The Beatles Boxed Set (43 page)

The Beatles at Harold’s Café, September 1960

            Sheridan
remembered, “They came to see me … and I recognized them as being blood
brothers by their outward appearance, cowboy boots, black jeans stuck inside
their boots – which is what we thought all cowboys did – leather jackets, their
hair done up in a James Dean or Elvis thing, and I thought, ‘Great! Guys after
my own heart.’”

            As
expected, Koschmider was outraged. He terminated the group’s contract and made
sure that police learned that George was only 17. The police then charged
George with being underage and working without a permit. They gave him 24 hours
to leave Germany.

            The
next day, Astrid and Stuart Sutclife drove George to the station. For George,
it was a very depressing moment. He’d been living the last months like a
refugee in hovels, working into the wee hours of the morning for pennies, and
now he was embarrassed for getting the band fired. Just because he was too
young to play!

            George
left Hamburg with apples and biscuits that Astrid gave him and arrived in
Liverpool on November 22, 1960. He was exhausted and penniless. Later on, he
would find out that Paul and Pete were also deported, but not before spending
three hours in the Davidwache Police Station. They had returned to the Bambi
Kino to retrieve their belongings. It was dark so they took a condom, hung it
to on a nail on the concrete wall of the room and set fire to it.

            The
fire only blackened the wall, but Koschmider reported them for attempted arson.

            George
also learned that John’s work permit was revoked and went home by train.
Stuart, on the other hand, borrowed from Astrid, then his girlfriend, for the
airfare back in Liverpool.

In
Liverpool, no one contacted each other for some weeks. John was doubtful of his
future in a band while Paul found a job in an electrical factory. But by
December, George and John were ready to put their Hamburg experience behind
them.

            The
only problem was that Stu, who fell in love with Astrid, decided to remain in
Germany, so now they were shy one member. But even then they decided to look
for work. It was through Allan Williams that they had met disc jockey Bob
Wooler who offered to let them play north of Liverpool. It was the chance they
were looking for. So George and John paid a visit to where Paul was working.

            George
said, “We got a gig.”

            At
first, Paul was reluctant, telling them that he had a steady job and earned
seven pounds a week. And then, he changed his mind. “Sod it, I can’t stick to
this lot,” he told them and walked out the door with his band mates.

George and Paul at the Casbah, February
1961

            The
boys played at the Casbah, where they had been last seen 16 months ago, much to
the surprise of everybody there. They had recognized the Fab Four and quickly
observed that their style changed. Nevertheless, the band’s performance that
night was a success. The kids danced and partied like it was the last day of
their lives.

            The
Beatles scored another gig, this time at the packed Litherland Town Hall on December
27, 1960. Bob Wooler told them, “As soon as I announce you, go straight into
the first number.” But Wooler never got that far; Paul launched into
Long
Tall Sally
as soon as they got on stage. They played it like they had at
Reeperbahn. George felt unrestrained as he carried a guitar solo that seemed to
snap the strings.

            While
the foursome performed like crazy, the crowd’s reaction was the opposite. They
stared at them as though they had lost their mind. It seemed, for a moment,
that they would boo them. While they knew that the Little Richard song was a
popular dance number, the way the Beatles played it was like an explosion.

            And
then, as though life was breathed into everyone, pandemonium broke out. The infectious
energy of the Beatles and the pounding music were too much to ignore. Everybody
began to rush to the front of the stage where they danced and bounced and
leaped to the music. Even George and his band mates were surprised at the
reception. They were used to applause and polite cheers, not riots. However,
the pandemonium served to energize them further, and their performance
escalated. This was what George had really wanted from music all along: to
connect with fans and play his guitar and sing.

            After
they played that night, some kids stayed to ask questions. Their performance
that night became a turning point in their career for in the following months,
they would become busy with more than 40 gigs and establish themselves as
Liverpool’s premier rock combo.

            Bob
Wooler immediately offered them to become regulars at his place, the Cavern, so
that their fans would know where to find them. The Beatles began performing in
February 1961 until 1963, and Wooler had introduced them to the audience nearly
three hundred times. The Beatles had a steady following until two hundred or
more would pack in the basement like sardines.

            Some
of the band’s fans couldn’t afford the entrance fee. George, who didn’t want to
disappoint anyone, would always ensure that at least some could partake in the
party downstairs. He would slip a few shillings to the Cavern doorman and told
him, “Don’t tell her I gave it to you” while referring to a hopeful fan. What’s
more, George would also champion other bands by recommending this or that
musician to club management.

            One
of the regular visitors at the Cavern was Louise, George’s mom, who supported
her son’s musical inclinations. When George was performing, she would cheer
enthusiastically. She was among the audience one afternoon when Mimi, John’s
aunt, went to see what John was up to lately.

            Louise
greeted her, “Aren’t they great?”

            To
which Mimi replied, “I’m glad someone thinks so. We’d all have had lovely,
peaceful lives but for you encouraging them.”

            The
relationship between the Beatles improved greatly and their bookings increased,
but no agent came knocking at their door.

            In
1961, George, Paul, John and Pete returned to Hamburg to play at the Top Ten
Club. Eckhorn, owner of the club, paid 158DM to the German authorities to
secure their return as this was the cost of deporting Paul and Pete back to
Liverpool previously.

            The
Beatles’ fellow musician, Tony Sheridan, remembered that their living
conditions were still terrible though better than when the band was residing at
Indra’s Bambi Kino. Their band mate, Stu, decided to leave to concentrate on
his art studies and be with Astrid, so Paul unwillingly became the bass player.
Now with money of their own, they bought their own instruments, with George
purchasing a Gibson amplifier.

            The
lilac jackets that they were to wear while performing onstage were soon
threadbare, so they bought cowboy boots, jeans and black leather jackets and
trousers which made them look like four Gene Vincent.

George, John and Paul in leather

            Astrid
Kirchherr had encouraged Stu to comb his hair forward in the “mushroom head”
style that was popular among university students in Germany and France at that
time. And when the Beatles returned for the second time in Hamburg, Astrid cut
Stu’s hair in the existentialist style that other Beatles would adopt later on.

            Meanwhile,
Bert Kaempert, a producer, made a contract with the Beatles through June 1962
and had them as Tony Sheridan’s backing band on few recordings. The Beatles
went by the name The Beat Brothers; the single
My Bonnie
was credited to
Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers and was recorded in June and released a
few months later. It reached number 32 on the
Musikmarkt
chart and
became the Beatles’ first worldwide release.

            After
completing their stint in Hamburg, they returned in Liverpool where they
enjoyed increasing popularity, especially in Merseyside where the Merseybeat
movement was also gaining popularity. In November 1961, during one of their
performances at the Cavern, they met Brian Epstein, owner of NEMS that sells
records and was a music columnist. The previous month, while at his NEMS store,
a teenager asked him a copy of
My Bonnie
. Epstein was fazed because the
song, or the group, was unfamiliar to him.

Brian Epstein at the Cavern club

The Beatles outside the Cavern

            Brian
Epstein was galled; how come he didn’t know about such a record? So he made a
round of calls to suppliers and was informed that
My Bonnie
was actually
recorded in Germany. Epstein then called his German supplier and ordered 25
copies. The records sold out in just less than an hour, so Epstein became more
curious. He asked around and learned that the band did not came from Germany
but from Liverpool and were performing just around the corner.

            And
that was the reason why Epstein, along with his assistant Alistair Taylor,
dropped by the “dark, damp, and smelly” Cavern during lunch-hour to see the
band for himself. The Beatles came onstage and Epstein watched from the back.
His first impression of the group was that they were neither neat nor tidy. And
he noticed that they smoked in public, pretended to hit one another and turned
their backs on the audience. But it couldn’t be denied that the boys had such
enormous energy.