From: lw91sdk@brunel.ac.uk (Stephen D Kennedy)
Newsgroups: rec.music.beatles
Subject: Ringo / Pete Best Live!
Date: 15 Sep 92 18:54:41 GMT

Hi friends,

I know this is old hat now, but I've been away on work placement, so
this is my first chance to post the following article. Its a review
i've written of the fun night we had in Liverpool on 6th July seeing
Messrs Starr and Best play.

    On with the show...


IS PETE BEST?

Two intrepid reporters heard that an exciting new sound was on the
streets - the sound of "Merseybeat". So they packed their bags and
ventured to Liverpool to see what all the fuss was about...

Liverpool's Mathew Street is dark, dingy and narrow - ideal for a
sweaty rock and roll club. The Cavern is and was that club.

Lime Street - preserved by ~Maggie Mae~ on the Beatles' Let It Be
album - possesses all the grandeur of a once-glorious provincial
city. Its' dirty pavements host numerous tramps and dropouts. There
one will find a dignified old theatre: the Empire.

Peter Best, drummer, was a Beatle. He went to Hamburg and Abbey Road
as a Beatle; and played on ~My Bonnie~, the Beatles' vinyl debut.
He was ejected from the group in 1962, after producer George Martin
insisted on using a session drummer. Many fans were outraged because
"Pete Is Best". Some have labelled Pete Best the unluckiest musician
in the world.

Ringo Starr, drummer, was a Beatle - the moptop of ~Yellow
Submarine~ and Billy Shears fame; the main-man in the zany film
Help!; the proud holder of an MBE. Born Richard Starkey in 1940, he
was a member of the Liverpool (and Hamburg) group Rory Storm And The
Hurricanes. His ability and personality - and, crucially, his
endorsement of the Beatle haircut - earned him in a place in EMI's
newly-signed Beatles. Some have labelled Ringo Starr the luckiest
musician in the universe.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On Monday, 6th July 1992 these contradistinctions exploded in a
heady Liverpool night, when Ringo Starr and his big-name band played
the Empire and Pete Best and friends headlined at the Cavern. Ringo,
undoubtedly a millionaire, arrived in his private jet. Pete,
moderately famous if nothing else, spent the day at the Cavern. He
doesn't even need a manager.

Upon meeting Pete Best we found a genuinely humble, pleasant man.
We pulled up two chairs and a box to sit on, and instantly he headed
for the box! After initial niceties, we hinted at how Pete's concert
had been marketed. His posters featured the word "BEATLES" in
capitals - Pete left the Beatles 30 years ago. We were supposedly
sat in the Cavern. The real Cavern was actually knocked down to make
way for a car park; in any event, the Beatles' spell at the Cavern
came towards the end of their pre-fame evolution. We asked if he
tired of links with the Beatles : he does not - the links are
"natural" and they "can be used as a focal point". We also asked how
this new Cavern compares with the old one - it isn't bad, although
there are differences because of safety regulations. It does have
the "same smell - disinfectant and sweat" and the same ~atmosphere~.
Speculating that tonight's clash was more than a coincidence, we
commented that it was 'quite a night'. "Ringo's doing a world tour.
We're playing the Cavern" modestly avoided the issue.

Pete told us that the Beatles had an "inner belief that [they] were
going to be big - we were aiming for a number one". This brought
home how the Beatles totally revolutionised the measurement of
success. Achievements in popular music today are invariably relative
to those of the Beatles.

This lead us to why Best was, in his words, "kicked out". We
referred to Geoffrey Giualliano's assertion (not subscribed to by
us) that Paul McCartney was jealous of Pete's good looks. "When I
left people started to assume things - hairstyle, Epstein, that I
couldn't play. Later the consensus was the jealousy factor. Me and
Paul - who knows? The fans screamed for the band". Best "always felt
part of the band" - they had "a great deal of camaderie".

Ringo declined to comment.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Liverpool is a proud and vibrant city. It has a variety of
captivating pubs, shops and attractions (especially of the female
variety!). Its interest in the Beatles seems just a strong emotional
link sustainable as long as no substantial effort is required. When
we arrived at the Empire we strolled straight in. In 1965 we would
have had to fight just to cross the street.

The support band were perhaps the worst we had ever seen.
Fortunately, Ringo started with a brilliant opener, the Lennon-
penned ~I'm The Greatest~ from the top-10 Ringo LP. His singing
voice is better than he is credited with, but his drumming was far
inferior to that of his son, Zak Starkey. Zak is - unusually - in
the band on merit alone.

The first Beatle number played was ~Yellow Submarine~, which has
become one of those annoying rock anthems; ~Boys~ and ~Act
Naturally~ were better. Seargent Pepper was represented by ~With A
Little Help From My Friends~, and the excellent Wilburyesque single
~Weight Of The World~ brought us up to date.

Starr made one near-fatal mistake, in leaving the stage for an
excessive period. A costume change was excusable, but disappearing
for song after song was not. Fortunately, his band were more than
capable and had we forked out big money to see them and not Ringo
we would have been less unhappy.

Starr's audience included a number of ~pretty young things~; but the
atmosphere was restrained. Pete Best's show was very different. The
Cavern was absolutely packed, mainly with young people. Pete's
playing was totally in the shadow of his drummer son - another
concurrence with Ringo's show... The marvel was seeing Best; the
legendary Allan Williams, the Beatles' ex-manager; and Lee Curtis,
from the Brian Epstein-managed band that Pete joined immediately
after the Beatles; all at the same Ringo-bashing venue (tonight was
not a coincidence!). Best told us his purpose was to "create a lot
of excitement and have a lot of fun - if people come away saying
they have had a good time, then I will be very happy". You can feel
happy, Mr Best.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

My over-riding impression from Liverpool is that the Beatles were
right to recruit Ringo Starr. We couldn't imagine Pete playing the
Hollywood Bowl, succumbing to LSD-induced psychedelia, or clowning
around on film. The only incredible thing about interviewing Best
was thinking "this man knew John Lennon, he went to Hamburg, he
played at Abbey Road". Full stop. What a shame, because Pete is a
bloody nice bloke. Nothing written here should detract from that.


Main Text = 1012 Words

- Article by Stephen Kennedy

- Interview with Pete Best by Stephen Kennedy and Martic Checketts

Hopefully this will be published in our student papers with a
photograph (from the press pack I managed to wangle from Ringo's
promoter).

- Steve


Organization: Sophomore, Math/Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA