Posted on 11/29/2022 10:38:32 PM PST by nickcarraway
John Lennon later expressed a lot of remorse about the way he treated his fellow member of The Beatles.
John Lennon had numerous fallings out with his pals in The Beatles over the years. It's no secret he had arguments with Paul McCartney while working with him. He even once said he wanted to "beat up" his fellow guitarist George Harrison after he made some brutal comments about his wife, Yoko Ono. But it was The Beatles' first drummer, Pete Best, who Lennon confessed he had become "sick" of over the two years they worked together.
The Beatles hired Best to be their drummer in 1960 as they were planning on embarking on a residency slot in Hamburg, Germany. McCartney first saw him playing in another band at Liverpool's legendary Casbah Club and deemed him good enough to join the group. The band then proceeded to go to Germany where they played every day, religiously, at the Top Ten Club.
Two years later, on August 16, 1962, The Beatles kicked Best out of the band. They asked their manager, Brian Epstein, to break the difficult news, however, as they didn't want to do it themselves.
Lennon opened up on his strained relationship with Best years later. He said: "By then we were pretty sick of Pete Best too because he was a lousy drummer, you know? He never improved and there was always this myth being built up over the years that he was great and Paul was jealous of him because he was pretty and all that c**p."
Liverpool legends say that after Best was kicked out of The Beatles in favour of Ringo Starr, the former's fans would attend their gigs screaming: "Ringo never, Pete forever!"
Lennon continued: "The only reason [Best] got in the group in the first place was because the only way we could get to Hamburg was he had to have a drummer."
Recounting how he met Best, he went on: "We knew of this guy. He was living in his mother’s house that had a club in it, and he had a drum kit so we dragged him, auditioned him, and he could keep one beat going for long enough so we took him to Germany."
Lennon was even more brutal when he added: "We were always gonna dump him when we could find a decent drummer. By the time we’d got back from Germany, we’d trained him to keep a stick going up and down. He couldn’t do much else." Of course, after dropping Best they auditioned and hired Starr to be their new beat-keeper. Before long, they were known as the Fab Four.
Lennon did say some kind words about Best later on, however. He noted: "He looked nice and the girls liked him so that was all right."
The Imagine singer also showed a lot of remorse about having Epstein kick Best out of the band, instead of them doing it themselves. He lamented: "We were cowards when we sacked him. We made Brian do it."
Harrison agreed: "We weren't very good at telling Pete he had to go. Historically, it may look like we did something nasty to Pete and it may have been that we could have handled it better."
McCartney also gave his opinion about Best. He mused: "I do feel sorry for him, because of what he could have been on to," while referring to The Beatles' fame, which exploded just after Best was removed from the group.
McCartney did speak frankly about the differences between Best and the rest of the band, however. He mused how Best was "never" similar to the rest of the tight-knit crew.
He said: "Pete had never quite been like the rest of us. We were the wacky trio and Pete was perhaps a little more… sensible. He was slightly different from us, he wasn’t quite as artsy as we were. And we just didn’t hang out that much together."
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
John Lennon had numerous fallings out with his pals in The Beatles over the years. It's no secret he had arguments with Paul McCartney while working with him. He even once said he wanted to "beat up" his fellow guitarist George Harrison after he made some brutal comments about his wife, Yoko Ono. But it was The Beatles' first drummer, Pete Best, who Lennon confessed he had become "sick" of over the two years they worked together.
The Beatles hired Best to be their drummer in 1960 as they were planning on embarking on a residency slot in Hamburg, Germany. McCartney first saw him playing in another band at Liverpool's legendary Casbah Club and deemed him good enough to join the group. The band then proceeded to go to Germany where they played every day, religiously, at the Top Ten Club.
Two years later, on August 16, 1962, The Beatles kicked Best out of the band. They asked their manager, Brian Epstein, to break the difficult news, however, as they didn't want to do it themselves.
Lennon opened up on his strained relationship with Best years later. He said: "By then we were pretty sick of Pete Best too because he was a lousy drummer, you know? He never improved and there was always this myth being built up over the years that he was great and Paul was jealous of him because he was pretty and all that c**p."
Liverpool legends say that after Best was kicked out of The Beatles in favour of Ringo Starr, the former's fans would attend their gigs screaming: "Ringo never, Pete forever!"
Lennon continued: "The only reason [Best] got in the group in the first place was because the only way we could get to Hamburg was he had to have a drummer."
Recounting how he met Best, he went on: "We knew of this guy. He was living in his mother’s house that had a club in it, and he had a drum kit so we dragged him, auditioned him, and he could keep one beat going for long enough so we took him to Germany."
Lennon was even more brutal when he added: "We were always gonna dump him when we could find a decent drummer. By the time we’d got back from Germany, we’d trained him to keep a stick going up and down. He couldn’t do much else." Of course, after dropping Best they auditioned and hired Starr to be their new beat-keeper. Before long, they were known as the Fab Four.
Lennon did say some kind words about Best later on, however. He noted: "He looked nice and the girls liked him so that was all right."
The Imagine singer also showed a lot of remorse about having Epstein kick Best out of the band, instead of them doing it themselves. He lamented: "We were cowards when we sacked him. We made Brian do it."
Harrison agreed: "We weren't very good at telling Pete he had to go. Historically, it may look like we did something nasty to Pete and it may have been that we could have handled it better."
McCartney also gave his opinion about Best. He mused: "I do feel sorry for him, because of what he could have been on to," while referring to The Beatles' fame, which exploded just after Best was removed from the group.
McCartney did speak frankly about the differences between Best and the rest of the band, however. He mused how Best was "never" similar to the rest of the tight-knit crew.
He said: "Pete had never quite been like the rest of us. We were the wacky trio and Pete was perhaps a little more… sensible. He was slightly different from us, he wasn’t quite as artsy as we were. And we just didn’t hang out that much together."eanwhile, Starr only responded to questions about Best a couple of times throughout his career. But when he did open up about the drummer, he wasn't kind.
Starr said: "Pete Best? – it’s no offence, but I never felt he was a great drummer." (Via Culture Sonar) In another interview, he was asked if he felt sorry about replacing Best. He replied: "No. Why should I? I was a better player than him. That’s how I got the job!"
Double full verses, and a refrain.
Reminded me, loosely, of Florence Ballard, one of the original “Supremes.” That was a terrible ending to a promising life. At least Pete Best seems to have turned out alright, with a family and a career, and some $$$ decades later.
I really thought this was going to be about Ringo. For a period of time after the Beatles had officially split up, there were reports/rumors that one of the issues was John’s low opinion of Ringo’s playing. Could have been pure speculation.
Supposedly, when John Lennon was asked if Starr was the best drummer in the world he replied, “The best drummer in the world? Ringo wasn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles!” [Referring to the fact Paul McCartney played drums on a few tracks] But Lennon didn’t actually say this.
Well … and then one day karma caught up with John …
........
What did John do that earned murder?
He was a jerk. Screw him. And screw the Beatles. They sucked
There were reports of the girls rioting like it was 2020, after Pete got fired.
Karma picked Mark David Chapman to be it’s scourge and minister?
He let yoko sing?🤨
[Pete Best]
He’s Pete BEST!
Not Pete Worst!
John Lennon, c’mon man!!!
I thought it was John Hinckley Sr that did that?
John could be a massive a$$h*le at times.
CC
So Pete Best hired Mark Chapman?
Yes, that's the working theory. Best is still alive, but so far, he has not denied the allegation. /s
He couldn’t afford to. He didn’t get his cut until the 90s.
Yoko is responsible for his death and the band’s demise.
I hate duplicate paragraphs
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.