On July 6, 1957, 15-year old Paul McCartney met John Lennon in the basement of St. Peters Church and auditioned to join his band, the Quarryman. As his audition piece, Paul played an acoustic guitar version of Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock.”
Paul’s audition is arguably the most important performance in music history. Incredibly, we have audio of the Quarryman that day, but of course it doesn’t include Paul, since he wasn’t in the band yet.
Every songwriter since 1963 owes a singular debt to Lennon/McCartney. And more than that, I can say without any hesitation that their meeting changed my life more than any other event in history, personal or otherwise. This is a small offering by way of thank you and tribute.
This is a cover of “Twenty Flight Rock,” recorded as close as possible to how it might have sounded had it been recorded that day in the church basement. I did it in a single take with a cheap guitar slightly out of tune and a scruffy arrangement, just as Paul probably would have done it on that historic day.