Colin Leo Hanton (born 12 December 1938) is a British musician who was a

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...

for

The Quarrymen The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Quar ...

—the band which would later evolve into

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

Biography and career

Hanton was in an early line-up of the band from summer 1956 along with

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

, Eric Griffiths,

Pete Shotton Peter Shotton (4 August 1941 – 24 March 2017) was an English businessman and former washboard player. He is known for his long friendship with John Lennon of The Beatles. He was a member of The Quarrymen, the precursor of the Beatles, and r ...

and Rod Davis, and stayed with the band through several line-up changes until January 1959 (by then, the group's members were Lennon, Hanton,

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. On ...

, George Harrison and John Lowe). Hanton was working as an apprentice upholsterer when he was asked to join the nascent band, largely because he had recently purchased a new drum kit. Many of the band's early practice sessions took place in Hanton's parents' house. He left the Quarrymen after an argument with the rest of the band following a disastrous performance at the Speke Bus Depot Social Club in

Wavertree Wavertree is a district of Liverpool, England. It is a ward of Liverpool City Council, and its population at the 2011 census was 14,772. Located to the south and east of the city centre, it is bordered by various districts and suburbs such a ...

on 1 January 1959. In 1997, Hanton joined the revived Quarrymen with other original members: Rod Davis, Len Garry, Pete Shotton (who retired from the band before his death in 2017) and Eric Griffiths, who died in 2005. John "Duff" Lowe, original Quarrymen pianist, also plays with the group occasionally.

References

External links

Original Quarrymen: Colin Hanton
1938 births Living people English rock drummers Musicians from Liverpool The Quarrymen members {{UK-drummer-stub