The Rock Classic Paul McCartney Used to “Audition” for John Lennon’s Band

While we often think about Paul McCartney and John Lennon as a dynamic, equal duo, there was a brief moment in their musical history when McCartney had to “audition” to be a part of Lennon’s band. Lennon was two years older than McCartney, which, of course, to a teenager, seems like all the difference in the world.

So, McCartney knew he would have to impress Lennon if he were to get “in” with the older crowd. To do so, he pulled out an American rock tune that catered to Lennon’s rock ‘n’ roll sensibilities.

Paul McCartney Used Rock Classic To Audition For John Lennon

In a 1999 interview with Michael Parkinson’s BBC talk show, Parkinson, Paul McCartney recalled receiving an invitation to watch John Lennon’s band from a mutual friend, Ivan Vaughan. “He used to be in one of the little skiffle groups that John was in,” McCartney said. “So, he said you should come along to this thing. You know this group’s playing, and my mate John’s in it.”

McCartney enjoyed the original iteration of the Quarrymen’s set, which included Lennon improvising the words to the Del Vikings’ “Come Go With Me.” McCartney joined Vaughan, Lennon, and the rest of the band during their intermission, and the topic of McCartney’s guitar playing came into the conversation. Lennon, curious, asked McCartney to demonstrate.

“One of them lent me his guitar, and I had to turn it right because I’m left-handed,” McCartney said. “They wouldn’t let me change the strings. But because I had a mate who had a right-handed guitar, I’d learned to play upside down. So that was a little bit impressive. I also knew the words to this song that they all loved, and they didn’t know the words. That was enough to get me in.”

The Future Beatle’s Attention to Detail Was Apparent

The song Paul McCartney used to audition for the Quarrymen was Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock.” Although everyone in the band enjoyed the song, there’s a reason that they didn’t know the words: no record of the song was available in Liverpool at the time. When McCartney played an upside-down right-handed guitar for his future bandmate, “Twenty Flight Rock” was only available via the 1956 musical comedy The Girl Can’t Help It, which featured several artists, including Cochran, Julie London, Fats Domino, and Little Richard.

McCartney learned the words to “Twenty Flight Rock” by seeing The Girl Can’t Help It in the cinema multiple times. This keen attention to detail would benefit the Beatles through McCartney’s ability to craft a memorable hook and pop-sensible lyrics. The film was always a favorite of McCartney and his bandmates, so much so that they took a break while recording their 1968 eponymous album to watch The Girl Can’t Help It premiere on British television on September 18 of that year.

The common ground McCartney and Lennon found through their mutual love of American rock music would help shape the early sounds of the Beatles—and rock ‘n’ roll music—forever. Of course, if McCartney hadn’t seen The Girl Can’t Help It so many times, it might have never happened in the first place.

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