The History of British Rock and Roll: The Beat Boom 1963 - 1966

By Robin Bell

There is no doubt that Rock 'n' Roll had its beginnings in
America. Artists such as Bill Haley, Little Richard,
Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Elvis Presley and Eddie
Cochran were the idols of the early British rock 'n' rollers,
as homegrown acts such as Tommy Steele, Lonnie
Donegan, Billy Fury and Cliff Richard produced their
own versions of this new music.

But by the end of 1962, rock 'n' roll was in danger of
becoming extinct. The music charts on both sides of the
Atlantic were overwhelmed by softer songs lacking the
dynamism and raw power of the originators.

Emerging from this panache of smoothness, the British
acts of the Beat Boom rejuvenated and revitalised the
music industry with their freshness and excitement.

This is the story of those climactic years when Britannia
ruled the airwaves across the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robin Bell
• Release date: Feb 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9789198191660

Robin Bell

ROBIN BELL, is a retired teacher who now lives on and manages the family dairy farm in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia purchased by her grandfather in 1910.

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Preface

In the first volume of this series, which covered the forgotten years between 1956 and 1962, we looked at the early rock ‘n’ roll heroes of British popular music – names such as Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde and many, many more who gained their start in show business at the infamous 2i’s coffee bar in Soho.

From a novelty diversion within the Traditional Jazz scene, skiffle became an art form in itself, starting the careers of luminaries such as Lonnie Donegan and Tommy Steele and, through the various incarnations of skiffle groups such as The Vipers, a whole new form of British popular music. The impact of skiffle on British popular music cannot be under-estimated; with many of the performers mentioned in this volume also attributing their success to the grounding they received by playing simple skiffle tunes.

It seemed as if the whole country had thrown off the shackles of wartime austerity and revelled in the new-found freedom of rock ‘n’ roll. Theatres across the country rocked to the sounds of guitars, bass and drums – and the screams of teenagers – as local performers attempted – and at times succeeded - in emulating the sounds and appearances of the American rock ‘n’ roll performers mostly only heard on records or the radio, or seen briefly on television.

But, almost inevitably, that youthful exuberance was stifled as promoters and businessmen saw the potential goldmine in the spending habits of teenagers and began to take a firmer control over this lucrative new industry.

Gradually the raw unbridled enthusiasm of those early pioneers was replaced with more polished performers, designed to appeal to a broader audience – to include the spending power of the parents of those teenagers.

In this, the second volume, we shall look at the years between 1963 and 1966, when British youth once again took control of the music and this time truly conquered the world of popular music.

So much has been written about The Beatles and The Rolling Stones that it seems like an overkill to delve too deeply into their respective early careers. Certainly key events in their respective careers must be covered, but the main focus for this volume will concentrate on the less well known – but equally talented – solo artists and groups who contributed to the British invasion of the world’s pop charts.

The period 1963 to 1966 saw an amazing focus on Britain and all things British. There seemed to be an unending supply of fresh, talented musicians, artists, photographers and fashion designers spreading the word across the world that, as Roger Miller so truthfully sang, England Swings.

We’ll pick up the story with a brief look back at the start of the decade, when British popular music appeared to have stalled after the excitement of those early rock ‘n’ rollers had been tamed by the establishment. But it would not be long before the balance of power once again swung back and the Beat Boom began.....

Introduction

As the clang and clamour of the late 1950’s began to die down at the beginning of the 1960’s, it seemed for a few months that British popular music would sink back into blandness that had afflicted it before rock ‘n’ roll burned so brightly across the land.

Many of those early rock ‘n’ rollers had succumbed to the challenges of maintaining a career in the musical world by adapting their styles to suit the less brash but increasingly popular ‘easy listening’ style. Others had departed the scene for more ominous reasons.

The world had lost Buddy Holly in a plane crash at the end of the previous decade and early in 1960 Eddie Cochran had been killed in a car crash in Chippenham, Wiltshire – a crash which also saw Gene Vincent injured. Chuck Berry had been sentenced to prison for five years for associating with a 14-year old girl and Elvis Presley had been serving his time in the US army. It seemed that rock ‘n’ roll was indeed just a passing fad.

