Were there 4 or 5 original members of the Beatles?
I’m coming up with Paul, John, George, and different sources say Stuart Sutcliff, others say Pete Best.
Both Stu and Pete were members at one time. Stu quit the band to pursue an art career. Unfortunately, he died not long after. Pete was the original drummer and was replaced by Ringo.
Pete Best was the Beatles’ original drummer. Stuart Sutcliffe was a guitarist with the Beatles until they were played in Germany, before Ringo joined. Stu stayed in Germany with his girlfriend when the rest returned to England, and died not long after, I think of a brain embolism or something. When the Beatles’ got a recording contract, they got rid of Pete Best and hired Ringo.
So yes, for a while, there were 5 Beatles, but never as a recording act.
I’d recommend the movie Back Beat to get an idea of just, exactly, why Stu was in the band. See, he was supposed to play bass, only he had no interest in music, no natural talent, no skill, no ability, nothing. He turned his back to the audience so nobody could see that he wasn’t really playing.
Also, IIRC, Stu came from a well-off family and could afford to buy brand new instruments while the other guys made do with used or cheap gear.
Then there was Mal Evans. And that deejay in Cleveland.
Don’t forget their other roadie! Neil Aspinal.
Ooh! Ooh! And Yoko!
That’s it. Get out!
And George Martin!
Don’t forget Billy Preston! And Clapton was the SILENT silent Beatle…
Did John Lennon once consider asking Eric Clapton to join when George Harrison threatened to quit (around when they were filming Let It Be)?
They all threatened to quit around Let It Be—except Paul. Which is why it’s so funny that he’s the one who officially quit the band first.
Anyway, since they were all threatening, I don’t think anybody was too concerned about “looking for replacements.” I certainly never heard that Lennon ever considered asking Clapton to join the band.
Then there was that loser Shears.
Nobody speaks of him now.
'Cept me.
Ayup.
Clapton played the lead guitar on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (but was uncredited), but I, too, have not heard of him being considered to take George’s spot.
Pete Best was drummer with the Beatles from mid-1960 until August 1962. You can hear Pete Best on drums in the Beatles’ earliest studio recordings, the ones they made for Polydor Records in Germany in May 1961 as backup musicians for the English pop singer Tony Sheridan. These recordings, with their alternate versions, have been collected with copious liner notes on the Bear Family CD Beatles Bop: Hamburg Days.
You can also hear Pete Best on the audition tape the Beatles made for Decca Records in January 1962, which is quite an enjoyable album if you like early Beatles, including a slick cover of The Coasters’ “Three Cool Cats”. Five of the tracks appear on Vol. 1 of the Beatles’ Anthology.
In 1964-65, Best recorded several singles, and in 1966 put out the album Best of the Beatles on the U.S. label Savage. (The title is a play on his own name; the album doesn’t contain any Beatles songs.)
A recent interview with Pete Best.
Is “Leave My Kitten Alone” on there? I’ve only heard it from Anthology 1, but I think (the Beatles’ version of) that song may be the most ass-kicking performance ever committed to tape.
i thought eddie murphy of SNL, circa-1982, was the fifth beatle, he did sing the classic “I want to hold your hand, man”
No, jackelope, “Leave My Kitten Alone” was not one of the songs the Beatles recorded on their Decca audition tape in 1962. The only Beatles recording I know of is the studio recording they made for EMI that appears on Vol. 1 of Anthology.
Interesting, in the the interview linked by Waloon, Best says that Sutcliffe wasn’t faking at all. He could and did play bass and didn’t play with his back to the audience. Contradicts those movies but I don’t see why those movies are more reliable than Best.