Pete Shotton, who has died aged 75, was one of the original Quarrymen, the group formed by his best friend, John Lennon, which evolved into the Beatles. Pete went on to co-found the Fatty Arbuckle’s restaurant franchise in the UK.
Pete’s memoir of his friend, John Lennon: In My Life (1984), subsequently republished as The Beatles, Lennon and Me, is one of the most honest Beatles books. Childhood friends referred to Pete and John as Lotton and Shennon, their escapades were so intertwined.
Born in Liverpool to George Shotton, a draughtsman for the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery, and his wife, Bessie (nee Wilson), who later worked as a market researcher for Gallup, Pete met John when they were both six. After learning that John’s middle name was Winston, he would yell “Winnie! Winnie! Winnie!”, which led to many a fight. Together they discovered dirty limericks and swearwords, and stole comics from newsagents.
After attending Mosspits Lane primary school, Pete went to Quarry Bank high school, where he and John would set off alarm clocks during lessons and make cardboard collars to wear in the scripture lesson.
In 1956 the blond, good-looking Pete was recruited by John for his skiffle group and, despite being unmusical, was given a washboard as an instrument. Pete suggested the group should be called the Quarrymen, from the school song. A year later, John broke the washboard over his head and Pete’s musical career was over.
After school Pete trained as a police officer. However he didn’t care for the life and started working in a cafe instead. He remained close to John, and his portrait featured in the opening cartoon of John’s book In His Own Write (1964).
All the Beatles welcomed him to recording sessions and Pete was convinced that the lyric “I do appreciate you being around” in the song Help! was written as a thank you to him. According to Pete, he suggested to Paul McCartney that Father McKenzie would be a better choice of words than Father McCartney for his song Eleanor Rigby.
Pete married Beth Davidson in 1963, and Lennon financed them when they opened a supermarket on Hayling Island, Hampshire. Pete also managed the Beatles’ disastrous Apple boutique in London: six months after opening, they closed down and gave the clothes away.
John then invited Pete to be his PA. “What’s that?” asked Pete. “Piss artist,” said John. After that, he invested in a fish and chip restaurant with Bill Turner, an old friend from Liverpool. In the 1980s Pete and Bill established the Fatty Arbuckle’s American diner franchise, which eventually had about 50 outlets.
While attending the Cavern’s 40th birthday party in 1997, Pete became one of the re-formed Quarrymen, and stayed with them until 2000. I got to know him during this time and can vouch that he held his own on washboard, as well as being a great onstage raconteur.
After selling his share of Fatty Arbuckle’s for £5m, Pete went to live in Dublin. About five years ago he settled in Knutsford, Cheshire.
Pete’s marriage to Beth ended in divorce. Their son, Matthew, and two grandchildren survive him.