Pete Best

Pete Best, 2005

Randolph Peter "Pete" Best (born November 24, 1941 in Madras , India ) is a British musician. He was the Beatles' first drummer from 1960 to 1962 and was replaced by Ringo Starr shortly before their breakthrough in 1962 and was unable to participate in their success. Best pursued other musical projects, which were unsuccessful, so he then became a simple employee in Liverpool and did not return to music until the late 1980s. Through the Beatles publication Anthology 1 , on which Best can be heard on ten early Beatles tracks on drums, he benefited financially from his previous music career.

Childhood 1941–1960

Peter Randolph Best was born on November 24, 1941 in Madras , India . His mother Mona Best was working as a Red Cross helper in the British Army at the time . John Best, his father, was also serving in the army at the time. In 1944 his brother Rory was born. After the end of World War II , the family returned to England in 1945 and settled in Liverpool .

Pete Best attended Primary School in West Derby and then moved to the Collegiate Grammar School on Shaw Street. After attending these schools, he planned to become a foreign language teacher in the late 1950s. His prerequisites for this were good, because at that time he spoke fluent French and German , “school French and school German ”, as he later emphasized in an interview.

Since 1947 the Best family lived on Haymans Green in the West Derby District of Liverpool. In the 1950s, Mona Best redesigned the lower parts of the house to become the Casbah Coffee Club , or Casbah for short . This club was a meeting point for young people who could hear and play their music here. Pete Best and his brother helped their mother work at the club.

Drummer for the Beatles 1960–1962

Casbah Coffee Club

The Indra Club : The Beatles played there from August 17th to October 3rd, 1960

Music clubs Kaiserkeller and Große Freiheit 36 . The Beatles played there from October 4 to November 30, 1960

Memorial plaque in front of the Kaiserkeller

Former Top Ten Club , today moondoo : The Beatles played there from April 1 to July 1, 1961

Today's Cavern Club in Liverpool

Entrance of the Star Club in the Große Freiheit, Hamburg. The Beatles played there from April 13 to May 31, 1962 with Pete Best

On August 29, 1959, the Quarrymen , the forerunners of the Beatles, played for the first time in the Casbah Coffee Club . This is where they met Pete Best. At that time, the group around John Lennon was one of the numerous Liverpool bands waiting for the big breakthrough.

In August 1960, shortly before the start of his journey to Hamburg , Pete Best became the drummer of the Lennon band, which had since split up from their "Silver" in the name of the Beatles and which, in addition to Lennon, also included Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Stuart Sutcliffe .

Paul McCartney said, “Pete had a drum kit so he would join us sometimes. He was a good drummer, and when things came up with Hamburg, he joined us. He was very attractive and of all of us was best received by the girls. "

On August 17, 1960, the Beatles performed for the first time in Hamburg. From now on they played every day in the Indra , at the infamous Great Freedom . This was a former striptease pub that had been rededicated shortly before, which is why the audience initially reacted irritably to the band, because they expected women to undress. In the weeks that followed, the Beatles gained respect and audience response. Gradually, the group members adapted to the tense environment of violence, alcohol, drugs and sex. The work days, which lasted up to nine hours, increased the repertoire, spontaneity and self-confidence. On October 4, 1960, the Beatles moved to the Kaiserkeller . Here they met the Liverpool band Rory Storm & the Hurricanes . Ringo Starr was a member of this group . Starr replaced Pete Best two years later as the drummer for the Beatles.

In November and December 1960, the group lost their engagements because of George Harrison's concealed minority and was expelled from Germany. After Harrison was 18 years old, the Beatles played every evening from April to June 1961 in the Top Ten Club in Hamburg, an engagement that had been agreed in writing with the club boss in November 1960 shortly before his expulsion. Pete Best continued to sit on the drums and appeared as the singer of the song Boys .

On December 27, 1960, the Beatles played a concert at Liverpool's Litherland Town Hall, at which the group cemented their status as "the best band in town" and saw the first signs of rising popularity.

On February 9, 1961, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Best made their debut as The Beatles at the Cavern Club , a smoky and gloomy basement pub on Mathew Street that quickly became the group's hangout. The Beatles sometimes gave two or three concerts a day. From April 1 to July 1, 1961, the Beatles had another engagement in Hamburg, this time in the Top Ten Club . Stuart Sutcliffe left the Beatles during his stay in Hamburg.

In May 1961, the Polydor was looking for an accompaniment group for Tony Sheridan . The recordings of seven songs took place on June 22nd and 23rd, 1961 with an improvised recording studio on the stage of the auditorium of the Friedrich-Ebert-Gymnasium in Hamburg-Harburg . Bert Kaempfert was the producer of the group's first professional recordings.

