Which group did George Harrison join in 1958 before it became The Beatles?

George Harrison joined The Quarrymen in 1958, the Liverpool skiffle group that later evolved into the Beatles. Paul McCartney recommended his school friend Harrison, who was already an accomplished guitarist despite being only fifteen. John Lennon initially considered him too young, but Harrison impressed Lennon by playing the instrumental “Raunchy” during an audition on the upper deck of a Liverpool bus.

The Quarrymen had been formed by Lennon in 1956 and took their name from a line in the song of Quarry Bank High School. McCartney joined in 1957, followed by Harrison the next year. Harrison’s arrival helped push the group further away from skiffle and toward the guitar-driven rock sound that would define the Beatles.

The name did not change directly into “The Beatles” overnight. The musicians used several names, including Johnny and the Moondogs and the Silver Beatles, before settling on the Beatles in 1960. The Quarrymen therefore represents the group’s formative pre-Beatles period, rather than a separate band unrelated to them.