07/31/2024
š©µThank You Pete Best!!š§”
Original Beatlesā Drummer Pete Best . A Man Who Defines Class.
Itās nice to see Pete Best getting some positive recognition for, off all things, wishing Ringo Starr a happy birthday yesterday. What many people donāt realize is Pete has lived the past 60 years with dignity and class.
On August 16, 1962 Beatlesā manager Brian Epstein had to inform drummer Pete Best that he had been fired from what would become the greatest, most iconic, most influential band of all time.
John, Paul, and George definitely could've handled the situation better. As John would state before he died, "We were cowards." They were still young and naive. What many people don't know is at the time of his firing Pete was the most popular member of the band. He had the most fans and a mother who was bossy and intimidating to the rest of the band. (That being said, Mona Best does deserve praise for the hard work she did in the early days helping the band get gigs and practice at her home.)
In contrast to his mother, Pete was quiet in demeanor and didn't have much in common with the other three. So by August of 1962, they also had not been happy with his drumming or were jealous of his popularity or just the fact that he didnāt have anything in common with the three of them (depending on who you ask). To this day Pete has still never found the true reason why he was fired. Whatever the reason for their decision The Beatles had now found a new ally in producer George Martin who had told Brian that a session drummer would be used on the studio recordings. Coupled with the fact they had all become friendly with the drummer of a rival band Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Ringo Starr, who they wanted in the position.
The fans would not be happy once they heard Pete had been fired, showing up at the bandās first official gig with Ringo screaming "Ringo Never, Pete Forever". George Harrison would even get a black eye from a fan (early pictures show evidence of this) but in time Ringo would become accepted and loved.
Another example of Peteās class was evident during that time when their roadie, Neil Aspinall, found out about The Beatles letting Pete go. Becoming furious at the news he insisted to Best that he would also resign from The Beatles. Best strongly advised him to remain with the group because he knew that it would be beneficial to Neilās career. This would definitely cause some tension though because of Aspinall's romantic relationship with Peteās mother Mona Best, who was 17 years older than him.
At the next concert, Aspinall asked Lennon and McCartney why they had fired Best, to which they replied "It's got nothing to do with you, you're only the driver." As history proves, Neil would obviously put his feelings aside, keep working for The Beatles for many years first as a roadie, then assistant, eventually running The Beatlesā company Apple. He would become one of the most beloved and trusted people in their inner circle.
George Martin was also shocked The Beatles had fired Pete. He even took a huge tongue lashing by Peteās mother Mona. As he stated many times, even though they werenāt going to use him on the recordings in the studio Martin felt they would keep him to still perform live especially since he was the most popular member of the band. It would be Brian Epstein who would always feel most guilty about the firing of Peteāeven secretly arranging Pete to join a band called Lee Curtis & The All Stars which would eventually become Pete Best & The All Stars. Ironically, they would be signed to the label that had turned down The Beatles, the infamous Decca Records, and release a song called "I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door" but it flopped.
By the late 1960s, after a few other attempts in the music business, Pete would eventually leave the business and just become an average everyday citizen. He wouldnāt give interviews or talk about The Beatles publicly again for many years. He did have to file a defamation lawsuit against The Beatles in the late 1960s when they made quotes that Ringo replaced Pete because he became unreliable from taking pills. Pete would win that lawsuit, but received a much smaller settlement than he was seeking.
He would end up getting regular jobs like loading bread into delivery trucks, and a long term job in Liverpool as a civil servant.
When The Beatles' Anthology projects were released in 1995, Pete Best finally got to make some money off his playing which was part of Volume 1 that included "The Decca Audition" and an early version of "Love Me Do". Most Beatles fans (as myself) love and respect Pete. He is a man who defines class. He has never taken cheap shots at his former bandmates, but actually is one of the best and most accurate storytellers of those early days. He's been married to his wife Kathy, who was there for him shortly after the firing, for over 50 years.
Today, he is more respected than ever especially in his home town of Liverpool. In July 2011, he even had a street named after him. Glad things have turned around for such a classy guy.
*As stated in the write up, one of the most aggravating things to Pete Best is that to this day, he still hasnāt been given the legitimate reason why he was terminated from The Beatles. That is coupled with many of the people involved having different stories as to why. For instance, Paul McCartney now states in interviews that Pete was an excellent drummer and that the only reason he was let go was because he had nothing in common with the other three.
Also, Mersey Beat magazine editor Bill Harry claims that Ringo wasnāt the first choice to replace Pete in the band. Another drummer by the name of Johnny Hutchinson was asked first. Yet Hutchinson turned it down out of his loyalty to Pete. He decided to stay in his band called āThe Big Threeā.
Hutchinson turned down the job, saying, "Brian asked me to join The Beatles and I said I wouldn't join The Beatles for a gold clock. There's only one group as far as I'm concerned and that's the Big Three. The Beatles can't make a better sound than that, and Pete Best is a very good friend of mine. I couldn't do the dirty on him".
Had he accepted he couldāve had hundreds of gold clocks. You still have to admire his loyalty to his friend Pete though. And obviously, The Beatles could make a better sound than The Big Three.
In a 2007 interview Neil Aspinall provided Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn with a distinctly different version of events saying that he was physically present when Epstein sacked Best, that he told Pete that he planned to continue working for the band, and that on his first subsequent encounter with the other band members their first question to him was how Best had taken being sacked.
At any rate, Aspinall stayed with the band but he ended his affair with Best's mother, a relationship that had led to the birth of baby Vincent "Roag" Best. Aspinall denied the story for years before publicly acknowledging that he was indeed Roag's father. When The Beatlesā Anthology project was being worked on in the early 1990s, it was Neil who made sure Pete got his rightful royalties for what would become a very successful venture, that would make millions of dollars.*
Just a few examples as to why this event in music history is still a fiery subject for debate all these years later. Pete was one of the first Rock And Roll musicians to learn the hard way that, in the end, itās a business. The music ābusinessā, which is the key word.
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