Book Read Free

The Beatles

Page 118

by Bob Spitz


  Best told one interviewer: “My mother took a phone call from Paul McCartney. He said that they had an offer to go to Germany and needed a drummer.” Leigh, Let’s Go Down the Cavern, p. 37.

  “I’d always liked them”: Davies, Beatles, p. 70.

  “He was absent too much”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.

  “feared the worst”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 116.

  Over Jim’s objections: “My dad’s catch phrase was always get a job first… a serious job.” Mike McCartney in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 38.

  “I didn’t want to go back”: Davies, Beatles, p. 72.

  “buy… lots of things”: M. McCartney, Thank U Very Much (unnumbered).

  Paul invited Allan Williams: “To stamp the seal of approval on things, Paul brought Alan [sic] Williams to the house.” Ibid.

  “a respectable and kind person”: Bill Harry interview with Pauline Sutcliffe (audio), undated.

  “Allan didn’t entirely tell… the whole truth”: Ibid.

  They’d arrived at dusk: Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 84.

  “mile of sin”: Insight Guides: Germany, p. 290.

  “It was an ‘anything goes’ kind of place”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 2/29/00.

  “was depressing”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 45.

  By contract, the Beatles: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 24 (photo).

  “You can’t imagine the work”: Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.

  “were… far too deadpan”: Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 93.

  “the sexiest music of all”: Riley, Tell Me Why, p. 59.

  “C’mon, boys… make a show”: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 23, and reported variously in almost every book written about the Beatles, including Miles, Coleman, Davies, Best & Harry, and Anthology.

  “powerhouse music”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 47.

  “After a few weeks”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.

  “possible to pass the whole night”: Jürgen Vollmer, 12/84, AGA.

  “Eating wasn’t part of the equation”: Author interview with Howie Casey, 10/27/97.

  “baptism by fire”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.

  “filthy, dirty, and disgusting”: Author interview with Howie Casey, 10/27/97.

  “the black holes of Calcutta”: Pete Best in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 50.

  “It was freezing cold”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.

  “We used to work the hell out of it”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 59.

  Rosa Hoffman: “Mutti’s real name was Rosa Hoffman. She was born on April 21, 1900, and died March 15, 1988.” Letter, Erich Weber to Bill Harry, 6/21/97.

  “We thought they were a pretty scruffy bunch”: Author interview with Howie Casey, 10/27/97.

  “Crank it up, Pete”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 50.

  the “most absurd request”: Author interview with John Frankland, 10/6/97.

  “Mr. Showmanship”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.

  “crumby”: “Rory Storm and the Hurricanes came out here the other week, and they are crumby.” Letter, George Harrison to Arthur Kelly (undated).

  “und the Beatles”: poster, belonging to Johnny Byrne; also John Lowe in Gottfridsson, From Cavern to Star-Club, p. 54 (photo).

  By all accounts, they were paid more: Clayson, Straight Man, p. 38.

  “blow these guys off the stage”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 53.

  Vi Caldwell… kept Paul in cigarettes: Author interview with Iris Caldwell Fenton, 9/10/97.

  “the prettiest girl”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/5/97.

  “Every night was another… jam”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.

  216–17 “It was such an incredible number”: Ibid.

  “I pay five men!”: Ibid.

  “There was a stunned”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 78.

  “the guy tried to climb up”: Author interview with Gibson Kemp, 8/12/97.

  “like winning the lottery”: Author interview with John Frankland, 10/6/97.

  “he fixed [them] up”: Author interview with Howie Casey, 10/27/97.

  “German customers would say”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 78.

  mobsters “would come in late at night”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 66.

  “they were so exhausted”: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 23.

  “Once you had a few beers”: Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.

  “gobbled them down”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 66.

  “eating Prellie sandwiches”: Letter, George Harrison to Arthur Kelly (undated).

  “was dodgy… you could get a little too wired”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 67.

  “We tried any number of crazy things”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.

  “like a waterbed”: Ibid.

  “high-class call girls”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 74.