Stars such as Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard were now having chart successes with songs far removed from rock ‘n’ roll such as Are You Lonesome Tonight and The Young Ones respectively. Both artists had made the move to lightweight films and equally insipid music, forgetting their musical roots but apparently providing a more acceptable form of entertainment.

America had begun to regain prominence in the charts, as dance crazes such as the Twist and the Locomotion – prompted by Chubby Checker and Little Eva respectively – took the country by storm. Even Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, climbed on the band wagon with his Everybody’s Twisting.

These dance inspired records competed with ballads from Brian Hyland (Sealed With A Kiss), middle-of-the road pop from Neil Sedaka (Breaking Up Is Hard To Do) and instrumentals from Sandy Nelson (Let There Be Drums) and B Bumble and The Stingers (Nut Rocker).

Other British-based acts to score major chart success during 1962 included the yodelling Australian Frank Ifield, who’s I Remember You and Lovesick Blues gave him two records in the top ten for the year, while stalwarts from the rock ‘n’ roll era in the form of The Shadows, Billy Fury and Joe Brown also featured prominently in the UK charts.

In America, the folk music boom, based on the two widely differing musical styles of ex-slave music – spirituals and blues – and the largely white country music, continued. Coincidentally, much of the American country music had its own roots in the traditional country music of the UK and Ireland.

Bridging the gap between these two genres, the album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music released by soul and rhythm and blues singer Ray Charles, raised his popularity with aficionados of both styles and brought blues music to a much wider audience.

Britain’s Shadows had claimed chart success with instrumentals such as Apache and F.B.I. while competing with America’s The Ventures and the increasingly popular surf music popularised by Dick Dale – a style which was soon to be championed by American groups such as The Beach Boys (who had their first recording session in May 1962).

In a sign of things to come, November 1962 saw the start of the first-ever tour in the US of a complete Motor Town – soon abbreviated to Motown – revue, featuring The Miracles, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Contours and Martha Reeves and The Vandellas. Songs from these artists would soon be picked up by British groups and made hits in the UK.

Beneath the surface, across the country, musicians were beginning a rebellion to bring back the excitement in popular music by taking skiffle music, turning it on its head and reclaiming it as the property of the young. Let’s see how that happened...

Chapter One: Beneath the Surface…

Before we can begin to investigate the incredible impact of the British beat boom that snowballed in 1963, we need to look more closely at what was happening just prior to that time in provincial Britain.

In the beginning of the 1960’s, the centre of the British musical scene was undoubtedly London. All the major record producers and recording studios were located there and, as far as the industry was concerned, any act that wanted to succeed had to come to the capital.

Thus the early 1960’s charts were dominated by southern based artists such as Cliff Richard, Joe Brown, The Tornados, Adam Faith and Frank Ifield with little competition from the north.

While the London-based companies were largely producing and putting out super-slick melodies performed by equally slick artists during the early 1960’s, in other areas of the country, particularly in the northern seaports and industrial cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle, many groups – founded during the skiffle craze of the late 1950’s – remained true to the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll.

Rebelling against the blandness of the southern offerings, these northern youngsters created their own versions of classic rock ‘n’ roll songs, augmenting their repertoire with cover versions of relatively obscure rhythm and blues and soul songs originally performed by American performers.

A few such groups even attempted to write and perform their own songs – with varying degrees of success – while in the south there was a distinct separation between songwriters and performers. One such northern example of this was the Liverpool singer Billy Fury, who scored chart success with his first LP The Sound of Fury, for which Fury wrote all ten songs.

It is estimated that during the years between 1958 and 1964, over 500 bands remained true to the spirit of the leather-clad rock ‘n’ rollers in the Liverpool area and at one time around 350 bands were active in the city and surrounds, playing a huge range of songs in the style of their rock ‘n’ roll heroes together with obscure songs from American rhythm and blues and soul artists. Folk music, country music, purely vocal groups, girl groups – whatever your musical taste, there was certainly a group to suit.

