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Pop historian and ''Radio Merseyside'' presenter, Spencer Leigh, wrote a book chronicling Best's firing, suggesting that the other members, McCartney in particular, were jealous. Leigh reiterated ''Mersey Beat'''s report that during the ''Teenagers' Turn'' showcase: "John, Paul and George made their entrance on stage to cheers and applause, but when Pete walked on, the fans went wild. The girls screamed! In [[Manchester]] his popularity was assured by his looks alone. Pete was almost killed with kindness at the stage door afterwards by attentive females while the other members were allowed to board a ticking over [[charabanc]], after signing a few autographs." McCartney's father Jim was present at this incident and admonished Best: "Why did you have to attract all the attention? Why didn't you call the other lads back? I think that was very selfish of you."<ref name="Spitzp322"> Spitz 2005 p322</ref>
Pop historian and ''Radio Merseyside'' presenter, Spencer Leigh, wrote a book chronicling Best's firing, suggesting that the other members, McCartney in particular, were jealous. Leigh reiterated ''Mersey Beat'''s report that during the ''Teenagers' Turn'' showcase: "John, Paul and George made their entrance on stage to cheers and applause, but when Pete walked on, the fans went wild. The girls screamed! In [[Manchester]] his popularity was assured by his looks alone. Pete was almost killed with kindness at the stage door afterwards by attentive females while the other members were allowed to board a ticking over [[charabanc]], after signing a few autographs." McCartney's father Jim was present at this incident and admonished Best: "Why did you have to attract all the attention? Why didn't you call the other lads back? I think that was very selfish of you."<ref name="Spitzp322"> Spitz 2005 p322</ref>


McCartney's father later encountered the dismissed Best in the [[Cavern Club]] when a Beatles' gig was being recorded for the [[ITV]] series ''Know the North'', and said "Great, isn't it! They're on TV!" Observers reported that Best bit his tongue, and quietly left.<ref name="Clayson"> Clayson, Alan. "Paul McCartney"</ref>
McCartney's father later encountered the dismissed Best in the [[Cavern Club]] when a Beatles' gig was being recorded for the [[ITV]] series ''Know the North'', and said "Great, isn't it! They're on TV!" Observers reported that Best bit his tongue, and quietly left.<ref name="Claysonp01"> Clayson “Paul McCartney“ 2003 </ref>


==After The Beatles==
==After The Beatles==

Revision as of 11:07, 5 November 2007

"Peter Best" redirects here. For the actor, see List of Harry Potter films cast members.
Pete Best

Pete Best (b. 24 November, 1941 in Madras, India) is a British musician, best known as the original drummer for The Beatles.

Early years

A photo of Mona Best in the early 1960s.

Pete Best is the son of Mona "Mo" Best, the owner of The Casbah Club, which was in the large cellar of her home at 8 Hayman's Green, West Derby, Liverpool. Unlike many other families living in Liverpool, the Best's Victorian-built house was set back from the road, had over 15 rooms and an acre of land.[1][2][3] Mona came up with the idea of the club after watching a report on TV about The 2i's Coffee Bar in London's Soho where several singers had been discovered.

She decided to open the club on 29 August 1959, for young people to meet and listen to the popular music of the day.[4][5] Mona charged a shilling for membership—so as to "keep out the rough elements"— and served soft drinks, coffee, snacks and cakes. Mona had booked the Les Stewart Quartet—a trio—to play the opening night (with George Harrison on guitar) but cancelled the booking after Stewart and Ken Brown fell out.[1] As 300 membership cards had already been sold, Harrison said that he had two friends in a band called The Quarrymen who would play instead.[1] John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Harrison went to the club to arrange the booking, to which Mona agreed, but said she needed to finish painting the club first. All three took up brushes and helped Mona to finish painting the walls with spiders, dragons, rainbows and stars (but as Lennon was short-sighted, he mistook gloss for emulsion paint, which took a long time to dry in the dark, damp cellar).[6][7]

