At McCartney’s instigation, the Beatles had added some middle-of-the-road ballads to their act, which can be viewed as a throwback to dance-band days. Ritchie Galvin, drummer with Earl Preston and the TTs: “Pete was a very basic drummer and not very technical. The Beatles, particularly Paul, were singing songs like ‘Till There Was You’, ‘A Taste of Honey’ and ‘Fever’, songs that called for a little more from the right hand than ticky, ticky, ticky. The bass drumming needed for those songs is quite intricate.”
The big show song from the Liverpool groups has to be ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from Gerry and the Pacemakers, and how sophisticated is the drumming on that? Garry Tamlyn: “Even a show song like ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ when played by Gerry and the Pacemakers is only triplet rhythms on cymbals, and that’s no different from what Earl Palmer was doing in the 1950s with Fats Domino and Lloyd Price. Any competent drummer could play that. You’re only calling the song sophisticated because of the emotions it contains. It doesn’t require any complex drum beats.”
The Ex-Files 3: George Martin didn’t like Pete Best’s Drumming
Paul McCartney told Mark Lewisohn: “When we first came down in June 1962 with Pete Best, George Martin took us aside and said, ‘I’m not happy about the drummer.’ And we all went, ‘Oh God, well, I’m not telling him. You can tell him… Ooh God!’ and it was quite a blow. He said, ‘Can you change your drummer?’ And we said, ‘We’re quite happy with him, he works great in the clubs.’ And George said, ‘Yes, but for recording he’s got to be just a bit more accurate.’”
George Martin was unhappy with Pete Best’s drumming but he hadn’t suggested that Pete should be sacked. He could make the Beatles’ records with a session drummer and no-one need know – who knew, for example, that Gary Walker didn’t drum on the Walker Brothers but read comics in the control booth? Gary was kept in the Walker Brothers because he looked good, a reversal of the Pete Best situation. Then again, Dennis Wilson was forced into the family group, the Beach Boys, at the insistence of his mother. He was only a moderate drummer and was often replaced by session men, but he became essential as the heart-throb of the group.
However, the very fact that it was George Martin who said Pete Best wasn’t good enough may have been a deciding factor. The Beatles were desperate for a UK recording contract and George Martin was a London-based authority figure with an impressive CV as a producer. His opinions would carry more weight with the ambitious Beatles than Brian Epstein’s. George Martin’s views were, at the very least, the catalyst for the sacking of Pete Best. Hamburg record producer Paul Murphy: “I believe Pete Best was a casualty of George Martin. Getting that record contract was like getting the Holy Grail. It was like ‘We are not worthy’ when they went in the doors at EMI, so I do think George Martin had a lot to do with it.”
Ironically, there could be another dimension to this. Was George Martin good enough for Pete Best? Playwright and Cavern dweller Willy Russell: “I don’t think the recording industry could cope with the weight of the beat that the Beatles were capable of in those days. When we did John Paul George Ringo… And Bert, we included the Beatles’ recording of ‘Long Tall Sally’, but we overdubbed another bass line to try and capture the powerful bass sound that they had at the Cavern. George Martin never got near the way they could do rhythm ‘n’ blues, and even ‘Twist and Shout’ sounds thinner than it did live. I get irked when people say the Rolling Stones was the great rock ’n’ roll band; for me, the Beatles’ beat section – the bass and drums – was much stronger live than the Stones.”
Harry Prytherch of the Remo Four is of a similar mind. He feels that George Martin may have found a dominant bass drum seeping through the mikes of the other performers. Garry Tamlyn: “Charles Connor, who was in Little Richard’s touring band, wasn’t allowed to record with him for that reason, but that was in the 1950s. The studios were more advanced by the early 1960s. The drums in the Pete Best tracks for Parlophone are fairly mixed back, although the timbre of his executions suggests he was hitting the drums pretty hard. He was a hard and forceful drummer.”
The Ex-Files 4: Ringo Starr was a Better Drummer than Pete Best
Actually, Pete Best was given a reason for his sacking, but he chose not to believe it. “Brian Epstein said it was because I was not a good enough drummer, but that has never held water with me. Most of the drummers in Liverpool copied the style I had brought back from Germany. I was faster than Ringo but otherwise we were similar.”
