Baby Steps

John and Paul both grew up entirely in Liverpool, attending different schools but sharing similar passions, unbeknownst to each other. It wasn't until a church fair in July 1957 that they actually met, introduced by a mutual friend who thought they'd hit it off. John had formed a skiffle group called the Quarry Men in early 1957. Skiffle was a kind of homemade music based on rock and roll rhythms that was played on instruments like guitars and washboards, and had become wildly popular in England around that time. John was the singer and the natural leader, being confident and the most enthusiastic about the music.

On meeting Paul at the church fair, John was impressed at Paul's ability to tune a guitar. Paul also knew all the words to rock and roll tunes like “Twenty Flight Rock” and could do a decent imitation of Little Richard, another popular American singer at the time. Even better, Paul dared to play John a few of the songs he had written by himself on guitar, among them one called “I Lost My Little Girl.” John had never written his own songs before, and seeing Paul singing and playing his own songs inspired him to write as well. It would be the beginning of a long, competitive, and incredibly productive songwriting partnership between them.