Mona "Mo" Best (3 January 1924 – 9 September 1988) was born in India and is best known as the mother of Pete Best (b. 24 November 1941), who was an early member of The Beatles. Mona also had two other sons, Rory (born 1945) and Vincent "Roag" Best (born 1962). It was later confirmed that Roag's father was The Beatles' associate Neil Aspinall,^[1] although he was not registered as the father on Roag's birth certificate.

After moving to Liverpool from India, the Best family claim that Mona pawned all of her jewellery in 1954, and used the money to place a 33–1 bet on a horse named "Never Say Die", and used her winnings to buy a house in 1957. Mona later opened The Casbah Coffee Club in the cellar of the house as a venue for Rock 'n' Roll music. It was planned as a members-only club for her sons and their friends. The club was often referred to as The Casbah Club, or The Casbah.

The Quarrymen—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ken Brown—frequently played at The Casbah instead of the The Cavern Club, which had a jazz-only policy at that time. The Casbah Club cellar—with its original decoration—still exists. In 2006, the property was accorded a Grade II Heritage listing. Mona died in 1988, after a heart attack following a long illness.

India[link]

Alice Mona Shaw was born on 3 January 1924, in Delhi, India, to Thomas (an Irish major) and Mary Shaw.^[2] She was the youngest of four children: Brian, Patrick and Aileen.^[3] Her first son, Randolph Peter (Pete Best), was born on 24 November 1941—his biological father was marine engineer Donald Peter Scanland, who subsequently died during World War II.^[4] Mona was training with the Red Cross when she met Johnny Best, who came from a family of sports promoters in Liverpool that once owned and ran the Liverpool Stadium.^[5] At the time of their meeting, Best was a commissioned officer serving as a Physical Training Instructor in India, and was the British Army's middleweight boxing champion.^[6] After their marriage on 7 March 1944, at St. Thomas's Cathedral, Bombay, the Bests had one child: Rory Best (b. January 1945). In late 1945, the family sailed for four weeks to Liverpool on the Georgic, which was the last troop ship to leave India, carrying single and married ranks who had previously been a part of General Sir William Slim's forces in southeast Asia. The ship docked in Liverpool on 25 December 1945.^[7]

Liverpool[link]

Being a part of Best's family meant Mona was accorded respect on Merseyside, which included meeting well-known sports personalities of the time and receiving preferential treatment when booking a table in a restaurant, or a seat in the theatre.^[8] The Bests lived for a short time at the Best family's large home in West Derby, which was called Ellerslie, but Mona fell out with John Best's sister, Edna, who resented her brother's choice of wife.^[9] The family then moved to a small flat on Cases Street, Liverpool (above Ma Edgerton's public house) but Mona was always looking for a large house—as she had been used to in India—instead of a smaller semi-detached house, which were prevalent in the area. After moving to a three-bedroom house in Princess Drive, Mona persuaded her parents, Thomas and Mary Shaw, to leave India and live with them in Liverpool.^[10][11]

After moving to 17 Queenscourt Road in 1948—where the Bests lived for nine years—Rory saw a large Victorian house for sale at 8 Hayman's Green in 1954, and told his mother about it.^[12] The Best family claim that Mona then pawned all her jewellery and placed a bet on a horse that was ridden by Lester Piggott in the 1954 Epsom Derby, called "Never Say Die", which won at 33–1, and used her winnings to buy the house in 1957.^[13] Note: to place the bet, Mona would have had to travel more than 220 miles from Liverpool to Epsom (as bets were only allowed at race tracks at the time) or place the bet with an illegal bookmaker in Liverpool.^[14] 8 Hayman's Green had previously been owned by the West Derby Conservative Club, and was unlike many other family houses in Liverpool, as the house (built around 1860) was set back from the road, had 15 bedrooms and an acre of land.^[15] All the rooms were painted dark green or brown, and the garden was totally overgrown.^[16][17][18] Mona decorated the living room in an Oriental style, which reflected her own upbringing in India.^[19] She had previously tried to interest her husband in other houses, including a Formby lighthouse, a windmill in St. Helens and a circular house in Southport, which Best disliked and rejected.^[15]

During 1961–1962, Neil Aspinall became good friends with Pete and subsequently rented a room in the Bests' home. Aspinall became romantically involved with Mona, who was 17 years his senior. During this period, Aspinall fathered a child by Mona: Vincent "Roag" Best.^[20] Roag was born in late July 1962, and just three weeks later, on 16 August 1962, the Beatles dismissed Pete.^[21][22] Roag's birth certificate was registered on 31 August 1962, stating his name to be Vincent Rogue [sic] Best, and his father as being John Best.^[21] Mona and Best had separated in the late 1950s or early 1960s.^[23][24]

The Casbah Coffee Club[link]

