Editing Pete Best (section)

== The Beatles ==
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In 1960, the Beatles' manager [[Allan Williams]] arranged a season of bookings in [[Hamburg]], beginning on 17 August 1960, but complained the group did not impress him and hoped that he could find a better act.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=203}}

Having no permanent drummer, [[Paul 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 observed that he played the bass drum on all four beats in the [[Bar (music)|bar]], which pushed the rhythm.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=204}} In Liverpool, his female fans knew him as being "mean, moody, and magnificent", which convinced McCartney he would be suitable for the group.<ref name="TheBeatlesAnthologyDVD">''The Beatles Anthology'' DVD 2003 (Episode 1 – 0:39:26) McCartney talking Best's reputation in Liverpool</ref> After the Black Jacks broke up, McCartney persuaded Best to go to Hamburg with the band, by saying they would each earn £15 per week (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|15|1960|r=-2}}|0}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=57}}{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=69–70}} As Best had passed his school exams (unlike Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, who had failed most of theirs), he had the chance to attend teacher-training college, but he decided that playing in Hamburg would be a better career move.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=6}} Best had an audition in the Jacaranda Club, which Williams owned, and travelled to Hamburg the next day.<ref name=autogenerated5>''The Beatles Anthology'' DVD 2003 (Episode 1 – 0:39:49) Harrison talking about the audition with Best</ref><ref>[http://triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/archives/my-beatle-days.shtml My Beatle Days, by Pete Best] triumphpc.com – Retrieved 26 November 2007</ref> Williams later said 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.{{sfn|Goldsmith|2004|p=46}}

On their first trip to Hamburg, the group soon realised that the stage suits they wore could not withstand 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 initially preferred to play in cooler short sleeves on stage, which did not match the [[wikt:sartorial#Pronunciation|sartorial]] style of the group, even though he was later photographed wearing a leather jacket and jeans.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|pp=213–214}} Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and [[Stuart Sutcliffe]] were introduced to recreational drugs in Hamburg. As they played for hours every night, they often took [[Preludin]] to keep themselves awake, which they received from German customers or [[Astrid Kirchherr]], whose mother bought them.<ref name=autogenerated2>''The Beatles Anthology'' DVD 2003 (Episode 1 – 0:44:28) Starr and Harrison talking about Preludins in Hamburg</ref> Lennon often took four or five, but Best always refused.{{sfn|Miles|1997|pp=66–67}}{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=219}}

The Beatles first played a complete show with Best on 17 August 1960<ref name="ReferenceA">The Complete Beatles Chronicle by Mark Lewisohn</ref> at the [[The Beatles in Hamburg#The Indra and Kaiserkeller|Indra Club]] in Hamburg, and the group slept in the [[The Beatles in Hamburg#Bambi Kino|Bambi Kino]] cinema in a small, dirty room with bunk beds, a cold and noisy former storeroom directly behind the screen. Upon first seeing the Indra, where they were booked to play, Best remembered it as a depressing place patronised by a few tourists and having heavy, old, red curtains that made it seem shabby compared to the larger [[Kaiserkeller]].{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=208}} As Best had been the only group member to study [[O-Level]] German at school, he could converse with the club's owner, [[Bruno Koschmider]], and the clientele.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=77}} After the Indra closed following complaints about the noise, the group started a residency in the Kaiserkeller.{{Sfn|Miles|1997|pp=57–58}}{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=76}}

In October 1960, the group left Koschmider's club to work at the [[Top Ten Club]], which Peter Eckhorn ran, as he offered the group more money and a slightly better place to sleep. In doing so, they broke their contract with Koschmider.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=93}}{{sfn|Miles|1997|pp=71–72}} When Best and McCartney returned 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.{{Sfn|Spitz|2005|p=230}} No real damage was done, but Koschmider reported them both for attempted arson. Best and McCartney spent three hours in a local prison and were subsequently deported on 30 November 1960, as was George Harrison, for working under the legal age limit.{{sfn|Miles|1997|pp=72–73}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|1990|p=24}}

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.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=231}} In late 1961, Mona arranged all the bookings for the group in Liverpool after they parted company with Williams.{{Sfn|Lennon|2005|p=106}}{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=330}}

