, while Lennon would confirm an offer was made to McCartney to join the band that same day. Bird wrote: “The entertainment began at 2pm with the opening procession, which entailed one or two wonderfully festooned lorries crawling at a snail’s pace through the village on their ceremonious way to the Church field.
“The first lorry carried the Rose Queen, seated on her throne, surrounded by her retinue, all dressed in pink and white satin, sporting long ribbons and hand-made roses in their hair. These girls had been chosen from the Sunday school groups, on the basis of age and good behaviour.
“The following lorry carried various entertainers, including The Quarrymen. The boys were up there on the back of the moving lorry trying to stay upright and play their instruments at the same time.”
Bird says Lennon would eventually give up trying to balance on the back of the lorry and, instead, sat with his legs over the edge of the van. She continued: “John gave up battling with balance and sat with his legs hanging over the edge, playing his guitar and singing. He continued all through the slow, slow journey as the lorry puttered its way along.
“Jackie and I leapt alongside the lorry, with our mother laughing and waving at John, making him laugh. He seemed to be the only one who was really trying to play, and we were really trying to put him off.”