But what was it that gave Liverpool such an enormous variety of bands and venues?

The city had played an important role in the slave trade, becoming Europe’s number one slave port by the middle of the 1740’s adding a new dimension to the cosmopolitan community as the black population increased in the city.

When the Irish potato famine struck in the 1840’s and 1850’s, many Irish people fled the country and headed east to Liverpool – the city is often referred to as ‘the capital of Ireland’ and with good reason as by 1851 it was estimated that one quarter of the city’s population was Irish – bringing with them their folk music and love of singing. In addition, while the port was active many sailors would bring in to the city sea shanties from around the world.

The opening of the Manchester ship canal in response to the high dock charges in Liverpool in 1894 had enabled cargo vessels to bypass Liverpool and move their goods directly from and to the heart of the country, where industry was desperate for raw materials and ways to get finished goods out to the world.

Previously the city had been the gateway to the Atlantic and America and had played an important role in Britain’s trade with the world. However, the opening of the canal followed some decades later by the growth of containerisation caused the importance of the city as a port to decline and by the 1950’s the unemployment rate had become the highest in England and the focus had shifted to Southampton on the south coast.

This created almost an island community in Liverpool and the city became more insulated from the rest of the country, resulting in a strong community feel and an ‘us against the world’ mentality. Liverpool tended to take care of its own, creating a need for local entertainment. With the rise of skiffle, this simple music enabled the youth of the city to create their own entertainment – and earn extra money. Local groups were formed, disbanded and reformed like wildfire and many local entrepreneurs – the likes of Wally Hill, Les Dodd and others – promoted these groups in whichever venues they could find.

Like the rest of the country, Liverpool had embraced the skiffle movement in the mid to late 1950’s and by the end of the 1950’s a large number of small venues had established themselves in the Liverpool area. These were known locally as ‘jive-hives’ and were established by local entrepreneurs in village halls – such as Knotty Ash village hall – or small venues such as the Aintree Institute.

These venues were packed with musical enthusiasts who came purely to listen to the music. No alcoholic drinks were allowed and in those simpler times drug taking was practically non-existent. Groups would appear during intermissions at the local cinema, at youth clubs, church halls, ice rinks – in fact anywhere that they could find an audience.

Popular opinion has it that the style of music played during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s – often dubbed the Mersey sound - was solely due to the importation of non-commercially available records from America, although the so-called ‘Cunard Yanks’ – merchant seamen working on ships sailing between the UK and America almost certainly did bring in some rare and hard to obtain American records.

What helps to destroy this myth is the fact that by the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Liverpool had largely given way to Southampton as the main port linking the UK with America, so in theory the beat boom should have started on the south coast, rather than Liverpool.

A more logical explanation is that the competition between the myriad of beat groups – largely using the lead, rhythm and bass guitar augmented by drums format but also filled out with brass and keyboards – led to band members becoming desperate to find new material before their competitors and they scoured the local markets for obscure records for songs they could adapt to fit their own particular musical abilities.

Such a large number of musicians required an equally large number of venues in which to perform. While Liverpool had large venues such as the Locarno and Tower ballrooms, which could – and did - accommodate audiences in the thousands, it was in the much smaller clubs, school halls and even outdoor events such as local fetes that the majority of the Liverpool groups learned their chops and developed their own individual styles.

Typical of the groups who plied their trade in these venues was a rock ‘n’ roll combo called The Hy-Tones, who were active in 1959 with a local black vocalist called Derry Wilkie. The Hy-Tones folded at the end of the year, only to be resurrected by Wilkie and three former members – saxophonist Howie Casey, rhythm guitarist Billy Hughes and pianist Stan Foster – and complemented by Brian Griffiths on lead guitar, drummer Jeff Wallington and bassist Paul Whitehead.

The new group was named as Derry and The Seniors and, after many local performances were rewarded with a booking in a show starring the American rock ‘n’ roller Gene Vincent.

