 Welcome to the drum history podcast. I'm your host Bart van der Zee and today I am very honored to be joined by Mr. Colin Hanton the original drummer of the Corrie man Colin welcome to the show Hi boss. Nice to be invited. Yeah, and for those who don't know the Corrie men is basically a famous band from Liverpool that featured members who you you may recognize their names such as John Lennon Paul McCartney and George Harrison and You were the drummer along with some other members who will discuss throughout the episode But what was the order that those three guys became Corrie men John was there on his own first of all With me and a few of his school friends Then we met Paul Paul was invited to join some of his school friends left and then we met George Harrison he was invited to join so then it was John Paul George and me. Oh wow man So I think we can be as detailed and and people love Anything to do with the Beatles and this kind of stuff and you are definitely a part of that history. So Let's back up here a little bit and um, how did you meet John to begin with? Right. Well, I wasn't a schoolmate of any of the lads. I'm slightly older than the rest of them I had already started work as an apprentice upholsterer called Guy Rogers But I had a close friend Eric Griffiths Now Eric Griffiths went to school with John Lennon and John and Eric were learning to play guitar And so once Eric heard that I bought a small drum kit from Frank Hesse's I came to my house to see them and hear me and I was invited to join the Corrie man simply because I had a drum kit Wow, right place at the right time My place at the right time Rod Davis, who was a friend of John's as well in the school He went out at the weekend and bought a banjo when he to school on Monday morning Said to Eric I bought a banjo at the weekend and Eric said you want to be in the Corrie man Man So he had a banjo so he was in the group Wow, that's how it happened. That's the way it went So did you want to be a drummer since you were a little kid? I mean you so you just you went out and bought one for many reasons That was a great purchase just because the drums are such a fun instrument But were you since you were a little kid kind of tapping on things and you just wanted to be a drummer Not necessarily as a little kid. I was thinking about this to the evening I think my first interest was When we were in a much more Christian country, we used to have a lot of church bands, you know, like the Boy Scouts, the Boys Brigade The Seascouts, so there was always bands marching on particularly on a Sunday With the church band and you would the first thing you would hear I think with the drums coming up the hell, you know Yeah I'd be out marching up with them so yeah And then I started to watch some of the movies like the big band movies, you know And I just thought no, that's it. I'd like to be a jazz drummer Yeah, absolutely. Who who were some of your early influences? I'm assuming everyone likes Jean Krupa in that era that seemed like a pretty big one, but who else, you know Well, that was it with Jean Krupa, Buddy Rich And just basically the big bands, you know, we went to this we went to the cinema to see Glenn Miller story and things like that and The Benny Goodman story High society And we actually saw Louis Armstrong My wife and I which was a girlfriend at the time we saw him in In Manchester, Louis Armstrong when he came over with his his band. So yeah Whenever it was on I tended to watch the the drummer Oh, man. Yeah, of course in in Liverpool. We had a couple of Jazz venues we go down and see the local jazz bands and yeah, the drums just fascinated me So I bought a small drum kit and put a jazz record on and just learned to play along to the jazz record Now was it easy for you to get a drum set in Liverpool? I know um, so and I got to say this before we get too far So our mutual friend your fellow, you know, liver pooling. I'm sure that's not the right term, but uh, Andy Dwyer Who runs adc drums? Andy has been a great friend of the show and has connected us and has sent me You know reading materials from your book, which we'll talk about And It's just Andy has been awesome. So Andy said to me though that It wasn't like you can just go out and get drum lessons He said there wasn't and that goes for Ringo as well. He said there wasn't really a Um, you know a proper drum teacher in that area until I believe Andy said the 1970s. So you were sort of Self-taught is that correct? Well, yes, anybody who's heard me will know I'm self-taught That's a good thing. I didn't even I didn't even think of getting Drum lessons to be honest you didn't it didn't occur to me though would need someone to show me how to do it I just put the records on and listened to what was going on and just Joined in later on kept a beat fiddled about a bit You know, not like the drummers today. I mean, they didn't have masses of kits, you know Yeah, sure. I think less is more. I think these days Now do you I'm sure you do do you remember what your first drum set that you bought was in in liver pool? Yes, my one and only drum kit that I bought there was a Broadway kit by John Gray. Oh, yeah. Yeah uh, in fact, Andy's got a Almost identical replica. It's about 95 percent You know, he's made it up to look Uh, completely original. It is a Broadway kit But I think it was a red one. So he had it covered in white and uh I pointed out to the badge because it's red the badge is black. So we went to a drug fair and he found a The red badge so we could stick the red badge on the the white skin So I went up there into his shop and I I played them Uh to a couple of records that I think he recorded and they recorded That's awesome. I haven't played for a long time. Would it just like riding a bike really with me? Yeah Absolutely. And now I'm assuming you don't still have that drum set. Is that correct your personal one? No, no, the personal one's gone. It was in the Beatles story in Liverpool for a long time But once we got back together again in 97 and we started to tour Well tour the world basically, um There was a guy from Canada. He came down to Chicago, I think it was to to see me. He sort of been on about buying my drums and uh I wasn't ready to sell them to be honest with it. I just No, I had no intentions of selling them, but he said I'll come and see you in Chicago. So He just talked and we had a drink and He said, well, what you know, what would it take for you to sell them? I said, well, I don't need to sell them He said, well, don't you want a