The Quarrymen played a series of seven Saturday night concerts in The Casbah Club for 15 shillings each, starting on 29 August to October 1959, featuring Brown, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison (but without a drummer, or a PA system).[8][9] The first concert was attended by about 300 local teenagers, but as the cellar had no air-conditioning (and people were dancing) the temperature rose until it became hard to breathe.[10] After the success of the first night, Mona gave The Quarrymen a residency (which she had previously promised The Les Stewart Quartet) and paid the whole group £3 a night.[11] The queues lengthened onto the street and down towards Hayman's green every Saturday, which was good news for Mona, as she charged a 5 pence admission on top of the membership fee.[12]

Best also wanted to be in a group, so he bought a brand-new drum kit, and started playing with his new band; The Blackjacks. Chas Newby joined the group, as did Ken Brown, but only after he had left The Quarrymen.[13][9][14] The story is that Brown turned up on the 7th night of The Quarrymen residency with the flu, so Mona ordered him upstairs to the Best's living room to rest. This caused a massive quarrel with the rest of the group when Mona came to pay them, as they wanted Brown's money to be shared amongst the three of them. Mona refused, so The Quarrymen angrily cancelled their residency and stormed out.[15] Best's band, The Blackjacks, then became the resident group at The Casbah, although The Quarrymen occasionally played there, and more often when Best was a member of The Beatles.[10]

Even though the membership list later spiralled to over a thousand, Mona closed the club in 1962, but the ex-coal cellar was given a "Grade II listed building status"—after being recommended by English Heritage—in 2006.[7]

Roag Best

During 1960, Neil Aspinall became good friends with Best and subsequently rented a room in the Best's house. During one of the extended business trips of Best's father, Aspinall became romantically involved with Mona, who was 20 years his senior. Aspinall fathered a child by Mona (Vincent "Roag" Best) who is Best's half-brother.[10] Aspinall denied the story for years before publicly admitting that Roag was indeed his son.[16]

Hamburg

City map of Hamburg, showing the start of the Reeperbahn (lower middle left).

In 1960, Allan Williams arranged a season of bookings in Hamburg starting on 12 August 1960, but said that he was not impressed with The Beatles (as they were then known) and hoped that he could find a better group to follow them.[17]

Having no permanent drummer, McCartney looked around for someone to fill the position. Best had been seen playing with The Blackjacks in The Casbah, and it was noted that he had become a steady, pounding, "Rock 'n Roll drummer" (which meant that he played the bass drum on all four beats in the bar, which pushed the rythmn).[18] Best was known at the time—in Liverpool—as being "mean, moody and magnificent", as a drummer, which did no damage to his reputation.[19] McCartney later phoned Best and invited him to go to Hamburg, but stretched the truth by saying they would all earn £15 per week each. This was shortly after The Blackjacks had broken up, as two members had left the group.[20][21] As Best had passed his school exams (unlike Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, who had failed most, if not all of them) he had the chance to go to a teacher-training college, but decided that playing in Hamburg would be a better career move.[22] Best had an audition in the Jacaranda club—owned by Williams—and travelled to Hamburg the very next day with The Beatles.[19]

The Beatles first played at the Indra club in Hamburg—sleeping in small, dirty rooms in the Bambi Kino (cinema). Upon first seeing the club, Best remembered it as being a depressing place that was only filled with a few tourists, and having heavy, old, red curtains that made it seem shabby compared to the Kaiserkeller.[23] (As Best had been the only one to take the O-Level German exam at school, he could communicate with Bruno Koschmider—the club's owner—and the clientele better than the rest of the group, athough they sometimes needed an interpreter).[24]

After the closure of the Indra because of complaints about the noise, The Beatles later played in the larger Kaiserkeller.[25][26] In October 1960, they left Koschmider's club to work at the "Top Ten Club", which was run by Peter Eckhorn.[27][28] When Best and McCartney went back to the Bambi Kino to get their belongings they found it in almost total darkness. As a snub to Koschmider, Best found a condom in his luggage, attached it to a nail on the concrete wall of the room, and set fire to it.[29] There was no real damage done, but Koschmider reported them both for attempted arson. Best and McCartney spent three hours in a local jail and were deported, as was George Harrison, for working under the legal age limit.[30][31] Back in Liverpool, no-one contacted each other for two weeks, but Mona and Best made numerous phone calls to Hamburg to recover the group's equipment, which they eventually did.[32]

File:Nh66833.jpg
The British cover of “My Bonnie”.

