Pete Best facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pete Best
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Best performing in 2006
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Randolph Peter Scanland |
| Born | 24 November 1941 Madras, British India |
| Origin | Liverpool, England |
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Randolph Peter Best (born 24 November 1941) is an English musician. He was the drummer for the Beatles from 1960 to 1962. He left the band just before they became world famous. Because of this, he is sometimes called a fifth Beatle.
Pete's mother, Mona Best (1924–1988), opened the Casbah Coffee Club in the basement of their house in Liverpool. The Beatles, who were then called the Quarrymen, played some of their very first shows there. The Beatles asked Pete to join them on 12 August 1960. This was just before the band's first trip to Hamburg for club performances.
Ringo Starr later took Pete's place on 16 August 1962. The band's manager, Brian Epstein, let Pete go at the request of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison. This happened after the band's first recording session. More than 30 years later, Pete Best received a large payment for his time with the Beatles. This was after their early recordings were released on the 1995 album Anthology 1. Pete played drums on 10 songs on that album.
After playing in a few other music groups that weren't very successful, Pete Best stopped working in music. He worked as a civil servant for 20 years. Later, he started his own band, The Pete Best Band.
Contents
Early Life and Music
Growing Up in Liverpool
Pete Best was born on 24 November 1941 in Madras, which was then part of British India. His mother, Mona Best, was also born in India. Pete's biological father was a marine engineer named Donald Peter Scanland, who sadly passed away during World War II.
Mona later met Johnny Best, who came from a family in Liverpool that promoted sports events. Johnny Best was an army officer and boxing champion in India during World War II. Pete's younger brother, Rory Best, was born soon after Mona and Johnny got married in 1944. In 1945, the Best family moved to Liverpool, England.
The Best family lived in a few different places in Liverpool. In 1948, they moved to 17 Queenscourt Road, where they stayed for nine years.
Starting a Band
Pete went to Blackmoor Park primary school and then to Liverpool Collegiate Grammar School. While he was there, he decided he wanted to be in a music group. His mother, Mona, bought him a drum kit. Pete then started his own band called the Black Jacks.
In 1957, Mona Best bought a large Victorian house at 8 Hayman's Green. The house was very big, with 15 bedrooms and a large garden. Mona later opened The Casbah Coffee Club in the house's large basement. Pete had asked his mother for a place where his friends could meet and listen to popular music.
The Quarrymen, which included John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, played at the Casbah Coffee Club. They even helped Mona paint the walls! The Black Jacks later became the main band at the Casbah.
Pete Best and The Beatles
Joining The Beatles
In 1960, the Beatles' manager, Allan Williams, arranged for the band to play shows in Hamburg, Germany. But the band needed a permanent drummer.
Paul McCartney had seen Pete Best playing drums with his band, the Black Jacks, at the Casbah. Pete played the bass drum on every beat, which gave the music a strong rhythm. In Liverpool, many girls liked Pete because he was seen as "mean, moody, and magnificent." This made McCartney think Pete would be a good fit for the group.
After the Black Jacks broke up, McCartney convinced Pete to go to Hamburg with the Beatles. Pete had passed his school exams and could have gone to teacher-training college. But he decided that playing in Hamburg would be a better choice for his career. Pete had an audition at the Jacaranda Club, and he traveled to Hamburg the very next day.
Playing in Hamburg
The Beatles first played a full show with Pete Best on 17 August 1960 at the Indra Club in Hamburg. The band slept in a small, noisy room with bunk beds behind the screen of the Bambi Kino cinema. Pete was the only band member who had studied German in school, so he could talk with the club owner and customers.
After the Indra Club closed due to noise complaints, the band started playing at the Kaiserkeller. In October 1960, the group moved to the Top Ten Club because they were offered more money and a better place to sleep. This broke their contract with the previous club owner. Pete and Paul McCartney got into some trouble when they went back to get their things. They were later asked to leave Hamburg because they were working under the legal age limit.
Back in Liverpool, Pete and his mother worked hard to get the band's equipment back from Hamburg. In late 1961, Mona Best helped arrange all the Beatles' shows in Liverpool.
When the group returned to Hamburg, Paul McCartney started playing bass. Pete Best was asked to sing a song called "Pinwheel Twist" while McCartney played drums.
Recording Music
In April 1961, the Beatles returned to Hamburg. While playing at the Top Ten Club, they became the backing band for singer Tony Sheridan. They recorded songs for the German Polydor label. Their song "My Bonnie" was released in Germany under the name "Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers."
