Pete Best - The Beatles and Hamburg

The Beatles and Hamburg

In 1960, Allan Williams arranged a season of bookings for the group in Hamburg, starting on 17 August 1960, but complained that he was not impressed with them as a musical group, and hoped that he could find a better act to follow them.

Having no permanent drummer, McCartney looked for someone to fill the Hamburg position. Best had been seen playing in The Casbah with his own group, The Black Jacks, and it was noted that he was a steady drummer, playing the bass drum on all four beats in the bar, which pushed the rhythm. He was known in Liverpool as being "mean, moody, and magnificent" by his female fans, which convinced McCartney he would be good for the group. After The Black Jacks broke up, McCartney convinced Best to go to Hamburg with the group, by saying they would earn £15 per week each. As Best had passed his school exams—unlike Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, who had failed most of theirs—he had the chance to go to a teacher-training college, but decided that playing in Hamburg would be a better career move. Best had an audition in the Jacaranda club, which was owned by Williams, and travelled to Hamburg the next day. Williams later admitted that the audition with Best was unnecessary, as the group had not found any other drummer willing to travel to Hamburg, but did not tell Best in case he asked for more money.

The Beatles first played at the Indra club in Hamburg, but slept in the Bambi Kino (cinema) in small, dirty rooms, which were noisy, cold, and directly behind the screen. Upon first seeing the Indra, where they were booked to play, Best remembered it as being a depressing place that was filled with a few tourists, and having heavy, old, red curtains that made it seem shabby compared to the larger Kaiserkeller. As Best had been the only group member to study O-Level German at school, he was able to talk with the club's owner, Bruno Koschmider, and the clientele. After the closure of the Indra because of complaints about the noise, the group started a residency in the Kaiserkeller.

In October 1960, the group left Koschmider's club to work at the Top Ten Club, which was run by Peter Eckhorn, as he offered the group more money, and a slightly better place to sleep, although by doing so they broke their contract with Koschmider. When Best and McCartney went back to the Bambi Kino to retrieve their belongings they found it in almost total darkness. As a snub to Koschmider, McCartney found a condom, attached it to a nail on the concrete wall of the room, and set it alight. There was no real damage done, but Koschmider reported them both for attempted arson. Best and McCartney spent three hours in a local prison and were subsequently deported, as was George Harrison, for working under the legal age limit, on 30 November 1960.

Back in Liverpool, the group members had no contact with each other for two weeks, but Best and his mother made numerous phone calls to Hamburg to recover the group's equipment. Mona arranged all the bookings for the group in Liverpool, after parting company with Williams in late 1961.

The ex-Black Jacks guitarist, Chas Newby, was invited to play bass for four concerts, as bassist Stuart Sutcliffe had decided to stay in Hamburg. Newby played with the group at Litherland Town Hall and at The Casbah. He was shocked at the vast improvement in their playing and singing, and remembered Best's drumming to be very powerful, which pushed the group to play harder and louder. 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). When the group returned to Hamburg, Best was asked to sing a speciality number, "Peppermint Twist", while McCartney played drums, but always felt uncomfortable being at the front of the stage.