Mona came up with the idea of the club after watching a TV report about The 2i's Coffee Bar in London's Soho where several singers had been discovered. She decided to open The Casbah Coffee Club—which was located in her cellar—on 29 August 1959, for young people to meet and listen to the popular music of the day.^[25] Mona charged half a crown annually for membership—to "keep out the rough elements"—and served soft drinks, snacks, cakes, and coffee from an espresso machine, which no other club had at that time.^[24][26][27] The popular records of the day were played on a small Dansette record player, which amplified them through a speaker of 3 inches (76 mm).^[28]

Mona had booked the Les Stewart Quartet to play the opening night with Harrison on guitar, but they cancelled the booking after Stewart and Brown had a quarrel. Stewart was angry that Brown had missed a rehearsal, because Brown was helping Mona to decorate the club.^[16] As 300 membership cards had already been sold, Harrison said that he had two friends in a band called The Quarrymen who would play instead.^[16] Lennon, McCartney, Stuart Sutcliffe and Harrison went to the club to arrange the booking, to which Mona agreed, but said she needed to finish painting the club first. All four took up brushes and helped Mona to finish painting the walls with spiders, dragons, rainbows, stars, and a beetle, which still survive. John Lennon was short-sighted, mistaking gloss for emulsion paint, which took a long time to dry in the dark, damp cellar. Cynthia Powell, later the wife of Lennon, painted a silhouette of John Lennon on the wall, which is also still intact.^[29][30]

The Quarrymen played a series of seven Saturday night concerts in The Casbah for 15 shillings each, starting on 29 August to October 1959, featuring Brown, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, but without a drummer, or a PA system.^[31][32] The opening night concert was attended by about 300 local teenagers, but as the cellar had no air-conditioning, and people were dancing, the temperature rose until it became hard to breathe.^[20] As there was no amplification, Lennon later persuaded Mona to hire a young amateur guitar player called Harry to play a short set before The Quarrymen, but this was only so they could use his 40-Watt amplifier.^[33] After the success of the first night, Mona gave The Quarrymen a residency, and paid the whole group £3 a night.^[34] Every Saturday thereafter, queues lengthened onto the street, which was financially good for Mona, as she charged one shilling admission on top of the annual membership fee.^[35]

Pete was studying at the Collegiate Grammar School when he decided he wanted to be in a music group, so Mona bought him a drum kit from Blackler's music store and Best formed his own band; The Black Jacks.^[16][36][37] Chas Newby joined the group, as did Ken Brown, but only after he had left The Quarrymen.^[32][38][39] The reason for Brown's exit from the group was that he turned up on the seventh Saturday night of The Quarrymen residency at The Casbah with the flu, so Mona ordered him upstairs to the Best's living room to rest. This caused a massive quarrel with the rest of the group when Mona came to pay them, as they wanted Brown's money to be shared amongst the three of them, as Brown had not played. Mona refused, so The Quarrymen angrily cancelled their residency and stormed out.^[40] Colin Manley from The Remo Four was also given a booking to play in the club, which was the only venue that young amateur bands could play at the time.^[34] Other groups like The Searchers and Gerry & The Pacemakers later played in the club.^[41] The Black Jacks became the resident group at The Casbah, although The Quarrymen occasionally played there again and often visited.^[20] It was in The Casbah Club that Lennon and McCartney convinced Sutcliffe to buy a Hofner President bass guitar and join The Quarrymen.^[20]

Even though the membership list later spiralled to over a thousand, Mona closed the club on 24 June 1962, with The Beatles as the last group to perform.^[42] In 2006, the Best's ex-coal cellar was given a "Grade II listed building status", after being recommended by English Heritage.^[30] It has now been opened as a tourist attraction in Liverpool, along with McCartney and Lennon's previous homes.^[43]

The Beatles[link]

When Pete became a member of The Beatles, Mona repeatedly tried to get the group a lunchtime residency in The Cavern Club by talking to the owner, Ray McFall, but was turned down, as The Cavern had a jazz-only policy at the time.^[44] Brian Epstein later wanted to manage the group, and Mona was asked for her advice, and although she had her own plans for the group, she concluded that Epstein would be good for them over time.^[45] After The Beatles signed a management contract with Epstein, Mona did not relinquish her control over them, as they had been using her telephone to call agents, and frequently slept over in her living room between concerts.^[19] She constantly harassed Epstein about the quality of their bookings, and his management of them, which led to Epstein never referring to her by name, but always calling her "that woman".^[46] One musician commented that if Mona said it was a Sunday when it was Tuesday, one would be forced to agree with her.^[19]

