 As a teenager he began studies at the Liverpool College of Art, where he became friends with John Lennon and, like Lennon, began copying the American R&B music imported through the city.In 1961 he joined The Undertakers, one of the leading local Merseybeat bands, as lead guitarist, shortly before Jackie Lomax joined as the group's singer.The Undertakers released a string of singles in the early 1960s and toured widely, but had little chart success.