Now I Can Reveal My Secrets
By Pete Best
Rave Magazine
May 1964
How we stormed the cavern. "My mother got us our first date there. She phoned the boss, Ray McFall. He tried us out one Wednesday afternoon, the shops were closed, and we played a packer. The result: a long list of bookings.
Bottom of the bill. Litherland Town Hall was the scene of many of the Beatles' triumphs. A report in his scrapbook says "The curtain opened, and the Beatmakers exploded on an astonishing crowd with the sound bigger than the Guns of Navarone." Adds Pete, "The cause was actually the Beatles and the Pacemakers together. Freddie Marsden had his drums on stage. I had mine. We went to town on numbers like 'What I'd Say'."
TV didn't want to know. Pete's mother had written to Granada TV and received the above reply from producer David Plowright. Recalled Pete, "The Beatles never appeared on TV during the two years I was with them, nor for quite some time after that."
We played through the fights. Pete's eyes gleamed as we turned to this handbill. "In those days, you could see the Beatles for half a crown," He grinned. "'The sensational Beatles' they called us, but you'd pay a tanner more if you come after 8pm. We used to play there once a week, and the crowd's favorite request was 'Hully Gully'. This used to go down well, perhaps too well. For some reason, it usually started a free fight. We just used to play on."
John's start as an author. One of John Lennon's earliest stories was published in Mersy Beat, edited by his college friend Bill Harry. The story is a light-hearted look at the beginnings of the Beatles. Said Pete, "John's way of humor always gave us a lift if we ever felt down."
Jazz and rock mixed. Pete remembers this all-night session at the cavern as a great time. "The bill was half jazz, half rock. The band room was about six foot by six with half a dozen groups all trying to change. " He told me Kenny Ball was hemmed in one corner and occasionally struggled free and let rip on his trumpet.
The break we strived for. The Beatles were in Germany when news of their recording contract came through. "We celebrated like mad that night," recalled Pete, "As we read about it, in Mersey Beat, I had no idea I would never be a part of the international Beatles."
By August 1962, The Beatles, stars in Hamburg as well as Liverpool, were poised to break nationally. They had a disc contract. Then came the decision that brought Pete Best's whole world tumbling down. "Brian Epstein asked to see me-- ordinary, routine business, I supposed. Hadn't a care in the world as I went in," Pete recalled. "And seconds later, he was saying I wasn't with The Beatles anymore. It didn't seem real."
Aimless days followed. "At times, I felt like quitting show business. Offers poured in. I finally took one with the Lee Curtis All-Stars, and I was back in action. I felt a million times better.
Now I have my own group, and I'm pitching into the disc scene for all I'm worth. The Beatles? Sure, I've seen them several times since. At first, there was an atmosphere, but we're good friends now. A little success with my own group is 100 times better than worrying about what might have been. After all, does that get you?