After Best, McCartney and Harrison were deported from Hamburg in November 1960, Mona made numerous phone calls to Hamburg to recover the group's equipment, which she eventually managed to do.^[47][48][49] Mona wrote to Granada Television in 1961, in an attempt to get the group a television appearance on the programme called "People And Places", but was sent a letter telling her that they would contact her in the future.^[50] After her son had been dismissed from The Beatles on 16 August 1962, Mona was later quoted by biographer Hunter Davies as saying:

Later years[link]

In 1967, when The Beatles had to pose for the photograph for the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band cover, Lennon asked Mona if he could borrow the war medals her father had been given in India to wear for the photo session. Although still upset at the way her son was dismissed from The Beatles, Mona agreed, and the medals were then returned, along with a Cash Box trophy that is in the letter 'L' of THE BEATLES flower-sign on the cover.^[51] Mona never opened another club, or engaged in another business venture, although she did have paying guests at her house, which she shared with her bed-ridden mother and her sons after she and Best parted.^[52] Mona died of a heart attack 9 September 1988, after a long illness.^[43]

See also[link]

• List of English Heritage properties

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Best, Roag & Pete (2003). The Beatles: The True Beginnings. Thomas Dunne. ISBN 0-312-31925-8. 
• Clayson, Alan (2003). Paul McCartney (Beatle). Sanctuary Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86074-482-2. 
• Goldsmith, Martin (2004). The Beatles Come to America (Turning Points in History). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-471-46964-3. 
• Harry, Bill (Rev Upd edition 2001). The Beatles Encyclopedia. Virgin Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7535-0481-9. 
• Leigh, Spencer (1998). Drummed Out!: The Sacking of Pete Best. Northdown Publishing. ISBN 978-1-900711-04-3. 
• Lennon, Cynthia (2005). John. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-89512-2. 
• Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years. Hamlyn. ISBN 978-0-600-60250-7. 
• Curley, Mallory (2005). Beatle Pete, Time Traveller. Randy Press. 
• Miles, Barry (1997). Many Years From Now. Vintage-Random House. ISBN 978-0-7493-8658-0. 
• Norman, Philip (1997). Shout: The Beatles in Their Generation. Mjf Books. ISBN 978-1-56731-087-0. 
• Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles – The Biography. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-80352-6. 
• The Beatles (2003). The Beatles Anthology (DVD). Apple Corps. ASIN: B00008GKEG. 

External links[link]

• Interview with Pete and Mona Best
• An Evening With Pete Best, Part I: The Interview
• Best interview with Stephen Cooke - 11 Sep 1996
• Rolling Stone on Best's DVD
• The medals and Sergeant Pepper

Pete Best
Pete Best performing in Maryland in 2006.
Background information
Birth name	Randolph Peter Best
Also known as	Pete Best
Born	(1941-11-24) 24 November 1941 (age 70) Madras, Madras Presidency, British India
Origin	Liverpool, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Rock and roll, rock
Occupations	Drummer, civil servant, songwriter, vocalist
Instruments	Drums, vocals
Years active	1959–68, 1988–present
Associated acts	The Beatles, Lee Curtis & the All Stars, Pete Best & the All-Stars, The Pete Best Four, The Pete Best Combo, The Pete Best Band
Website	www.petebest.com

Pete Best (born 24 November 1941) is a British musician, principally known as the original drummer in The Beatles. He was born in the city of Madras, which was then part of British India. After his mother moved to Liverpool in 1945, Best's mother, Mona Best (1924–1988), opened The Casbah Coffee Club, in the cellar of the Bests' large house in Liverpool, which became very popular, having a membership of over 1,000. The Beatles (at the time known as The Quarrymen) played some of their earliest concerts at the club. Best played there with his first band, The Black Jacks, and later with The Beatles.

Best was invited to join The Beatles on 12 August 1960, on the eve of the group's first Hamburg season of club dates. He was eventually replaced by Ringo Starr on 16 August 1962, when The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, dismissed Best under the direction of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, following The Beatles' first recording session at Abbey Road Studios. After working in a number of commercially unsuccessful groups he gave up the music industry to work as a civil servant for twenty years, before starting The Pete Best Band. He has been married for over 45 years to Kathy Best; they have two daughters and four grandchildren. Best is sometimes referred to as the "Fifth Beatle".

