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From: tunenito
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  • holy hell, i did not know the guy was this handsome (i am heteroseksual, but not afraid to say that he has the looks) as handsome as ricky nelson, elvis and cliff richard. no wonder they kicked him ou and replaced him with an ugly 5 foot5 tall drummer. it's all politics man. they should have compensated him long ago with 10 millions or so. fucking politics.

  • Ringo was a much superior drummer of course, but I still feel so sad about Pete. He was their buddy, their bandmate and went through all the thought years with them, before the luck shined on the band. And his bandmates became millionaires, while he got back to his old job in sleepy little Liverpool.

  • Hello EdgarPuga!

    Unfortunately - based on the Polydor recordings, the Decca sessions and the Radio Bristol performance;

    Ringo would be playing and Pete would be posing... Despite trying to be as objective as possible.

    And if Norman Chapman hadn't got drafted, we would be asking: Ringo who? Pete who?...

    Ok, happy birthday to the fifth (=5th) drummer of The Beatles!

    All the best

    Jukka

  • happy birthday pete best

  • If there were 5 original beatles, what was Ringo doing while Peter was playing the drums?

  • @EdgarPuga Ringo was with Rory Storm & the Hurricanes. The 5 original Beatles were John, Paul, George, Pete, and Stu Sutcliffe.

  • Hello kennyaltman !

    According to the contemporary people; nobody knew Pete Best .

    Sad and true; based on the contemporary tapes and records he was a clumsy club drummer. And based on the audiotapes - including this one - he was already in the 1960s a very ordinary person. Not even banal; ordinary...

    All the best

    Jrahde

  • This is almost painful to watch. Were these panelists so unhip at the time that they wouldn't have known who Peter Best was upon immediately hearing his name?

  • Hello AkiroXKE!

    I've been wondering about that too! :)

    Pete has told, that George was drunk all the time in their first Hamburg trip. And George has said, that Pete was drunk all the time... So, maybe there was a battle behind Stu and Paul as well and right from the beginning.

    But after listening to all the possible Pete Best related 1960s audiomaterial and seeing all the possible tv-performances: despite trying to be objective, he's an emperor with no clothes...

    All the best

    Jrahde

  • It's ironic that George got Pete, the only Beatle born in India, kicked out of the Beatles, then spent the rest of his fool life trying to connect with all things Indian!

  • @AkiroXKE That's an interesting observation but George was not really instrumental in kicking Pete Best out of the group. I also think that Pete's birthplace had little bearing on his life. It is worth noting that quite a few prominent Britons were born in India. Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, who was responsible for the Amritsar Massacre and was lauded by racist contemporaries as "the saviour of the Punjab," was born in Murree, India (modern day Pakistan). Now THAT is ironic.

  • Hello you all!

    I have to tell you the following things;

    1. On the dvd Pete Best of The Beatles he tells, that John was peeing on the balcony to the crowd going to church. In the biography about Paul McCartney by Ross Benson he tells, that this didn't take place.

    2. On the same dvd he tells, that he and John were trying to mug a sailor. The first time I heard aboutt his was on Albert Goldman's crap biography.

    So, I could say, that Pete Best is a lying half-gypsy, but I don't...

  • Pete who?! The brother of George Best?!...

  • He is lying through his teeth; he was kicked out of the band, and was shocked when it occurred. He didn't quit the band, and he had no intention of doing so.

  • you could cut the tension with a knife

  • Why would you travel to America just to appear on this show and seem like a dunce? And then lie about it? He didn't choose to leave the band. He was sacked.

  • he didn't leave, he was taken out by George Martin

  • Omg!!! :O aww he was sooo handsome!!! <3

  • If I had a giant ego and I was a singer in a band but all the girls came to see the drummer I would probably want him out. We are talking about young 20 year olds. Whats even more funny is they replaced him with a drummer that not too many girls would like.Pete should have taken vocal lessons and done whatever he could do to become a singer/ Do I think the Beatles made the right choice? Yes. But they should have compensated him throughout the years.

  • HE WAS FIRED!! Why? 'Cause he had more charm and charisma than the other 3.

  • @BCK acutally b/c he wasnt as great a drummer than ringo. All the Beatles said it.

  • He's jealous of Ringo

  • @Johnmcartney10 So jealous he's never bad mouthed the man... if he was that jealous some tape of best calling Ringo and his former "friends" utter tossers would exist, yet even as early as the period when The Beatles broke America, Best keep any hard feelings private... unlike the other Beatles it has to be said, who spent plenty of time in those early years slagging him off.

  • he didnt leave the beatles, they fired him

  • Sort of a has been that never was...he must have been a bigger man because he had a good sense of humor about not being in the group.

  • He didn't quit, he was fired. George Martin and a bunch of others agreed on that his rhythm, tempo, sound etc...wasn't what they were lookig for. And, George, Paul, and John, didn't like him. 

  • Can anyone write who BESS MYERS was? Actress? Incredibly beautiful and charming...

  • @RisforRockit Bess Myerson was a former Miss America winner,who was also on many game shows

  • Dear Pete Best: If ever a Morrissey song came true to life, "Little Man What Now.", seems to fit like ''Hand In Glove." You have such class, no anomosity. And with your fame, you give it to us still with humble generosity....I remember you....we will always remember you !!! Love and affection always...Molly

  • "An afternoon nostalgia television show. You spoke in silhouette, but they couldn't name you. Although the panel were very polite to you. But I remember you from Friday nights 1969. ATV you murdered every line. Too old to be a child star, too young to take leads, 4 seasons passed and they axed you. Nervous juvenile, WON'T SMILE, What became of you ? Did that swift eclipse tourture you ? A star at 18, then suddenly gone. Down to a few lines in the back page of annuaI. looked up to you."

  • why is that woman such a bitch lol?

  • @TheDiddlysquat I'm not trying to claim Best was as talented as Paul and John, or would have had a solo career of their level. I believe that if he had stayed with the beatles he would have been hugely popular in the early days, and had some sort of solo career afterwards, just like Ringo Starr did.

  • @TheDiddlysquat Yes, that is my logic. Saying he was the drummer in their best days contradicts the claim that he couldn't play good enough anyway, and if Lennon contradicts himself so great then his claims best couldn't play should be dimissed.

    Yes, I know Best could have been in the monkees, just goes to show their were other professionals who were willing to give him a shot! Indeed, Johnny Hutchinson refused to replace Best in the Beatles when he was asked too!

  • @TheDiddlysquat John Lennon said that in 1963, after best was fired. They have reasons to say bad things about him after he was sacked, but no reason to say anything good (unless it was true). Besides Lennon was obviously talking crap, because Best was in the band for 2 years! They never told Best of these claimed "plans" to sack him after someone better showed up, meaning (even if this nonsense was true) they acted like complete wankers!

  • They kicked him out because he was the only attractive one!!

  • @TwistedSister09 bwahaha thats what I thought.....but then there's Paul lol

  • He IS cute.

    Of course I think the rest of The Beatles had more charming personalities whereas he is kinda shy, but Pete certainly has good looks.

    Dunno about his talent as a musician, though I really can't imagine The Beatles without Ringo. Ringo was just a sweetheart. Lennon/McCartney was the backbone and without their songs they wouldn't have been legends. Harrison also had some underrated talent, couldn't imagine the band without him either.

    It just wasn't meant to be...

  • @lushie "The Beatles played their best gigs in Hamburg" John Lennon, once said. That was when Pete was their drummer!

  • @FabFM John, George, and paul also said that Pete would turn up late for gigs and they had to get ringo in anyway.

  • @thetruefreak678 That's rubbish. If you look at pictures of the beatles between 1960 and 1962, Starr is in very few of them. So that claim is disproved by photographic evidence. Indeed it is estimated that Best played on stage with the beatles more than starr did, even by 1967!

  • @FabFM In the Beatles anthology stated by the beatles themselves they said starr ended up playing at mst of the gigs

  • @thetruefreak678 Course they did... they don't want to look like arseholes do they? Yet, PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE proves otherwise. When Best was playing clubs with the Beatles they were playing 7 HOUR sets. If Ringo was filling in most the time then who was doing the drumming for Rory Storm and The Hurricanes? If Ringo was doing most the drumming why the riots back in liverpool when Best was fired? These would not have taken place if Ringo was doing the drumming! Evidence is stronger than lies!

