When the Danish city Randers held their 700th anniversary as a commercial town, The Quarrymen, Tony Sheridan and The Bootles (a British Beatles tribute band), gave a concert as part of an evening showcasing The Beatles' history in music. Ticket price was DKK 130,-.
Newspaper ad.
Newspaper ad.
The Quarrymen:
Eric Griffiths, guitar
Len Garry, guitar, vocals
Colin Hanton, drums
Rod Davis, guitar, vocals
The Bootles:
Terry Walters, bas
Alan Menziers, drums
Bernhard Southern, guitar og vocals
The Quarrymen
The members of The Quarrymen had been scattered to the four winds in the UK. Len Garry and Colin Hanton came from Manchester but lived in Liverpool, while Eric Griffiths came from Edinburgh. Rod Davis and his future wife, Janet, came from London. They all met at the airport in Denmark. They were then picked up in a 1989 Cadillac and taken to their hotel in Randers.
Colin Hanton, Rod Davis, Eric Griffiths, Tony Sheridan with his girlfriend Anja Sievers, Len Garry
At the hotel
In addition to playing the drums, Colin Hanton was an apprentice upholsterer at the time, and after the happy days with the band he had his own successful upholstery company in Liverpool. Here he inspects the local craftsmanship at the hotel in Randers 😊
Colin Hanton
The evening started with an introduction in Danish from David Ashton, born in Woolton on November 1st, 1941. Way back he attended Sunday school with John Lennon and several of The Quarrymen. David was married to a Danish woman and lived in Denmark. He passed away in September 2010.
David Ashton, Rod Davis
After the introduction, The Quarrymen started their Skiffle and Rock’n’roll set, spiced with a few anecdotes, both about the music and with tales of performing with a young John Lennon. The arranged time for the band was 30 minutes+. They were instructed not to spend too much time talking and to speak slowly, since not everybody the audience were fluent in English. Colin had not brought his drum kit, so he borrowed one from The Bootles. Rod Davis played on his “Zenith model 17” guitar, like the one Paul played when he was in The Quarrymen. Rod Davis even moved the pickguard upside down, so it would visually match the image of Paul McCartney with his guitar (Rod is right-handed!) Today Rod's guitar is on display at the “Beatles Story” Museum in Liverpool.
Tony Sheridan then played his set with backup from The Bootles. Tony played the well-known numbers from the Hamburg years.
Finally, The Bootles played two sets of Beatles hits. One with the early hits and one with songs from 1967 onwards. For the latter, the band wore "Sgt. Pepper" costumes.
The Quarrymen
The Quarrymen
Tony Sheridan with The Bootles
Tony Sheridan with The Bootles
The Bootles
1. Mean Woman Blues
2. Rock Island Line
3. That's Allright Mama
4. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
5. Come Go With Me
6. Lost John
7. In Spite Of All The Danger
8. In The Evening
9. I Forgot To Remember
10. Blue Suede Shoes
11. The Midnight Special
12. Twenty Flight Rock
Rod Davis original setlist
After the show, there was time for socializing at the local pub.
Rod Davis, Janet, Terry Walters
On Saturday, March 9th, the limo took The Quarrymen and Janet to the airport and they returned to UK.
On Friday 8 March the Quarrymen flew to Denmark and played a concert in the little town of Randers in Jutland, which was celebrating the 700th anniversary of its town charter (shades of Rosebery Street). The concert told the story of the Beatles in music, starting with an introduction in Danish by David Ashton, a schoolboy friend of John Lennon from Woolton who now lives in Denmark. Then came the Quarrymen with their skiffle and rock ‘n’ roll set followed by Tony Sheridan himself playing the music of the Hamburg years. The evening was rounded off by the Bootles from Merseyside who played the Beatles hits - altogether a unique treat for Beatles fans.