Early life[link]

Best's mother, Mona Best (née Alice Mona Shaw), was born in Delhi, India and was the daughter of Thomas (an Irish major) and Mary Shaw.^[1] Her first son, Randolph Peter (Pete Best), was born in Madras (now Chennai), Madras Presidency, British India, on 24 November 1941. Pete's biological father was marine engineer Donald Peter Scanland, who subsequently died during World War II.^[2] Mona was training to become a doctor in the service of the Red Cross when she met Johnny Best. He came from a family of sports promoters in Liverpool which once owned and ran the Liverpool Stadium.^[3] After their marriage on 7 March 1944 at St. Thomas's Cathedral, Bombay, Rory Best was born.^[4] In 1945, the Best family sailed for four weeks to Liverpool on the Georgic, the last troop ship to leave India, carrying single and married soldiers who had previously been a part of General Sir William Slim's forces in south-east Asia. The ship docked in Liverpool on 25 December 1945.^[5][6]

The Beatles and Hamburg[link]

In 1960, Allan Williams arranged a season of bookings for The Beatles in Hamburg, starting on 17 August 1960, but said that he was not impressed with them as a musical group, and hoped that he could find a better act to follow them.^[7]

Having no permanent drummer, McCartney looked for someone to fill the Hamburg position. Best had been seen playing in The Casbah with his own group, The Black Jacks, and it was noted that he was a steady drummer, playing the bass drum on all four beats in the bar, which pushed the rhythm.^[8] He was known in Liverpool as being "mean, moody, and magnificent" by his female fans, which convinced McCartney he would be good for the group.^[9] After The Black Jacks broke up, McCartney convinced Best to go to Hamburg with the group, by saying they would earn £15 per week each.^[10][11] As Best had passed his school exams—unlike Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, who had failed most of theirs—he had the chance to go to a teacher-training college, but decided that playing in Hamburg would be a better career move.^[12] Best had an audition in the Jacaranda club—owned by Williams—and travelled to Hamburg the next day with The Beatles.^[13][14] Williams later admitted that the audition with Best was unnecessary, as the group had not found any other drummer willing to travel to Hamburg, but did not tell Best in case he asked for more money.^[15]

The Beatles first played at the Indra club in Hamburg, but slept in the Bambi Kino (cinema) in small, dirty rooms, which were noisy, cold, and directly behind the screen. Upon first seeing the Indra, where they were booked to play, Best remembered it as being a depressing place that was filled with a few tourists, and having heavy, old, red curtains that made it seem shabby compared to the larger Kaiserkeller.^[16] As Best had been the only group member to study O-Level German at school, he was able to talk with the club's owner, Bruno Koschmider, and the clientele.^[17] After the closure of the Indra because of complaints about the noise, the group started a residency in the Kaiserkeller.^[18][19]

In October 1960, the group left Koschmider's club to work at the Top Ten Club, which was run by Peter Eckhorn, as he offered the group more money, and a slightly better place to sleep, although by doing so they broke their contract with Koschmider.^[20][21] When Best and McCartney went back to the Bambi Kino to retrieve their belongings they found it in almost total darkness. As a snub to Koschmider, McCartney found a condom, attached it to a nail on the concrete wall of the room, and set it alight.^[22] There was no real damage done, but Koschmider reported them both for attempted arson. Best and McCartney spent three hours in a local prison and were subsequently deported, as was George Harrison, for working under the legal age limit, on 30 November 1960.^[23][24]

Back in Liverpool, the group members had no contact with each other for two weeks, but Best and his mother made numerous phone calls to Hamburg to recover the group's equipment.^[25] Mona arranged all the bookings for the group in Liverpool, after parting company with Williams in late 1961.^[26][27]

The ex-Black Jacks guitarist, Chas Newby, was invited to play bass for four concerts, as bassist Stuart Sutcliffe had decided to stay in Hamburg.^[28] Newby played with the group at Litherland Town Hall and at The Casbah.^[29] He was shocked at the vast improvement in their playing and singing, and remembered Best's drumming to be very powerful, which pushed the group to play harder and louder.^[30] It was probably due to McCartney that Best developed a loud drumming style, as he would often tell Best in Hamburg to "crank it up" (play as loud as possible).^[31] When the group returned to Hamburg, Best was asked to sing a speciality number, "Peppermint Twist", while McCartney played drums, but always felt uncomfortable being at the front of the stage.^[32]

"My Bonnie"[link]

The reunited Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961. While playing at the Top Ten Club they were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan to act as his backing band on a recording for the German Polydor Records label, produced by bandleader Bert Kaempfert.^[33] Kaempfert signed the group to a Polydor contract at the first session on 22 June 1961. On 31 October 1961, Polydor released the recording "My Bonnie" (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur/My heart is only for you) which appeared on the German charts under the name "Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers"—a generic name used for whoever happened to be in Sheridan's backup band.^[34] The song was later released in the UK.^[35] There was a second recording session on 23 June, and a third session in May 1962.