new car? I said, well strangely off I've just bought a new car. So no, I I don't really feel the need to sell my drums yet. So yeah I said, well, what would you what would you take? And I said, I just come up with some stupid figure A few weeks later after we got home, he wrote to me with a large check and You know, he had so many drums Unfortunately, but no, the money was pretty good. The money was pretty good. So well, I mean how is it? No one's offering me a You know a quote-unquote stupid amount of money for my drums. So you should feel pretty honored that like Just from playing your drums With these, you know three guys for a relatively short amount of time has literally turned into where you can You know that however many years later you can you know support your your life with your drum set? I mean, that's pretty awesome. That's right Yes, you came in very handy. It's still still we've got still got some left Yeah, I can imagine one of these days it would reappear for sale and again, they would go for a An even more stupid amount of money. So but there you go It's done me very well at the time took a lot of pressure off, you know mortgages and stuff Oh gosh, I'm sure well and you deserve it. Obviously. I mean, it's the the collectible nature of all that stuff with you know, the ringo kits and and your drums obviously is is Absurd amounts of money even my old drumsticks How ridiculous I mean I I sold I sold a drumstick with a Ticket of authenticity Uh, not for a horrendous amount. There's a few hundred pounds. I think the pair is pair of sticks but then we were playing somewhere Lake Las Vegas And we were playing there and some guy Sort me out and he'd he'd flown down from Thrown down from why he said and he described the sticks to me and he said he bought them and he wanted to know if they were They were genuine. So I said, well, that's yeah, that sounds like them. They're genuine So I said, how much did you pay for them? 1100 pound you paid for them. Oh man I mean that's I said when you for me, I've got a drawer full of sticks Wow money in the bank, right? Money in the bank. Yeah. We packed them holding an original John Gray drumstick right now. Oh boy It's only one he shot and broke the other one I mean one set went with the drum kit But I had two sets. I've still got the original Varnished with the red you know a red tip on it and it's John Gray There's a ladder all next to it. So Not yeah, it's it's just amazing what silly stuff goes for Yeah, well again, it's it's pretty cool that you're you're a part of that but All right, so getting back on our kind of like we'll go through the timeline here So and I'm actually looking at a page from your book that Andy Dwyer sent me That's kind of giving me a chronological order of of your story. So, um, It says autumn 1956 you buy a drum kit From Hesse's in Liverpool and then yeah Frank Hesse's yeah, okay? And then late 1956 you joined John Lennon's quarryman skiffle group. So yes, can you explain as a person who was there? What skiffle is? Well skiffle basically came from america. It's um, you know rent money People used to get together with whatever instruments they could fashion out of I mean we had t chess bases where you had and Washed up bases upon me And people would just organize a fun session and Raise some rent money, you know to pay the rent. So Lonnie Donigan Is this yeah, scottish guy? He sort of redid rock island line and Everybody went man for rock island line and basically it was just showed us how to You know three three chords on a guitar and yeah Yeah, well a lot of a lot of the groups didn't have drums, but three chords on your guitar t chess base and Booming away with that and and you could get up and play that's basically what we did. We got up and played Yeah, not particularly not particularly well and didn't have a huge repertoire But just the fun of getting up in front of our friends the local chair trolling I'm playing making music So then I have here December 12th 1956 with it, which is actually my brother's birthday. You have the same birthday as my brother You guys it says at his party in 1956 you hung out with your new pals and the quarrymen, which is just Think about it now. It's pretty cool to just imagine you and a young john lennon there Hanging out, you know, that sounds like a fun time Well, it was a fun time, but of course, you know, we didn't realize what was happening We didn't realize we were making history. We just We were just teenagers. Well, they were teenagers. Yeah, and I was still a teenager. I was 18 but teenager We were just teenagers having fun basically. Yeah when we ran playing when we just went You know, we'd hang out together Just kids, you know, that's that's pretty funny to think about that. But so soon after though um It says that You guys play in 1957 You play your first public engagement at a golf club. Now. What was that like? Uh a game leapfrog golf club. Yeah, I've forgotten about that one thought Um, yes What it was it was um, it was a way to get into the cabin the cabin was run by Alan sitnet and Alan sitness father was a member of leapfrog golf club and a friend of Uh john's was nige walley nige walley didn't want to play an instrument so he's He was elected to be our manager, believe it or not But he was a uh A golf apprentice, which I never knew he existed But he was a golf apprentice at the leapfrog golf club And he'd asked sit Alan sitting if we could play at the cabin. So he said well come to the come to the Golf club first and I'll you know, I'll see what see what you made of so That was it. We headed off to the golf club and We just got a plate full of sandwiches for our trouble and uh, we did the best we could and um Well, I played with one hand because some young lady just brought a chair over next to me grab my left arm and hugged me and I just did what it could with my right hand Oh my god, that's so cool And john looked over and said though we best carry on Colin's busy. Oh, wow Man, I wouldn't let go of my left hand. No, I don't know what I tried That is that I mean, I think sitting I said we weren't that bad so we could uh, we could get down to the cabin Geez, that's so funny. So even at that point you started to have the uh You know, I guess you would say that effect on on young women on on your fans of uh That the Beatles became famous for of like making people kind of lose their mind and wanting to be Close to you guys. That's so cool Yeah, well, that's both. So yeah early days early days, but there's a lot of fun That's awesome. You