[[Chas Newby]], the ex-Black Jacks guitarist, was invited to play bass for four concerts, as bassist [[Stuart Sutcliffe]] had decided to stay in Hamburg.<ref>[http://www.beatlesource.com/savage/1960/1960.html Photo of Chas Newby] beatlesource.com – Retrieved 5 November 2007</ref> Newby played with the group at [[Litherland Town Hall]] and at the Casbah.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=234}} 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.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=5}} It was probably thanks to McCartney that Best developed a loud drumming style, as he often told Best in Hamburg to "crank it up" (play as loud as possible).{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=214}} When the group returned to Hamburg, by which time McCartney had switched to bass, Best was asked to sing a speciality number written by McCartney, "Pinwheel Twist", while McCartney played drums.

=== "My Bonnie" ===
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The reunited Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961. While they played at the [[Top Ten Club]], singer [[Tony Sheridan]] recruited them to act as his backing band on a recording for the German [[Polydor Records|Polydor]] label, produced by bandleader [[Bert Kaempfert]],{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=97}} who signed the group to a Polydor contract at the first session on 22 June 1961. On 31 October 1961, Polydor released the recording "[[My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean|My Bonnie]]" (''Mein Herz ist bei dir nur'' / My heart is only for you), 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.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=250}} The song was later released in the UK.<ref name="MyBonnie">"My Bonnie"/"The Saints" 23 April 1962. Polydor NH 66833 (Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers)</ref> There was a second recording session on 23 June that year and a third in May 1962.

=== Decca and Parlophone ===
<!-- [[WP:NFCC]] violation: [[File:Beatles Telegram.jpg|thumb|left|270px|The telegram Brian Epstein sent to ''[[Mersey Beat]]'' newspaper in Liverpool announcing the Beatles' first UK recording contract]] -->
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[[Brian Epstein]], who had been unofficially managing the Beatles for less than a month, arranged a [[The Beatles' Decca audition|recording audition]] at [[Decca Records]] in London on New Year's Day 1962.{{sfn|Unterberger|2006|p=18}} The group recorded 15 songs, mostly cover versions, plus three Lennon–McCartney songs.{{sfn|Unterberger|2006|p=19}} Best also recorded the song "Going Back Manchester" with Lennon at this time, which would later feature as a bonus track on the special edition of his album ''Best of the Beatles'', the rights of the song belonging to Best due to a legal technicality. A month later, Decca informed Epstein the group had been rejected.{{sfn|Unterberger|2006|p=22}} All band members except for Best were informed of the rejection.{{sfn|Brocken|2010|p=101}} Epstein officially became the Beatles' manager on 24 January 1962, with the contract signed in Best's house.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brianepstein.com/brian.html|title=Life of Brian: Brian Epstein Bio|website=brianepstein.com|access-date=16 August 2018}}</ref>

