Len Garry

Leonard Charles 'Len' Garry (born 6 January 1942) is an English musician, best known for being a member of The Quarrymen, a band who would later evolve into The Beatles.

Childhood

Garry was born at 77 Lance Lane, Wavertree, Liverpool. His father, Henry, worked as a compositor at the Liverpool Daily Post, and his mother, Phyllis, was a housewife. His older brother, Walter, was born three years earlier. Garry attended Mosspits Lane Primary School, which included future Quarrymen members Pete Shotton and Nigel Walley, and briefly, John Lennon. Len learned how to play the piano as a child.

The Quarrymen

1957-1958

In 1953, Garry was attending Liverpool Institute High School for Boys, when he met Ivan Vaughan. Vaughan would introduce Garry to Paul McCartney. The two briefly knew each other, as they were in the same German class. Two years later, Garry met John Lennon. In 1956, The Quarrymen was formed. The Quarrymen's original tea-chest bassist, Bill Smith, stopped showing up for practices shortly after, and so, Len stepped in as the new tea-chest bassist for the Quarrymen. The group, consisting of John Lennon, Eric Griffiths, Pete Shotton, Garry, Colin Hanton, and Rod Davis, formed the first stable line-up of the group.

Garry performed with the group at two of their most historical performances, on Rosebery Street, on 22 June 1957, and at their first performance at The Cavern Club. Len remained for a few months, when he had to back out after falling severely ill with Tubercular meningitis. Garry, however, would not return to the group after returning:

A few months after Len's departure, the band recorded their first singles; That'll Be the Day and In Spite of All the Danger. Garry was one of two members of the Quarrymen, who didn't attend Quarry Bank High School (the latter of which the band was named after), the other being Nigel Walley. Garry was in the same room as John Lennon, when he and McCartney first met on 6 July 1957:

1994-present

In 1997, Garry reunited with the then-surviving members of The Quarrymen to perform a concert, to commemorate 40 years since the group's formation. Shortly after, they embarked on a tour which took place in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, and Japan, among many others. Garry has participated on all Quarrymen releases since; including their three albums; ''Get Back – Together'' (1997), '' Songs We Remember'' (2004), and ''Grey Album'' (2012). Their recent material primarily consists of rock and roll and skiffle songs from the 1950s.

Garry was portrayed by actor Frazer Bird in the 2009 biopic Nowhere Boy.

The Quarrymen performed in New York City, for what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday in 2010.

As of 2016, Garry still tours with founding member Colin Hanton and Rod Davis.

Later life

As a young adult, Garry worked as in Architecture in Liverpool, and got married. In 1971, he and his wife migrated south to Chard, Somerset. During his time in Somerset, he fronted a rock gospel group called "Come Together", and both of his daughters were born there. In 1987, he and his family migrated to New Zealand, although after a few months, they moved back to England, this time, they moved back to Liverpool, where he still lives today.

Discography

With

The Quarrymen

Studio Albums

Live Albums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garry, Les
1942 births
Living people
The Quarrymen members
Musicians from Liverpool
Skiffle musicians