  “Nobody really looked at the stage”: Jürgen Vollmer, 12/84, AGA.

  “rockers”: “The rockers were exactly like the Beatles—rough.” Ibid.

  Eventually, during a break: Norman, Shout!, p. 97.

  In fact, Stuart had spotted all three: “They wandered into the club about a week ago and seated themselves at a table near the band, where I soon became aware of them.” Letter, Stuart Sutcliffe to Susan Williams, 10/60.

  “typical bohemians”: Ibid.

  The three, it turned out: “Stuart, we knew immediately, was one of us.” Jürgen Vollmer, 12/84, AGA.

  “The minute she walked into a room”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/5/97.

  Neither outwardly personable: “Astrid was always… unsocial, she was always a loner.” Jürgen Vollmer, 8/84, AGA.

  “She had a tremendous feel”: Author interview with Gibson Kemp, 8/12/97.

  “I had never met anybody like them”: Letter, Stuart Sutcliffe to Susan Williams, 10/60.

  “My impression was that Stuart”: Jürgen Vollmer, 12/84, AGA.

  “exis”: “ ‘Exis,’ that’s what I called them.” Davies, Beatles, p. 83.

  “totally and immediately fascinated”: Jürgen Vollmer, 8/82, AGA.

  “It was like a merry-go-round”: Astrid Kirchherr in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 48.

  der Dom: Norman, Shout!, p. 97.

  “Cocteau phase”: Jürgen Vollmer, 8/82, AGA.

  He proved more than capable: “What They Played,” Lewisohn, Chronicle, pp. 361–65.

  “a very charming image”: Jürgen Vollmer, 8/82, AGA.

  “I was always practical”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 65.

  “weak link”: Ibid.

  “I have definitely decided to pack in”: Letter, Stuart Sutcliffe to Susan Williams, 10/60.

  “He was always kidding”: Jürgen Vollmer, 8/82, AGA.

  “But he just seemed to take it”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.

  occupied by a peep show: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 23.

  Sheridan’s repertoire: Author interview with Johnny Frankland, 10/6/97.

  “He would play solos”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.

  “He’d get guitar diarrhea”: Author interview with Gibson Kemp, 8/12/97.

  “In the end”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.

  “We suddenly realized”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 82.

  along with a clause that forbade: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.

  Eckhorn recognized: “They came to me…. I liked them and offered them a contract.” Davies, Beatles, p. 87.

  He terminated the Beatles’ contract: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 24.

  The band was required to make an announcement: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 70.

  “So I had to leave”: Davies, Beatles, p. 87.

  “This gave us just enough light”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 82.

  “attempting to burn down”: Ibid., p. 83.

  “felt ashamed�
��: Davies, Beatles, p. 89.

  CHAPTER 13: A REVELATION TO BEHOLD

  A week before Christmas: “Oddly, it was George and I who made the first moves, running around town in search of venues to play.” Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 81.

  “disgruntled and very angry”: C. Lennon, A Twist, p. 52.

  Williams was in no mood: “There’s nothing I can do for you at the moment,” he told them. “I’m up to my eyes in trouble.” Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 113.

  “job for life”/“drinking heavily”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.

  “She was always there”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 81.

  “She gave them the kind of work”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.

  The Seniors had played there: Davies, Beatles, p. 91.

  “a revelation to behold”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.

  “and had the nerve to play”: John Cochrane in Leigh, Drummed Out!, p. 19.

  “We’d been pussyfooting”: Pat Clusky in ibid.

  “were utterly, utterly devastated”: Bill Harry interview with Pauline Sutcliffe (audio), undated.

  He had written before Christmas: Ibid.

  “He didn’t seem keen”: Letter, Stuart Sutcliffe to Pauline Sutcliffe, 12/24/60.

  “anybody would be taking her son”: Bill Harry interview with Pauline Sutcliffe (audio), undated.

  “picking on him”: Davies, Beatles, p. 98.

  “Come home sooner”: Letter, George Harrison to Stuart Sutcliffe, 12/16/60.

