GEORGE HARRISON FIRST ELECTRIC GUITAR, THE HOFNER CLUB 40 •

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In the very early days of The Beatles, when they performed around Liverpool as The Quarrymen, the group had been transitioning from a skiffle band using acoustic instruments to a rock and roll band playing on electric instruments. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison all made the switch to electric guitar. Lennon and Harrison were the first to acquire electric guitars, almost identical Hofner Club 40 models, and they were both excited about getting the pair, as Lennon later recalled in an early 1960s interview: "... But a short time later both George and I saw a Hofner Club 40 and we both thought it was the end." Lennon got his at Hessy's Music Shop in Liverpool on August 28, 1959, the famous story when his Aunt Mimi put 17 down on his first electric guitar.Soon after, Harrison traded his big Hofner President model acoustic archtop jazz guitar with aftermarket pickups installed for a Hofner Club 40, his first electric guitar. Harrison later remembered of his first Hofner acoustic Jazz guitar, "I got what they call a cello-style, f-hole, single-cutaway called a Hofner, which is like the German version of a Gibson. I got a pickup and stuck it on." Harrison continued, "I soon got fed up with it and did a straight swap for a Club 40. I thought it was the most fantastic guitar ever." Harrison said he swapped his Hofner President with a member of The Swinging Blue Jeans to acquire his Club 40. Ray Ennis of that band remembers the trade: "The Club 40 that George got was originally mine," Ennis confirmed. "We had our residency on Tuesdays at the Cavern, and I remember we did the swap there. I swapped it for his acoustic Hofner, which was sunburst, with f-holes. I haven't got it now - because at the time, who thought The Beatles would be so famous? In those early days we used to get fed up with guitars very quickly, so we'd swap and change a lot."The summer of 1959 brought the opening of a new Liverpool hangout, The Casbah Coffee Club in Hayman's Green, West Derby. It was a teenager's social club that boasted live music, and it was run by Mona Best, whose son Pete would soon be a Beatle. John, Paul and George were offered a residency at the Casbah. Pete Best recalled that they put the deal to Lennon and McCartney, "They said, 'Yeah, we're going for it. Sounds great - our own club. We've got a residency!' Then Mo asked what they were going to call themselves. And John said, 'Well, I had a band called The Quarrymen. How does that sound?' She said that sounded great. So they took the stage on the opening night as a four-piece, with no drummer." The Quarrymen continued after that opening night at The Casbah, playing every Saturday through to October. All of the performances by The Quarrymen in 1959 were without a drummer, and if they were questioned about the absence of percussion, the group cheerfully used the line about the rhythm being in the guitars. The fourth member of the group, also on guitar, was their friend Ken Brown. Some rare photos taken during these performances at The Casbah show the infancy of The Beatles with McCartney playing his Zenith guitar while Lennon and Harrison proudly play their first electric guitars, a pair of Hofner Club 40s.By 1961, as The Beatles became more popular, Harrison had acquired a number of guitars. His love for his guitar collection was apparent in photos taken at his childhood home posing with his guitars. One of these wonderful home family photos was published on page 26 of The Beatles Anthology showing Harrison and his mother both drinking out of bottles of liquor with all five of Harrison's guitars set up on display in front of them. In this photo can clearly be seen Harrison's first electric guitar, his Hofner Club 40.Years later, Harrison's Club 40 was given away in a promotion for the 1966 Beatles tour of Germany. In 1965, Brian Epstein, The Beatles manager, was asked by the Star Club in Germany (a club at which The Beatles had played often in the early 1960s) for an autographed Beatles guitar that would be given away as a prize in a competition ... read more

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