Billy Fury’s manager Larry Parnes caught the show, and was impressed with the group. He then invited them to audition for the position of backing band for Fury but they were unsuccessful. However, Larry Parnes did apparently offer the group a summer booking at Blackpool, through their manager Allan Williams.

Allan Williams was a successful entrepreneur in Liverpool, who in 1958 had converted a run-down watch repair shop in Liverpool’s Slater Street to a coffee house, named The Jacaranda. The coffee lounge soon became popular with students from the nearby Liverpool Arts Institute, amongst them being John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe, who were playing in a group calling themselves The Silver Beetles, or occasionally Long John Silver and The Silver Beetles, along with Paul McCartney, George Harrison and a drummer named Tommy Moore.

The basis of The Silver Beetles was formed by John Lennon in the summer of 1956, together with his school friends from Quarrybank High school, Eric Griffiths, on guitar, Bill Smith on tea chest bass, Rod Davis on banjo and Pete Shotton on washboard. The new skiffle group called themselves The Quarrymen, after a line in their school song.

This line-up changed rapidly after Bill Smith had a poor record of absenting himself from rehearsals and he was replaced by Lennon’s friend Len Garry after just two shows. When Griffiths heard from his friend Colin Hanton – an apprentice upholsterer – that he owned a set of drums, he was also invited to join the group to give the band’s sound the extra dimension necessary to enhance their skiffle music with rock ‘n’ roll.

After playing just a few gigs, billing themselves as a ‘country and western, rock ‘n’ roll skiffle band’ – to cater for all tastes – the group entered a talent contest run by the Canadian impresario Carrol Levis. Although performing well, The Quarrymen ended up in second place to a Welsh group called The Sunnyside Skiffle Group.

Undeterred, The Quarrymen continued to play local gigs, although Pete Shotton was growing tired and decided to give up the band – John Lennon reputedly smashed his washboard over his head on hearing this and then used less violent means to convince Shotton to continue for a few more gigs, using his presumably repaired washboard.

It was at an outdoor performance on 6 July, 1957 that John Lennon first came in contact with Paul McCartney, through Ivan Vaughan. Performing on a flat-bed truck for the Woolton fete the band moved in a procession of other floats before arriving at a permanent stage behind St. Peter’s Church. It was while the band was performing their version of Come Go With Me when McCartney arrived and after their set, Vaughan introduced McCartney to Lennon. The pair seemed to get on well together and McCartney showed off his prowess on the guitar by first changing the tuning from the banjo tuning that Lennon was using to that of a standard guitar and then by playing a few rock ‘n’ roll songs, including several Little Richard songs and his version of Eddie Cochran’s Twenty Flight Rock.

After discussions with Shotton, John Lennon agreed to ask McCartney to join the group, to which McCartney agreed – but only after he had taken his holidays with his family at the Butlins holiday camp in Foley, Yorkshire. In the meantime, on 7 August, 1957, The Quarrymen performed for the first time at a venue which was to become synonymous with the group in later years – The Cavern Club.

The Cavern Club had been opened on 16 January, 1957 as a mainly jazz club, with local skiffle groups being allowed to play on specially designated ‘skiffle evenings’ – certainly not rock ‘n’ roll. Located in a basement at 10 Mathew Street, the premises – measuring just 59 feet long and 39 feet wide – had previously been used as an air raid shelter during the war, being 11 feet below street level.

Performing mainly skiffle numbers, John Lennon did try to include rock ‘n’ roll, only to be passed a note from the club’s owner, Alan Sytner, mid performance which simply read ‘cut out the bloody rock ‘n’ roll!’ Sytner was a member of the same golf club as the father of one of John Lennon’s school friends, Nigel Whalley and it was through this connection that the group had managed to obtain the booking

When McCartney returned he began rehearsing with The Quarrymen, bringing with him a wider variety of rock ‘n’ roll songs, such as Elvis Presley’s All Shook Up – which the rest of the group had previously tried to learn without success.

Rod Davis too had gone on holidays and, on his return and finding McCartney now a part of the group, decided that with the stronger emphasis on rock ‘n’ roll, his banjo – while acceptable for skiffle – did not really fit in, and he agreed to leave the group.

Paul McCartney was now keen to have his friend George Harrison join the group, but John Lennon felt that, at just 15 years old, Harrison was too young. However, McCartney persisted and after an audition at Rory Storm’s Morgue Skiffle Club – during which Harrison played his version of the Bert Weedon classic Guitar Boogie Shuffle – and a follow up meeting with John Lennon, engineered by McCartney, on the top deck of a double-decker bus, during which he played the tune made famous by saxophonist Bill Justis, Raunchy Lennon was persuaded and Harrison was allowed to join the group in March, 1958.

The news that The Quarrymen had a new lead guitarist did not go down well with Eric Griffiths, who only found out by accident after the event, when a phone call to Paul McCartney revealed that Lennon, McCartney and Harrison were busy rehearsing without Griffiths, who promptly resigned from the band.

A further change in the line-up was necessitated the same month when Len Garry fell ill with tubercular meningitis and was taken to hospital, where he was to spend the next seven months. To augment the group’s sound another of McCartney’s school friends, John Duff Lowe occasionally joined the group as a pianist when a piano was available at the venue.

The guitarist with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, Johnny Byrne – known as Johnny Guitar – had made a record at the small home studio, known as Phillips’ Sound Recording Services and operated in a small room between his kitchen and the front room of his house by Percy Phillips in June, 1958 and The Quarrymen decided that they, too, needed to record their efforts.

Arriving at the studio on 12 July, 1958, the group – now consisting of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Hanton and Lowe – were somewhat amazed at its compactness. With a single microphone suspended from the ceiling, there was barely enough room for the group and their instruments.

The first of two tracks recorded was a version of Buddy Holly’s That’ll Be The Day with the second being an original composition by Paul McCartney – assisted by George Harrison – entitled In Spite Of All The Danger. Both tracks were recorded directly to an acetate, 78 rpm disc, bypassing the normal stage of recording to tape first to cut down costs. Even so, the total of seventeen shillings and sixpence was a considerable sum in 1958.

Just a few days after this their first recording session, John Lennon’s mother Julia was killed in a road traffic accident while crossing the road to catch a bus. The loss had a severe impact on Lennon and for a while he seemed to lose interest in The Quarrymen. Live performances by the group mainly consisted of local wedding receptions – for example at George Harrison’s brother’s wedding on 20 December, 1958 – and fortnightly performances at Art School dances under the name The College Band.

A performance shortly after at the Speke Bus Depot Social Club’s Christmas party – organised by George Harrison’s father, who was club chairman – caused yet another change in personnel. Spurred on by the news that the owner of the local Pavilion cinema was in the audience hoping to spot a likely act for regular bookings during intermissions, the group partook rather liberally of the half-time refreshments at the Christmas party.

Their second half performance was – to quote Colin Hanton – ‘terrible.’ On the bus on the way home from the gig, the band members argued fiercely, resulting in Hanton storming off the bus – at the wrong stop – and taking his drum set with him, never to appear with the band again.

With no drummer and a distinct lack of bookings, George Harrison decided to join another local group with drummer Geoff Skinner, fellow guitarist Ken Brown and the group’s leader Les Stewart on bass, calling themselves The Les Stewart Quartet. The Quarrymen, for all intents and purposes, had disbanded.

On 29 August, 1959 a new venue for teenagers was scheduled to open at Hayman’s Green, owned by Mona Best, who had bought the one acre, 15 bedroom property – previously the West Derby Conservative Club – after a considerable win on a horse race.

The new venue, to be known as The Casbah Club was designed along the same lines as the famous 2 I’s coffee bar in London’s Soho, but with an exclusive membership at a cost of half a crown per year. Potential members were Mona’s sons Pete and Rory and their friends.