  • @thetruefreak678 Pete Best himself stated Starr only replaced him on two occasions, when he was sick. His story matches the real evidence (i.e. all the photos). If Ringo was doing most the drumming then how come Johnny Huthcinson had to fill in between Best's dimissal and Starr joining the band? The only evidence you have to back up the story of John, Paul and George are their own words, nothing else, and it can easily be dismissed when Best's version is backed up by proof!

  • Wow. Pete seems really shy... and kinda cute. lol XD

  • poor pete

  • i was one of " THE BEATLES "

  • I could listen to this guy talk for hours. He and George Harrison were the best speakers. John was OK, but Paul drove me crazy

  • "And Paul McCartney, isn't it?"...lol That was great!

  • A shy guy could never been a Beatle

  • simply kicked out by John's cheap, pathetic jealousy. At the heart of every great genius is still a weak, common, cowardy soul. We want to think of Lennon as a hero, but he really is morally no better than an insecure, tattle taling kid.

    For this kind of action, and many other stinky things he did to people close to him, I always felt the "peace" message to be pretty hypocritical. A pose he took in the later years. Unlike Dylan, who sang about peace from the moment he picked up a guitar...

  • @butterf1yz you sound like mark david chapman

  • @Flerg3 and?

  • @butterf1yz Pete got Best along with Pete. Paul and George not so well, it was those two who start to sack Pete from the band.

  • As Pete said on Oprah..this is the year that he tried to commit suicide...he must be in denial. If you are a truly passionate musician and you have to go through what Pete Best went through....fuck.

  • I love how the emcee, when reading the names of the band he says "Paul McCartney isn't it?" OH how he will never have to be that confussed about it again!

  • Actually, they were John, Paul, Stu, and Pete at first, and sometimes George (when his mother would let him play with the band). When they first went to Hamburg, George was sent home for being underage.

  • Why in the F u c k Americans are laughing at him for ? What's so funny ?

  • No wonder they got rid of him. He's blatantly lying here saying he left the group on his own. He was fired by the other 3 Beatles because he sucked at drumming and they now had a record contract so he was expendable.

  • @krushnoi he was fired becuase they where jealous of him and he didnt fit in, he had more fans than John, Paul and George. hes not going to exactly say they sacked me is he.....the other 3 later admitted they where wrong in what they done. Read the book 'John' by Cynthia Lennon

  • @snico Yes this is true

  • @krushnoi they said he left before he even said anything

  • George Goebel?

  • Pete Best did not "leave" his job. He was fired. George Martin and the engineers wanted Pete Best replaced because they preferred a seasoned studio musician for recording sessions. Ultimately manager Brian Epstein was asked to fire Pete Best, and he did. Epstein and the other Beatles thought Best was great and had a terrific following but The Not-So-Fab-Three decided not to have a band mate stand between them and fortune. John, George and Paul were horrible pieces of garbage as individuals.

  • Pete didn't quit but got fired because of jealousy on the part of John & Paul. Pete was by far the best musician and the best looking as well. That's why he's Pete BEST. The Beatles made a huge mistake letting him go. Brian Epstein had a crush on John & wanted Pete out of the way; wanted JL all to himself. They were a mediocre band despite George Martin's efforts. It wasn't until Yoko came along that they came into their own element. JL left when Yoko made him great. And that's the truth.

  • @unclejuniorsoprano Hahahahahahah this homosexual troll is hilarious

  • @unclejuniorsoprano you are crazy.......

  • Pete QUIT. Sorrttt offf... . Fact is, he was fired form RECORDING. Ringo was cleaner for recording and kept better time = less takes and less money. remember, Studio time in the 60's was extremely expensive and there weren't a lot of them. That said, Pete was still cool to perform live but he wasn;t happy with that and it led to his demise.

  • wow...that totally sucks for him. being fired from the biggest band in the history of the world. imagine how he must feel now seeing all of their publicity 50 years into the future. 50 YEARS THEYVE BEEN AMAZING! he must hate ringo soo much. i <3 ringo hes my favorite

  • I wonder if Ringo and Pete talk to each other now?