On October 23, 1961, the single My Bonnie / The Saints was published by Polydor (catalog number NH 24673), under the artist name (label print) "Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers". The single reached number 48 in the UK, 26th in the US and 32nd in Germany. The British version lists "Tony Sheridan & The Beatles" as the artist on the label, so the Beatles were first mentioned as an artist on a record here. The entire Polydor recordings were not released until April 1964 on the album The Beatles' First . On July 1, 1961, a contract was signed between the Beatles and Bert Kaempfert Produktion, which was valid until June 30, 1962.

At the end of October / beginning of November Brian Epstein became aware of the Beatles due to the single My Bonnie . On November 9, 1961, Epstein and his assistant Alistair Taylor attended a Beatles concert at the Cavern Club . He was impressed with the charisma of the band members and a few weeks later offered them to manage them. The takeover of management by Brian Epstein meant far-reaching changes in style for John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best, who had previously performed in leather clothing and without a fixed program. Epstein insisted on proper suits, a steady stage program and appropriate behavior on stage.

Brian Epstein made it possible for the Beatles to audition at the Decca record company in London , where the group played 15 pieces at the Decca Audition on January 1, 1962 (including: Money , Till There Was You and Besame Mucho ). In the end, Decca directors Mike Smith and Dick Rowe decided on Brian Poole & The Tremeloes because, in their opinion, “guitar groups would go out of style”.

On 7 March 1962, the Beatles played with Best in the radio program teenager's Turn of the BBC . On May 24, 1962, the Rahlstedt studio in Hamburg, together with producer Bert Kaempfert, produced the musical tracks for Sweet Georgia Brown with the Beatles and Roy Young at the piano, which Tony Sheridan sang about on June 7, 1962. A recording schedule was found in the Polydor archive that documents that the Beatles intended to record twelve songs in the Rahlstedt studio on May 28 and 29, 1962, with Bert Kaempfert as producer. Brian Epstein and the Beatles would have had to pay the production costs of 1,500 marks. The recordings were not made because Brian Epstein was able to arrange an audition with the Parlophone label . At Epstein's request, the Beatles were prematurely released from their contract with Bert Kaempfert Produktion on May 25, 1962 . On May 31, 1962, the Beatles had their last appearance in the Star Club for the time being and returned to Great Britain.

On June 6, 1962, the group auditioned at EMI . George Martin , the producer of the EMI sub-label Parlophone, was quite taken with the Beatles, but disliked the quality of Best's drumming. He informed Brian Epstein, who did not openly discuss it within the group, but withheld the information from Pete Best. Without meaning to, George Martin's remark may have tipped the scales to end Best's Beatles career. On June 15, the Beatles made another appearance on the BBC.

On August 15, 1962, the Beatles played with Pete Best for the last time. A day later, Brian Epstein informed him that the others no longer wanted him in the group. The Beatles played with a replacement drummer for a few days before Ringo Starr joined them on August 18.

The exact background of Pete Best's expulsion is unclear. To this day, Best allegedly does not know the real reason for his dismissal. The later Beatles never made any specific statements to Pete Best, only comments about Best were made in interviews.

In retrospect, John Lennon was derogatory of Pete Best: “He was harmless, but he was difficult to understand. The rest of us were quick to grasp, but that never rubbed off on Pete. At that time he mainly came to us because we needed a drummer for Hamburg. We always agreed that if we found one we would replace him with a better drummer. "

Paul McCartney added, more mildly: “It was a question of personality. We knew he wasn't a very good drummer and he was a little different from us, he wasn't very bright. He was a straight forward guy [...] a simple, moody, wonderful guy ”.

George Harrison said: “I got it all started back then, I really wanted Ringo. I chatted Paul and John until they finally found the idea a good one. "

Own career 1962–1968

From August 1962, Best played drums with Lee Curtis and the All-Stars . This group was formed in the spring of 1962 around the singer Peter Flannery, who used the stage name Lee Curtis . In addition to Curtis, Wayne Bickerton (guitar), Frank Bowen (guitar) and Tony Waddington played in the band. Pete Best came to replace the retired drummer Bernie Rogers. The group gained local fame. The band's first appearance took place on September 10, 1962 at the Majestic Ballroom in Birkenhead. In the following years they played several joint engagements with the Beatles. However, no contact was made.