Mona Best had booked The Les Stewart Quartet for the opening night, but an internal argument in this group had resulted in a cancelation – apparently Ken Brown had missed a rehearsal of the quartet while helping Mona Best redecorate the soon to open Casbah Club.

With some 300 tickets sold for the opening night, George Harrison, keen to help out, suggested to Mona that The Quarrymen reform and appear instead. With some arranging the group – consisting of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Ken Brown from The Les Stewart Quartet but without a drummer – successfully performed in front of the sweating crowd.

So successful was the band that they were booked as the resident band at the Club and all appeared to be going well until the evening of 10 October, 1959 when Ken Brown arrived but was too ill to perform. The other band members decided that as he had not performed, the band’s fee for the evening – a whole £3 – would be divided amongst the three performing members.

Needless to say Ken Brown was not impressed and decided to leave the group. The remaining Quarrymen, after arguing with Mona Best – who disagreed with their decision over the payment– also decided to quit the venue and The Quarrymen’s residency at the Casbah Club came to an abrupt end.

Back to a threesome of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, the trio decided to have another crack at the TV talent show compéred by Carrol Levis that they had unsuccessfully attempted two years earlier. Still without a drummer, they explained their sound as ‘rhythm in the guitars.’ On 18 October, 1959, performing under the name of Johnny and The Moondogs, the trio successfully passed through the first round of auditions, held at the Liverpool Empire Theatre.

In the regional finals, held a month later, Johnny and The Moondogs, in a bitter coincidence were beaten by a group calling themselves The Connaughts – who had previously been known as The Sunnyside Skiffle Group and who had beaten The Quarrymen in their previous appearance two years previously. However, on this occasion Johnny and The Moondogs so impressed the judges that they were awarded an appearance in the grand finals, to be held in Manchester two weeks later.

The finals were a disappointment for the band. Lacking local support, the drummer-less trio had little chance against heavyweight Manchester bands and, not being able to afford accommodation in Manchester, were well on the way home on the last train by the time the winner was announced.

Always interested in the arts, John Lennon attended a performance by the poet Royston Ellis at Liverpool University in the company of his art college friend Stuart Sutcliffe, Stu’s co-member on the Student’s Union Committee, Bill Harry and Stu’s fellow art student Rod Murray. Later, dissecting the poetry reading in Ye Tacke – a Liverpool pub – the friends suggested that they should call themselves The Dissenters and, through Lennon’s music, Sutcliffe and Murray’s paintings and Harry’s writings, make Liverpool famous.

Stuart Sutcliffe was a talented art student and had exhibited one of his paintings, entitled ‘Summer Painting’ in the Biennial John Moores Exhibition, which opened on 17 November, 1959 at the Walker Art Gallery.

John Moores was impressed by Sutcliffe’s painting and paid £65 to purchase it at the close of the first day. Sutcliffe was keen to spend the money on new canvases and oils to further his artistic career. However, Johnny and The Moondogs persuaded Sutcliffe that what he really needed was a bass guitar, so Sutcliffe ended up spending his money on a Höfner 500/5 President bass guitar and joining the Moondogs, which at Sutcliffe’s suggestion they changed to The Beatals.

With Sutcliffe on board – contrary to popular anecdotes he learned quickly to become an accomplished bass player and had smouldering good looks – the band needed to add a drummer to their line-up to be able to compete with other groups. Brian Casser – of Cass and The Cassanovas – heard the group rehearsing one night at Allan Williams’ Jacaranda club and suggested that they should change their name to Long John and The Silver Beetles, in return for which he would help them search for a drummer. John Lennon did not think much of the Long John part of the name, but the group agreed to change their name to The Silver Beetles.

Finally The Silver Beetles found a drummer in the person of Tommy Moore, suggested by Allan Williams. Moore was a fork-lift driver and part time musician and did not really fit in with the group. However, his drumming did round out the group’s sound.

Lennon and Sutcliffe tried to persuade Williams to book the fledgling Silver Beetles at the Jacaranda, but instead Williams gave them the job of redecorating the ladies room at the Jacaranda. However, their persistence eventually wore him down and Williams finally allowed The Silver Beetles to play the Jacaranda and even obtained bookings for them at other venues during the period May to August 1960.

