SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LEN GARRY – QUARRYMAN LEN GARRY AT GEORGE HARRISON’S LIVERPOOL HOME – OCTOBER 1, 2022

LEN GARRY
QUARRYMAN LEN GARRY AT GEORGE HARRISON’S LIVERPOOL HOME – OCTOBER 1, 2022
GHLH RECORDS

Len Garry has an interesting place in history. He was born in Liverpool in 1942, and in 1955 he met John Lennon. Interestingly he had met Paul McCartney prior to meeting Lennon. In 1956 he was invited to join a band, The Quarrymen. The band consisted of Eric Griffiths, Pete Shotton, Colin Hanton, Rod Davis and John Lennon. Garry played bass (later he played guitar) and sang back-up. He remained in the band until 1958 and in fact was a member of the band when they made their debut at The Cavern Club. He was even portrayed by Frazer Bird in the 2009 John Lennon bio-documentary Nowhere Boy. Len Garry has earned his place in history. Of course, the band had members coming and going, but Len Garry was a member.

In 1997, members of the original Quarrymen reunited and performed shows (including a show in New York City on what would have been Lennon’s 70 birthday in 2010) and recorded several albums. Here, he is performing a solo concert in George Harrison’s childhood home (now owned by Ken Lambert and operates as an Airbnb) with Eddie Dunn on guitar. It was one of his last ever performances, as his health has now declined to a point where he is unable to perform.

Quarryman Len Garry At George Harrison’s Liverpool Home – October 1, 2022 is a very intimate performance by Garry in front of a small audience, where he answers questions about Lennon, McCartney, and Harison. In between he performs songs that The Quarrymen would have performed, such as “Don’t Be Cruel”, “That’ll Be The Day”, and the Harrison and McCartney composition, “In Spite Of All The Danger”.  He takes a stab at “I Forgot to Remember To Forget” and even covers The Beatles “In My Life”. And since he is in Harrison’s childhood home, he covers “Here Comes The Sun”.

The album is recorded in such a way that there is an intimacy to it. It is lovely hearing Garry tell his stories and break into song. It has the feeling of hanging out with a few friends and hearing about the good old days. And his good old days included being in a band with Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison.

For Beatle fans and rock historians, this is a brilliant album and one that thankfully exists. It is not so much as a CD enjoyed for the music (although the music is fun, fresh and very genuine), but rather the chance to hear a true rock ‘n’ roll figure talk about and relive his past with the most important rock band in rock ‘n’ history.

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