Meanwhile on the German Front

January, 1962

Meanwhile, back in Hamburg, Stuart Sutcliffe's health is visibly declining.  Astrid Kirchherr remembers that at this time he is experiencing headaches that result in temporary blindness.  And that he is very sensitive to bright light.  His artistic work is becoming darker and more pessimistic, too.  He does continue to communicate with John via letters and I think there is evidence that John thought of Stu as a sort of guiding light. Stu is conspicuous in the life of John Lennon as being just about the only person he could truly look up to until Yoko Ono.  No doubt John was looking forward to spending some time with his friend on the Beatles next foray to Hamburg.

In 1962, Horst Fascher was ready for anything

At the same time, Horst Fascher again enters the story of the Beatles rise to pop stardom.  The bouncer and club manager, who worked at both the Kaiserkeller and Top Ten Club during the Beatles residencies there, is now working for Manfred Weissleder.  Herr Weissleder has big plans to open a new club in Hamburg called the Star Club.  Fascher is on a trip to the wellspring of rock and roll for Reeperbahn clubs - Liverpool, England.  He meets the demands of their new manager for 500 DM per band member per week (and accommodation at a Hamburg hotel).  That's about 50 English Pounds a week for each of them, very good pay indeed for 1962.  All agree, they will be going over in April.  Hamburg is in for a bit of a surprise!

Marking Time (Again)

January 12, 1962

The Beatles are still hoping something will come of their recent recording test with Decca in London, but there is no word, yet.  In the meantime, they are playing almost everyday (still) at the Cavern, with a few odd dates elsewhere thrown in.

Today, they play another evening show in the Tower Ballroom, where they are last minute headliners. They take the 11:30 pm slot originally planned for another novelty act called "Screaming Lord Sutch" when he couldn't make the gig.  Tomorrow, they play their last gig at Hambleton Hall, where Paul and George were once roughed up by a gang of Teddy boys after their show.  That's not the type of work that Brian Epstein has in mind for them.  He has insisted they limit their appearances to no more than 60 minute sets, with song lists worked out in advance and no kibitzing with audience members.







P.S. I just noticed.  There's a poster on the wall for Long John Baldry on the wall in this video!  Don't try to lay no boogie woogie on the king of rock and roll.

My Bonnie From Over the Sea... Returns

January 5, 1962

A new pressing of the Polydor (of Germany) version of My Bonnie by Tony Sheridan is released in England, mostly due to the dogged efforts of their driven manager.  This time the Beatles are properly credited on the label.

And very incidentally, I turn 10 years old.  :-)

Beatles Top Poll

January 4, 1962

Everything's coming up BEATLES.  The first annual poll of Mersey Beat readers has voted them the very best of all of the hundreds of Liverpool bands.  (Second place goes to Gerry and the Pacemakers.)

Mersey Beat Magazine is only about six months old when they this article is published in lucky issue number 13.  The photo used in the spread is one of those shot less than a month ago at the instigation of Brian Epstein from their first professional photo shoot.

Beatles Top Poll

A Real Recording Session

January 1, 1962

The Beatles, with Pete Best on drums of course, have driven down south for a recording test at Decca's studios in a suburb north of London.  This day marks a very important change in focus of the Beatles as musical artists because, unlike live shows, a body of original songs is a huge advantage for recording artists.

Lennon and McCartney have agreed by now to put both of their names on all of their compositions and not quibble about who wrote what line or musical hook.  They have been toying with composition since the very early days of the band, but at a dance, the punters want to hear songs they are already familiar with from the radio and their own record collections.

Site of Decca Studios from my 1998 pilgrimage

In a commercial recording studio, it is very different.  Record executives want to hear something new and different.  In any case, the Beatles lay down 15 numbers on tape, but only three are lesser known originals - Like Dreamers Do, Hello Little Girl and Love Of The Loved.  They started at about 11 am and played for about one hour.  15 songs in ONE HOUR!  Shows you how much time they had to set up for each song and there simply couldn't have been any retakes or overdubs.  Just get up there and play, boys, like you do every day and night.  That is powerful evidence that the Beatles were in top form.  And even if the nervousness can be discerned on the resulting recordings, the hard edge of the band, and the very driving beat from Best's drums can also be heard.  The choice of material was made for them by Brian.