Decca, Parlophone, and dismissal[link]

Epstein, who had been managing The Beatles for less than a month, quickly arranged for the group to audition at Decca Records in London on New Year's Day, 1962.^[36] The group recorded 15 songs, mostly known cover versions,^[37] and, as Lennon later admitted, were "terrified and nervous". A month later, Decca turned down the group,^[38] about which Best was not informed.^[39]

Five months later, on 6 June 1962, The Beatles attended their first Parlophone recording session at EMI studios, now Abbey Road Studios, for EMI producer, George Martin.^[40] Ron Richards and his engineer, Norman Smith, recorded four songs, which Martin (who was not present during the recording) listened to at the end of the session. The recording convinced Martin that the group was good enough to be signed to a contract, but with one exception; Martin and his engineers wanted to use an experienced session drummer in Best's place, as was common practice at the time.^[40] Many years later Martin still expressed regret about his decision and what followed: "I decided that the drums, which are really the backbone of a good rock group, didn't give the boys enough support. They needed a good solid beat, and I said to Brian, 'Look, it doesn't matter what you do with the boys, but on record, nobody need know. I'm gonna use a hot drummer.' Brian [Epstein] said, 'Okay, fine.' I felt guilty because I felt maybe I was the catalyst that had changed his [Best's] life".^[41][42][43]

When the group heard that Martin and the engineers preferred a session drummer for their upcoming recording session, Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison considered the possibility of dismissing Best from the group. Eventually, after a long delay, they asked Epstein to dismiss Best from the band.^[44] Epstein agonised about the decision. As he wrote in his autobiography, A Cellarful of Noise, he "wasn't sure" about Martin's assessment of Best's drumming and "was not anxious to change the membership of The Beatles at a time when they were developing as personalities ... I asked The Beatles to leave the group as it was".^[45] Epstein also asked Bob Wooler for advice, to which Wooler replied that it was not a good idea, as Best was very popular with the fans.^[46] Ultimately, Epstein decided that "If the group was to remain happy, Pete Best must go".^[45] He summoned Best to his office and dismissed him on 16 August 1962, ten weeks and one day after the first recording session. Best had been with the group for two years and four days.^[10][27]

Best's friend, Neil Aspinall, was waiting for him downstairs in Epstein's NEMS record shop after the meeting. The two went to The Grapes pub, in the same street as the The Cavern Club, where The Beatles had often played.^[47] Starting in 1961, Aspinall had become good friends with Best and subsequently rented a room in the house where Best lived with his parents. Best had asked Aspinall to become the band's roadie, resulting in Aspinall buying an old Commer van for £80.^[48] He had been employed as the band's road manager and personal assistant, but was furious at the news, insisting that he would stop working for them as well, but Best strongly advised him to remain with the group. Aspinall asked Lennon at the next concert why they had fired Best, to which he replied, "It's got nothing to do with you, you're only the driver."^[49]

Prior to Best's dismissal, during one of the extended business trips of Best's father, the 19-year-old Aspinall became romantically involved with Best's mother, Mona Best, who was 17 years his senior.^[50] During this period, he fathered a child by Mona: Vincent "Roag" Best.^[26][51] Roag Best was born in late July 1962, just three weeks prior to Best's dismissal.^[47] Despite his initial support after Best's dismissal, Aspinall elected to stay in the employ of the group, and ended his relationship with Mona (and their three-week-old baby, Roag).^[49]

Mersey Beat magazine editor, Bill Harry, claimed that the vacant drummer position in The Beatles was initially offered by Epstein to Johnny Hutchinson of The Big Three, whom he also managed. Hutchinson refused the job, saying, "Pete Best is a very good friend of mine. I couldn't do the dirty on him". Hutchison filled in as drummer at short notice when Best didn't turn up on the evening of his dismissal, and played a further two bookings until Starr joined the group.^[52] Starr had previously played with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes—the alternating band in the Kaiserkeller—and had deputised when Best was ill or unable to play in Hamburg and Liverpool.^[42][53] Best's dismissal was reported by Harry on the front-page of the Mersey Beat magazine, upsetting many Beatles fans. The Beatles encountered some jeering and heckling in the street and on stage for weeks afterwards, with some fans shouting, "Pete forever, Ringo [Starr] never!" One agitated fan headbutted Harrison in The Cavern, giving him a black eye.^[54][55]

Reasons for dismissal[link]

Best was never fully told why he was dismissed, as the only reason Epstein stated was, "The lads don't want you in the group any more".^[27] Epstein subsequently claimed in his autobiography that Lennon, McCartney and Harrison thought Best "Too conventional to be a Beatle, and though he was friendly with John, he was not liked by George and Paul".^[45] It has been documented (notably in Cynthia Lennon's book, John) that while Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison usually spent their offstage time together in Hamburg and Liverpool, writing songs or socialising, Best generally went off alone. This left Best on the outside, as he was not privy to many of the group's experiences, references, and in-jokes.^[56]

