 The Quarrymen paid 17 shillings and sixpence to hire the studio |
A little-known site where the band which was to become The Beatles made their first recording is to be marked with a plaque. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison recorded a version of Buddy Holly's That'll Be The Day as The Quarrymen at the Percy Philips studio.
A plaque has been installed by Kensington Regeneration at the site where the recording was made in 1958.
The band paid 17 shillings and sixpence to use the studio.
The skiffle group also recorded a Lennon-Harrison song, In Spite Of All The Danger.
The plaque was unveiled by fellow Quarrymen John Duff Lowe and Colin Hanton, who played piano and drums respectively on the Buddy Holly cover.
Mr Lowe said: "They should have done this 20 years earlier. This was the start of The Beatles' recording career.
 The Quarry Men were named after Quarry Bank High School |
"This was where it all began."
Mr Hanton said: "I remember we all had to chip in three shillings and sixpence to use the studio.
"Mr Phillips suggested the best thing to do was to put it on a tape. John (Lennon) asked how much that would cost, and Mr Phillips said it would be one pound.
"John and Paul's faces just went white at that price, so we stuck to the record.
'Little bit extra'
"It all worked out in the end, because Apple used it on the Beatles Anthology.
"We all owned a share of it, so we got our three-and-sixes back, plus a little bit extra, in the royalties."
The only copy of the record is owned by McCartney.
The plaque was organised by Kensington Regeneration, which hopes it will put the area on the Beatles tourist map and help revive the area.
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