Epstein negotiated ownership of the Decca audition tape, which was then transferred to an acetate disc, to promote the band to other record companies in London. In the meantime, Epstein negotiated the release of the Beatles from their recording contract with Bert Kaempfert and [[Polydor Records]] in Germany, which expired on 22 June 1962.{{Sfn|Lewisohn|2013}}{{page needed|date=February 2024}} As a part of this contract, the Beatles recorded at Polydor's Studio Rahlstedt on 24 May 1962 in Hamburg as a sessions band, backing Tony Sheridan.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1996|p=42}}<ref name="MyBeatleDays">{{cite web |first=Pete |last=Best |url=http://www.triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/archives/my-beatle-days.shtml |title= My Beatle Days |publisher=Triumph PC |access-date=25 May 2009}}</ref><ref name="TheBeatlesinHamburg19601962">{{cite web|url=http://german.about.com/cs/music/a/beatleger_2.htm|title=The Beatles in Hamburg: 1960–1962|publisher=about|access-date=14 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090915191032/http://german.about.com/cs/music/a/beatleger_2.htm|archive-date=15 September 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[File:Abbeyroadtomswain.jpg|thumb|left|270px|alt=Studio Two, Abbey Road Studios|Studio Two of Abbey Road Studios (in 2008) where Pete Best recorded with the Beatles in a test session on 6 June 1962]]
The record producer at [[EMI]], [[George Martin]], met Epstein on 9 May 1962 at the [[Abbey Road Studios|Abbey Road studios]], and was impressed with his enthusiasm. He agreed to sign the Beatles on a recording contract, based on listening to the Decca audition tape, without having met or seen them perform live.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=90}} Soon after the recording contract was signed, the Beatles performed a "commercial test" (i.e. an evaluation of a signed artist) on 6 June 1962 in Studio Two at the Abbey Road studios.{{sfn|Martin|1994|pp=120–123}} The Beatles were not new to studio recording, and Best's drumming had been found acceptable by Polydor in Hamburg. However, Martin was alerted to Best's unsuitability for British studio work. EMI engineer [[Norman Smith (record producer)|Norman Smith]] stated in a 2006 video interview that "it was mainly down to what he was playing and not how he was playing," when "Love Me Do" was first recorded, referring to the head [[Arrangement#Jazz|arrangement]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLAK8o0RXtA| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211116/RLAK8o0RXtA| archive-date=16 November 2021 | url-status=live|title=Bonus Beatles Stories - Special DVD Features - Norman Smith - Cinema Libre studio| date=23 January 2018|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Martin, however, found Best's timing inadequate and wanted to replace Best with an experienced studio [[Session musician|session drummer]] for the recordings, a common practice at the time.{{sfn|Martin|1994|pp=120–123}} 
Martin stated years later:{{Blockquote|I decided that the drums, which are really the backbone of a good rock group, didn't give the boys enough support. They needed a good solid beat, and I said to Brian, 'Look, it doesn't matter what you do with the boys, but on record, nobody need know. I'm gonna use a hot drummer.' Brian [Epstein] said, 'Okay, fine.' I felt guilty because I felt maybe I was the catalyst that had changed his [Best's] life…<ref name=autogenerated1>''The Beatles Anthology'' DVD 2003 (Episode 1 – 1:02:54) Martin talking about Best's drumming.</ref>{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=90}}{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=318}}}}

=== Dismissal ===
When Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison learned that Martin and the engineers preferred replacing Best with a session drummer for their upcoming recording session on 4 September 1962, they considered dismissing Best from the group. Eventually, they asked Epstein to handle this.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=119}} Epstein agonised over the decision. As he wrote in his autobiography, ''[[A Cellarful of Noise]]'', he "wasn't sure" about Martin's assessment of Best's drumming and "was not anxious to change the membership of the Beatles at a time when they were developing as personalities … I asked the Beatles to leave the group as it was".{{sfn|Epstein|1964|p=63}} Epstein also asked Liverpool DJ [[Bob Wooler]], who knew the Beatles intimately, for advice, to which Wooler replied that it was not a good idea, as Best was very popular with the fans.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=329}} Part of the dilemma for Epstein that arose at that time (when the band had not yet achieved national success, but rather local status as a good band with limited income) was that Best was an asset at gigs, popular with the group's female fans, and put on a good show, ensuring venues would have a solid audience. The counter-argument, however, was the larger consideration of the band's having the best music produced for record sales. Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison ultimately decided that record production was more important than having a drummer for live stage performances who was more image than substance. In the meantime, Epstein refrained from telling Best that EMI had made a recording contract with the band (orally since June and in writing at the end of July 1962), which meant that a new drummer was now inevitable. There might have been legal issues had Best known.<ref>{{cite book |last=Norman |first=Philip |date=1981 |title=Shout! |title-link=Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation |pages=149-150}}</ref>

Epstein decided that "If the group was to remain happy, Pete Best must go." Best played his last two gigs with the Beatles on 15 August at [[the Cavern Club]], Liverpool. Epstein summoned Best to his office and dismissed him on Thursday, 16 August, ten weeks and a day after the first recording session. Epstein asked Best to play with the Beatles on 16 and 17 August at the Riverpark Ballroom, Chester, and Best agreed but had a change of heart and did not turn up; [[Johnny Hutchinson]] of [[The Big Three (English band)|the Big Three]] was rushed in as a substitute.<ref name="ReferenceA" />{{sfn|Epstein|1964|p=63}}

