When Beatles fans Mary McGlory and Sylvia Saunders met John Lennon backstage at the Cavern Club he had one thing to say to them - "Girls don't play guitars."
So the pair, who with two friends had just formed England's first all-female rock 'n' roll band, set out to prove him wrong.
As The Liverbirds they performed with legends including Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix and were residents at Hamburg's famous Star Club, where The Beatles also played.
And now, in their 70s, with Valerie Gell and Pam Birch sadly since died, the two remaining band members are very amused that they definitely "showed him".
Bass player Mary told the ECHO's Beatles City podcast: "We promised (Cavern owner) Bob Wooler that our first gig would be at the Cavern.
"One dinner time he said 'would you like to come and meet the boys?'. We went in and there was John Lennon and Paul McCartney getting changed.
"Bob Wooler said, 'This is going to be England's first all-female band.' And John Lennon just looked at us and said, 'No, girls don't play guitars."
Drummer Sylvia added: "So we proved him wrong. And on drums as well of course.
"But later we thought maybe he was saying that to encourage us - and it did."
They never got to see Lennon again to point this out as The Beatles became too famous, but they did follow in their fellow Liverpudlians' footsteps to receive thunderous applause at the Star Club in Hamburg.
Sylvia said: "There was a massive balcony and they had all these lights. If they liked you they used to swing the lights.
"So we kept looking to see if it would happen - and suddenly all the lights started swinging. We said, 'That's it, we've done it!'
"Even Brian Epstein had said, 'If you go to Hamburg you won't come back. We never did.
"We worked all over Europe. Just like The Beatles, when we used to go to other countries like Holland, Norway, Sweden and Spain there were crowds waiting for us at the airport, screaming and shouting."
Listen to the full interview with The Liver Birds on Beatles City podcast, including how the band broke up, Paul McCartney's response to John Lennon's quip and their latest performances - available on your favourite podcast app.
