This page (scroll all the way down) asserts that after Pete Best was fired from the Beatles, Rory Storme
offered him Ringo’s old job in his band The Hurricanes.
Anybody know whether this is true? I’ve never heard or read that anywhere else.
I’d very much doubt it, from all that I’ve read over the years and the Google search I just did. Here’s a 1966 quote from Brian Epstein, taken from the Beatles People website:
Should it have been the case, Epstein would probably have mentioned it. But then again, maybe not.
I’ve also read that Pete Best got all the hot chicks, which grated on the other Beatles. Ringo, in addition to being the ‘ugly’ Beatle, was a lot more fun to hang with.
647, I’ve heard that too. However, there is no real evidence for it. Especially when they were playing in Hamburg. Besides, Ringo isn’t the “ugly” Beatle. He had just as many fans, if not more, than Paul, John, and George. Besides, Paul has always been considered the “cute” Beatle.
I’ve heard the jealousy angle before, and think there might be something to it, since Best was the most conventionally
handsome of the group.
But my question isn’t really why the Beatles dumped him, but whether there’s any truth to the Rory Storme angle I mentioned in the OP.
It is true that Rory’s band never got anywhere and their
career pretty much fizzled after Ringo left to become a Beatle. Actually it’s sort of parallel to the situation that Best faced after August 1962: he and his band continued making the rounds of clubs, played the Star Club
in Hamburg once or twice, but they never did achieve a successful recording career. The website I cited suggests that John, Paul, and George coldly planned the whole episode not only to provide them with the drummer they preferred, but also to deprive Rory of his drummer, thereby dealing their rivals a fatal blow. I tend to doubt that myself, but hey, you never know.