''[[Mersey Beat]]'' magazine's editor, [[Bill Harry]], claimed that Epstein initially offered the vacant drummer position in the group to Hutchinson, whom he also managed. Hutchinson is said to have refused the job, saying, "Pete Best is a very good friend of mine. I couldn't do the dirty on him."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/a-z/petebest3.shtml |title=Bill Harry on Pete Best's Sacking |publisher=Triumphpc.com |access-date=22 October 2011}}</ref> However, McCartney and Harrison have said they wanted Starr from the beginning after he sat in with them at shows on several occasions when Best was absent. Best says that Epstein revealed at the dismissal meeting that Starr would become the new drummer.<ref name=":0">{{Citation |title=The OBVIOUS REASON PETE BEST Was FIRED by the BEATLES {{!}} #032 | date=6 September 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU3a1deif-w |language=en |access-date=2022-08-16}}</ref>

Best had been good friends with [[Neil Aspinall]] since 1961 when Aspinall had rented a room in the house where Best lived with his parents. While still part of the group, Best had asked Aspinall to become the band's road manager and personal assistant. Aspinall accepted the job and bought an old [[Commer]] van for £80 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|80|1961|r=-2}}|0}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=73}} Aspinall was waiting for Best downstairs in Epstein's NEMS record shop after the dismissal meeting. The two went to the ''Grapes'' pub on Mathew Street, the same street as the Cavern Club, where the group had played.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=331}} Aspinall was furious at the news, insisting to Best that he would resign from the Beatles.<ref name="triumphpc"/> Best strongly advised him to remain with the group. Aspinall's relationship with Mona Best (and their three-week-old baby, Roag) was ended. At the Riverpark Ballroom gig, Aspinall asked Lennon why they had fired Best, to which Lennon replied, "It's got nothing to do with you; you're only the driver."<ref name="triumphpc">[http://triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/beatles/neilaspinall2.shtml Aspinall, The Beatles and money – Mersey Beat] triumphpc.com – Retrieved 11 February 2007</ref>

Starr had previously played with [[Rory Storm and the Hurricanes]] – the alternating band at the Kaiserkeller – and had substituted whenever Best was ill or unable to play in Hamburg and Liverpool.{{Sfn|Miles|1997|p=90}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rory Storm in Hamburg - Conversations with Pete Best - Pete Best and Bill Harry - Mersey Beat |url=http://triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/beatles/rorystorm_hamburg.shtml |access-date=2007-05-11 |website=triumphpc.com}}</ref> [[Bill Harry]] reported Best's dismissal on the front page of ''Mersey Beat'' magazine, upsetting many Beatles fans. The group encountered some jeering and heckling in the street and on stage for weeks afterwards, with some fans shouting, "Pete forever, Ringo never!" One agitated fan [[headbutt]]ed Harrison in The Cavern, giving him a [[black eye]].<ref name=autogenerated6>''The Beatles Anthology'' DVD 2003 (Episode 1 – 1:04:24) Harrison talking about "Pete forever, Ringo never!"</ref>{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=120}}

As Best's replacement, Starr accompanied the band on their second recording session with EMI at Abbey Road studios on 4 September 1962.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.beatle.net/50th-anniversary-of-beatles-1st-proper-recording-session/|title=50 Years Ago: Beatles First Proper Recording Session – beatle.net|website=beatle.net|date=4 September 2012|access-date=16 August 2018}}</ref> George Martin initially refused to let Starr play. He was unfamiliar with Starr and wanted to avoid any risk of his drumming not being up to par. On 11 September 1962, at the third EMI recording session, Martin used session musician [[Andy White (drummer)|Andy White]] on the drums for the whole session instead of Starr, as Martin had already booked White after the first session with Best.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=353}} Starr played the tambourine on some songs while White played the drums. Starr told biographer [[Hunter Davies]] years later that he had thought, "That's the end. They're pulling a Pete Best on me."{{sfn|Davies|1996|p=163}}