When They Were Boys (29 page)

Allan Williams believes that Hamburg, at all levels, was a finishing school for the Beatles.

“Oh, yes. Hamburg was their schooling for the future,” Williams says. “You used to work seven nights a week, and the playing time was between six and eight hours a night. You ask a group now to play six hours and they can't even play an hour. Groups still say to me, ‘How do you become a Beatle?' I said, ‘Go to Hamburg, go work in a club for six or seven nights a week, and see how you last.'”

If the Kaiserkeller was a rude awakening for the Beatles, the work at the Top Ten and Star Club were the real finishing schools that Allan Williams is talking about. Changes in dress and professionalism did not come quickly in Hamburg.

The boys returned to Hamburg later in 1962, this time with Ringo Starr on the drums. The new drummer's arrival was another major element, for better or worse—at first, most definitely, for worse, with the drummer still adapting to life without his old band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.

But even the promising Beatles needed help along the way.

So in between the first visit to Hamburg in 1960 and the fourth visit in 1962, there was a cavalcade of friends who left their imprint on the Beatles in many unusual and striking ways—some with art and style, and another, as you already know, with fists. Their individual stories, and how they relate to the boys, are almost as interesting as the ascent of the tough and untested boys from Liverpool.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE FEARSOME FOURSOME

“Larry, so it is one day and I passed a club, and it was an American group, and I listened and it [was] really good, even though, at the time, I didn't understand the words.”

—Horst Fascher, on the first time he heard the Beatles

Fate on a razor-thin margin continues to dominate our story. In retrospect, it is clear that the Beatles' experiences in Hamburg formed a major building block in their road to ultimate success. Without Hamburg, the world may never have known the Fab Four. And their visits were given an exclamation mark by four people, not as “fab” in the mood of the time, but certainly quite fabulous. And without these four key players in Hamburg—who became supporters, friends, influences, and in one case, a lover—the Beatles may never have gotten out of Germany with their hopes alive.

In fact, they may not have gotten out alive, period, if not for one of the four: Horst Fascher, their friend, fighter, and true fan:

I
ENJOYED WHAT
I
HEARD IN THE NIGHTCLUBS IN
S
T
. P
AULI WAS MUCH MORE EXCITING THAN ANY
G
ERMAN MUSIC THAT
I
HAD EVER HEARD BEFORE
. I
FELT
, I
HAD THAT RHYTHM IN ME
. T
HE BOXING AND THE ROCK 'N' ROLL WAS VERY CLOSE
. W
HEN WE WENT TO TRAINING
, I
TOLD MY TRAINER
[I
WANT
]
TO BOX TO ROCK 'N' ROLL MUSIC
. J
UMPING AND DOING SHADOW BOXING AND THINGS LIKE THAT
. W
E STARTED TO TRAIN SOMETIMES TO ROCK 'N' ROLL MUSIC—ROCK 'N' ROLL MUSIC ONLY ON RECORDS, WHICH YOU COULD BUY, BUT ONLY A FEW
. M
AYBE FROM
B
ILL
H
ALEY
, L
ITTLE
R
ICHARD, AND THINGS LIKE THAT
. S
O WHEN I SAW THE
[B
EATLES
]
AT THE
K
AISERKELLER NIGHTCLUB
, I
REALIZED, YOU KNOW, THAT THIS COULD BE SOMETHING SPECIAL
. I
WAS, WELL, YOU MIGHT SAY, A BOXER, WITH A HAND AS A HAMMER AND ROCKING FEET
.

And so Horst Fascher tells his story, a story of triumph and trauma, a tale so bizarre that it includes a case of manslaughter, time in prison, and years on the run, plus a tour with British musical great Tony Sheridan in South Vietnam during the escalation of the Vietnam War.

Although he had been to sea and worked odd jobs before the age of eighteen, Fascher's parents urged him not to go across the river to the Reeperbahn red-light district. But he did anyway, to train as a boxer and to satisfy his obsession to see “naked ladies.” There were plenty around. But the diminutive and handsome young athlete was drawn in by American rock 'n' roll, at first from the British Forces Network, broadcasting near Hamburg for the occupying Allied forces, and later, from several eye-opening nightclub experiences, one of which is carved into his memory.

