George's mother was always interested in music and dancing. George showed
no interest in music as a child, but he was always trying to entertain everyone.
At the age of fourteen, he became interested in playing the guitar. He asked
his parents for the money to buy one from another boy at school. The first
person who influenced George the most was Lonnie Donegan.
George's mother bought him his first guitar from the boy at school. After
the excitement of just buying it, it lay in a cupboard for three months,
forgotten. George had tried to teach himself, but he had given up. His mother
tried to encourage him, and since George said he needed a new guitar, she
helped him buy an electric one.
George had gotten an audition at the British Legion Club in Speke. For
the audition, he got his brother Peter to play the guitar, his friend Arthur
Kelly also on guitar, and two others, one on the tea chest and the other
on the mouth organ. George was played the guitar. When they showed up for
the audition, no one else was there. They had called themselves The Rebels
that night.
George first saw the Quarrymen at Wilson Hall at Garston. Paul had been
playing with them, so he asked George to come see them play. Through Paul,
he met John Lennon. There was another guitarist in the band, Eddie Clayton.
He was pretty good and John told George if he could play like Eddie, he could
join the band.
The thing was, George never thought he was that good. He was always telling
his mother how much better everyone else was. John had hesitated asking George
to join the band because he was so much younger than the rest of the boys.
George knew more chords than the rest of them. He used to hang around John
a lot because he was impressed by him. Over time, members of the Quarrymen
came and went, either because of John's attitude or because they got bored.
And, they needed a drummer badly.
All of the members of the Quarrymen were interested in rock and roll, Elvis especially. The band used to practice either at George's or Paul's house. Mimi, John's aunt, didn't like George because of the way he dressed. John and Paul practiced at George's house in Upton Green.