It was on this day, Saturday 8 March 1958, that The Quarrymen (consisting on this occasion only of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison) performed at the wedding reception of Paul’s 19-year-old cousin, Ian Harris, and his 16-year-old bride, Cecilia Jacqueline Gavin. Following their Catholic ceremony, the party was held at 147 Dinas Lane, the home of Paul’s Auntie Gin.

Ian had asked Paul to bring along his musician friends to play at the reception. Although the group did not include pianist John ‘Duff’ Lowe, occasional bassist Len Garry, or drummer Colin Hanton that day, the trio of Paul (15), George Harrison (also 15), and John Lennon (17) were available to perform. Notably, George Harrison had only met the group the previous month and had turned 15 just a few days prior.

Mike McCartney famously titled his photograph of the event “John, Paul, George and Dennis.” The fourth figure, Dennis Littler, was a neighbor of Ian Harris who happened to be captured in the shot. In the early 1960s Mike McCartney was nicknamed “Flash Harry” by The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein and had unique access to his brother Paul’s group. This has resulted in iconic early Beatles photographs, such as a colour image of a baby-faced 15-year-old George Harrison alongside John Lennon and Paul McCartney with their guitars shot at a family wedding in March 1958, when they were known as The Quarrymen.

In December 2020 a previously-unseen Mike McCartney photograph from the event emerged online, showing Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison performing.

Mike McCartney explains, ‘This is one of the earliest colour photographs of George [Harrison], John [Lennon] and Paul [McCartney] together as the Quarrymen. Cousin Ian’s wedding reception at Auntie Gin’s house, 8 March 1958. The lad with a half Guinness is Dennis Little, one of cousin Ian’s friends.’