Back in Liverpool, the ex-Blackjack guitarist Newby was invited to play bass with them for four concerts, as Sutcliffe had decided to stay on in Hamburg.[33] Newby played with the group at The Casbah, where Mona stood silently watching them (which, apparently, was very unusal for her) and at Litherland Town Hall.[34] Newby's recollections of the group before and after Hamburg were very different; he was shocked at the vast improvement of their playing and singing, and remembered Best's drumming to be very powerful, which pushed the group to play harder and louder.[35] It was probably due to McCartney that Best developed a loud drumming style, as he would often tell Best in Hamburg to "Crank it up" (play as loud as possible).[36]

The reunited Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961. While playing at the Top Ten Club they were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan to act as his backing band on a series of recordings for the German Polydor Records label, produced by bandleader Bert Kaempfert.[37][38] Kaempfert signed the group to a Polydor contract at the first session on June 22 1961. On 31 October 1961, Polydor released the recording "My Bonnie Audio file "My Bonnie Beatles Sheridan.ogg" not found (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur)", which appeared on the German charts under the name "Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers"; a generic name used for whoever happened to be in Sheridan's backup band.[39][40]

Parlophone audition

The Beatles played a Parlophone audition at Abbey Road Studios for George Martin in 6 June 1962.[41] Ron Richards and his engineer Norman Smith recorded four songs, which Martin (who was not present during the recording) listened to at the end of the session. The recording convinced Martin that the group was good enough to be signed to a contract (even though he had already signed a contract with Epstein) but with one exception: Martin and his engineers did not like Best's playing.[42][43] (Martin used session musician Andy White, on the third session for "Love Me Do" on September 11).[44]

Dismissal

When the group heard that Martin did not like Best's playing, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison asked Brian Epstein—who had taken over as manager in January—to fire Best from the band.[45] A further problem was that until Epstein's arrival on the scene, Best had arranged all The Beatles' bookings in Liverpool, after they had parted company with Williams.[46][47] Epstein agonised about the decision, and asked Bob Wooler if it was a good idea, to which Wooler replied that Best was too popular with the fans to get rid of.[48] Nevertheless, Epstein dismissed Best on 16 August 1962, which was almost exactly two years after Best had joined the group.[20][47]

Aspinall was waiting downstairs in Epstein's NEMS record shop after Best's dismissal, and was the first one to talk to then ex-Beatle in The Grapes pub, across from The Cavern.[49] Aspinall was furious and said that he would stop working for them as well—he had been employed as the band's road manager and personal assistant—but Best strongly advised him not to. Aspinall decided to stay, but ended his relationship with Mona (and his three-week-old baby, Roag). Aspinall asked McCartney and Lennon at the next concert why they had fired Best, to which they replied, "It’s got nothing to do with you — you’re only the driver." [50] Ringo Starr took Best's place, as Starr had previously played with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, as the alternate band in the Kaiserkeller, and stepped in to drum with The Beatles in Hamburg and Liverpool when Best was ill or unable to play.[42]

Best's dismissal was reported on the front-page of the Mersey Beat magazine, upsetting many Beatles' fans. The Beatles had to suffer jeers and heckling—in the street, and on stage—for weeks afterwards, and one gave Harrison a black eye.[51] Many female fans considered Best to be the band's best-looking member – and at many early shows, Best had his own group of female fans present in the audience. Fans would cheer "Pete forever, Ringo never!"