Williams became The Silver Beetles first manager, along with other local bands including Derry and The Seniors. Indeed, it was Allan Williams who arranged the audition before Larry Parnes which resulted in The Silver Beetles providing backing for singer Johnny Gentle - one of Larry Parnes’ protégées - during his short tour of Scotland in May 1960.

Touring with Johnny Gentle was great experience for the group, although the problems with their drummer, Tommy Moore, which had started when he had failed to turn up on time for their audition, compounded when he was injured when the group’s van was involved in a minor accident in which he lost several front teeth. Despite his injuries, he was ‘persuaded’ by John Lennon and Williams to complete the tour but he left the group at the end of the tour.

Once again The Silver Beetles were without a drummer. Again Allan Williams came to the rescue, when he heard drumming coming from a space above The National Cash Register Company just down the street from the Jacaranda. Tracking down the sound, Williams found Norman Chapman playing and invited him to join the group, which now decided to call themselves The Silver Beatles.

However, Chapman only managed three appearances with the group before being called up for National Service, leaving the group once again without a drummer.

Another Liverpool entrepreneur now enters the scene who was to have his own impact on the 1960’s music scene in the form of Harold Phillips, born in Trinidad but who had lied about his age in 1943 – when he was just 14 - and joined up with the Royal Air Force. At the end of the Second World War he returned to Trinidad, where he began a successful career as a calypso singer.

In 1948 he sailed to England on board the MV Empire Windrush, which carried the first boatload of West Indian immigrants to Britain. Settling in Shropshire, Phillips renamed himself as Lord Woodbine – after a brand of cigarettes that he smoked profusely – and formed his own calypso band which he called Lord Woodbine and his Trinidadians. Lord Woodbine eventually arrived in Liverpool in the 1950’s where he opened his own club, the New Colony Club.

Performing as a calypso singer, he also joined Britain’s first professional steel band, The All Steel Caribbean Band, which was a regular attraction at the Jacaranda Club – owned by Allan Williams.

Williams and Lord Woodbine became friends and together opened a new club in 1960, called the New Cabaret Artists’ Club – another venue at which The Silver Beetles appeared.

By now Lord Woodbine had left The All Steel Caribbean Band – which had renamed itself to The Royal Caribbean Steel Band – but continued his association with them by booking the band to play at his various clubs and venues. It was while playing at The Jacaranda Club that the steel band were spotted by a visiting German sailor, who, on his return to Hamburg, recommended them to an agent there.

Like Liverpool, Hamburg was a seaport. But unlike Liverpool, which in 1960 was still economically depressed following the war, Hamburg had transformed itself from the rubble of 1945 to a city of criminal activity and vice. Instead of the harmless, alcohol free clubs of Liverpool, Hamburg could boast an underworld of nightclubs where alcohol and prostitution thrived.

The steel band returned from a successful trip to Hamburg and mentioned to Williams and Lord Woodbine that there were great opportunities for musicians in the city. The pair was convinced enough by the band members to take a trip to Hamburg to see for themselves and they visited the red light district of the city – known as the Reeperbahn – where they came in contact with Bruno Koschmider, who owned the Kaiserkeller Club.

Despite playing Koschmider tapes of some of the local Liverpool groups and extolling their musical abilities, nothing appeared to come of the trip until an incredible coincidence took place.

At the last moment, Larry Parnes cancelled the booking he had made for Derry and The Seniors for their summer booking, leaving the band without work. In desperation, Williams decided to take the group down to London to see if he could find replacement work there.

Williams and the group found themselves in the infamous 2 I’s coffee bar in Soho one evening when, to Williams’ surprise, in walked Bruno Koschmider, who had come to England to check out for himself the quality of these British rock ‘n’ roll groups he had been hearing about – he was keen to provide a more up-to-date entertainment for his customers in his Hamburg clubs than the current Caribbean steel bands.

