John Charles "Duff" Lowe (13 April 1942 – 22 February 2024) was an English pianist. In the late 1950s, he played piano for

The Quarrymen The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle and 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 school friends, the ...

, the group who would evolve into

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Early career

Known to his friends as "Duff", Lowe had known

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

since 1953, and was invited to play piano with The Quarrymen by McCartney in February 1958. He was in The Quarrymen for two years, and was there when the band recorded a couple of songs for a vanity disc at Percy Phillips' home studio in Liverpool. The two tracks cut that day were "

That'll Be the Day "That'll Be the Day" is a song written by Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison. It was first recorded by Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes in 1956 and was re-recorded in 1957 by Holly and his new band, the Crickets. Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes' ver ...

" and "

In Spite of All the Danger "In Spite of All the Danger" is the first song recorded by the Quarrymen, then consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, pianist John Lowe, and drummer Colin Hanton. McCartney wrote the song and Harrison provided the guitar ...

". Lowe maintained possession of the tracks and, in 1981, sold the recordings to Paul McCartney. Their estimated value was around £12,000. McCartney had the record remastered and the songs appear on

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' ''

Anthology 1 ''Anthology 1'' is a compilation album of music by the Beatles, released on 20 November 1995 by Apple Records as part of ''The Beatles Anthology'' series. It features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the period 1958–64, inclu ...

'' album.

Later career

In 1994, John Lowe played again with the Quarrymen for the album ''

Open for Engagements ''Open for Engagements'' is the first studio album released by the Quarrymen after their 1994 reformation. The Quarrymen, in its original conception, was the band that evolved into the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock ...

''. Of the 1994 lineup, only Rod Davis (guitar) and Lowe (piano) had played for the Quarrymen in the 1950s. Lowe, despite not being classified as an official member, toured with Rod Davis, Len Garry and

Colin Hanton Colin Leo Hanton (born 12 December 1938) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the 1950s skiffle band the Quarrymen, led by a young John Lennon. He currently plays for the reformed version of the Quarrymen. Early life Hanton ...

as John Lennon's Original Quarrymen at Beatles events around the world until 2017. On 28 August 2006, the 10-inch

shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female Kerria lacca, lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. Chemically, it is mainly composed of aleuritic acid, jalaric acid, shellolic acid, and other natural waxes. It is processed and s ...

3-track EP (33 rpm) "50 years later" was released with live versions of "Down by the riverside" by the Quarrymen's Rod Davis, Len Garry, Colin Hanton and John Duff Lowe and guest bassist Lothar Becker and guest washboard player Ednund Thielow in an edition of 10 individual pieces. On 22 December 2014, Lowe appeared on the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

programme, '' Would I Lie to You?'', in which

Ricky Tomlinson Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in the soap opera '' Brookside'' (1982–1988), DCI Charlie Wise in '' Cracker'' (1993–2006) and Jim Royle in '' T ...

revealed that Lowe had left the Quarrymen to join the young Tomlinson's band.

Death

Lowe died on 22 February 2024, at the age of 81.

References

External links

* * 1942 births 2024 deaths 20th-century English pianists 21st-century English pianists English keyboardists English rock pianists Musicians from Liverpool The Quarrymen members Skiffle musicians {{UK-pianist-stub