1960-1970 Hamburg

Finding themselves drummerless before their upcoming engagement in Hamburg, on 12 August 1960 the group invited Pete Best to become their drummer. Best had played with The Blackjacks in the Casbah Club, owned by Pete's mother, Mona Best. This was a cellar club in West Derby, Liverpool, where The Beatles had played and often visited. In the documentary The Compleat Beatles, Williams said that Best played not too cleverly, but passable.



Four days after hiring Best, the group left for Hamburg. The Beatles began playing in Hamburg at the Indra Club and moved on 4 October 1960 to the Kaiserkeller. They were required to play six or seven hours a night, seven nights a week. On 21 November 1960, Harrison was deported for having lied to the German authorities about his age. A week later, having started a small fire at their living quarters while vacating it for more luxurious rooms, McCartney and Best were arrested, charged with arson, and deported. Lennon followed the others to Liverpool in mid-December while Sutcliffe stayed behind in Hamburg with his new German fianc?e Astrid Kirchherr. The reunited group played their first engagement on 17 December 1960 at the Casbah Club (with Chas Newby substituting for Sutcliffe).





The Indra Club, where the Beatles first played on arriving in Hamburg, as it appears today.The Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961, performing at the Top Ten Club. While playing at the Top Ten Club they were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan to act as his backing band on a series of recordings for the German Polydor Records label, produced by famed bandleader Bert Kaempfert. Kaempfert signed the group to its own Polydor contract at the first session on 22 June 1961. On 31 October Polydor released the recording My Bonnie (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur), which appeared on the German charts under the name Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers, a generic name used for whoever happened to be in Sheridan's backup band. In addition to the legend that this record led to the group's eventual meeting with Brian Epstein, it also resulted in their first mention in the American press. Around the beginning of 1962, Cashbox mentioned My Bonnie as the debut of a new rock and roll team, Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers. A few copies were also pressed under the Decca label for U.S. disc jockeys, as American Decca had a distribution deal with Polydor parent Deutsche Grammophon. (This was ironic, considering that by this time the then-unaffiliated British Decca had turned down the group's attempt to gain a recording contract.) When the group returned to Liverpool, Sutcliffe stayed on in Hamburg with Kirchherr. By then McCartney had taken over bass duties.



Their third stay in Hamburg was from 13 April to 31 May 1962, when they opened The Star Club. Upon their arrival, they were informed of Sutcliffe's death from a brain haemorrhage.



Epstein took over as the group's manager in January 1962 and led The Beatles' quest for a British recording contract. Epstein had been manager of the record department at North End Music Store (NEMS), an offshoot of his family's furniture store. He played on the status of NEMS as a major record dealer to gain access to producers and recording company executives. In a now-famous exchange, Decca Records A&R executive Dick Rowe turned Epstein down flat, informing him that Guitar groups are on the way out, Mr. Epstein. (See The Decca audition.) While Epstein was negotiating with Decca, he also approached EMI marketing executive Ron White. White (who was not himself a record producer) in turn contacted EMI producers Norrie Paramor, Walter Ridley, and Norman Newell, all of whom declined to record The Beatles. White did not approach EMI's fourth staff producer—George Martin—who was on holiday at the time.