  Without a bass: Gottfridsson, From Cavern to Star-Club, p. 64.

  “put Liverpool on the map”: Ray McFall in Leigh, Let’s Go Down the Cavern, p. 26.

  “doing the jazzy-type stuff”: Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.

  An ersatz ventilation pipe: Leigh, Let’s Go Down to the Cavern, p. 24.

  “The Cavern was a shithole”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 10/4/97.

  “At first, it was difficult to breathe”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.

  “It was as if they’d gone”: Author interview with Dot Rhone Becker, 11/19/98.

  “Lovely lovely lovely… Cyn”: Hello!, 5/7/94.

  “John was a flirt”: Ibid.

  For months, Peter Eckhorn: Miles, Paul McCartney, pp. 74–75.

  Pete Best worked the same: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 89.

  Impervious to his parents’ dismay: “They were going to be together and that was that, whether we liked it or not.” Bill Harry interview with Pauline Sutcliffe (audio), undated.

  In January he had been beaten: Millie Sutcliffe in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, pp. 60–61; Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 92.

  John also broke: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 92; Aspinall, Rave, 1966; also “John dived to Stuart’s defense and got his finger broken in the process.” Hello!, 5/7/94.

  “We’d listen to both sides”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 99.

  they “clubbed together”: “NEMS had fantastic listening booths. They’d take a stack of records in there and if someone really loved one…” Author interview with Gibson Kemp, 8/12/97.

  “If someone got out of line”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 8/4/97.

  “He liked us backing him”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 106.

  powsas: C. Lennon, A Twist, p. 57.

  “Here’s something to keep”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 95.

  “in letters from Germany”: Bill Harry interview with Pauline Sutcliffe (audio), undated.

  “It was loose”: Author interview with Beryl Williams, 11/2/97.

  “[It] struck me as being”: Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 123.

  Stuart’s follow-up letter: Ibid.

  “he wasn’t disappointed”: Author interview with Beryl Williams, 11/2/97.

  “It was loud”: Jürgen Vollmer, 8/82, AGA.

  “In my art school”: Astrid Kirchherr in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 67.

  Out of ignorance: “This was going too far, we all thought…. ” Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 94; Davies, Beatles, p. 103.

  “The pills and booze”: C. Lennon, A Twist, p. 55.

  “he seemed more grown-up”: Author interview with Dot Rhone Becker, 11/19/98.

  John took Cynthia: C. Lennon, A Twist, p. 54.

  “She sounded as though she could”: Ibid., p. 55.

  Astrid and John… held hands: “We would hold hands occasionally, but he would find it hard even to do that.” Astrid Kirchherr in Coleman, Lennon, p. 129.

  Paul and Dot bunked: “We had our own bedroom. I don’t remember seeing much of Rosa.” Author interview with Dot Rhone Becker, 11/19/98.

  “with such a wallop”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 103.

  “They beat the shit out of each other”: Author interview with confidential source.

  “It was the beginning of the end”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 103.

  “he was only lending it”: Paul McCartney in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 70.

  a gold band: Author interview with Dot Rhone Becker, 11/19/98.

  “like lepers”: Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.

  Tommy Kent: Gottfridsson, From Cavern to Star-Club, p. 68.

  “He said we were the best”: Liverpool Echo, 2/20/96.

  Kaempfert’s response was polite: “He certainly showed little excitement at what we were doing.” Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 104.

  The Beatles were stunned: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 108.

  It was a sticky piece: “It was presented as: ‘That is the deal you’re going to get.’ ” Ibid.

  “What the hell”: Ibid.

  along with George’s instrumental: Pete Best in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 71.

  “represented something new”: “They were a new invention in those days.” Karl Hinze in Gottfridsson, From Cavern to Star-Club, p. 83.

  CHAPTER 14: MR. X

  the 500 Limited bus: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.

  “Look at this. I’ve just received it”: Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 73.

  “Mein Herz ist bei dir nur”: Polydor, no. NH 24673; English release date: BBC, Arena archives.