In 1963, Pete Best put the group in charge of the Hamburg Star Club . Horst Fascher booked the band without ever having heard them. Their manager Joe Flannery, Lee Curtis' brother, managed in the meantime to accommodate the group at Decca . It is debatable whether the group appeared on the first single Little Girl , which appeared in early 1963. The same applies to the two recordings Skinnie Minnie and Jezebel , which were recorded for the LP At The Cavern Recorded Live in the Cavern. It was not until Let's Stomp , published in March 1963, that Pete Best and his band were demonstrably there.

After the group returned to England, Lee Curtis' solo ambitions led to the breakup of the band. While Lee Curtis set up a new formation, the rest of the band decided to continue as Pete Best And The All Stars from now on . Shortly thereafter, the name was changed to Pete Best Four .

Decca gave the group a record deal. Mona Best took over the management of the group and arranged some gigs in Great Britain for her . For a short time Pete Best returned to the Star Club in Hamburg.

In August 1963, Pete Best married his longtime girlfriend, Kathy.

In June 1964, the group's first and only UK single was released. The single I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door / Why Did I Fall In , however, had no success, so Decca canceled the contract with the group.

In the years 1964 to 1965 the group toured irregularly through North America and England and also gave guest appearances in Germany's star clubs ( Bielefeld and Hamburg).

The group recorded two singles for the small label Happening . However, there was no success. The single I'll Try Anyway / I Wanna Be There had already been released on an original Beatles Drummer Best 800 label.

The group toured Canada in 1965 and recorded an LP for the independent label Mr Maestro . Frank Bowen had left the group and was replaced by Tommy McGurk. The LP was released under the ambiguous name Best of The Beatles in December 1965. The LP includes six rock 'n' roll standards and six original compositions by band members Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddin. Despite or because of the misleading title and an old photo taken by Astrid Kirchherr in Hamburg and showing the Beatles with Pete Best, the record had no success in the US charts. During the production of the LP, more tracks were recorded than were initially published. These pieces didn't appear on small American and European labels until fifteen years later.

The group received another chance to record a record in 1965. On the single Boys / Kansas City , however, it was not Pete Best, as indicated on the record cover , but a member of his band. The record was released on the retail label Cameo . The band name was omitted this time to put Pete Best alone in the spotlight. Under his name is the comment "Formerly of the Beatles". Basically, however, a “sham package” was also sold here. However, none of this helped the group. Like Best of The Beatles , this single was unsuccessful.

Bickerton and Waddington returned to Britain, as did Best. Both found a job in the music business and wrote some hits for The Rubettes in the 1970s . For Best, however, his career as a musician was initially over.

After his musical career 1966–1982

Pete Best fell deeper and deeper into a depressed mood. It was only after an attempted suicide , which his brother prevented, that Pete Best managed to get out of this situation. He later said it wasn't depression, it was just a "stupid idea." Since then he has believed in karma : “It wasn't my time.” When looking for an alternative career, he first took a job in a Liverpool bakery. From 1969 he was employed by the Liverpool Employment Agency.

In 1978 he appeared with several other musicians from Liverpool on the Dick Clarke's Variety Show . He worked as a consultant for the production of the controversial television film The Birth of The Beatles .

Best published the book Beatle! In 1982 together with Patrick Doncaster . The Pete Best Story . More books and DVDs followed later .

Share in Beatles nostalgia 1982-2008

Pete Best during an appearance, 2006

In 1988, Best decided to return to music. The band included Bill Kinsley (bass / vocals), who was previously a former member of the Merseybeats , Kenny Parry (lead guitar / vocals) and his brother Roag, who also plays drums. The Pete Best Band was resurrected under a new line-up. In 1988 the group recorded their CD Live at the Adelphi at a Beatles Convention .

Another CD was released in 1994. Shortly before that, Pete Best had redesigned the group. The band now consisted of Vinnie Camilleri (lead guitar), Paul Davies (keyboard), Andrew Cawley (vocals), Pete and Roag Best (drums) and Andrew Kirk (bass). This time, too, the CD was recorded live. Back to the Beat was the name of the result, and the club where the band recorded the CD is the reopened Cavern Club in Liverpool.

While there were no Beatles tracks on the first CD, the Pete Best Band played two Beatles tracks in the Cavern Club. On another CD, released in 1996 under the title … once a beatle, always… , the Pete Best Band played eight Beatles pieces, including titles from the Beatles' late work such as Revolution or Back in the USSR .

In addition to regular CD releases, the group, made up of the friends of Pete Best's younger brother Roag, continued to tour the UK.