A German photographer, Astrid Kirchherr, asked The Beatles if they would mind letting her take photographs of them in a photo session, which impressed them, as other groups only had snapshots taken by friends. The next morning Kirchherr took photographs in der Dom, a municipal park, close to the Reeperbahn. In the afternoon Astrid took them to her mother's house in Altona; minus Best, who decided not to attend.^[57][58] Best was described by Dot Rhone—McCartney's girlfriend at the time, who later visited Hamburg—as being very quiet, and never taking part in conversations with the group.^[59]

Clothes, drugs and hairstyle[link]

On their first trip to Hamburg, The Beatles realised that the stage suits they wore could not stand up to the hours of sweating and jumping about on stage every night, so they all bought leather jackets, jeans and cowboy boots, which were much tougher. Best initially preferred to play in cooler short sleeves on stage, and so did not match the sartorial style of the group, even though he was later photographed wearing a leather jacket and jeans.^[60] Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Sutcliffe were introduced to drugs in Hamburg. As they played for hours every night, they often took Preludin to keep themselves awake, which were given to them by German customers or by Astrid Kirchherr, whose mother bought them.^[61] Lennon would often take four or five, but Best always refused.^[62][63]

It has been claimed that Epstein became exasperated with Best's refusal to adopt the mop-top-style Beatle haircut as part of their unified look keeping his quiffed hairstyle, although Best later stated that he was never asked to change his hairstyle. In a 1995 BBC Radio Merseyside interview, Kirchherr explained: "My boyfriend, Klaus Voorman, had this hairstyle, and Stuart [Sutcliffe] liked it very, very much. He was the first one who really got the nerve to get the Brylcreem out of his hair, and asking me to cut his hair for him. Pete Best has really curly hair, and it wouldn't work".

Popularity[link]

Best's popularity with fans was a source of friction, as many female fans considered Best to be the band's best-looking member.^[64] Radio Merseyside presenter, Spencer Leigh, wrote a book chronicling Best's firing, suggesting that the other members, McCartney in particular, were jealous.^[65] During the Teenagers' Turn showcase in Manchester, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison walked on stage to applause, but when Best walked on, the girls screamed.^[64] Best was surrounded at the stage door afterwards by attentive females while the other members were ignored after signing a few autographs. McCartney's father, Jim McCartney, was present at the time and admonished Best by saying: "Why did you have to attract all the attention? Why didn't you call the other lads back? I think that was very selfish of you".^[64] Lennon called the accusations of jealousy a "myth", and claimed that Best was only recruited for the band because The Beatles needed a drummer to go to Hamburg, and said, "We were always going to dump him when we found a decent drummer".^[66]

Mona Best's take on her son's sacking, as told to British television in 1963, with Best: "From the point of clash of personalties, well, probably that may be it because Peter did have a terrific fan club, you know, compared to the others". [Interviewer: "Too good looking perhaps?"] "I'll leave that for other people to say but from my point of view we haven't come here to sort of throw sticks and stones at the boys because there is no really hard feeling. There was at first, but it's just the way that it was done that has annoyed us. If it had been done a bit more straightforward it would have been more to the mark".^[67] Martin was shocked that Epstein had sacked Best: "He seemed to be the most saleable commodity as far as looks went. It was a surprise when I learned that they had dropped Pete. The drums were important to me for a record, but they didn't matter much otherwise. Fans don't pay particular attention to the quality of the drumming".^[68] Martin used session musician Andy White on the third session for "Love Me Do" on 11 September, and not Starr, who was Best's replacement.^[69]

Best as a drummer[link]

Musically, Best has been judged to have had a limited rhythmic vocabulary that was seen as holding the other three band members back from their collective musical growth. Martin (see above) deemed Best's drumming to be inadequate for a recording. As stated in Bob Spitz's 2005 biography, "All Pete could do was play 'Fours'", a style of drumming that uses kick drum notes on every quarter note to hold down the beat. Spitz's book also contains engineer Ron Richards' account of his failed attempts to teach Best somewhat more complicated beats for different songs.^[43] Critic and Beatles historian Richie Unterberger described Best's drumming at the Decca session as "thinly textured and rather unimaginative",^[37] and said that Best "pushes the beat a little too fast for comfort".^[38] Unterberger thought Starr to be "more talented".^[70] Beatles critic Alan W. Pollack compared the Best, Starr, and Andy White versions of "Love Me Do", and concluded that Best was "an incredibly unsteady and tasteless drummer" on his version.^[71] Beatles historian Ian MacDonald, recounting the Decca audition, said that "Best's limitations as a drummer are nakedly apparent".^[72] MacDonald notes of the 6 June EMI recording session that "...this audition version [of "Love Me Do"] shows one of the reasons why Pete Best was sacked: in moving to the ride cymbal for the first middle eight, he slows down and the group falters". MacDonald incorrectly notes that the session was an audition, which it was not, being the first recording for a single release.^[73]

