August 1962 – Ringo Starr Nearly Becomes a Pacemaker
While Ringo Starr was with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, EMI granted The Beatles the audition which lead to their contract offer. While the band was heading for the toppermost at EMI on 6th June 1962, Ringo felt he was going nowhere. But then, three offers arrived at once. First, Gerry Marsden asked Ringo to join The Pacemakers, but not as a drummer. “Gerry wanted me to be his bass player!”
Ringo on bass?
Ringo Starr playing drums with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes
“I hadn’t played bass back then or to this day,” said Ringo, “but the idea of being up front was appealing. That you’d never played a particular instrument before wasn’t important back then!” After that, Ted “Kingsize”Taylor offered Ringo the drummer’s job in his group; Kingsize Taylor and The Dominoes.
August 1962 – A King-sized Offer for Ringo
Ringo’s second offer was from Kingsize Taylor, who promised him £20 per week to drum for his group, The Dominoes. “Ringo was a rare commodity on Merseyside,” said Taylor, “as drummers at this time were very hard to come by. I only asked him to join The Dominoes out of desperation, as Dave Lovelady could not go back to Hamburg .”
Some irony, with this being the reason The Beatles hastily offered Pete the position in August 1960. “Yes,” Taylor continued, “I did, off the top of my head, offer him 20 quid (£20) a week. He accepted it, even though ever liked Hamburg when he was last there.
Along came The Beatles, and the rest is history. Ringo was not a better drummer than Pete; too much of a swing in his rhythm and liked himself more than his music.” (David Bedford interview)
no offer from The Beatles yet
Why did Ringo initially accept Taylor’s offer? Because he had no offer to join The Beatles, and there were no guarantees it would happen. He knew he wanted to leave the Hurricanes, and joining Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes was a step up.
They’re thinking of getting rid of you
But just when it looked as though his future was clear and that he would join Taylor in September, along came the offer to join The Beatles. But first, The Beatles told Brian to get rid of Pete. Although there had been hints as far back as June, when somebody said to Pete; “they’re thinking of getting rid of you, you know.”
Pete laughed it off, and Brian appeased him. And then, in early August, Pete had his heart set on buying a new Ford Capri car. He mentioned it to Paul, who responded; “If you take my advice, don’t buy it. You’d be better saving your money.”
one more drummer
Ringo would soon be joining The Beatles
The Beatles asked one more drummer to replace Pete, on the same day that Pete received the bad news, and the day after Ringo had been offered the job.
Ringo Starr was certainly not first on the list to replace Best
Beatles drummer Pete Best
After the Beatles took the decision to replace Pete Best as their drummer, Brian Epstein approached Bobby Graham first of all to offer him the job. As unbelievable as it would seem in retrospect, Graham turned The Beatles down.
Ritchie Galvin is asked to join The Beatles
Ritchie Galvin on drums was asked by Brian Epstein to replace Pete Best in The Beatles
The second drummer that Epstein approached was Ritchie Galvin, drummer with Earl Preston and the TTs, as featured in the book Finding the Fourth Beatle. As with all stories connected to The Beatles, can this be corroborated? Let’s explore.
Ritchie didn’t like john lennon’s sarcasm
Ritchie Galvin was born Ritchie Hughes, but chose to adopt the name Galvin from the group he was fronting, The Galvinisers. Spencer Leigh spoke to Galvin’s girlfriend, and later his wife, Ann Upton. “Brian Epstein asked Ritch about joining The Beatles and he went to see Ritch’s dad as he was still under age,” Upton said. “Bob Wooler was with him, too. Ritch said that he didn’t agree with Pete being replaced and he didn’t like John Lennon’s sarcasm as he thought that they would fall out. Also, to my credit, he didn’t want to be leaving me as they would be working away from Liverpool quite a lot. He never regretted it and he said, ‘No, I wouldn’t have you and I wouldn’t have my kids and I wouldn’t have this life.'”
Ritchie Galvin on drums, who was asked to join The Beatles. Bass player Mike Kinney confirms the story
Brian Epstein and bob wooler
Galvin told many fellow musicians – like Earl Preston (Joey Spruce), Phil Brady, and Mike Kinney – the exact same story, how Brian Epstein and Bob Wooler, DJ at the Cavern, approached Ritchie and offered him the job with The Beatles, but he turned it down, especially because he didn’t like John Lennon – a common theme!
Galvin decided to settle down with his girlfriend, and stick with Earl Preston, as well as later playing with many Liverpool bands. He was a highly respected musician on the circuit.
Would Galvin have been good for the beatles?
“Ritchie produced a powerhouse of sound on the drums, and was nicknamed ‘thunder foot’,” said Kinney. “He was a great friend with a fabulous sense of humour, and an incredible drummer. When he set the tempo, he never moved either way. As a bass player it’s exactly what you need from your drummer. He was one of the most respected drummers on Merseyside right up until he died. I shed many a tear when he passed.”