In November 1995 EMI released a double album entitled Anthology 1 . It is the first album in a three-part series depicting the Beatles' career. The albums contain previously unknown pieces, live recordings and outtakes . If the album Live at the BBC , released in 1994, was due to available material without pieces in which Pete Best participated, this was not possible with the anthology publication. Anthology 1 contained a total of ten pieces in which Pete Best was involved with his drumming. Best was given a share of the proceeds from the album, which made him a millionaire in one fell swoop. One of his first business deals was the reopening of his mother's legendary club. Today there is the Casbah Coffee Club , or Casbah for short, in Liverpool again .

The unexpected wealth had other consequences. Pete Best gave up his job and founded his own company Splash Promotion with his brother .

In 1996 Pete Best put together on his own record label a compilation of his musical activities from 1964 to 1966 under the title The Pete Best Combo, Beyond the Beatles 1964-66 . The CD is a retrospective of his activities after the Beatles.

To commemorate August 29, 1959, the day the Beatles first played at the Casbah Coffee Club , the place Pete Best calls the "Birthplace of The Beatles", the last work of the Pete Best Band was released in 1999 , the CD Casbah Coffee Club . The CD contains 15 classic rock 'n' roll pieces that were in the music box of Mona Best's Club and were often played there.

A DVD was released in 2005 with the title Best of The Beatles with bonus material over the years that Pete Best spent with the Beatles.

Three years later (2008) the CD Haymans Green was released , named after the address of the Casbah Club. Only the band's own compositions are on this album.

various

Due to his close collaboration with the Beatles, he was sometimes referred to as the " fifth Beatle ". However, he was actually the "fourth Beatle" for two years.

Pete Best has two daughters.

On their fourth album It's OK to love DLDGG , the band The League of Ordinary Gentlemen dedicated the musician the song And Pete combs his hair back .

Discography

Singles

• The Pete Best Four: I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door / Why Did I Fall in Love with You (1964)
• Pete Best: (I'll Try) Anyway / I Wanna Be There (1964)
• Pete Best: Kansas City / Boys (1965)
• Pete Best: I Can't Do Without You Now / Keys to My Heart (1965)
• Pete Best: Don't Play with Me (Little Girl) / If You Can't Get Her (1965)
• Pete Best: If You Can't Get Her / The Way I Feel About You (1965)
• Pete Best: I'll Try Anyway / I Wanna Be There (1965)
• Pete Best: Casting My Spell / I'm Blue (1965)
• Pete Best: Boys / Kansas City (1966)
• Kinsley & Best: Heaven / Fool In Love (1990)
• The Pete Best Band: 4-Track Sampler (2000)

Albums

• The Pete Best Combo: Best Of The Beatles (1965)
• The Pete Best Combo: The Beatle That Time Forgot (1981)
• The Pete Best Band: Rebirth (1981)
• Pete Best: My Three Years as a Beatle (Spoken Word, 1981)
• The Pete Best Band: Live at the Adelphi Liverpool 1988 (1988)
• The Pete Best Band: Back to the Beat (1995)
• The Pete Best Band: Once a Beatle, Always a Beatle (1996)
• The Pete Best Band: Casbah Coffee Club 40th Anniversary Limited Edition (1999)
• The Pete Best Band: Haymans Green (2008)

Compilations with the Beatles

• Tony Sheridan & The Beatles: The Beatles' First (1964)
• The Complete Silver Beatles (1982)
• Anthology 1 (1995)
• The Beatles: Best of The Beatles (DVD, 2005)

Compilations

• The Pete Best Combo: Beyond the Beatles 1964–1966 (1996)
• The Pete Best Combo: Best (1998)

Guest appearances

• Jackie Lomax & Undertakers - Unearthed (1996)