Seeing Koschmider, Williams arranged for Derry and The Seniors to take the stage at the 2 I’s, where they performed their brand of rock ‘n’ roll for the benefit of Koschmider. Deeply impressed, Koschmider immediately offered the band a season at his Kaiserkeller club.

Derry and The Seniors were a great hit at the Kaiserkeller and, following a request from Koschmider for more British musicians, Williams attempted to persuade Rory Storm and The Hurricanes (who at the time included Ringo Starr on drums) to make the trip. However, the group was already committed to an engagement at the Skegness Butlins holiday camp and when Williams’ second choice, Gerry and The Pacemakers also rejected the offer, Williams decided to send The Silver Beatles.

The booking was to play at the Indira Club, located in the seedy St Pauli district, also owned by Bruno Koschmider. However, there was a problem in that the group still had no regular drummer – Paul McCartney was filling this role temporarily. George Harrison recalled the drummer who they had met at Mona Best’s Casbah Club, Mona’s son, Pete Best, who had been in a group called The Black Jacks which had recently split. Best was contemplating whether to continue his studies at a teachers training college or find work with a new group when The Silver Beetles contacted him.

Williams auditioned Best for The Beatles’ Hamburg trip and although not entirely convinced, agreed to let him join the group. On August 16, 1960 the group, which now consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe and new drummer Pete Best, together with Allan Williams, his wife Beryl and her brother Barry, Georg Sterner (who was to act as interpreter) and Lord Woodbine left Liverpool in a somewhat cramped Austin J4 minibus.

The journey was delayed for five hours at Harwich, where it was discovered that the group had no work permits for Germany. However, Williams eventually persuaded the authorities that the group were in fact students taking a holiday trip – although he did eventually obtain work permits following their arrival in Hamburg.

It was not an auspicious arrival in Hamburg. The Indira Club was closed when they arrived early on August 17, 1960 and the group were forced to wake the owner of a nearby club who managed to open the doors to enable the group to sleep on the red leather seats inside the club.

Their accommodation was backstage behind the screen of the next door cinema, the Bambi Kino, in a frugally converted storeroom next to the toilets. Working conditions were not much better – the group played seven days a week, four and a half hour each weekday evening, beginning at 8:00pm and finishing around 2:00am the next morning, with six hours on Saturdays and Sundays – for which they each received the equivalent of £2.50 per day.

But for The Beatles, the rewards were far more than monetary. Forced to play such a gruelling schedule – unlike any of their previous experiences in Liverpool – and with a limited repertoire, the band had no choice but to improvise and extend each song by any means possible.

Allan Williams had stayed on in Hamburg to watch his group perform and was not impressed by their stage presence – and neither were the noisy German audience nor Bruno Koschmider. Williams, trying to get the boys to provide more entertainment, called out ‘Come on boys, make it a show!’ and Koschmider, in his broken English, joined in with ‘Mak show, Beatles, mak show!’

The Beatles responded and did indeed ‘mak show.’

After just a few weeks playing at the Indira Club, complaints from neighbours over excessive noise forced the club to close. Derry and The Seniors were scheduled to return to Liverpool, so The Beatles were transferred to the Kaiserkeller. However, Rory Storm and The Hurricanes had now completed the commitment at Butlins in England and were also scheduled to appear at the Kaiserkeller, so the two groups alternated sets to provide the club with continuous live music.

At the end of October, 1960, The Beatles were offered a booking at the Top Ten Club, owned by Peter Ekhorn – a competitor to Koschmider – at improved wages and better living conditions. The group had no hesitation in breaking their contract with Koschmider and moving to the Top Ten. This so enraged Koschmider that he reported George Harrison for working under age and Harrison was deported on 30 November, 1960.

Following a revenge attack by Pete Best and Paul McCartney on Koschmider’s Bambi Kino, during which they attempted to collect their belongings from their ‘dressing room’ – but also set fire to a condom they had nailed to a wall – Koschmider accused them of attempted arson and the duo were also