All the other Beatles went on record about the dismissal of Best. McCartney said: "It was a strictly professional decision. If he wasn't up to the mark... then there was no other choice." He also pronounced Best to be "a bit limited". Harrison said that "Pete kept being sick and not showing up for gigs" and admitted, "I was quite responsible for stirring things up. I conspired to get Ringo in for good; I talked to Paul and John until they came round to the idea."^[66] For his part, Starr said: "I felt I was a much better drummer than he [Best] was".^[66]

Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison all later stated that they regretted the manner in which Best was sacked. Lennon admitted that "we were cowards when we sacked him. We made Brian do it."^[74] McCartney stated: "I do feel sorry for him, because of what he could have been on to."^[74] Harrison: "We weren't very good at telling Pete he had to go.^[75] Historically it may look like we did something nasty to Pete and it may have been that we could have handled it better."^[76] Starr, on the other hand, feels he has no apology to make: "I never felt sorry ... I was not involved."^[75] Mark Lewisohn concluded that "Despite his alleged shortcomings, it was still shabby treatment ... the most underhand, unfortunate and unforgivable chapter in The Beatles' rise to monumental power."^[77]

After The Beatles[link]

Soon after Best was dismissed, Epstein attempted to console him by offering to build another group around him, but Best refused. Feeling let-down and depressed, he sat at home for two weeks—not wanting to face anybody or answer the inevitable questions about why he had been sacked.^[44] Epstein secretly arranged with his booking agent partner, Joe Flannery, for Best to join Lee Curtis & the All Stars,^[78] which then broke off from Curtis to become Pete Best & the All Stars. They signed to Decca Records, releasing the single "I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door", which was not successful.^[79]

Best later moved to the United States along with songwriters Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington. As The Pete Best Four, and later as The Pete Best Combo (a quintet), they toured the US with a combination of 1950s songs and original tunes, recording for small labels, but had little success.^[79] They ultimately released an album on Savage Records, Best of the Beatles; a play on Best's name, leading to disappointment for record buyers who expected a Beatles compilation. The group disbanded shortly afterwards. Bickerton and Waddington were to find greater success as songwriters in the 1970s, writing a series of hits for the American female group, The Flirtations and a UK group, The Rubettes.^[80]

Later years[link]

Best decided to leave show business, and by the time of Hunter Davies' authorised Beatles' biography in 1968, he was not willing to talk about his Beatles' association. Years later he stated in his autobiography, "The Beatles themselves certainly never held out a helping hand and only contributed to the destruction with their readily printed gossip that I had never really been a Beatle, that I didn't smile, that I was unsociable and definitely not a good mixer. There was not a single friendly word from any one of them".^[81] During the height of Beatlemania he attempted to commit suicide, but was talked out of it by his mother, Mona, and his brother, Rory.^[82]

In 1963,^[83] he married Kathy, who worked behind the biscuit counter at a Woolworth's store. Their marriage has lasted for more than 45 years: they have two daughters (Beba and Bonita) and four grandchildren.^[84] Best did shift work loading bread into the back of delivery vans, earning £8 a week.^[85] His education qualifications subsequently helped him become a civil servant working at the Garston Jobcentre in Liverpool,^[82] where he rose from employment officer to training manager for the Northwest of England,^[86] and, ironically, remembered "a steady stream of real-life Yosser Hughes types" imploring him to give them jobs. The most he could do, he recalls, was to offer to retrain them in other fields, "which was an emotional issue for people who had done one kind of work all their lives."^[87]

In time, Best began giving interviews to the media, writing about his time with The Beatles, and serving as a technical advisor for the television film, Birth of The Beatles. He found a modicum of independent fame, and has admitted to being a fan of his former band's music owning their records.^[88] In 1995, the surviving Beatles released Anthology 1, which featured a number of tracks with Best as drummer, including songs from the Decca and Parlophone auditions. Best received a substantial windfall—between £1 million and £4 million—from the sales, although he was not interviewed for the book or the documentaries.^[89][90] The collage of torn photographs on the Anthology 1 album cover includes an early group photo that featured Best, but Best's head was removed, revealing a photo of Starr's head, taken from the Please Please Me cover photo. (The missing section of the photograph appears on the cover of the album Haymans Green). A small photograph of Best can be seen on the left side of the Anthology cover.^[91] Best appeared in an advertisement for Carlsberg lager that was broadcast during the first commercial break of the first episode of the Anthology TV series on ITV in November 1995. The tag line was "Probably the Pete Best lager in the world", a variation of Carlsberg's well known slogan.^[92]

Best on 30 October 2005.

