How old was George Harrison when he joined the Quarrymen?

The third part of the equation that would become the Beatles fell into place on Feb. 6, 1958. George Harrison joined the Quarry Men. John Lennon led the group. Paul McCartney had joined as a second guitarist and singer the previous summer.

When the Quarry Men — named after the Quarry Bank High School where the band was formed three years earlier — were looking to bring in a third guitarist. McCartney suggested his friend George. The audition took place strangely enough, on the top of a double-decker bus. At McCartney’s prompt, Harrison took out his guitar and Lennon was impressed.

But the 17-year old Lennon was already at Liverpool Art College, and had reservations about being in a group with such a youngster. “George looked even younger than Paul — and Paul looked about 10 with his baby face,” stated Lennon. But Harrison’s skill was too good to overlook for Lennon who, despite leading a band was still very much a novice on his instrument. “We asked George to join because he knew more chords,” he conceded. “We got a lot from him.

Another advantage to having Harrison in the group was that his mother didn’t object to the boys coming over and rehearsing. In fact, she welcomed it and would often give the teenagers small glasses of whiskey.