got some sandwiches. What else what else matters at that point when you're 18, you know, there's not as much Well, I know somebody passed a hat around amongst the audience But like I don't remember getting a getting an awful lot in the house to be honest with you Yeah, but that wasn't that wasn't the point the point was we were we'd been up in front of an audience and we'd played You know Yeah, that was the thing getting up and playing somewhere Sure, so So that's early 57. Um, so it says then and again, I'm looking at the chronology in your book here That that is just awesome and been really helpful for us right now. So, um I believe it says in july 57 the Corrieman plays the st. Peter's annual church uh in wilton and You and it says you encounter paul mccartney for the first time. What does that mean that you encounter him for the first time? Well, we none of us knew paul. Uh, we didn't know paul Uh, we just did a friend of ours Ivan Vaughan He went to school with john and with paul. We had the same birthdays uh And he invited paul along to the wilton faith to see his friends the quarryman. So um Paul came along with uh Ivan Vaughan to uh to see what was going on Um, basically that was it met the met the lads in the church hall Between the afternoon session and the evening session, which was the grand grand dance And um he uh I mean he he showed john how to um play 20 flight rock with He he tuned john's guitar To guitar chords because john was playing banjo chords As was eric because he he tried to go for lessons, but he thought it was too boring He didn't want to read dots. He wanted to play just wanted the three chords. So yeah john's moment uh julie She could play banjo. She said come up now Show you how to play banjo chords. So they just used the three top strings and ignored the other one So paul be tuned Turned it upside down and played 20 flight rocks and he knew all the words Which was a big deal in those days to get all the words of a song Yeah, still is a big deal But yeah, but you can buy a CD or a record now, you know, you get on itium. I mean back then I mean back then you'd have to have bought the record, which was a little bit pricey Uh, or wait till it came on radio uh Well, it was uh radio luxembourg back in the day. Wasn't it maybe the only people places that was the only place that played Uh, well what what I would call all kind of music Not not big bands or Victor Sylvester and his dance band He'd have to tune into radio luxembourg now You would grab some words as they were singing a particular song But you couldn't guarantee they'd be going to play that song again that night or even that week. So um It was difficult to get this to get all the words down in one go. You might have to wait weeks to finally finish a song All you all this all the words to 20 flight rock, which was a which was a big in Yeah, boy that Just that you never Really think about that you kind of take it for granted like you just googling things now or listen to it over and over again Yeah, now you just google it and print out the lyrics and you don't even need to think about it. But what you know, wow, that's That's pretty awesome. So So he was in paul was then in the band from that point, right? So then it was it was you john paul And then uh, the other member was it john duff low. Is that is he still incorrect? Well, john duff co came a little bit late. There was john paul and eric griffus. He was john's mate. He was the other guitarist I was on drums Len galley was on t-chest bass Do you know exactly what a t-chest bass was? No, I was gonna say can you explain what that is? Right. Well, this was before teabags were invented, wasn't it? T used to come in the country in a wooden box plywood wooden box lined with Silver paper and basically it was just full of loose tea So when you wanted a quarter pound of tea you would go to the grocers and he would just Get a paper bag out Dig a big shovel into this tea and pour it into the paper bag and weigh it out There's a quarter of a pound and that's the way you got your tea So once all the tea had gone, there was lots of these tea chests around Which people used if they were moving house, they would use them to store all their books and all their precious possessions and So there was always lots of tea chests about but Basically if you turn it upside down Cut a small hole in the middle and put a thick string through to cure it on the inside You've got a broom handle and stood it on one corner and tied the string to the top of the broom handle by flex pulling the broom handle and tightening all Slacking the string off I'm clicking on it. You could get a decent like boom boom boom boom boom. That that was a that was the base I mean they were very popular That's funny. Yeah, it's interesting though because I'm sure you were playing a real John Gray drum set John and paul and I'm sure you you guys all throughout the band were playing real quote-unquote real Guitars and stuff and then to have one member though playing kind of a broomstick Tea chest base was kind of that was he the only one with like a handmade instrument like that? He was actually yes. He was actually yeah, yeah, I mean right at the very beginning We had Pete shot and who's John's mate. He played a washboard Oh cool, you know, but when we met paul and paul was joining he decided to hang up his washboard It didn't feel quite comfortable playing his washboard in front of the girls Yeah, that's uh, it's a the washboard though has a great history and it's just an awesome instrument, but When someone next to you was playing a you know an electric guitar and you're a young guy You might feel a little silly playing that particular instrument as opposed to You know, we went we went electric in those days by brain. Sure. It was a while before we got electric I mean basically we were playing and acoustic guitars three acoustic guitars The bass behind it and me on the drums and then You know a bit later on we got the John DeFloat of peri piano, but that was uh That was a bit later on and I think that was 58. I think Hmm interesting that kind of helps put us in that You know the picture of what's happening there. So I'm assuming you would have to then Play pretty quiet like self regulate yourself to make sure that the music You know the guys were playing up front was loud enough Because obviously Even later on with the Beatles and stuff. I know with people screaming and all that it was it was hard for the amps and the PA system to keep up. So you then must have had to