Explanation

File:Best Sutcliffe and Harrison.jpg
Best wearing a white shirt on stage, with Sutcliffe and Harrison in black leather jackets (1961).

While Lennon, McCartney and Harrison usually spent their offstage time together, practicing their music or socialising, Best generally went off alone. This left Best on the outside, as he was not privy to many of the group's experiences, references, and in-jokes.[52]

On their first trip to Hamburg, The Beatles realised that the stage suits they wore could not stand up to the hours of sweating and jumping about on stage every night, so they all bought leather jackets, jeans and cowboy boots, which were much tougher. Best preferred to play in shirtsleeves, so didn't follow the style of the group, even though he was later photographed wearing a leather jacket and jeans.[53]

Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Sutcliffe (playing bass guitar) were introduced to drugs in Hamburg—as they had to play for hours every night—so they often took "Prellies" to keep themselves awake, which were given to them by German customers or by Astrid Kirchherr, whose mother bought them.[19] Lennon would often take four or five, but Best always refused to join in.[54][55] Best was described by Dot Rhone (McCartney's girlfriend at the time, who was visiting Hamburg) as being very quiet, and never taking part in conversations with the group.[56]

Kirchherr asked The Beatles if they would mind letting her take photographs of them in a photo session, which impressed them, as other groups only had snapshots that were taken by friends. The next morning Kirchherr took photographs in a municipal park called "der Dom" which was close to the Reeperbahn, and in the afternoon she took them all (minus Best who decided not to go) to her mother's house in Altona.[57][19]

There was speculation by some that Best's popularity with fans was a source of friction.[58] In addition, Epstein became exasperated with Best's refusal to adopt the distinctive hairstyle as part of their unified look. When the group adopted the mop-top-style Beatle haircut, Best did not follow suit. In a 1995 BBC Radio Merseyside interview, Kirchherr, who former bassist Sutcliffe's girlfrend at the time, explained:

My boyfriend, Klaus Voorman, had this hairstyle, and Stuart liked it very, very much. He was the first one who really got the nerve to get the Brylcreem out of his hair, and asking me to cut his hair for him. Pete Best has really curly hair, and it wouldn't work.[59]

Pop historian and Radio Merseyside presenter, Spencer Leigh, wrote a book chronicling Best's firing, suggesting that the other members, McCartney in particular, were jealous. Leigh reiterated Mersey Beat's report that during the Teenagers' Turn showcase: "John, Paul and George made their entrance on stage to cheers and applause, but when Pete walked on, the fans went wild. The girls screamed! In Manchester his popularity was assured by his looks alone. Pete was almost killed with kindness at the stage door afterwards by attentive females while the other members were allowed to board a ticking over charabanc, after signing a few autographs." McCartney's father Jim was present at this incident and admonished Best: "Why did you have to attract all the attention? Why didn't you call the other lads back? I think that was very selfish of you."[58]

McCartney's father later encountered the dismissed Best in the Cavern Club when a Beatles' gig was being recorded for the ITV series Know the North, and said "Great, isn't it! They're on TV!" Observers reported that Best bit his tongue, and quietly left.[60]

After The Beatles

A few days after Best was dismissed, Epstein tried to console him by offering to build another group around him, but Best turned him down. Feeling let-down and depressed, he sat at home for two weeks—not wanting to face anybody or answer the inevitable questions about why he had been sacked.[45]

Best joined Lee Curtis & the All Stars, which then broke off from Curtis and became Pete Best & the All Stars. They signed to Decca Records—who had previously rejected The Beatles—and released the single "I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door". The single flopped. Best then relocated to the United States along with songwriters Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington. As the Pete Best Four and later the Pete Best Combo (increasing their number to five), they toured America with a combination of 1950s songs and original tunes, recording for small labels, but had little success. They ultimately released an album on Cameo Records titled Best Of The Beatles (a play on Best's name, leading to disappointment for record buyers who expected a Beatles compilation). The group disbanded shortly afterward. (Bickerton and Waddington were to find much greater success as songwriters in the 1970s for a series of hits by the Rubettes.)

