There is more than enough information out there regarding the recording of the pre-Beatles’ first disk ‘That’ll be the day’ / ‘In spite of all the danger’, recorded as The Quarrymen at 38 Kensington, Liverpool in 1958. Excellent websites, linked below, tell the story of Mr Percy Phillips, the man who recorded John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John ‘Duff’ Lowe, and Colin Hatton for the session.
The date on the plaque above the door reads 14th July 1958. It is stated in an interview with Percy Philips’ grandson Peter on the below website that this is an error, and the actual date of 12th July 1958 is recorded in the studio logbook. He goes on to say however ‘we’ll never know’, and according to Lewisohn (All these years, Volume 1: Tune In, p.178), how this July date has been arrived at has never been convincingly demonstrated. Recollections on the date may vary, but Colin and Duff both have a clear recollection of standing together on Kensington, holding the prized discs in their hands and just staring at it (Tune in, p.180). I’ve been interested in capturing this day – whenever it was, and it doesn’t really matter – for a while and I’ve included here study progress to date, still to be worked up to a bigger picture but an approximate vision of what I think the scene outside No. 38 following the session could have looked like.
This is a painting project to tie histories together. Kensington was home for many years to several strands of my father’s family. The Biggar and Grist families lived in the parallel streets of Guelph Street and Renfew Street, where my nan Isabella Biggar grew up in the 1900’s. (Guelph Passage is where the light shines through in the painting). An auntie, Carrie Grist, was well known in the pubs of Kensington and Low Hill up until 1957, a year before this scene, and relatives still lived in the area up until the 1980s.
Tantalisingly, a second session took place at the studio in 1960 (Tune In, p.180), this time with just John, Paul and George with Arthur Kelly tagging along. The disk featured a recording of a new Lennon / McCartney original ‘One After 909’. Recorded 10 years before its official release on the ‘Let it Be’ album, this second 12” disk is lost.
For more information:
https://www.phillipsacetates.com/
The Quarrymen at Kensington, 1958