  • @tunenito No, of course, and he never talked again to any of the Beatles; in Neil Aspinall´s funeral Paul denied to attend it because he knew Pete was going to be there and he didn´t want to run into him. (Neil was Pete´s best friend during the Beatles).

  • Comment removed

  • @meanderer06513 I know the story of Neil and Pete up to the sacking etc, and that Neil's initial stance was to leave but Pete convinced him to stay, but I always wondered if they remained friends afterwards seeing as Neil was so heavily involved with the 4 Beatles, who were, in many respects, the destroyers of Pete's dreams.

  • @daddykornflakes Pete Best was the only Beatle to attend Neil's funeral. Odd, seeing as Yoko Ono, George Martin, Stella McCartney and Barbara Bach (Ringo's wife) were also there.

  • @tunenito They don't. None of the Beatles ever contacted Pete Best again after 1962.

  • @tunenito No, Pete has not had any communication with any of them since the day before he was sacked. I've always been a bit confused how they got around the Neil Aspinall/ Roag Best situation, because I assume Neil remained friendly with Pete?

  • @xxlegallybrunettexxx No he was fine with being fired he says

  • @xxlegallybrunettexxx I don't think he hates Ringo, I mean, who could hate Ringo? lol

  • @xxlegallybrunettexxx He was actually kicked out for being the Most Popular Beatle. You can see that he had a cool persona in the style of Bob Dylan. The Beatles were more comfortable with Ringo's goofiness and knew that Ringo wouldn't steal the spotlight like Pete. The girls went crazy over Pete. Actually Ringo and Pete were good friends, and as far I know he has never trashed Ringo. He's been cool about the whole thing considering he was more or less stabbed in the back.

  • @xxlegallybrunettexxx He was totally jipped.

  • @xxlegallybrunettexxx they were originally friends

  • He had to sit there and say he left the Beatles when we was actually kicked out. People watching probably said "what an idiot, he LEFT the Beatles??" I would have said "screw it, man, the SOBs kicked me out".

  • nobody actually knows what transpired except for those who were involved with whatever happened between everyone. so dont guess at it.

  • He looks defeated to me with his head down.

  • I feel a bit sorry for him, but I love Ringo. He put the Beat in the Beatles :D

  • Stuart Satcliffe and Pete Best are far more handsome then at least two of beatles.

  • Yeah if you watch the Pete Best interview with David Letterman, currently posted here on You Tube, you'll see where Pete himself admits to being let go from the Beatles. So WWAHP is correct on his comment.

  • I've never heard Pete speak...

  • He may have been a better drummer than Ringo, but i think they probably wouldn't have changed the world as we know it if they kept him as the drummer.

  • @yankeecrankee Not necessarily true. We're saying that because we've seen the outcome, who knows? The outcome could've been the same or better had Pete stayed.

  • @lifestraight That's right as Epstein marketed them remarkably well.

  • Wow, Pete is gorgeous! Poor guy, I do feel bad for him. But I guess it was for the best (no pun intended).

  • Pete is the Best even now and forever! He does always BEAT! That's all folks/

  • Ringo is Cooler and has a better sounding accent and there wouldn't be hard days night with out Ringo lol

  • @tobixcupcakes nor tomorrow never knows which i think inspired psychedelic rock which inspired acid rock which inspired hard rock which inspired metal etc. this can go on a long time

  • How many noticed that after Pete's secret was revealed, Henry Morgan sat there like he was constipated. Not a rock fan I guess?

  • I think we learn enough about him here to know why the Beatles in fact FIRED him.

  • @1967mustanggta lol Y do u think?

  • he was the best looking

  • Ah you gotta feel sorry for Pete kinda, because it must sting a bit watching the rest of them get so huge. I mean, the only thing he's known as is that guy who got fired from the Beatles. Being on these TV shows probably doesn't help either, just rubbing salt into the wound :( Still, I can't imagine the Beatles without Ringo, so I'm just going to Let it Be :D

  • they keep on saying PETER

    the guy said peter just AFTER pete said his name T.T

    what the heck

  • Pete hardly looked sullen or defeated here. I thought he handled himself well.