play kind of quieter, right when you play these gigs Well, that was unfortunate. They did used to moan at me and complain that I was too loud Come on join. Yeah, it's drums I don't sit there back to fiddling away. Let's go for it. Yeah, really Okay, so um the next key moment we have here, which is pretty big. So it says December 1957 Uh, you guys were introduced to George Harrison. Uh, it will become known as the morgue skiffle club in oak hill park liverpool Talk about that a little bit from when it was Paul knew uh, George Harrison from school and they knew he was a good guitarist I'm coming back from one of the gigs that we've done. I I'd gone off with my friends to the pub and they got the bus home and uh Paul introduced George to john And George played guitar brookie for a more ranchy or something That was on the top of a double decker bus going back to wulton um And I think john was keen, you know to have george in But I hadn't met george. So they came up with this idea where we could go to allen cold radals skiffle group that he was planning to open up the morgue So the just the three of us I think he was went along to the morgue and uh That's when I met george hallison. He was standing there ready in the hall with his guitar and he played raunchy or whatever it was So that was it. We all went home And nige wally who was our manager came to my house On the friday and he said, uh, what do you think about that lad george hallison? I said, well, he's brilliant And he said well paul and john are up at men lips. They want You want george in but you don't want four guitarists. So you want eddick to leave And as eddick had got me in the band and I suppose eddick was my first friend Um, they needed my they needed my okay, you know, was I gonna pack in and take me drums or what? And I said snige well if they if that's what they're thinking about that's what they decided You know, I don't really have a problem with it So that was it eddick was out and george was in That was late 57 somewhere That's the tale as all this time of like people getting kicked out of bands and saying well That's my friend. Are you gonna go with them? No, I'll stay here with you guys kind of thing like That's every band in history has some sort of problem like that. So you're you're not alone there, but So now just to clarify the band at this point is you for is paul george john and you there's no other members Okay. Wow. Wow. Okay. That's a that's a powerhouse of a group right there Well, yeah a weak trauma maybe but yeah, we were still doing okay Did you feel Like that this was something special at that point with those guys Well, obviously nobody was aware of the history. I knew we were getting better, you know, john paul and george. They were they were quite good So, yeah, we were improving we were getting along we were doing better We were actually getting paid to perform you know charlie mac charlie yeah, charlie mack bain at uh At um the wilson hauling gaston. He was the first guy who got us into play at his club and were paying us Paying us five pounder session, which You know, a lot of people have been working working a week for five pounds It wasn't five pound each five pound between us, but it's still decent money. Sure Yeah, yeah, you've you've uh, you know, you graduated from getting paid in sandwiches Um Yeah To actual money So it says january 58 george harrison makes his coreyman debut at the cavern alongside john and paul Now the cavern that was a pretty happening spot, right? Yeah, well, it's originally it started off as a jazz club I think there was a club in in palace called, you know, 11 uh lay cavern or something Uh, so basically it was a jazz club. I used to go down there and watch the jazz bands But then of course rock and roll was kicking off, you know Schiffel was dying out rock and roll was coming in Uh, and we started to do a bit more rock and roll. How was pesty stuff? um so, you know There was more and more sort of that kind of band that was or group that was Playing out at the cavern, you know, that became a bit more popular down the cavern. So Yep, we were there. We did okay Yeah, that's great. So if I'm my math is correct, you're around 19 or 20 at this point um How much older were you than those other guys because I know george I believe was younger than uh paul John right what what would be the ages of the guys at that point? Yeah, probably a year and a half older than john probably You know two and a half older than paul. I'm not quite sure of their dates of birth and that but Probably yeah four years between me and george. I think wow, okay It was about he was about 14 when I think he started. I think now he's 18 probably Something like that. But yeah, and george was quite the young baby Yeah, but quite the quite the musician and almost seems like an old soul a little bit with uh Even later just his demeanor and everything and just kind of uh, I mean the world was thrown at them Which no one's really ready for um, but So the next key thing here, which I was actually listening to these recordings this morning. Um So in july of 58 You guys recorded two songs with the quarry men in persie philip studio in kingston liverpool It says the quarry men personnel on that occasion was collin john paul george And john duff low. Is that correct? What what happened there? Yeah, well john duff low was a he played piano and he was a friend of paul's so okay um He'd been he'd been invited to join the the group On a couple of occasions, but particularly when we were rehearsing Uh, that would be the day buddy holly's that will be the day. Yes, but you'd want to Should be one of our good pieces to do and uh, the one that paul had written in spite of all the danger So we used to go to paul's house, you know regularly I think on a sunday afternoon and run through those two songs ready for ready for the big recording session What was it like? What was the recording session? You know take us I mean as much details you can give What what was it all all about? Well, it was a terrace house in kensington just on the edge of liverpool city center On it and originally it had been um Well back in the old days you used to have to take your battery from your radio to be to be re to be recharged and percy philips used to recharge these My wet batteries. I think you were I think you were filled with liquid Uh, and that's basically what his shop was Uh, but then he got the idea of buying some recording equipment and uh Turning him against back room, which would have been like a dining room