  “Up until then”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.

  “Let me play it tonight”: Ibid.

  “Go and tell him to get fucking well stuffed”: Ibid.

  “There was only one record store”: Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 73.

  In a datebook he carried: Personal diary of Brian Epstein, 1949; courtesy of Bryan Barrett.

  “lived for Beethoven, Mozart”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

  a collection of the Brandenburg Concertos: “My mother gave them to me when I was nineteen, for my birthday.” Desert Island Discs, 11/30/64.

  “The closest Brian ever got”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/3/97.

  He was born on September 19, 1934: Stella Epstein Cantor, Arena archives.

  “She knew what it meant to be a lady”: Author interview with Rex Makin, 11/1/97.

  “Tell me, Auntie”: Stella Epstein Cantor, Arena archives.

  “Queenie treated him as an equal”: Author interview with Rex Makin, 11/1/97.

  “one of those out-of-sorts boys”: Epstein, Cellarful, p. 25.

  “problem child”: “When my mother, distressed and weeping, pleaded with the head-master that I should be given another term, he replied, ‘Madam, we have no room for your problem child.’ ” From Brian Epstein’s handwritten journal, 1957.

  “It was at this school”: Ibid.

  “benevolent academies”: “They solved [my school problem]… by sending me to one of those benevolent academies where failures are welcomed…. ” Epstein, Cellarful, p. 29.

  “I tried very hard”: Brian Epstein’s datebook, 1949.

  A portfolio of eight drawings: Brian Epstein, portfolio, courtesy of Bryan Barrett.

  Harry… “went up the pole”: Stella Epste
in Cantor, Arena archives.

  it “was impossible”/“it would be stupid”: Brian Epstein’s handwritten journal, 1957, p. 6.

  “In a rage of temper”: Ibid.

  “reported for duty”: Epstein, Cellarful, p. 31.

  “a keen interest in display work”: “I worked well and had some new ideas.” Brian Epstein, handwritten journal, 1957, p. 6.

  The window sets he redressed: “I placed chairs in the windows with their backs to the window shoppers.” Epstein, Cellarful, p. 33.

  Isaac was neither amused: Author interview with Rex Makin, 11/1/97.

  “latent homosexuality”: “It is possible even then I may have been able to settle down after all that had happened, remaining, as I did, unaware of my latent homosexuality.” Brian Epstein, handwritten journal, 1957, p. 6.

  “Within the first few weeks”: Ibid.

  “confused”: “My mind was confused and my nervous system weakened.” Ibid., p. 7.

  About the same time, he was robbed: Ibid., pp. 7–8.

  In his autobiography, Brian invents: Epstein, Cellarful, p. 36.

  “on medical grounds”: Ibid., p. 37.

  “homosexual life and its various rendezvous”: Brian Epstein, handwritten journal, 1957, p. 8.

  “My life became a succession”: Ibid.

  At twenty-one, he was appointed: Ibid., p. 9.

  Without any warning, he packed: Ibid., p. 8.

  “I confessed everything”: Ibid., p. 9.

  Incredible as it may seem, Brian impressed: Norman, Shout!, p. 131.

  Peter O’Toole, Albert Finney: Brian Epstein, handwritten journal, 1957, p. 7.

  His own class boasted: Epstein, Cellarful, p. 40.

  “the narcissism… and the detachment”: Ibid.

  “a second male lead”: Norman, Shout!, p. 131.

  Loneliness was partly to blame: “Living alone in London I felt acute frustration and loneliness.” Brian Epstein, handwritten journal, 1957, p. 5.

  On the evening of April 17: Ibid., p. 11.

  “mind went in great fear”: Ibid.

  “[And] after a few minutes”: Ibid., p. 14.

  Miraculously, a family solicitor: Author interview with Rex Makin, 11/1/97.

  This time, he got involved with: Ibid.

  “They arranged for a drop”: Ibid.

  “he was oblivious”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/9/97.

  “My girlfriend and I”: Author interview with Mike Rice, 7/27/98.

 

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