Before they could begin, problems with their road weary sound equipment had to be sorted out.  Mike Smith, who had seen them in December at the Cavern and was supervising this session, had to bring in some decent amplifiers for them to use or the recordings would have been of very poor quality, rife with distracting ground loop hum and pops and crackles.  Mr Smith thought these northern yahoos may have a lot to learn but they're on to something here.  He hustled them through the session to be ready for the next bunch, from Essex much closer to London, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes.  The Beatles left for Liverpool and home with hopes high that a record was in their future.

The Beatle Year in Review

December 31, 1961

A fateful day.  The Beatles and Neil Aspinall shoehorn themselves and their equipment into a rented van for a projected six hour drive down to London.  They are scheduled to do a recording test tomorrow, New Years day, at Decca's studio in West Hampstead.  New manager Brian Epstein has pulled all the strings and levers he knows to get it for them.  The plans didn't allow for a blizzard of historic proportions that results in some ten hours of nervous driving before their arrival at their hotel.  Brian has booked them into the Royal Hotel in Woburn Place.  No more dossing down in damp basements and glorified broom closets.  Brian will see to that.

Yet another minor coincidence.  Look at the Google Earth satellite view for the Royal National Hotel, Woburn Place.  A jet liner?!  You don't see that very often in GE.

    

1961 in Review

Whew!  What a ride it's been this year.  At the beginning of 1961, it was not a sure thing that the end of that year would see the Beatles still making music together.  Longtime followers of this blog will remember, one year ago, the band was sent home from Germany with its tail between its legs after it was discovered that George was underage and after Bruno Koschmider made a mountain out of a burning condom molehill.  After their return home, it seems they couldn't even face each other for a while and a slightly different turn of events could have prevented them from re-forming at all.

But, as always where the Beatles are concerned, fate stepped in to lend a hand.  The very much improved band was welcomed back enthusiastically by the Liverpool kids and so they regained their drive and equilibrium.  Another grueling stint in Hamburg at the Top Ten Club further honed the blade that will soon make mincemeat out of the popular music world.  Stuart Sutcliffe, a very key influence on the early Beatles style-wise if not musically, has stayed in Germany and keeps in touch with the band, and especially his best friend John, via post.

Of course, up till now, Germany has been a major contributor to the development of the band, and it will continue to play a role, but their center has definitely shifted back to Liverpool and specifically the legendary Cavern Club.  The local music scene, helped along in no small measure by our unsung hero Sam Leach and others, is burgeoning.  A minor recording has brought them to the attention of a local businessman.  He has the all important "public school manners" and can open doors for them that they would never be allowed otherwise to enter.  (Note: British public schools = US private schools)

There are disappointments yet to suffer and many good times to be had as well before the story is told.  Happy New Year, fans and friends.  See you in 1962.



P.S.  Hey, it's a holiday.  You've got some time to kill, right.  Here's an hour long interview with Sam Leach where he talks about the early days in Liverpool that will soon be coming to an end.  One of the best Beatles early history documents I've ever found.

Stepping Out of the Frame

Happy Krimble, Beatle fans.

I'm stepping out of the normal post format of 50 years ago today to offer kudos to Jude Southerland Kessler for her new book "Shivering Inside".  She is destined to join the pantheon of Beatle historians.  Her book is fantastic and fits extremely well with idea of this blog. 

I originally started the blog because I remembered how rewarding it was to follow the (rather cobbled up) log book of the voyages of Christopher Columbus on exactly the 500th anniversary of their entry (taking into account the calendar adjustment) back in 1992.  I think, it gives a reader a much better sense of the actual event if one experiences the events in "real time" instead of "all at once", like in a usual written history.

Like Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff", Jude has "invented" carefully researched and documented vignettes in the history of the biggest band in history, just as they were breaking into the mainstream, December 1961 to April 1963.  For any Beatle fan with the imagination to go along, it is a thrilling ride.  Do yourself a favor and order this book here.  (If you're nice, Ms Kessler might personalize and sign your copy!)

December 25, 1961

The Beatles are waiting to see what their new manager will do for them, especially as regards a recording contract.  They play the Tower Ballroom tomorrow and the Cavern for the rest of the week to finish out 1961, including a Cavern Beatles Christmas show on the 27th.  If you want to see some great photos of the boys arranged by Brian Epstein, their first professional shoot, just before he put them in suits, lookie here.

Albert Marrion Photo, December 17, 1961