Best decided to leave show business, and by the time of Hunter Davies' 1968 authorised Beatles' biography, he was neither willing to talk about nor otherwise cash in on his Beatles association. Best became a baker, earning £8 a week and marrying a girl named Kathy who worked at the biscuit counter at a Woolworth's store. He later became a civil servant.

Later years

Collage ofThe Beatles Anthology, showing the photo on the far left that was ripped to remove Best's head.

In time, Best began giving interviews to the media, wrote about his time with The Beatles, and served as a technical advisor for the television movie Birth of the Beatles. Thus, Best eventually found a modicum of independent fame, and toured as leader of the Pete Best Band. He has admitted to being a fan of his former band's music, and owning their records. [61]

When the surviving Beatles released their Anthology in 1995, which featured a number of tracks with Best as drummer, Best received a substantial windfall—between £1 million and £4 million—from the sales, although he was not interviewed for the book or the documentaries.[62] Best's head on an early group photo on the Anthology DVD cover (Episodes 1 & 2) was ripped out, and a picture of Starr was put in the background, although Best can be seen on the box set cover.[19]

Additionally, "Ain't She Sweet," one of the early tracks included on the compilation album to feature Best on drums, was presented in its 1964 U.S. mono single mix, which had been remixed (by Atlantic Records for release on its Atco label) with another studio drummer playing over Best's original drumming. Best recently appeared in a television special built around him titled Best of The Beatles, telling his life story.

PBB touring in the new millennium

Pete Best has been regularly touring the U.S. with his Pete Best Band. The current PBB line-up as of Fall 2007 features three vocalists and outstanding harmonies: Phil Melia on lead guitar, Tony Flynn on rhythm guitar and Paul Parry on bass guitar. Best shares the drumming chores with his younger brother Roag Best.

July 6, 2007, marked the 50th Anniversary of the day John Lennon and Paul McCartney were introduced to each other in Woolton. While the reunited Quarrymen were performing across the pond in Liverpool, the Pete Best Band was appearing in Liverpool, NY, on that same evening for American Beatles fans.

Pete Best was inducted into the All You Need Is Liverpool Music Hall of Fame as the debut Charter Member. Paul Davie presented Pete Best with a framed certificate before the PBB commenced their performance.[63]

Pete Best and his seasoned road band are hard at work in the Casbah Club recording studio preparing a new studio album for release in 2008.

Pete Best Band Discography

  • Live at the Adelphi Liverpool 1988 - 1992 CD
  • Heaven b/w Fool In Love - 1990 British Vinyl 45 + Picture Sleeve
  • Back to the Beat - 1995 CD (live)
  • Once a Beatle, Always a Beatle - 1996 CD
  • Casbah Coffee Club 40th Anniversary Limited Edition - 1999 CD
  • CCC 4 Track Sampler - 2000 CD single (3 bonus tracks)
  • Best of The Beatles - 2005 DVD features 3 new PBB studio recordings
  • Original (working title) - projected 2008 CD