into uh recording studio. So We went into this room and I think there was one mic there and they The window was blocked up with you know thick thick blankets Uh, he put a big poly-ass thing over the door to Keep the sound quite down. So It was very very basic. It was very uh, well primitive as the recording studios have been in since It was very basic um And that was it basically just asked us to uh run through the things and then um We'd already discussed the money. We knew it was actually going to cost us three shillings and six pence each back in the day Which was 17 shillings and six pence for the for the record Which was less than one pound All tells people now that we all have to pay a pound each. Well, there was no way we were going to pay Five pound that that was just outrageous But he said uh record you on on tape. He said then we can edit it and then put it onto the onto the shellac So john said well, how much will that cost and percy fuller said that that would cost a pound And john four went white and john said there's no way you can pay a pound. I mean that was another six pence each of it It's laughable now He said okay. Well, I just go straight onto the shellac. So we ran through Buddy hollies that would be the day with no problem really And then when we came to run through despite of all the danger percy philip saying that that's far too long You know, it's not going to fit on the shellac but john said look That's the song we're paying. That's what we're doing. So We just started playing and we went on to the shellac and Towards the end of despite of all the danger perly philip percy philips was drawing his His hand across his throat to john trying to say, you know, cut cut now But john just kept going and just before the needle lifted off the Around stick it in the middle of the shellac it finished Now we just about got it all on there. Yeah And they sound great. I mean for You know, it is what it is obviously with one microphone being in the room People can find that actually it is on Spotify and all that stuff. I believe it's on the Beatles anthology one Oh, that's right. It was yes. Yes. I got I got a couple of bob for that. Yeah. Good. Good. You deserve it Well, I because I paid to have it made and I was in tight too You know a couple of pound back you get literally your your one your pound back but So it is in spite of all the danger and that'll be the day are the two songs now One thing that andy dweyer again of adc drums and liverpool who's helped me out a lot said is He told me that john was the first one to take the record home and played it to his mom But yes, she was then tragically Hit by a car three days later and killed And it said he just kind of destroyed his You know joy from this like when you make your first It's a big deal. But I mean his mom was killed right after What was that? Yeah, like Well, that did upset the whole whole thing. I mean he was It's a bit of a recluse for the You know for the several weeks Couldn't face the world I mean he'd lost his mom earlier on hadn't he then he found it again and then he lost her, you know Pretty tragic really Yeah But we're only assuming that his mom had it Just hoping that he took it straight to his mom's which I'm sure he would have done I'm sure he would have taken it straight to julie to let her listen to it. So Yeah, yeah tragic tragic And another thing andy said that before we move on this is this is backing this is backing up I guess at this point about 19 years Andy mentioned and Expand on this a little bit that Paul mccartney's mom Was the midwife When for you when you were born is that correct? Well, that that's a bit of a that's a bit of a supposition Really, I was born in the same hospital where she was the midwife. Okay, that's really it So whether she was on duty that night, we'll never know really Yeah, it was just it was just one of those things that was a possibility, you know, you could have been there You could have helped it's a cool story. So let's just assume that she was there and uh Yeah, no, no, that's not Let's let's not ruin a good story by the truth. Exactly. It's we'll just leave it at that but um Still, I mean even the fact that you were born at the hospital where she worked is just kind of uh I don't know how many I mean, there's probably not that many hospitals In liverpool at that time where you know, but still it's it's a pretty miraculous Coincidence. Well, yeah, it's something to think about isn't it? It's yeah thought Yeah, yeah How many copies did you get, you know, was he printing? Oh, no, no, that's it. Just once you like that's it Only one in the world. Oh So how did that then get from you know, 1958 at Percy Phillips studio to spotify in 2021. Who was the keeper of that record? Well, eventually it ended up in John Duff Low, but um The idea was that we would all to share this phone Oh, we would all have to have shares in this. So John had it, you know Paul had it George had it I have it Uh, and I had a friend charlie robert's And he worked in a big factory in liverpool and they Back in the day, this was quite the rare thing but they had a pa system And you could take records in and somebody would play the records, you know to all the factory workers. So Uh charlie robert's took our record in and that was played quite a few times in the factory But then I think it was just left with him, you know, I forgot about it. We all forgot about it Uh things were moving on while the world was getting mad for the other lads, weren't they? Yeah, I think by and large we forgot about the the record, but When we got back together again in 1997 40 years later I met my friend charlie robert's again and then his wife was there And she said back in the day in the late 90s There was a mad craze of dipping records into boiling water To soften them up and then making them into Plant pot holders and things like that. Yeah So wherever you went somebody would have these horrible black plant pot holders all over the place So she said she was sitting there the bucket of boiling water and dipping records in As you picked up the quarryman record And she was just about to put it into the boiling water And then she thought no that should really go back to one of the quarrymen So that was saved from the boiling water Oh boy, and I think I think charlie robert's knew or met duff low and gave it to duff So duff put it in what he's called his soft draw at home and left it there for Well for a long long time Until I think he decided He would give it some You know advertisements