  • He tried to kill himself at one point you know.

  • @clonecomanderfox Did he? When?

  • @viceisthename `After the Beatles hit it big.

  • he didnt look too happy at the end.

  • well actully PreacherofArrakeen pete best did perfrom his own band after the beatles kicked him out. this is a classic interview.

  • cool i like it .

  • ringo fucking shit

  • "The job he had was as the drummer..."

    And you hear someone say, "Oh my... Ringo..."

    And the expression on Best's face there...

    As much as Ringo IS my favorite, who CAN'T feel sorry for him there? Look at his face... he looks devestated and crushed and humiliated- all at once.

    Poor Pete...

  • Poor Pete was sacked from The Beatles.He said he wanted to start his own band and that he thought The Beatles woudnt be big but this was a fib by Pete.After listening to him I can understand why The Beatles got rid of him.Sad video of Pete Best.

  • @lottaluck After listening to him u can understand? What in this video says he deserved getting fired?

  • Haha it's funny how when they mention Ringo they show that random clip of him messing with a cigarette XD

  • just listen to him answer each question in that droning voice. None of the wit, exhuberance, charm or vitality the others Beatles oozed.....he simply didnt FIT IN!!

  • @tryst0 - He fit in well enough that they got huge just weeks after he joined the group and became the biggest thing on both the Hamberg Germany & Liverpool England scenes - for 2 years!!! Got them their first record deal with Tony Sheridan. That record is what kids came into Brian Epsteins store requesting & when Epstein saw the first group he said the first thing he was blown away with was their beat. Fit in so well he became the most popular member of the group.

  • @tryst0 I don't know about that as John seemed to possess the most of those qualities you mentioned, especially in the early days. George was the quiet one and Paul seemed to speak in serious tones. It was John who was the cut-up.

  • Makes me remember the Simpsons episode where Homer takes Chief Wiggam out into the woods and leaves him there. lol

  • And Best is lying here. Saying that he left because he wanted to form his own band. It must have been the greatest of humiliations to get fired from the Beatles just before they became so huge.

  • Gotta be the saddest video with Pete I've seen.....

  • Ringo was a far better drummer than Pete, and Pete flatly refused to get the famous Hair style the Beatles had..... so John, and paul had Brian epstein and George martin tell pete the bad news.

  • We'll truly never know who was better. Nobody can be sure about that. I saw him peforming on Rio de Janeiro last year, and he is very good, though his age.

  • @puzleman1 - Not true. Pete has said he was never asked to get the beatle cut & Astrid Kutchner has said she never attempted to give Pete the cut because his hair was to curly. Also, Pete was a good enough drummer to help them blow up in Germany & Liverpool, and get their first record deal with Tony Sheridan. He developed "The Atomic Beat", which Ringo & the other Liverpool groups copied. He became the most popular member of the group. Fans started calling the group Pete Best & The Beatles.

  • @playserious LOL I read the same article I believe.

  • @puzleman1 UNTRUE. THESE ARE UNPROVEN RUMOURS. Read PETE BEST THE MOST POPULAR BEATLE: Explains it all.

  • @puzleman1 Pete claims he was never "asked" to change his hair style. Perhaps, the remaining Beatles meant he didn't naturally follow suit after seeing their new hair styles.

  • @puzleman1 - that's an assumption or rewritten history. Pete's hair is wiry and curly and the style simply wouldn't work on his hair.

  • Ringo was the better drummer, but i from what i gather Best didant rly fit in which was probably the main reason. as he was good enough at the kit for the Beatles in my opinon.

    his chops have become way better over the years tho, shame for him but thats life i suppose.

  • I AM IN SHOCK ....I HAD NO IDEA PETE BEST WAS ALIVE ALL THESE YEARS....I THOUGHT HE HAD DIED AND THAT IS WHY HE WAS NO LONGER WITH THE BEATLES!!!!!!!! AMAZING.....I EVEN SPENT THE NIGHT WITH TWO OF THE BEATLES(NON SEXUAL) AND i DID NOT KNOW!!

