Continuing on my prior post's mention of the vast, surreal world of the super-unit that is the Beatles, it is difficult to imagine them before they hit big, mostly because their popularity escalated so rapidly. There isn't much of a lapse between their success as leatherclad heartthrobs playing shows in Hamburg from 1960-1962 to the masses of hysterical, trance-induced teenage girls that overtook Liverpool and then the world.
Less than 3 years before that Lennon had met McCartney and the "Quarrymen" were playing with sporadic members in the basement of a coffeeshop. They picked up a 14-year old Harrison the next year, and found a drummer in the kid whose mother operated the venue, Pete Best.
After achieving local stardom in Hamburg first (that's right, Germany), in 1962 the group worked with Tony Sheridan as a "backing band," only appearing on lead vocals for a few songs. Their acclimating success overshadowed Sheridan and around the same time the group ditched Pete Best in favor of Ringo Starr for still inconclusive reasons. Both Sheridan and Best had difficulty getting over being one number from winning the lottery and never made much of a noticeable return to music. Interestingly, Sheridan has continually discredited Best as a drummer, saying he had no rhythm or creativity, but I don't think Best was really ever given much of a chance to warrant the criticism. I've not verified if he was on drums for this track, but it's a great cover of Dion DiMucci's "Ruby Baby."
Less than 3 years before that Lennon had met McCartney and the "Quarrymen" were playing with sporadic members in the basement of a coffeeshop. They picked up a 14-year old Harrison the next year, and found a drummer in the kid whose mother operated the venue, Pete Best.
After achieving local stardom in Hamburg first (that's right, Germany), in 1962 the group worked with Tony Sheridan as a "backing band," only appearing on lead vocals for a few songs. Their acclimating success overshadowed Sheridan and around the same time the group ditched Pete Best in favor of Ringo Starr for still inconclusive reasons. Both Sheridan and Best had difficulty getting over being one number from winning the lottery and never made much of a noticeable return to music. Interestingly, Sheridan has continually discredited Best as a drummer, saying he had no rhythm or creativity, but I don't think Best was really ever given much of a chance to warrant the criticism. I've not verified if he was on drums for this track, but it's a great cover of Dion DiMucci's "Ruby Baby."
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