Stu and Ed

April, 1961

Stuart Sutcliffe came over a little before the rest of the Beatles on this trip to Hamburg to be with Astrid Kircherr and also to explore the possibility of his getting the artistic training that had been denied him back in England.  He knew that the German kids were sophisticated compared to the people back home who were his age.  And these young people were were hanging around the Top Ten in greater and greater numbers to listen to the wild English rock and roll.  Stu would spend breaks between sets talking to them about recent happenings in the art world.

Somewhere among them he got the idea of applying for instruction to an influential Scottish artist, living in Hamburg, named Eduardo Paolozzi.  (A Scotsman with an Italian name living in Germany.  Very global.)  Mr Paolozzi recognizes Stuarts talent very quickly and not only accepts him as a student, but also finds grant money for him from the Hamburg City Council.

This means that Stu will sometimes play at the Top Ten until 3 am, paint in his room at Astrid's house 'til morning, then attend class with Palliozzi.  No one can burn that candle at both ends for very long, and Suttcliffe's appearances with the Beatles are becoming less and less frequent.  His headaches become more frequent and more sever.  When Stu does not show up at the Top Ten, Paul borrows his bass guitar to round out the sound.

Reading between the lines, I think that Paul was content, maybe even elated, with Stuart's exit from the band.  I also think that John was probably less happy about it, but was probably becoming reconciled to his band being without Stu.