  • which ones?

  • @caliopie45 (non sexual?) but admit it i know you want it

  • we got fired cos he sucked at drums i heard some of the songs when he was with the beatles and goood daaamn we couldnt change the tempo of a song always the same tempo IT IS GOD WE GOT FIRED

  • why did peter get fired

  • I believe their producer didn't feel he was up to the recording task, and called in Richard Starkey (aka Ringo).

    Pete Best's metering was off. Ringo had more experience, and could hold a tempo.

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  • poor guy

  • That has have sucked to been kicked out of the Beatles, this guy could have made millions of dollars, and never worry about money.

  • Yeah it does suck that he missed out on the money and fame. But he made quite a nice chunk of change off the Anthology CDs. I heard it went well into the Millions of dollars. Good for him.

  • nonsuchfabio. He did he made a few million bucks from the Anthology, though they air-brushed his face off the Anthology cd box set.

    It must have sucked that they kicked his ass out of the band. This guy must have been "What the fuck, guys. Why did you kick me out for.." Do you think he stil talks to the guys(Paul & Ringo)

  • Check out the interview with Letterman. He talks about the stone cold silence between him and the guys after the split. You gotta believe there really is some truth to the story that there was some jealousy towards Pete and that he attracted most of the girls that showed up to see them and, that was a big reason they ditched him.

  • nonsuchfabio. If I was that guy, I would have really pissed off.

  • That's so fucking sad, he's dying on the inside. Vainly trying to live through the past, he couldn't turn anywhere, the beatles would have been everywhere, where to turn? I think i remember hearing he tried to top himself

  • i would've

  • The BEATLES are my Favorite Rock N roll band of all time, however i feel horrible for pete, if he wasnt wanted in the group. help him somehow, like a new band that the beatles could helped him with, in all paul, george and john were cowards in not doing anything, after all they started the band in pete bests house.

  • @Sutter42 Not only that, but Pete Best and his mum helped manage the Beatles in the early days getting them gigs, and played with them for two days.

  • Nice guy or not, this was a business decision that the Beatles had to make. If he wasn't as good as Ringo, then they made the right choice.

  • I think he probably didnt wanna go along with their agenda, so they let him go.

  • Poor Pete. He seems like a decent guy. I think the Beatles should have written him a check or something after they took off. They are my favorite band of all-time, but there's no doubt they screwed him over. I've never been a big fan of Ringo either.

  • Why did Pete lie and say he quit the Beatles, when in actuality, he got fired?

  • Ahhhh, great question ....

  • @WWAHP I can understand why he would lie. You never want to say you got fired from a job, rather it's best to say you resigned. Plus the Beatles PR machine had already stated he quit and he went along with it. In the end, he made a lot of money off Anthology. It would be ironic if he ended up the last member to pass away. Paul is a true coward & jerk for not even speaking with the guy after all these years.

  • Perhaps somekind of agreement..?

  • @WWAHP He didn't say that. He said he left his job 2 years ago which he did. He didn't elaborate on the circumstances. Although if he had practiced harder when he first started drumming, he wouldn't have lost his job.

  • @WWAHP That's what he was told to say. The guys felt threatened by Best, he missed some gigs, Ringo sat in, and he was replaced.

  • @WWAHP simply, who would pick up a drummer that was fired from a band no less the Beatles.

  • what would you say

  • RINGO IS BEST DRUMMER AND IS FUNNY AND STILL ALIVE HA!!! sry. No I'm NOT high, just a bit of eustress...,

  • My essential point in all these comments has been that Pete was treated badly by the Beatles, then and afterward. On the very rare occasions any of them referred to Pete afterward, it was only to disparage and insult him. Pete deserved much better than that. He is a human being, after all. Note that Pete has never in his life said anything disparaging or insulting about John, Paul, George, or Ringo. And after all they've done to him, or not done, who has a better right?

  • oh screw you, ringo's the best drummer EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but i agree, pete should've been given a chance with maybe another band or something.

    hmm, i thought they came from liverpool! maybe just ringo, i dunno.

  • Uh... they did come from Liverpool.