Brian Epstein became the Beatles' manager in January 1962. He arranged a recording audition at Decca Records in London. The band recorded 15 songs, including some of their own. A month later, Decca decided not to sign the group.
Epstein then met George Martin, a record producer at EMI. Martin was impressed with Epstein and agreed to sign the Beatles to a recording contract after hearing their Decca audition tape. The Beatles had a "commercial test" recording session on 6 June 1962 at Abbey Road studios.
Even though Pete's drumming had been fine for Polydor in Hamburg, George Martin felt Pete's timing wasn't quite right for studio recordings in Britain. Martin wanted to use an experienced studio drummer for the recordings, which was a common practice back then.
Pete Leaves the Band
When John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison found out that George Martin wanted a different drummer for their next recording session, they decided to ask Pete to leave the group. They asked Brian Epstein to do it. Epstein felt bad about the decision. He wrote in his book that he wasn't sure about Martin's opinion of Pete's drumming. He also said he didn't want to change the band members when they were becoming well-known.
Epstein also asked Liverpool DJ Bob Wooler, who knew the Beatles well, for advice. Wooler said it wasn't a good idea because Pete was very popular with fans. Pete was popular at live shows, especially with female fans. However, the band members decided that making the best music for records was more important than having a drummer who was popular on stage.
Epstein decided that for the band to be happy, Pete Best had to go. Pete played his last two shows with the Beatles on 15 August at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. Epstein called Pete to his office and told him he was dismissed on 16 August. Pete was asked to play two more shows, but he changed his mind and didn't show up. Johnny Hutchinson filled in for him.
Bill Harry, the editor of Mersey Beat magazine, reported Pete's dismissal. Many Beatles fans were upset. The band faced some angry fans and jeering at shows for weeks. Some fans even shouted, "Pete forever, Ringo never!"
Ringo Starr had played with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and had filled in for Pete before. Ringo became the new drummer. For their second recording session with EMI, George Martin initially didn't let Ringo play drums. He used a different musician, Andy White, for some songs. Ringo played the tambourine instead.
Why Pete Left
Drumming Style
Pete Best said that Brian Epstein told him he was "not a good enough drummer" and that "Ringo [Starr] was the better drummer." The other Beatles, along with producers and musicians, agreed with this reason.
John Lennon said Pete was only asked to join because they needed a drummer for Hamburg. He said Pete "never improved." Paul McCartney said Pete was "good, but a bit limited." George Harrison preferred Ringo's drumming, saying, "Every time Ringo sat in with the band, it just seemed like, this was it." Ringo Starr himself said, "I felt I was a much better drummer than [Best] was."
Music critics also noted that Pete's drumming on early recordings was "thinly textured and rather unimaginative." George Martin, the EMI producer, said Pete "couldn't keep time too well." He felt the band needed a stronger drummer to hold them together.
Pete Best, however, said he didn't believe this was the "real reason" he was dismissed. He felt it was due to "jealousy."
Band Connections
Epstein said that John, Paul, and George felt Pete was "too conventional to be a Beatle." He also said that while Pete was friendly with John, George and Paul didn't like him as much. It's been said that while John, Paul, and George often spent their free time together, Pete usually went off by himself. This meant Pete wasn't always part of the group's inside jokes or experiences.
A German photographer, Astrid Kirchherr, took photos of the band. Pete decided not to join them for one of these photo sessions. Paul McCartney's girlfriend at the time, Dot Rhone, described Pete as very quiet and not joining in conversations with the group.
It has also been said that Pete didn't want to change his hairstyle to match the other Beatles' famous "mop-top" look. He preferred his hair to be in a quiff style. However, Pete later said he was never asked to change his hair.
Paul McCartney explained that Pete was a good drummer, but "he wasn't quite like the rest of us." He said the other three had a similar sense of humor and were more "artsy." George Harrison also said that Pete "kept being sick and not showing up for gigs."
Popularity with Fans
Pete Best was very popular with fans, especially girls, who thought he was the best-looking member of the band. This popularity was reportedly a source of tension. A music publication in Liverpool described Pete as "musically authoritative and physically magnetic, example the mean, moody magnificence of drummer Pete Best."
At one show, John, Paul, and George received applause, but when Pete walked on stage, the girls screamed. After the show, female fans gathered around Pete, while the other band members were mostly ignored. Paul McCartney's father, Jim McCartney, was there and told Pete that he shouldn't attract all the attention and should have called the other boys back. John Lennon called the idea of jealousy a "myth."