The Pete Best Band[link]

In 1988, after twenty years of turning down all requests to play drums in public, Best finally relented, appearing at a Beatles' convention in Liverpool. He and his brother, Roag, performed, and afterwards his wife and mother told him, "You don't know it, but you're going to go back into show business".^[93] Best now regularly tours the world with The Pete Best Band, sharing the drumming with his younger brother Roag.^[94] The Pete Best Band's album Haymans Green, made entirely from original material, was released on 16 September 2008 in the US, 24 October 2008 worldwide excluding the UK and 27 October 2008 in the UK.^[95]

Honours[link]

On 6 July 2007, Best was inducted into the All You Need Is Liverpool Music Hall of Fame as the debut Charter Member. Best was presented with a framed certificate before his band performed.^[96] Liverpool has further honoured Best with the announcement, on 25 July 2011, that two new streets in the city would be named Pete Best Drive and Casbah Close.^[97]

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

• "I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door" b/w "Why Did I Fall in Love with You" (Decca F 11929, Released: 1964)^[98]
• "Don't Play With Me (Little Girl)" b/w "If You Can't Get Her" (Happening 405, Released: 1965)^[98]
• "If You Can't Get Her" b/w "The Way I Feel About You" (Happening HA1117, Released: 1965)^[98]
• "Kansas City" b/w "Boys" (Cameo 391, Released: 1965)^[98]
• "(I'll Try) Anyway" b/w "I Wanna Be There" (Original Beatles Drummer 800, Released: 1965)^[98]
• "Kansas City" b/w "Boys" (Cameo 391, Released: 1965)^[98]
• "I Can't Do Without You Now" b/w "Keys to My Heart" (Mr. Maestro Records 711, Released: 1965)^[98]

Another "Peter Best" single, "Carousel Of Love"/"Want You" (Capitol 2092) is not by Best, but an Australian performer with the same name.

LPs[link]

• Best of the Beatles (Savage BM 71, Released: 1965)^[98]
  • Includes: "I Need Your Lovin"; "Just Wait and See"; "Casting My Spell"; "Keys to My Heart"; "Why Did You Leave Me Baby?"; "Like My Sister Kate"; "I Can't Do Without You Now"; "I'm Blue"; "Some Other Guy"; "She's Alright"; "Nobody But You"; "Last Night"
• The Beatle That Time Forgot [Original Version] (Phoenix PB-22, Released: 1981)^[98]
  • Includes: "I'm Checking Out Now Baby"; "I'll Try Any Way"; "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)"; "How'd You Get to Know Her Name"; "She's Not the Only Girl in Town"; "If You Can't Get Her"; "More Than I Need My Self"; "I'll Have Everything Too"; "The Way I feel About You"; "Don't Play With Me (Little Girl)"; "Rock and Roll Music"; "All Aboard"
• Rebirth (Phoenix PB-44, Released: 1981)^[98]
  • Includes: "I Can't Do Without You Now"; "Off the Hook"; "She's Alright"; "I Need Your Lovin'"; "Why Did You Leave Me Baby"; "High School Shimmy"; "I Wanna Be There"; "Everybody"; "Pete's Theme"; "Keys to My Heart"
• The Beatle That Time Forgot [Reissue] (Phoenix PHX 340, Released: 1982)^[98]
  • Includes: "I'll Try Anyway"; "I Don't Know Why I Do (I Just Do)"; "She's Not the Only Girl in Town"; "More Than I Need My Self"; "I'll Have Everything Too"; "I'm Checking Out Now Baby"; "How'd You Get to Know Her Name"; "If You Can't Get Her"; "Rock and Roll Music"

CDs[link]

• Back to the Beat - (1995)^[99]
• The Pete Best Combo: Beyond the Beatles 1964-1966 (1 Feb 1996)^[100]
• Live at the Adelphi Liverpool 1988 - (23 Sep 1996)^[101]
• Best (18 Aug 1998)^[102]
• Casbah Coffee Club 40th Anniversary Limited Edition (1999)^[103]
• The Savage Young Beatles (10 May 2004)^[104]
• Haymans Green - Released 16 September 2008 (US), August 2008 (UK) (The Pete Best Band)^[105]

Filmography[link]

Full length films[link]

• The Rocker (Cameo) DVD (UK) Directed by Peter Cattaneo 2008^[106]
• Best of the Beatles DVD (US) Pete Best of The Beatles (UK) Directed by Geoff Wonfor^[107]

Theatre[link]

BEST!, a comedy play written by Liverpool playwright Fred Lawless, was staged at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and the Dublin Theatre Festival in 1995 and 1996. The play, which was mainly fiction, showed a scenario where after Pete Best's sacking from The Beatles, he went on to be become a world famous rock superstar while The Beatles struggled as one hit wonders. The play was critically acclaimed in both the Liverpool Echo and also in Spencer Leigh's 1998 book Drummed Out : The Sacking of Pete Best ^[65]

Notes[link]