Peter Shotton (4 August 1941 – 24 March 2017) was an English businessman and former washboard player. He is known for his long friendship with

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

. He was a member of

The Quarrymen The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle/ rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Q ...

, the precursor of the Beatles, and remained close to the group during their career. His main career was as a restaurant manager, eventually founding the Fatty Arbuckle's chain of restaurants.

Early links with John Lennon

Shotton, born in Liverpool to George and Bessie (née Wilson) Shotton, was a close childhood friend of

, and attended Dovedale Infants School and Quarry Bank Grammar School at the same time as the future Beatle. The two boys were frequently in trouble with their teachers and with their headmasters, often being caned by the headmaster as punishment for their misdeeds, and they came to be known at Quarry Bank as "Shennon and Lotton" or "Lotton and Shennon." In 1957, Shotton was Lennon's bandmate in

, playing a washboard, until

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

joined. Shotton was "fired" from the band when, after confiding that he really did not enjoy playing, Lennon smashed the washboard over his head at a party. However, he remained a friend and confidant – as he became friends with all of the Beatles during the group’s forming.

Business career

After the Beatles became famous and wealthy, Lennon and George Harrison bought a supermarket on

Hayling Island Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth. History An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island was later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st c ...

, and gave it to Shotton to run. Later, Shotton served as manager of the

Apple Boutique The Apple Boutique was a retail store located in a building on the corner of Baker Street and Paddington Street, Marylebone, London. It opened on 7 December 1967 and closed on 31 July 1968. The shop was one of the first business ventures by t ...

, then as the first managing director of

Apple Corps Apple Corps Limited (informally known as Apple) is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in London in January 1968 by the members of the Beatles to replace their earlier company (Beatles Ltd.) and to form a conglomerate. Its name (pron ...

. After Lennon began a relationship with

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

and Apple started to flounder, Shotton parted company with Lennon and the Beatles. He resumed his ownership of the Hayling Island supermarket, which he continued to run until the late 1970s. He then began the Fatty Arbuckle's chain of restaurants, a franchise designed to bring the feel of the American diner to Britain. The franchise was highly successful in the 1980s and was later sold for an undisclosed sum. He later moved to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland, living as a

tax exile A tax exile is a person who leaves a country to avoid the payment of income tax or other taxes. The term refers to an individual who already owes money to the tax authorities or wishes to avoid being liable in the future for taxation at what they ...

. Upon hearing the news that Lennon had been murdered on 8 December 1980, Shotton visited Harrison at

Friar Park Friar Park is a Victorian neo-Gothic mansion in Henley-on-Thames, England, built in 1889. It was originally owned by eccentric lawyer Sir Frank Crisp and purchased in January 1970 by English rock musician and former Beatle George Harrison. ...

, Harrison's home. Shotton is the co-author, with

Nicholas Schaffner Nicholas Schaffner (January 28, 1953 – August 28, 1991) was an American non-fiction author, journalist, and singer-songwriter. Biography Schaffner was born in Manhattan to John V. Schaffner (1913–1983), a literary agent whose clients include ...

, of ''John Lennon: In My Life'' (1983, republished later as ''The Beatles, Lennon and Me''), which told the story of their friendship, from the age of six until Lennon's death.

Death

Shotton died of a heart attack on 24 March 2017 at his home in

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census was ...

, Cheshire.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *Shotton, Pete & Schaffner, Nicholas. ''John Lennon: In My Life'' (1983). * Davies, Hunter. ''The Quarrymen'' (2001), Omnibus. *Norman, Philip (2008). John Lennon: The Life. HarperCollins. .

External links

Quarry Men

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shotton, Pete 1941 births 2017 deaths Apple Corps The Quarrymen members People educated at Quarry Bank High School Businesspeople from Liverpool The Beatles English expatriates in Ireland Washboard players 20th-century English businesspeople