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Spitz 2005 p161
  2. ^ Miles p57
  3. ^ Photos of The Casbah Club samleach.com - Retrieved 10 October 2007
  4. ^ Pete Best biog on Billboard - 25 September 2002 billboard.com - Retrieved 10 October 2007
  5. ^ Casbah Club maxwelledison.blogspot.com - Retrieved 29 January 2007
  6. ^ Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006 pp43-44
  7. ^ a b Beatles' club gets listed status - 15 September 2006 news.bbc.co.uk - Retrieved 3 November 2007
  8. ^ Miles 1998 p51
  9. ^ a b Casbah Club photos beatlesource.com - Retrieved 4 November 2007
  10. ^ a b c Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006 p44 Cite error: The named reference "CynthiaJohnp44" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  11. ^ Spitz 2005 p162
  12. ^ Spitz 2005 p164
  13. ^ Spitz 2005 pp4-5
  14. ^ Photo of record cover showing Ken Brown with Harrison, McCartney and Lennon geocities.com - Retrieved 4 November 2007
  15. ^ Spitz 2005 pp164-165
  16. ^ Aspinall and his relationship with Mona Best - “Faces of the week” - 13 April 2007 news.bbc.co.uk - Retrieved 3 November 2007
  17. ^ Spitz 2005 p203
  18. ^ Spitz 2005 p204
  19. ^ a b c d e ”The Beatles Anthology” DVD 2003 (Episode 1 - 0:39:26) McCartney talking Best’s reputation in Liverpool. Cite error: The named reference "”TheBeatlesAnthologyDVD”" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  20. ^ a b Miles 1998 p57
  21. ^ Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006 pp69-70
  22. ^ Spitz 2005 p6
  23. ^ Spitz 2005 p208
  24. ^ Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006 p77
  25. ^ Miles 1998 pp57-8
  26. ^ Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006 p76
  27. ^ Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006 p93.
  28. ^ Miles 1998 pp71-72
  29. ^ Spitz 2005 p230
  30. ^ Miles 1998 pp72-73
  31. ^ Lewisohn p24
  32. ^ Spitz 2005 p231
  33. ^ Photo of Chas Newby beatlesource.com - Retrieved 5 November 2007
  34. ^ Spitz 2005 p234
  35. ^ Spitz 2005 p5
  36. ^ Spitz 2005 p214
  37. ^ Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006 p97
  38. ^ LewisohnChronicles
  39. ^ Spitz 2005 p250
  40. ^ “My Bonnie“ / “The Saints“ 23 April 1962. Polydor NH 66833 (Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers)
  41. ^ Martin (All You Need Is Ears) 1994 pp120-123
  42. ^ a b Miles 1998 p90
  43. ^ Spitz 2005 p318
  44. ^ Spitz 2005 p353
  45. ^ a b Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006 p119
  46. ^ Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006 p106
  47. ^ a b Spitz 2005 p330
  48. ^ Spitz 2005 p329
  49. ^ Spitz 2005 p331
  50. ^ Aspinall, The Beatles and money - Mersey Beat triumphpc.com - Retrieved 11 February 2007
  51. ^ Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006 p120
  52. ^ The Sacking Of Pete Best iol.ie/~beatlesireland - Retrieved 31 May 2007
  53. ^ Spitz 2005 pp213-214
  54. ^ Miles 1998. pp66-67.
  55. ^ Spitz 2005 p219
  56. ^ Spitz 2005 p246
  57. ^ Spitz 2005. p223
  58. ^ a b Spitz 2005 p322
  59. ^ Kirchherr's interview on BBC Radio Merseyside's 500th "On The Beat" programme - Saturday 26 August 1995 members.aol.com - Retrieved 21 May 2007
  60. ^ Clayson “Paul McCartney“ 2003
  61. ^ Pete Best interview retrosellers.com - Retrieved 21 May 2007
  62. ^ Money from Anthology lakeconews.com - Retrieved 5 November 2007
  63. ^ Best being inducted to the Hall Of Fame mccaffreysworld.com - Retrieved 5 November 2007

References

  • Clayson, Alan (2003). Paul McCartney. Sanctuary Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-86074-482-6.
  • Lennon, Cynthia (2006). John. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-89828-3.
  • Lewisohn, Mark (1990). EMI's The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years. Hamlyn. ISBN 0-681-03189-1.
  • Martin, George (1994). All You Need Is Ears. St. Martin's Griffin (New York). ISBN 978-0312114824.
  • Miles, Barry (1998). Many Years From Now. Vintage-Random House. ISBN 0-7493-8658-4.
  • Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Little, Brown and Company (New York). ISBN 1-84513-160-6.
  • The Beatles (2003). The Beatles Anthology (DVD). Apple records. ASIN: B00008GKEG (Bar Code: 24349 29699).

External links

Multimedia

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