The Quarrymen

The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle and rock and roll band, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several school friends, the Quarrymen took their name from a line in the school song of their school, the Quarry Bank High School. Lennon's mother, Julia, taught her son to play the banjo, showed Lennon and Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars in a similar way to the banjo, and taught them simple chords and songs. Lennon founded a skiffle group with his close friend Pete Shotton and after a week of gaining new members, they named themselves the Quarrymen.