Nigel Whalley had a small role in the Beatles story as an early member of the Quarry Men who briefly managed the group as well. Whalley was a childhood friend of John Lennon and Lennon's best friend, Pete Shotton. When the Quarry Men formed, Whalley played tea chest bass, sharing the position with Ivan Vaughan. The tea chest bass role was eventually passed on to Len Garry, but Whalley acted as the group's manager for a while, although at this point the whole Quarry Men enterprise was an informal one for fun among friends, not a serious profession. Whalley was the last person to see John Lennon's mother alive, walking her to a bus stop just before she was run over by a car. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi