When They Were Boys (27 page)

Bill Harry sees Stuart's own life as a prism in which John could see joy, despite so many moments of indecision, distrust, and hurt inflicted on him by his splintered early life.

J
OHN WAS SMITTEN WITH
S
TUART'S COOL AND INTRIGUING WAY
. . . . S
TUART WAS NOT A MAN WITH SUPERLATIVE WORDS OR DEMONSTRATIVE PROCLAMATIONS
. H
E WAS A QUIET, SENSITIVE THINKER WHO BROUGHT A SPECIAL INTELLECTUAL ACCENT TO THE GROUP
. I
THINK GEORGE HAD A SPECIAL ATTRACTION TO HIM
. G
EORGE WAS ALSO A THINKER, ALWAYS
TRYING TOO HARD TO FIND LIFE'S TRUE MEANING
. I
T IS NO SURPRISE, TO ME, THAT IT WAS
G
EORGE WHO ACCOMPANIED
J
OHN ON THOSE VISITS OF CONSOLATION AND REFLECTION TO
A
STRID AFTER
S
TUART'S DEATH
. J
OHN NEEDED
G
EORGE TO HELP HIM COPE; HE NEEDED THAT TIME
.

Stuart's impact on the group, especially John and Paul, was never premeditated or calculated. He was in the forefront of the group's early rise because he
was
so understated. His actions were spoken in looks, appearances, and a genuine concern about the inner workings of people. He had an inner warmth that radiated in his eyes. He was a fascinating young man. His avant-garde personality reflected so many aspects of the group's evolving success: a cleaner look, yet an appearance of modernism; a step ahead of current fashions; a daring, reflected in Stuart's most sexual and stirring movements on stage. Stuart and his young love Astrid Kirchherr mesmerized the group—he, merely with his presence, and she, with her beauty, photographic art, and themes that corroborated their music with a futuristic style that reverberated throughout the world of pop culture.

Yet, with all due credit to Ms. Kirchherr, it was, according to Stu's sister Pauline, “less Astrid and more Stuart” that changed Johnny's boys into a first-class physical attraction.

“Astrid deserves so much credit, but Stuart was the inspiration,” Pauline says. “It was her love, her dedication to him, and his for her, that led them to this amazing collaboration of art, photography, and ideas.”

No one who testifies in this story will deny that. But also, no one can deny that the eye and spirit of the photographer brought alive the boys' youth and vitality. As the decades have passed, Kirchherr's photographs have provided a vibrant retrospective of that time in the boys' lives, and behind them is a backstory of her influence, Stuart's lasting legacy, and the two love stories that shaped the Beatles in Hamburg.

The first is a story of young love: Astrid and Stuart.

One privately held photograph is proof of the endless affection of this love story. In a rare contemporary interview, Kirchherr told colleague and fellow Lennon biographer Tim Riley that a photo of Stuart remains at her bedside, a picture she acknowledges each and every night.

She told the
Woman's Hour
program on the BBC during the opening of her photography retrospective at the Victoria Gallery and Museum in late 2010, “I still love him up to now, and he is my first and last love, in my life.”

As the other boys scrambled to the safety of home, three of them disgraced by the law, Stuart decided to stay in Hamburg. Astrid emphasizes that their relationship was one reason, but she adds, “Don't forget the art. Well, he had the chance to get a scholarship in the University of Hamburg, the Art College. So that was something brilliant for him. And he always wanted to become a painter. He loved the idea of being a rock 'n' roll musician, and, you know, all the behavior that came with it. But in his heart, he was just an artist, and when the opportunity came up to stay in Hamburg, and his teacher was Mr. Paolozzi, he just couldn't resist not to do that. So . . . that's why he [eventually] left the band.”

The second love story—between Stuart and John—was not romantic, as far as we know. Although Pauline acknowledges it was possible.

“They were experimental boys. So anything was possible, but their friendship was deep in another way. . . . He was a man, a young boy of huge integrity, and I also remembered the quote John Lennon said about him—that he looked up to him, he trusted him, he respected him because he always told him the truth, and that's what he was like as a brother as well. So it echoes to me in the same way that it did—so it has the same authenticity—when John Lennon said that, because he was like that with everybody.”

Beatle buddy Tony Bramwell was privy to the friendship in its earliest days.

“Stuart Sutcliffe was his closest friend. They shared secrets, women, and their influence on each other was incalculable.”

All the time, watching on the sidelines, was Paul McCartney, who along with George, was not impressed with Stuart's musical talents. Still, the musical record shows how powerful and memorable Stu's solo rendition of “Love Me Tender” was to Hamburg audiences.

Horst Fascher and others were eyewitnesses to Paul's open jealousy of Stuart. Yet George, who cared little for Stuart's music, was fond of him on a personal level. Pauline Sutcliffe, who has fond memories of George, believes
that Paul wanted Stuart to leave but was not prepared to take action.

“Paul knew that he and John were going to be something special, so when Stuart decided to leave the band, it sort of cleared the deck, so to say,” she says. “Paul was a bit jealous of Stu's good looks, and he didn't appear too impressed with his musical impact, which I believe was totally underrated in the day. George, on the other hand, was sensitive to John's eventual guilt and grief, and his own as well.”

Was Paul jealous? Jealous, perhaps, of Stu's good looks, but also a bit envious of his relationship with John—“as close as two men could be,” according to Pauline. There were tensions on stage, and a few fistfights between Paul and Stu. There was a double-edged sword for Paul—a feeling that Stu was not up to the task musically, and Stuart's closeness to John.

The legend of John and Stu's relationship is also confirmed by John's sister, Julia Baird, who says, “He was a lovely boy. He moved with grace, and John was so dependent on him.”

Paul, who today is bounded by his own code of silence regarding anything that may reflect a tad of controversy (certainly his right), will not comment on his suspected jealousy of Stu or, for that matter, anything else in this body of work. But unlike the overt and covert eventual moves toward ousting Pete Best, there doesn't appear to have been a coordinated effort to push Stuart out. To the contrary, it was the other factors that contributed to his departure: his love of Astrid, and his passion for art. His departure from the band was voluntary. About that fact there is no dispute.

Allan Williams, the man who brought the boys to Hamburg, knew that in his heart Stu was devoted to the canvas.

“He was more a friend of John's; he wasn't really a musician. John persuaded him to come to Hamburg, which upset Paul, because Paul wasn't stupid and he knew that Stu was no guitarist and he wanted to be the bass player.”

John's loyalty to Stu was amazing and unswerving. In fact, there were times, not all the time, mind you, when John had his back and conspired a bit to cover up any of Stu's musical shortcomings.

One memorable episode was at Sam Leach's Casanova Club on February 11, 1961.

First Leach complained to Stuart that he was turning his back to the audience. Stu didn't seem to care. Then Leach noticed something else. In his book
Birth of the Beatles
, and a subsequent conversation with his American friend John Rose, Sam explained how he almost gave a secret away:

N
OTICING THAT THE LEAD FROM
S
TU'S GUITAR WAS DETACHED FROM THE SPEAKER
, I
THOUGHT
I
COULD HELP BY PLUGGING IT IN
. U
NNOTICED BY THE REST OF THE BAND
, I
SLIPPED ACROSS THE BACK OF MY STAGE, PICKED UP THE LEAD, AND INSERTED IT INTO THE SPEAKER SOCKET
. A
T ONCE, THE MOST DISCORDANT RACKET EXPLODED IN THE ROOM AND ALMOST BLEW THE ENTIRE AMPLIFIER APART
. T
HE AMOROUS DANCERS SMOOCHING IN A WORLD OF THEIR OWN JUMPED SEVERAL FEET INTO THE AIR
. H
ANDS WERE CLASPED OVER THEIR EYES
. S
TU HAD BEEN HAPPILY PLUCKING AWAY AT THE STRINGS, SAFE IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT NOBODY COULD HEAR WHAT HE WAS OR RATHER WASN'T PLAYING
. . . . P
AUL LEAPED ACROSS THE STAGE AND YANKED THE OFFENDING LEAD FROM THE SPEAKER, WHISPERING HARSHLY
, “W
HY DID YOU DO THAT SET
? Y
OU KNOW HE CAN'T PLAY
.” . . . T
O MAKE MATTERS WORSE
, P
AUL'S STAGE WHISPER CAME OUT OVER THE ENTIRE SPEAKER SYSTEM
. . . . I
SEARCHED FOR THE NEAREST HOLE
. L
ENNON GAVE ME A SLY SMIRK
.

In later years, Paul offered compliments to Stuart. In 2001, in an article published in
Beatlefan
magazine, Paul said, in a 1964 quote referring to guitar talent, that “Stuart . . . was a great bass man.” George Harrison, back in Liverpool after the first disastrous trip to Hamburg, pleaded with Stuart to come back to Liverpool and pick up where he left off, on the bass guitar.

If there truly was a shortage of talent, the fans never complained, especially when Stu sang “Love Me Tender.”

But musical issues aside, Stuart Sutcliffe was the all-time male best friend of John Lennon. Stuart and John were hard to separate—their conversations about life and love, anxiety, promise, and fear of failure would last for hours. They both loved art as well as music.

Stuart's artistic acumen rubbed off on John in more ways than one. Yoko Ono smiles warmly when she talks about John's recollections of Stu Sutcliffe. In some ways, she tells this author, it was Stu's influence as an artist that led John to her.

I
N THE EARLY DAYS
I
THINK HE REALLY HAD A VERY DEEP KIND OF EXCHANGE AND GOT A LOT OUT OF
S
TU
S
UTCLIFFE
. . . . H
E SAID THAT
S
TU WAS SOMEBODY THAT HE REALLY CARED FOR
. . . H
E WAS INTO
S
TU
. H
E WAS KIND OF FEELING THAT ARTISTIC KIND OF THING FOR
S
TU, AND THEN HE HAD TO BE A ROCKER
. S
O YOU KNOW, IN SOME WAYS HE WAS THINKING
, “O
H YEAH, WELL YOU KNOW, ACTUALLY
, I'
M AN ARTIST,” OR WHATEVER
. Y
OU KNOW, IN HIS SOUL HE WAS THINKING HE WAS DOING SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT AS CLASSY AS WHAT HE SHOULD, HE COULD BE DOING, YOU KNOW
. S
O THEN, YOU KNOW, HE CAME TO THE GALLERY AND I'M DOING AN ART SHOW
. . . . I
T WAS LIKE A BIT LIKE THAT
.

When asked if Stu may have played a subconscious role in John's attraction to Yoko, she replies, “Well, Stu was an artist, I was an artist, you know? There's a bit of a connection there.”

Stuart Sutcliffe in his art and heart was anti-establishment. He titillated John and inspired him to become a better artist, and in return, John heated up the fire against all forms of authority. Eventually the respect turned to mutual and deep affection and love. They told each other the truth, sometimes painfully. And Pauline Sutcliffe witnessed it up close.

I
THINK THEY BOTH ABSOLUTELY LOVED ONE ANOTHER FOR VERY OBVIOUS REASONS, YOU KNOW, AND WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS NOW—MORE ABOUT THAT LATER
. W
E'RE TALKING ABOUT INTIMACY BETWEEN MEN
. S
TUART WAS THE PERSONIFICATION OF EVERYTHING
J
OHN WANTED TO BE, AND
J
OHN WAS THE PERSONIFICATION OF THAT PART OF MY BROTHER THAT HE WAS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH
. M
Y BROTHER WAS A VERY, VERY SOPHISTICATED ANARCHIST AS A PAINTER
. H
E HAD ANTI-AUTHORITY ISSUES THAT CAME OUT IN THE MOST EFFECTIBLE WAY—LIKE WHEN HE WAS TOLD THAT ART STUDENTS CAN ONLY PRODUCE WORK FROM THIRTY-BY-SIXTEEN-INCH CANVASES, HE WOULD PAINT ON SIX-FEET-BY-FIVE-FEET CANVASES.
T
HAT'S A FORM OF ANARCHIST
. T
HAT'S NOT GOING WITH THE RULES
. I
T'S CLEAR FROM THE MANUSCRIPT THAT
I'
VE SHOWN YOU BEFORE
[S
TUART'S PERSONAL WRITINGS ABOUT
J
OHN
]
THAT HE ALSO FOUND
J
OHN'S WAY OF EXPRESSING HIS ANARCHY, UH
,
WORRYING, PUZZLING, NOT PARTICULARLY ACCEPTABLE, AND WHEN YOU READ ON IN IT, YOU CAN SEE THAT HE'S TRYING TO CHANNEL HIM INTO USING HIS CREATIVE ENERGY IN A CREATIVE WAY RATHER THAN A DESTRUCTIVE WAY
.

The destruction of Stuart Sutcliffe is still one of the greatest mysteries in the history of the boys. And the exact reason for his physical demise remains one of the great controversies in the life of John Lennon.

Stuart's problems began on the night of January 30, 1961. The group was playing at Latham Hall, Seaforth, Liverpool, when a group of toughs attacked Stuart as he helped load equipment in the rear of the hall. He was kicked and punched so hard in the stomach and head that he was covered with blood before Pete Best arrived to battle the roughnecks, with John Lennon soon joining in. It was not uncommon for the boys to face the wrath of so-called Teddy Boys, the slick blue-collar street boys who made it their business to threaten artists and performers, especially the good-looking ones who vied for the attention of the girls. This beating was especially brutal, but the only real casualty was John, who broke a finger The impact on Stuart's long-term health is really unknown.