  • ringo the best drummer ever???? lol thats too funny. I Love Ringo but come on.

    John Lennon quote " Ringo isnt even the best drummer in the beatles"

  • @jsm1113 John Lennon also said that Ringo was the Best Drummer in Rock, Read The Beatles Anthology Book..

  • FabFM, you and I will have to agree to disagree on the subject of Pete Best. Pete didn't need to be a McCartney clone. There already was a McCartney in the Beatles. Those closest to the group at the time, including Brian Epstein and George Martin, didn't want him to leave.

  • If George Martin was so sold on Lennon-McCartney as songwriters when he signed them, why did he arrange for them to record "How Do You Do It" (later a hit for Gerry and the Pacemakers) at their first recording session?

  • Think about it. What would have happened to John, Paul or George if they had been sacked from the Beatles before the Beatles hit it big, as Pete was, and then bad mouthed as the one who never fit in and was the odd man out, as Pete was? You can talk about the Beatles being John's band and you can talk about Paul's talent and indispensible contributions, but in the end I believe they too would have had the same fate as Pete... IF it had happened to them, too.

  • I never dissagreed with Harrison, and you never mentioned Lennon in your original post. However without the combination of Lennon/McCartney, the whole group would have probably ended up as a footnote in music history, not just John or Paul. The Beatles was never just John's band, from the day McCartney joined the band, it was the two that cemented the groups fate. Before he teamed up with McCartney, Lennon was in a band no different than any in liverpool.

  • Spoken with the benefit of hindsight. On August 16, 1962, all the classic songs, all the things that made them big lay ahead of them. Just as we'll never know what Lennon or McCartney might have done without each other, so we'll never know what Pete might have done had he stayed with them.

  • It dosen't matter if they "lay ahead" (even though Paul and John started writing together during the time Pete was in the band, anyway), songs like "yesterday", "hey jude", "eleanor rigby", "penny lane", "blackbird", etc etc are not written by any tom, dick or harry, especially so conistently. To say Pete Best would have contributed as much to the band as Paul McCartney is nothing but laughable!

  • I bet that if Paul or George had been fired from the Beatles in August 1962 or before, they would have been a footnote in history, too.

    At least John and George were able to admit that they treated Pete shabbily before they passed on.

    We're still waiting for Paul to do so.

  • What a ridiculous comment. From your comment you seem to think McCartney was a back up musicain in the group, rather than half of the greatest songwriting duo of all-time. There is no doubt McCartney is just as responsible for the success of the group than Lennon. Anyone who think otherwise knows nothing about the group!

  • As for Paul, for all his talent and ability and contribution to the success of the Beatles, I still suggest that if the others had dismissed him from the group just before they made it big (IF they had made it big without him), he would have ended up a footnote just like Pete. No disrespect meant to Paul for suggesting that. Certainly it would have been true of George, who demonstrated little songwriting talent in the early years of Beatlemania.

  • I doubt The Beatles would have made it big without McCartney. Take away McCartney and you take away all the classic songs, all the things that made them big. Best was just a drummer, McCartney, like Lennon, was a much more vital part of the band's system.

  • Again, all the classic songs and all the things that made them big lay in the future. Pete could have contributed his share to the band's success after August 16, 1962 if he had been permitted to, just like George and Ringo, but fate snatched the opportunity away from him.

  • Not true.The lennon-mcartney team had already started to write together while Pete was in the band - a huge factor and selling point to George Martin who gave them their contract, Espstein boasted that John and Paul were gifted song writers, this was all before August 1963. There is NO WAY John, Pete, George and some other chap would have been as big as John, Paul, George and Ringo.

  • Oh, and you must have never watched the beatles anthology because Paul admits he and the others should have handled the situation with Pete could have been handled better. I noticed (like Paul) John and George never spoke to Best again during their lifetime. Actions speak louder than words, and none of them took any!!

  • Where in the Anthology does Paul apologize for mishandling Pete's sacking? George admitted in the Anthology that the sacking could have been handled better. John told the Beatles' authorized biographer Hunter Davies that they were cowards when they sacked Pete. Paul, to my knowledge, has never apologized for the way it was handled.