In 1963, Pete's mother, Mona, spoke on television about his dismissal. She said, "From the point of clash of personalities, well, probably that may be it because Peter did have a terrific fan club, you know, compared to the others." She added that the way Pete was dismissed was what bothered them the most.
After The Beatles
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison later said they regretted how Pete was let go. Lennon admitted, "we were cowards when we sacked him. We made Brian do it." McCartney said, "I do feel sorry for him because of what he could have been on to." Harrison said, "We weren't very good at telling Pete he had to go."
After Pete was dismissed, Brian Epstein offered him a job as drummer for the Mersey Beats, but Pete turned it down. He felt sad and stayed home for two weeks. Pete's lawyer later sent a letter to Epstein, threatening to sue for wrongful dismissal.
Epstein then secretly arranged for Pete to join Lee Curtis and the All-Stars. This group later became Pete Best & the All-Stars. They signed with Decca Records and released a single, but it was not successful.
The Pete Best Combo
Pete later moved to the United States with songwriters Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington. They formed the Pete Best Four, which later became the Pete Best Combo. They toured the United States, playing 1950s songs and their own music. They released an album called Best of the Beatles, which was a play on Pete's name. Some people bought it thinking it was a Beatles album. The group didn't have much success and soon broke up.
Later Life and Return to Music
Pete Best decided to leave the music business. In 1968, he didn't want to talk about his time with the Beatles for their official biography. He later wrote in his own book that the Beatles never offered him help and spread rumors about him.
In 1963, Pete married Kathy, a sales clerk he met at an early Beatles show. They are still married and have two daughters and four grandchildren. Pete worked loading bread into delivery vans for a while. His education helped him get a job as a civil servant at a Jobcentre in Liverpool. He worked his way up to training manager.
Eventually, Pete started giving interviews and writing about his time with the Beatles. He also worked as a technical advisor for the TV movie Birth of the Beatles. He has said he is a fan of the Beatles' music and owns their records.
In 1995, the remaining Beatles released Anthology 1. This album included ten songs with Pete Best as the drummer. Pete received a large amount of money from the sales of this album. He said that Neil Aspinall, the Beatles' road manager, called him about the money.
A small photo of Pete Best can be seen on the left side of the Anthology 1 album cover. Pete also appeared in a TV advertisement for Carlsberg lager in 1995. The ad's slogan was "Probably the Pete Best lager in the world."
The Pete Best Band
In 1988, after 20 years of not playing drums in public, Pete finally agreed to perform at a Beatles convention in Liverpool. He played with his younger brother, Roag. After the show, his wife and mother told him he was going back into music.
Pete now regularly tours the world with the Pete Best Band. He shares drumming duties with his brother Roag. The Pete Best Band released an album called Haymans Green in 2008, which featured all original songs. The band continues to perform concerts.
Special Recognitions
On 6 July 2007, Pete Best was honored as the first member of the All You Need Is Liverpool Music Hall of Fame. On 25 July 2011, Liverpool announced that two new streets in the city would be named Pete Best Drive and Casbah Close, in his honor.
Discography
Albums
- Best of the Beatles (1965)
- The Beatle That Time Forgot (1981)
- Rebirth (1981)
- The Beatle That Time Forgot [Reissue] (1982)
- Back to the Beat (1995)
- The Pete Best Combo: Beyond the Beatles 1964–1966 (1996)
- Live at the Adelphi Liverpool 1988 (1996)
- Best (1998)
- Casbah Coffee Club 40th Anniversary Limited Edition (1999)
- The Savage Young Beatles (2004)
- Haymans Green (2008) (The Pete Best Band)
Singles
- "I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door" b/w "Why Did I Fall in Love with You" (1964)
- "Don't Play With Me (Little Girl)" b/w "If You Can't Get Her" (1965)
- "If You Can't Get Her" b/w "The Way I Feel About You" (1965)
- "Kansas City" b/w "Boys" (1965)
- "(I'll Try) Anyway" b/w "I Wanna Be There" (1965)
- "I Can't Do Without You Now" b/w "Keys to My Heart" (1965)
Images for kids
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Best performing in 2006
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Studio Two of Abbey Road Studios (in 2008) where Pete Best recorded with the Beatles in a test session on 6 June 1962
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Best in October 2005
See also
In Spanish: Pete Best para niños
- Outline of the Beatles
- The Beatles timeline