Pete adds, “I had known Ringo for years. We met and talked when the Casbah first opened and Ringo used to play with Rory Storm. We became good mates in Germany and we knocked around in Germany, and also when we came back to Liverpool. I wouldn’t rate Ringo as a better drummer than me. I’m adamant about that and lots of people would support me.”
But certainly not Ringo Starr. “Ringo said I wasn’t a good enough drummer and a few other things in a Playboy interview. It took a long time but we got a settlement out of court and an apology as well.”
Nevertheless, Ringo’s still saying it. In a tetchy Q interview in June 1992, he said, “Did I ever feel sorry for Pete Best? No. Why should I? I was a better player than him. That’s how I got the job. It wasn’t on personality. It was that I was a better drummer and I got the phone call. I never felt sorry for him.”
Paul McCartney backs him up. “I wasn’t jealous of Pete because he was handsome,” McCartney told Hunter Davies, “That’s all junk. He just couldn’t play. Ringo was so much better. We wanted him out for that reason.”
In Many Years From Now, Paul gives an example. “There was a style of drumming on ‘What’d I Say’, which is a sort of Latin R&B that Ray Charles’ drummer Milt Turner played on the original record, and we used to love it. One of the big clinching factors about Ringo as the drummer in the band was that he could really play that so well.”
That Ringo Starr was a better drummer than Pete Best is the most obvious reason, the easiest to understand and the one Pete was given, but is it true?
Trevor Morais, drummer with Faron’s Flamingos and, later, David Essex: “There was an immense difference between them. Ringo was one of the best drummers in town, whereas Pete Best was just good for the job. I don’t know why they changed as Pete was ample for the job and very popular, but Ringo was an excellent drummer, no doubt about that.”
Bobby Thomson of Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes: “Pete was a good drummer, but he wasn’t as solid as Ringo and he was a little too heavy on the bass drum. All you could hear when Pete played was the bass drum, always four to the bar, but he was very good and I saw no reason for him being sacked. I preferred Ringo as a drummer but that is a personal preference. I felt so sorry for Pete – some people would have committed suicide.”
The Ex-Files 5: The other Beatles were Jealous of Pete’s Good Looks
The concept as to who is or isn’t good looking has changed with the years and it is, in any event, a subjective matter, depending on personal taste. On the one hand few people in the early 1960s thought Mick Jagger was handsome, but his looks became acceptable. On the other hand, Brian Epstein regarded Billy J. Kramer as one of the most handsome men in the world, but his looks seem too bland, too conventional now. I don’t think that anyone would deny Pete Best’s good looks, but did he look that much better than Paul McCartney or John Lennon? Beryl Marsden: “Pete was definitely the handsome one of the crew. Paul was baby-faced. George was not very attractive and John had his own kind of look. Pete was a really attractive guy and I’m sure there was a lot of jealousy on their part.”
Kingsize Taylor: “I think Pete Best was tossed out of the group because he was too good looking. You would see the Beatles on stage and all the girls wanted to see Pete Best. Pete was a swarthy, curly-headed feller and he looked much better than McCartney.”
Geoff Taggart: “Pete Best was a fine drummer. He had style and he was a hell of a good looking bloke. He reminded me of the actor Jeff Chandler who was very popular at the time.
When they played the Plaza in St Helens, I noticed that all the girls stood at the front of the stage and were watching Pete Best. The other three were doing all they could to get their attention but he was the only one that they were bothered about.”
Ray Ennis (Swinging Blue Jeans): “If George Martin had seen a live performance, he’d have discovered that Pete was the star. When he came to the front to sing – and he couldn’t sing very well – they would scream at him. They used to tell the other Beatles to sit down so they could see Pete at the back.”
Mark Peters: “We used to go bowling with the Beatles and the groups late on a Saturday evening at the Tuebrook Bowling Alley. There was rivalry between us but also a lot of friendship, especially on Saturday nights, when we used to play bowls until four in the morning. The story went round that Paul and John thought that Pete Best was far too handsome, that was the joke at the time, but there seems to be a lot of evidence to show that this was true.”