L
ARRY, SO IT IS ONE DAY AND
I
PASSED A CLUB, AND IT WAS AN
A
MERICAN GROUP, AND I LISTENED AND IT
[
WAS
]
REALLY GOOD, EVEN THOUGH, AT THE TIME
, I
DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE WORDS
. A
WHILE LATER
, I
THINK
1958,
IT CAME THE DAY WHEN
[B
ILL
] H
ALEY CAME TO
H
AMBURG AT THE
E
RNST-MARK-HALLE
[H
ALL
],
WHERE HE ALSO PLAYED LATER ON AND WE WENT THERE, OF COURSE, WITH MANY OTHERS
. A
FTER TWENTY MINUTES THE SHOW WAS OVER, BECAUSE THEY START HAVING A RIOT THERE
. T
HEY START DANCING
. W
ANTED TO DANCE, ROCK
'
N
'
ROLL
. T
HE POLICE CAME AND TRIED TO PUT IT BACK IN THE SEAT AND OTHERS WENT AGAINST IT, BECAUSE THE POLICE WERE STOPPING OTHERS FROM HAVING FUN
. T
HERE WAS A BIG RIOT GOING ON AND TURNED THE WHOLE PLACE INTO PIECES
. T
HE CONCERT ENDED IN TWENTY MINUTES AND
I
WAS SO MAD ABOUT IT, BECAUSE
I
CAME TO LISTEN TO THE MUSIC AND NOT HAVE A RIOT WITH THE POLICE
.

As Fascher's love for rock flourished, his father was angry that he was a fan of what was called “hot and tot” music. Fascher ignored his parents' warnings. “Hot and tot” would ring in his ears forever.

When the Beatles came to Hamburg in the summer of 1960, Fascher was already a rocker at heart. He and the boys, including Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe, clicked right away. In a period of a few short months, the young and wild boxer hung out and became a real friend. And when the boys left late in their gig at the Kaiserkeller club to briefly play at the Top Ten Club,
and were threatened with physical harm by Koschmider's thugs, it was Fascher who became an enforcer and protected them, except, of course, from themselves—a destructive story still to come.

But the unusual alliance with the boxer lasted for all of the group's five trips to the Reeperbahn, even when Fascher was not available due to incarceration.

The fate that brought Fascher into their lives is a story stranger than fiction, but it is true: Horst Fascher, defiant, devoted, and unpredictable, found the time and place where the boys would graduate to a much higher plane of success.

By 1959, Fascher had become featherweight boxing champion of Hamburg and the region, making the music lover a qualifier for the German national championship. Fascination with a girl, and raw emotion, stopped his march to the amateur title.

“I had a fight on the street with a sailor,” he tells me, shrugging his shoulders, his eyes seeming to well with regret. “I had a fight because I liked a girl. . . . I knocked the guy out. He fell down on his head and broke his head. . . . He went back to his ship and he died overnight there.”

Fascher's promising boxing career was done. He spent nine months in jail, and upon emerging he almost immediately fell in love with a woman, a prostitute. He was so much in love he even brought her home. It was a serious relationship, but one thing led to another, and the man who would later be remembered as a driving force for the Beatles in Hamburg became, for a while, a pimp.

Fighter, rock fan, jailbird, pimp—all prerequisites for his future career as a nightclub guard and, eventually, nightclub manager.

Creatively maneuvering his way through the red-light district, Fascher managed the Top Ten Club, quit the place, worked at another club in the interim, and was drawn to the Indra and Kaiserkeller. He was “turned on” by their music, and his good graces and outgoing personality provided a one-man support team for the disbelieving and doubting young musicians.

Fascher had graduated from security chief to a man with a concept for his friends from Liverpool. His concept: performing in a new nightclub with
multiple bands and shorter performances. The boys' belief in him, and his in them, would bring them to a place called the Star Club. Now, in a genuine way, his support would give their career an undeniable boost.

There was and remains between Fascher and the Beatles an emotional component, a respect and love nurtured in nightclubs, amid an air of mutual respect.