so he he spoke to a Newspaper He put the story in about this quarryman rare quarryman record That might be going up for sale and then Paul McCartney phoned duff's mother in Liverpool The very next day and said I need to talk to duff. So she put him on to Duff and he said, you know, you can't sell that record. It belongs to us or it belongs to me. So There were some negotiations going on and then Paul got it off duff, you know, whatever amount of money Which I'm thankful for because it did end up on the anthology. So I got a call off apple lawyers to say that Because I contributed To make the record my three and six. So it was my three and six back with 40 years interest or something. I don't know Wow unbelievable, it's just like it could have all It could have been destroyed obviously and I know exactly what you're talking about where You know the records where people would mold them and kind of just turn them into some like Or like a little like, you know thing you put your change in or something like that. Um, that's right. Yeah. Yeah Unbelievable that is so cool and It it really how many takes did you guys do? Was that one take each or did you get a few tries? Uh, we did we ran through it to rehearse it once Um, that's when he timed us. That's when he said the why to all the danger was too long We said no and naturally went straight on to just recording it The needle got onto the hot shellac and we went away Bam bam slam. Thank you, man. Yeah So cool and and you all right. So first off you sound great You know one thing about those old recordings is sometimes there's a couple key moments. I heard where you really popped through But it's obviously kind of the what really cuts is the vocal and the guitar and stuff like that and those guys I mean They sound It's not that far from that point to where we get to you know, world domination with the with the Beatles But they sounded very very For being such young guys. They sounded great. Um, obviously as singers. It was pretty impressive Yeah, you think you put me down now boss No, I You sound amazing too, but in the big history kind of like of I know yeah, I know pretty cool Well, Percy Phillips said that I was too loud when he wanted to hear my drum So I moved back from the mic and I was still too loud and ended up right in the corner of the room And he was still uncomfortable. So I had a scarf In those days for some reason. Maybe it's a fashion thing. You don't know So I just laid them over with snare drum and that seemed to quiet me down for and so he seemed to be quite happy with that Hmm Yeah Well, yeah, it sounds great. Um, obviously That made history. So that was the first recording for all you guys. I mean, which is which is very very historic But january february uh 59 You played your last ever gig With john paul and george at the finch Lane busman's sports and social club Why did it come to an end? What what happened? Well, I think I see there was no cars in those days. My drums were on and off the buses, you know I carried the bass in one hand and everything else went into a large suitcase um I mean, I didn't think we were getting particularly far Those three had started to mold together. They were spending more time The three of them, you know without me I would get a call at the last minute to say we've got a gig on saturday we'd turn up and they'd have Material that I hadn't their head. So I'd have to just try and Keep up the best I could so I think they were already moving away from me. I think paul wasn't overly happy with me as a drummer. Um So there was that going on but When we went to the the sportsman's club um It was a really nice club proper stage, you know care and soon from to it Not rough and ready. It was a really nice place. So we went up there and we were supposed to do five songs So we ran through the five songs. Well, we were asked to Line up behind the curtain As immediately the curtain starts to move we have to start playing Which is what we did and when we finished the last song Curtin was supposed to close but it didn't close I could see the guy in the corner fighting with the curtain, you know So john yourself while he's fighting with the curtain. We'll do another song So we came off and everyone's saying that was really good. That was really brilliant. So Uh, there's a pint at the bar, which was the worst thing anyone could have said John paul and myself about uh, Well, we didn't stop at one point did we we got quite drunk? George was sober because his mum and dad were in the audience But uh, we went off at the second. Well, we were in the we were in the green room having a good old same song and drinking and the DJ came in and said right five minutes lads you're back on and said what going on again He said yes, you got two spots. Well, I didn't know we were doing two spots. I was a bit annoyed about that But we went on it was a bit of a disaster, you know, john and paul couldn't stop giggling and messing about When we came off the guy said, well, that's you know, you've blown that lads that you know, that was a disaster So you're in the green room. He came and he said look the best thing I can do is ask this guy from um the um the uh The bingo hall To come in there. I would talk to you. He said but he's not gonna he's not gonna hire you Now that's when I found out that this guy comes with an audition Because he wants to do he wanted to hire, you know the group to play regular at his bingo hall And I didn't know about this. So that annoyed me Anyway, he came in and he said, you know, I thought the first one was very good the first half was brilliant But the second half is no good and you can't treat the audience like that And the drunken john lessen plenum was sitting back in the corner and making comments because this guy still had stage makeup on, you know Which didn't go down well at all. It was all a bit of a disaster. So Um From being drunk and happy I started to get sober up very quickly and I felt quite annoyed that I didn't know there was Supposed to be an audition and a brilliant opportunity there had just been thrown away The sake of a couple of extra points. So yeah, we headed for home I was still I was a bit annoyed Paul was messing about and in the end the tones is shut up uh Pete shot and who came with us to carry stuff He just said call this is our bus stop and I jumped off the bus with him ran downstairs and got off and wasn't actually our stop But it was as good as You know that was it that uh, I thought well, that's it. Put me drums on the wardrobe and left him there for 40 years From 97 Wow So they continued on and then peep best Was the next drummer of the quarry men before became the Beatles Right. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, was he just uh, and I I don't know a ton about his background Was he just another local guy? Did you know Pete? I didn't know Pete at the time? No, but his his mom Mona bestie there turned there They had a big big old house. He turned they sell her into A youth club was you know a club for the kids to to hang out in so They started playing down there and you know Pete had a drum kit. So Pete became the drummer. Yeah, which lasted from 1960 to I think like 62 If I'm not mistaken and then obviously Ringo got brought on board. So, you know with those core three guys john paul and george Yeah, drummer being obviously ringo was the drummer for the Beatles He's what you think of but there's certain members of a band that kind of rotate And it seems like the drummer was that guy in this group. Yes So That that must have not felt great obviously to see what your you know, your former bandmates were doing but but I I gotta think that they're being the buffer between you and Ringo having Pete best in the middle there that had to at least make it feel a little bit better I never I never really felt bad about it at all. I mean I I made my decision to to pack in so I'd I'd packed in Yeah, that was it now. They were droolers for a while, weren't they? They were doing auditions and playing places without a drummer In fact, they played a couple of places and took a I think paul got a drum kit by then he took a drum kit along and sort of If anybody in the audience could play drums, they'd they'd let them get up and play drums I think sometimes he got some big teddy boys up who didn't Scared the life out of them. So I don't think they did that for very long Yeah, so they just played the three of them played where they could without a drummer I mean, he could they could have come and asked me to go back and probably would have done But you know, they didn't ask me and I didn't I didn't offer so No, that's a good the deal is done. It's a good attitude you have there. Um, and So I should have asked this way earlier But where did the term the quarrymen come from who came up with that name and the the origins of that Yeah, well, Pete shot and is convinced that he thought of the name when it's When uh John was talking about getting the skiffle group together, you know, what we're going to call it So Pete shot and says he said right away the quarrymen because they went to quarry bank school and the first line of the quarry bank school is uh quarrymen old before their time straining each muscle and sinew and he said that he and john had no intention of straining any muscles or sinews So you'd call the quarryman after the school That makes sense That's kind of a natural, uh You know whoever came up with it. It seems to make sense So you guys so it says on your uh biography here that you guys in 1997 the quarrymen regrouped with the original members um Obviously that didn't include john paul and george, but um That was pete shotton eric griffiths rod davis lenn gary and you What was that like? Oh, it's awesome awesome Yeah, I mean we haven't really met up for 40 years I mean my drum kit has stayed on top of the wardrobe for 40 years aging and um There's a lady in Liverpool. She was running the Beatles fan club Jean Cattrell And they were going to pull st. Peter's church hall down where it all happened where john met paul uh, so she wanted to Recreate the 6th of july 1957 as close as possible And would we play you know as a one-off thing to raise money for charity to save the church hall so I freaked out a little bit, you know, I said I haven't played drums for 40 years There's not wasn't much good 40 years ago. I don't think I could do that so But then the phone started going and talked to rod and you know Talked to lenn and we decided lenn said, okay, pete shotton again pete shotton has a way of cutting through all the crap as he called it, you know, yeah It's right to the point. He said look, let's get together in Liverpool and play together just have a rehearsal See how he feels see what it feels like so He said, okay, and then lenn said we could use his house and I got me drunk it down Feeded up a little bit dusted it off Went to lenn's house rod davis came up from london With his banjo he now plays guitar and a bit of fiddle, but he but he does he came up with a The guitar tjf bass on a washboard uh eric griffis He went out and bought a guitar because he didn't have one And he came down from scotland and we met up in lenn's house We all set up pete shotton had washboard to play and lenn gary had the tjf bass to play Yeah Then we just bounced and right. What you know, what did we used to do? Someone said well we used to do like lost john and railroad building rock out in line So we all just started doing that and we were just 17 18 year old lenn's again was incredible and incredible experience So after that we said pete shotton said look if the audience realize what we're doing and We appreciate what we're trying to do it should be fine. So we said okay, we'll do it. So We did it So we played in the field in the afternoon and Coming off the you know off the stage people are asking for autographs and People were saying have you got a cd and I said you've got to be crazy. You've just heard that, you know We only played twice rehearsal and and this show and then We did the grand dance again in the evening But that was it just incredible there's a We unveiled a plaque on the church hall on the sunday. There was a sunday service in the church There we all shook hands and rod went to london Eric went back to scotland pete shotton went to the isle of white Len and I would only two living in Liverpool. We just Went home disappeared and thought well that that's the end of that and then The phone started going and you know, we were invited to um Amsterdam So we decided well, okay, we'll do that they're gonna pay us and they're gonna Fly us out there put us up in a nice hotel. So we did that and then We got an invite about cuba. Will you go to cuba? So, you know, okay, we'll go to cuba. That'll be all right Have a week in cuba You said you can't pay you a fee, but we can fly you out. You can put you in the uh, the national hotel of anna Uh, with all the big stars used to stay so we we did that we did a Concept midweek in the um American theater You know, we did our speeches because it was had to