Ian Edwards of Ian and the Zodiacs: “Pete Best was the star of the group, he was the good looking lad that all he girls went for – but I never thought it would come to that. I was very surprised when he went.”
Ritchie Galvin of Earl Preston and the TTs attributes the decision to Brian Epstein: “It was Pete Best’s misfortune to be such a good looking boy; the management wanted the front line to have the fans and so there was in-fighting going on.”
This is supported by Gerry Marsden in his autobiography, I’ll Never Walk Alone: “Musically, perhaps Ringo was slightly better than Pete Best. But the change wasn’t necessary for that reason, in my opinion. I was pretty sure it was a political firing which sprang from Pete being too handsome. He certainly attracted the girls and I think Brian saw his good looks as some kind of threat to Paul and John and George as they were beginning to climb to national fame. Hence, they got Ringo!”
The argument that after Pete Best the Beatles chose someone ugly is not wholly true – a frog to take the place of a prince, as it were. (And it was those frogs that suffered in Macca’s childhood.) Like Mick Jagger, Ringo had his own look and Eppy must have been very amused when the press said that Ringo looked Jewish. Ironically, Ringo grew to resemble Yasir Arafat. Also, Ringo with his nodding head was very entertaining to watch. Unlike the sullen Pete Best, who kept his head down, Ringo looked as though he enjoyed playing the drums. George Harrison admitted as much in a 1962 letter to a fan which was auctioned at Sotheby’s 20 years later: “Ringo is a much better drummer and he can smile – which is a bit more than Pete could do. It will seem different for a few weeks, but I think that the majority of our fans will soon be taking Ringo for granted.”
Jimmy Tushingham, who took Ringo’s place – and wore his stage suit – in Rory Storm and the Hurricanes: “Pete Best was a good drummer and I reckon he got pushed out of the Beatles because he was such a good looking guy. Everybody liked Pete Beat – Ringo was a nice feller but he wasn’t that cool.”
Pete’s mother became Moaner Best when it came to discussing Pete’s dismissal. “I asked Brian what the reason was and he said, “I can’t tell you.” I said, “Well, may I give you my reason? It’s jealousy, Brian, because Peter is the one with the terrific following.” I think that Peter had to be dismissed at that stage because, if they became nationally known, Peter would have been the main Beatle with the others just the props.”
In an 1980 interview with Patrick Doncaster entitled, ‘I Still Don’t Know Why I Was Sacked’(!) in the Daily Mirror, Pete Best said, “It was jealousy possibly, not that I was aware of it. But I was getting more fan reaction and some people had been tagging us Pete Best and the Beatles.”
It may be more than just fans screaming at you. Earl Preston is certain that Pete’s looks attracted “a tremendous number of women to the band”, and the Beatles had large sexual appetites. Did Paul resent the number of women who fell into Pete’s arms and more. Maybe Paul wasn’t the Number 1 pin-up from the Beatles, but when you read the large number of casual flings in his quasi-autobiography, Many Years From Now, you wonder if he could have found time for any more.
Also, by 1962, both Pete and John were dating their girlfriends seriously and both of them were warned against marriage by Brian Epstein, who thought it might detract from their fan following. John, however, had few thoughts of fidelity. Ritchie Galvin of Earl Preston and the TTs: “I remember one afternoon at the Mandolin Club in Toxteth. Paul was on the grand piano singing Sinatra songs and everyone else was lounging around in the big armchairs they had there. A couple of girls were there and one of them decided to suck John’s dick in front of us. John was talking about the lunchtime gig while all this was happening.”
I have a feeling that either all three Beatles resented Pete’s brooding beauty or none at all. If only Paul or George were jealous of Pete’s good looks they would have been teased mercilessly by John. For this argument to hold John must have been jealous of Pete himself.
