John Lennon became an international sensation as a part of the iconic rock group The Beatles. But long before he joined The Beatles — and even before he picked up the guitar — Lennon’s love for music was on full display.
John Lennon’s first love was the harmonica
Bob Spitz’s 2005 book The Beatles: The Biography explored the lives of each of the Fab Four long in their childhood and how they found their way to form The Beatles. Spitz described how Lennon was drawn to the harmonica as a child.
“[Lennon’s] interest was reinforced by the sudden appearance of a musical instrument, a Hohner harmonica, which had apparently been a gift from one of [his] Aunt Mimi’s student lodgers, and also by Len Garry, an easygoing, imperturbable boy who ‘was always singing or whistling,'” Spitz wrote. “The boys would hunker down and burst into versions of ‘Bubbles’ and ‘Cool Water,’ songs that fit a schoolboy’s romantic vision of a real man’s world. Reclining on the grass against their overturned bikes, they’d wait for the harmonica’s long, slurry cue, then throw their heads back and sing: ‘Keep a-movin’, Dan, don’t you listen to him, Dan, he’s a devil not a man…'”
Despite going on to be a famous singer, Lennon himself was quite shy as a child and didn’t enjoy singing. “At first, John never sang; he was too self-conscious. But as the sessions became less intimidating and more unrestrained, he was encouraged by the vigorous prompting of his friends,” Spitz said. “Whatever his fears, John adored playing the harmonica and had become a familiar sight pedaling his bicycle around the streets of Woolton Village ‘with his trousers tucked in his socks… [and] the harmonica sticking out of his back pocket.’ [The Quarrymen member] Nigel Walley recalls, ‘It was the first indication [among our friends] of anyone having anything to do with music. Walk anywhere and you’d see [John] coming down the road-just the figure of him-and would hear that mouth organ going.'”
He didn’t enjoy not being able to sing with the harmonica
Spitz went on to describe how Lennon eventually became disappointed with the harmonica because of the player’s inability to sing while playing the instrument.
“As far as a musical baptism went, John had already waded into the shallow end. He’d picked up the accordion as a child but soon grew tired of playing lightweight fare like ‘Greensleeves’ and ‘Moulin Rouge.’ The harmonica gave him access to his own music, the songs boys his own age were listening to, a better fit for the sound he wanted. But there were limits,” Spitz said. “Harmonicas were fun, yet you couldn’t play one and sing at the same time. This disturbed John, who by the year’s end had shown more confidence in his voice during the sing-alongs on the Bank.”
He became a star with the Beatles and on his own
Lennon went on to form the band The Quarrymen with some of his classmates. Paul McCartney and George Harrison eventually joined the group, and in 1960, they became The Beatles. Ringo Starr joined them in 1962.
The Beatles, of course, went on to become global superstars with their hit songs and clean-cut images. After they split up at the turn of the 1970s, Lennon went on to have a successful solo career.