Recordings of the Beatles with Pete Best

Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers - My Bonnie

US version - My Bonnie

The Beatles - Ain't She Sweet

No.	song	composition	admission	publication	length
01	Ain't she sweet	Ager / Yellen	Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, June 22/23, 1961	The Beatles' First / Anthology 1	2:10
02	Cry for a shadow	George Harrison / John Lennon	Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, June 22/23, 1961	The Beatles' First / Anthology 1	2:22
03	My Bonnie	Traditional	Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, June 22/23, 1961	The Beatles' First / Anthology 1	2:06
04th	Take Out Some Insurance On Me, baby	Hall / Singleton	Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, June 22/23, 1961	The Beatles' First	2:52
05	The Saints	Traditional	Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, June 22/23, 1961	The Beatles' First	3:19
06th	Why	Compton / Sheridan	Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, June 22/23, 1961	The Beatles' First	2:55
07th	Nobody's Child	Traditional	Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, June 22/23, 1961	The Beatles' First	3:52
08th	Like Dreamers Thu	Lennon / McCartney	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Anthology 1	2:34
09	Money (That's What I Want)	Gordy / Bradford	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Bootleg	2:22
10	Till There Was You	Willson	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Bootleg	2:58
11	The Sheik of Araby	Smith / Wheeler / Snyder	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Anthology 1	1:40
12	To Know Her Is to Love Her	Spector	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Bootleg	2:34
13	Take Good Care of My Baby	King / Goffin	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Bootleg	2:26
14th	Memphis, Tennessee	Berry	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Bootleg	2:20
15th	Sure to Fall (In Love with You)	Cantrell / Claunch / Perkins	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Bootleg	2:01
16	Hello little girl	Lennon / McCartney	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Anthology 1	1:38
17th	Three cool cats	Leiber / Stoller	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Anthology 1	2:23
18th	Crying, waiting, hoping	Holly	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Bootleg	2:00
19th	Love of the Loved	Lennon / McCartney	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Bootleg	1:50
20th	September in the Rain	Warren / Dubin	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Bootleg	1:53
21st	Bésame Mucho	Velázquez	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Bootleg	2:38
22nd	Searchin '	Leiber / Stoller	Decca Studios, London, 01/01/1962	Anthology 1	3:02
23	Memphis, Tennessee	Berry	Playhouse Theater (BBC), 3/8/1962	Bootleg	2:22
24	Dream baby	Cindy Walker	Playhouse Theater (BBC), Manchester, 3/8/1962	Bootleg	1:54
25th	Please Mr. Postman	Garrett / Dobbins / Brian Holland	Playhouse Theater (BBC), Manchester, 3/8/1962	Bootleg	2:20
26th	Sweet Georgia Brown	Ben Bernie	Studio Rahlstedt, Hamburg, May 24th, 1962	The Beatles' First	2:52
27	Swanee River	Stephen Foster	Studio Rahlstedt, Hamburg, May 24th, 1962	Recording cannot be found so far	?
28	Bésame Mucho	Consuelo Velázquez	Abbey Road Studios, London, 06/06/1962	Anthology 1	2:36
29	Love me do	Lennon / McCartney	Abbey Road Studios, London, 06/06/1962	Anthology 1	2:31
30th	PS I love you	Lennon / McCartney	Abbey Road Studios, London, 06/06/1962	Recording cannot be found so far	?
31	Ask me why	Lennon / McCartney	Abbey Road Studios, London, 06/06/1962	Recording cannot be found so far	?
32	Ask me why	Lennon / McCartney	Playhouse Theater (BBC), Manchester, 06/15/1962	Bootleg	2:18
33	Bésame Mucho	Consuelo Velázquez	Playhouse Theater (BBC), Manchester, 06/15/1962	Bootleg	2:29
34	A picture of you	Joe Brown	Playhouse Theater (BBC), Manchester, 06/15/1962	Bootleg	2:18

See also

• The Beatles / Concerts and Tours

literature

• Thorsten Knublauch, Axel Korinth: Come, give me your hand . The Beatles in Germany 1960–1970. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2008, ISBN 978-3-8334-8530-5 .
• Accompanying book to Beatles Bob-Hamburg Days ISBN 3-89795-805-8 .
• Richie Unterberger: The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film. ISBN 0-87930-892-3 .
• Mark Lewisohn: The Complete Beatles Chronicle. ISBN 0-600-61001-2 .

Web links

Commons : Pete Best  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• http://www.petebest.com/
• classicbands.com

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Beatles: The Beatles Anthology. Ullstein, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-550-07132-9 , p. 45.
2. ^ Single My Bonnie / The Saints
3. ^ Book accompanying the Beatles Bob-Hamburg Days ISBN 3-89795-805-8 , p. 88.
4. ↑ Artist contract with the Beatles / Bert Kaempfert Production
5. ^ Complementary book to Beatles Bob-Hamburg Days ISBN 3-89795-805-8 , pp. 42–43.
6. ↑ Termination Agreement
7. ↑ ^{a b} The Beatles: The Beatles Anthology. 2000, ISBN 3-550-07132-9 , p. 70.
8. ^ The Beatles: The Beatles Anthology. 2000, ISBN 3-550-07132-9 , p. 72.
9. ↑ Jörg Thomann: Pete, take a look! In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . April 18, 2010.
10. ↑ Martin Böttcher : "Pete forever, Ringo never!" Fifty years ago the Beatles replaced their popular drummer Pete Best with Ringo Starr. Deutschlandradio , August 19, 2012, accessed on February 14, 2013 .