The Ex-Files 6: Pete didn’t fit in with the Beatles
Pete Best had the fan base, but he could never claim to be the leader of the Beatles. George was young and inexperienced and the decisions were made by John or Paul, more usually John. John often got his way through belligerence, whereas Paul McCartney was the PR man of the group. They shared decisions about their repertoire, but McCartney had to put up with Lennon’s banter if he was forced to play something against his wishes. Bob Wooler says, “They often stood as Harrison, McCartney and Lennon on stage and that was Paul’s favourite position as it made him seem the leader.” Nevertheless, during the first taped interview with the group on 27 October 1962, Paul McCartney acknowledged John as the leader of the group.
Liverpool singer and Hamburg record producer Paul Murphy: “John Lennon was the leader of the Beatles. He had the stage presence and body language and he looked in control. Lennon’s attitude always was, “We’re going to be the biggest band in the world.” I remember meeting him at The Oasis Club in London, Shaftesbury Avenue, which was an all-night sauna and coffee bar, and he was talking about how his band was going to make it. He had a very powerful personality and he could appear dictatorial.”
Al Peters: “There’s no doubt that John Lennon was the leader of the Beatles. Paul McCartney had a lot to say but Lennon had it in attitude and presence. Pete seemed a loner compared to the rest of the Beatles, but it can be like that in a band. You can’t all be buddies.”
Ian Sharp: “I thought John Lennon was totally outrageous. I told him that he’d either end up in jail or be someone famous.”
Lennon’s impulsive, drunken wit could taunt people. Bob Wooler: “The setting is the Blue Angel and Paul McCartney is upstairs talking to some press people, while in the basement is John Lennon shooting his mouth off, well away with the drink or whatever. He said, “Hitler should have finished the job”, meaning that the gas ovens should have been more active than they were. His manager was Jewish and I prevailed upon him to be quiet because the press were upstairs, but he didn’t take any notice of me. I told Paul that John was shooting his mouth off and that the press must not get wind of it. That was an example of John’s indifference. He enjoyed the danger associated with some of his remarks, and, of course, he did say, “We’re more popular than Jesus now”. It’s on the cards that he made the Hitler remark to Brian, which certainly would have offended him, but Brian would have let it ride as he hated flare-ups. It was a terrible thing to say, even as a joke, and I put it down to his lackadaisical upbringing.”
Ritchie Galvin of Earl Preston and the TTs: “There was a floating beat night one night on the Royal Iris with Earl Preston and the TTs and the Beatles. We shared the captain’s cabin as our dressing room and John was helping himself to the whisky in the captain’s rack. Girls were coming in for autographs and you know what ship doors are like. One girl had her hand on the jamb and John just kicked the door on her hand and laughed. No one else laughed and the girl’s hand was dripping with blood. To be honest, I never liked him much.”
Lennon –
and it is surely significant that so many musicians refer to him as ‘Lennon’ rather than ‘John’ – was indifferent to others, and many people didn’t like his sarcasm and arrogance. Earl Preston: “John was the first punk, in his attitude toward people. He was an educated Scouser and, if you put the combination together, you have someone who really believed in himself.”
Norman Kuhlke of the Swinging Blue Jeans: “John Lennon had his own circle of friends and I never spoke much to him. I thought that he had been instrumental in getting Pete out of the group, but I may be wrong.”
Norman Scroggie of the Lee Eddie Five: “In their own ways, both Paul McCartney and John Lennon were aloof, and Pete Best was always quiet and kept to himself. On the other hand, George Harrison was the most pleasant of the four. If you had a guitar in your hand, he’d talk to you for hours.”
Paddy Delaney, the doorman at the Cavern: “John could turn on you and he could be very short with anyone. He’d have a go at you if needs be. Paul was quiet, and he was called the Choirboy by the girls. George was the quietest of the lot, saying nothing until he was spoken to, but he had a kind heart. Pete Best was also very quiet, but he was the most popular of the group because he was so good looking.”
Bill Harry: “I always liked Pete Best. He never said anything, he was the most difficult person to interview. He’d sit by himself and he didn’t really fit in with them as a personality. When we were in the Jacaranda they’d sit and talk and he’d be in the corner by the window. If somebody talked to him he’d just grunt or whatever.”
Best of the Beatles Page 8