Pete Best told the original Beatles scribe Bill Harry about that friendship. Harry quotes Pete in a vintage edition of
Mersey Beat
as remembering that when the boys were about to leave Hamburg on their ill-fated first trip in 1960, Fascher was shedding tears, wondering if he would see them again. Fascher and the boys had become that close.

Eventually Fascher had his chance for a special reunion. He was determined to bring the boys back to a venue where they could really break through. So, he traveled to Liverpool, caught the Beatles in one of their daily concerts at the Cavern, and through the influence of his pals, the boys set up a historic meeting for Fascher with their new manager, Brian Epstein.

“[At] that time, I met Roy Young. Roy Young was an English musician. He was the English Little Richard. He could sing like him. He came into the Top Ten. So Roy became a friend of mine. So one day I said to Roy, ‘Would you come with me to England? I have to book some bands and my English is not that good to discuss contracts, so come with me and you can start working at the Star Club.' He was a piano player.”

“So you started the Star Club?” I ask him.

Y
ES
. M
OST ROCK BANDS WERE BASS GUITAR, DRUMS, AND RHYTHM GUITAR, AND HE WAS A PIANO PLAYER, AND PIANO ALWAYS FITS WITH A ROCK
'
N
'
ROLL BAND
. S
O WE WENT TO
E
NGLAND
. Y
ES . . . AND THERE WE SAW SOME YOUNG GUY WALKING IN THE STREET AND ASKED HIM WHERE IS THE PLACE WHERE ALL THE ROCK
'
N
'
ROLL BANDS ARE PLAYING
. H
E SAID THE BEST PLACE IS YOU GO TO THE
C
AVERN
. S
O WE WENT THAT NIGHT TO THE
C
AVERN AND MET THE
B
EATLES
. I
MET
P
AUL
, J
OHN, AND ALL
[
OF
]
THEM
. W
E HAD SOME DRINKS
. T
HEY SET UP A MEETING AT THE
NEMS
OFFICE OF
B
RIAN
E
PSTEIN
. R
OY CAME ALONG AS . . . WELL . . . MY INTERPRETER
.

Although this meeting was unnoticed in the early history of the Beatles, it turned into a major moment.

W
E CAME TO THE
NEMS E
NTERPRISE OFFICE, UPSTAIRS
. D
OWNSTAIRS WAS THE RECORD SHOP
. H
E WAS VERY SMART-DRESSED AND HE SPOKE VERY FUNNY, LIKE
, “Y
ES
, M
R
. F
ASCHER
,”
AND THINGS LIKE THAT
. H
E SAID
, “
YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BOOKING THE
B
EATLES
?” A
ND
I
SAID
, “Y
ES, WE HAVE A NEW CLUB IN
H
AMBURG AND WE
'
D LIKE TO HAVE THE
B
EATLES, BECAUSE
I
KNOW THE
B
EATLES ALREADY FROM BEFORE AND
I
THINK THAT THEY WOULD BE THE RIGHT BAND TO OPEN IN
A
PRIL
.” T
HEN HE SAID
, “I
THINK WE CAN
'
T DO IT
. . . . T
HE BEATLES ARE BOOKED ALREADY AT THE
T
OP
T
EN
.” I
SAID
, “M
R
. E
PSTEIN, THE
B
EATLES CANNOT GO BACK TO THE
T
OP
T
EN
. I
F THE
B
EATLES COME BACK TO
H
AMBURG . . . THEY
'
LL COME TO THE
S
TAR
C
LUB, BECAUSE THERE IS NO
T
OP
T
EN ANYMORE
.” H
E SAID
, “H
OW DO YOU MEAN THAT
?” I
SAID
, “L
IKE
I
SAID
, M
R
. E
PSTEIN
,”
AND HE SAID
, “W
ELL
, I
HAVE TO TALK TO THE BOYS FIRST
. I
S THAT OKAY
?” “I
COME BACK TOMORROW
.”

“Tomorrow” would be the date of the pivotal meeting at the old and grand Adelphia Hotel. Fascher was stunned, thrilled at the outcome.