be a an intellectual thing because there were people, you know Almost if you say like secret police were keeping an eye on what was going on It had to be some kind of Educational thing couldn't used to be rock and roll Now we played in the american theater on the wednesday and then on the thursday They pushed us up the coast to a place called valedira, which was a beautiful modern hotel right on the Right on the coast at the hotel Walk across the sands and you're in the on the on the beach there Paddling in the whatever it was Now that was incredible Since then it didn't really stop until last year the pandemic You know We've done that medica that meant we must have done america a dozen times or more Uh, we did america when nowhere boy came out We'd ever know where boy film was We were there to either play or talk generally both So we did 19 gigs. I think in 21 days Right across the medica and back again. So brilliant time Being to norway danmark sweden switzerland italy spain Last year we were supposed to be going on a Mediterranean cruise would you believe? But then the pandemic struck and so everything got cancelled. So sure cruises kind of went away for a little bit there for obvious reasons, wow, what a just amazing like journey that You had a big break there in the middle, you know of of All that stuff, you know, you played you kind of put like you said you put your drums away and then I'm glad you got your You got that experience. It's just so cool knowing that you you know after all that time really Hit the road and we're we're out there playing and and I mean you're a big you're a famous musician, obviously you're you're a big deal Well, I'm a bit of a drummer. I wouldn't have a famous musician I'm a bit of a drummer, but I mean that this is the point of being I mean if it had come to me earlier, I'd have been well, I'm too busy paying the mortgage, you know Raising a family So when the when the time came You know the mortgage was paid for and my daughters had grown up Uh, so my wife said well look, you know, are you free, you know going doing our self-employed So I wanted to take time off. I could do so You know, I just I just took time off closed the shop and and my customers had to wait for me till they came back so I mean we were met Did Las Vegas we were met With the airport via, you know stretch limo and took down the strip there and shown things and wow Putting fantastic hotels. We did fuckward casino even You know out in Connecticut there You know that that was an incredible place. Fuckward casino You know just with a little skiffle band playing Old old old music. Yeah, but people love it and so just out of curiosity for your career You know with a family and paying the mortgage. What what is your business? What did what did you do for? You know that most of your life Well, I was an upholsterer Uh, but I'd serve five years an apprenticeship as an upholsterer Uh, then I became a Uh, a manager of a smaller factory and then I became self-employed around my own for for a few years And then I became literally a one-man band self-employed working out of a small shop in The village called Franchem just outside Liverpool Basically doing recovers. So I was quite happy. I was quite happy. I didn't have to pay any wages to anybody But I and I kept that's pretty good. I stopped working when I was How three years ago and it was 97. I did my last job That's so cool. Good for you Yeah So it kept me yeah kept me fit kept me healthy But they say now just being a quality man occasionally. It's you know, it's brilliant Yeah, and that's just a perfect way to kind of wrap this episode up is uh, and and I am just so beyond thrilled to have had this conversation with you and to take the time I'm honored that you took the time to Speak with me and and again, I want to give a big thank you to your friend and mine Mr. Andy Dwyer of adc drums and and he's just we talk a lot we go back and forth with messages and um Andy just one time. It was just so nice. He was like, I want to support the show Can I run some advertisements on the podcast and Sent me some money and I ran ads and people heard about the store And it's just like I'm so happy from my experiences doing the show to meet people like Andy and yourself who he connected us and just Really pushed me because sometimes these take a while to get set up and they're scheduling and he he stuck on me and said You gotta do it. This is a good one Collin again. Thank you for coming on and speaking with me It's just so cool to have spent the time with you um for everyone listening Collin is going to take a quick couple minutes and we're going to do a little bonus episode and um, I'm going to ask him and uh Hear his experiences after the quarryman if he went to see the Beatles living in Liverpool what it was like Meeting Ringo ever maybe um, and I don't know the answer to these questions. So um Go to drumhistorypodcast.com click the patreon link and you can hear these bonus episodes with uh, lots of great people Including mr. Collin hanton. Um, so On that note Collin Thank you so much for sharing your Unbelievable experiences. You're a lucky guy, you know, I mean you've lived a amazing life and and Played with obviously some of the best musicians in the world. So I want to thank you for Spending some time with me today. Okay, but it's uh, it's great being on I have watched some of your podcasts. I'm there. Thank you Hey guys, thanks so much for listening to this unbelievable episode. Um with just an absolute icon in drumming and music history We didn't actually really talk about his book a lot in the episode So I wanted to make sure I can tack this on After the fact and give a shout out to Collin hanton's book called pre fab That's pre colon fab exclamation point. Um, and his name is Collin hanton h-a-n-t-o-n And uh, it's co-written with Collin hall And you can get it anywhere. Just search it on amazon It's an amazing piece of history that I used as a big resource for this episode So go check it out. Also another huge shout out to my friend andy dweyer from adc drums In liverpool I this we wouldn't have done this without him So you can check out his website at adc drums Dot co dot uk and andy really knows his stuff and has some cool stuff on his website So be sure to check that out. And as always, thank you for listening If you like this podcast find me on social media at drum history and please share rate and leave a review And let me know topics that you would like to learn about the future Until next time keep on learning