Finding the Fourth Beatle
You can read the full story in “Finding the Fourth Beatle“. Galvin was the second drummer to turn The Beatles down, but he wouldn’t be the last, before Ringo Starr agreed to join them.
How different things could have been!
If you enjoyed this story, please give it a share on Facebook.
On Friday 27th July 1962, a conversation was about to set in motion a chain of events that would lead to Pete Best leaving The Beatles and eventually being replaced by Ringo Starr.
Bobby Graham
Beatles History was about to Change – Dramatically
On Friday 27th July 1962, a conversation was about to set in motion a chain of events that would lead to Pete Best leaving The Beatles and eventually being replaced by Ringo Starr.
The Beatles were playing on the same bill as Joe Brown and the Bruvvers at the Tower Ballroom, New Brighton, a show promoted by Bob Wooler. As featured in Finding the Fourth Beatle, Bobby Graham was the first drummer to be approached to replace Pete and, in the estimation of John, Paul and George, ideally suited for The Beatles and more than adequate for George Martin’s needs. After all, the producer’s problem with Pete had nothing to do with his live performances, but rather his drumming in the studio. Graham had extensive studio experience and, as would be proved, was one of the top session drummers in the ‘60s. Unfortunately for Brian, Graham turned him down.
As Graham recalled: “He said that they needed a change. I said, ‘No thanks’ as The Beatles hadn’t had any hits and anyway, I had a wife and family in London. I don’t think he had even discussed it with The Beatles, as surely they would have wanted someone from Liverpool.”
“I turned him down”
In a further interview with Spencer Leigh, Graham elaborated further on the discussion. “Brian Epstein invited us back to the Blue Angel after the show. He called me to one side and said he was having trouble with Pete Best’s mum and he wanted him out of The Beatles. He asked me if I would take his place. Although I liked The Beatles, I turned him down because I didn’t want to come to Liverpool. Besides, I liked Joe Brown, who was having hit records.”
It has been suggested that Bobby Graham wasn’t offered the permanent job. According to Mark Lewisohn in TuneIn: “He (Brian) can’t have been offering the position permanently – John, Paul and George were clear they wanted Ringo – but Ringo was at Butlin’s until early September…. Brian wondered if Graham could bridge the gap between Pete’s departure and Ringo’s return.” However, this is a speculation and there is no evidence to support this theory.
Four Drummers were Asked
Finding the Fourth Beatle
Bobby Graham was one of four drummers asked to replace Pete Best: Ringo was the one who accepted the job, and became The Fourth Beatle.
The full story is in Finding the Fourth Beatle. To purchase this, and David’s other books, go to www.beatlesbookstore.com
If you want to know the key events in Beatles History, then this is the page for you. This will help you navigate the website, to find the history you need to know. Each link will take you to a different page on the site, where a post, article or interview is located. I will be constantly updating the site, so check back for the latest in Beatles history, discussing Beatles names, Beatles members, Beatles drummers and who the original Beatles were.
15th August 1960 – Pete Best, who joined the previous day, plays his first gig with the now-settled lineup of John, Paul, George, Stuart, and Pete with them called The Beatles.
Why Percy Phillips got there before George Martin did
The First record made by John, Paul and George
Percy Phillips’ Studio was in the back room of his house
This small studio tucked inside a Victorian terraced house at number 38, Kensington is where The Quarrymen made their first and only demo record. It was a disc that eventually became one of the most historic recordings in popular music. John, Paul, George, Colin Hanton and John Duff Lowe paid seventeen shillings and sixpence (87.5 pence) and cut a two-sided disk made of shellac. They couldn’t afford to pay for a tape and so the recording was made straight to disk.
McCartney/ Harrison Song
The five-piece ensemble recorded Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day” and “In Spite Of All The Danger”, an original McCartney- Harrison tune. It was seen as Paul’s song with George providing the guitar solo.
Percy Phillips (right) in his studio
Percy Phillips owned the studio, which was on the ground floor. His clients waited in the front parlour and recorded in the back room studio. The studio consisted of two tape-recorders, a microphone hanging from the ceiling, a piano and disc-cutter, which produced these shellac discs.
Interview with Colin Hanton
Colin Hanton spoke about that famous first recording. “We met at a theatre and walked up there. All I remember was this back room with electronic equipment in the corner. We set up our equipment with me in the corner and the lads with their guitars: there were no amps, it was all-acoustic. John Lowe was over by the wall on the piano. I was hitting the drums and he said that they were too loud, so I tried again but there was still the same problem, which was finally fixed by putting a scarf over the snare to soften it and keep it as quiet as possible.
Colin Hanton of The Quarrymen
“John Duff Lowe reckons there was one microphone hanging down from the ceiling, which picked everything up. He was complaining because he said we should get the tape, which was a pound, but we just had enough each— three shillings and sixpence (17.5 pence). I always felt that was one of the reasons to invite John Lowe along to split it five ways. John and Paul went white at the thought of a pound. “Percy was fed up because we were taking too much time, and starting to look at the clock. ‘In Spite Of All The Danger’ was quite long, and he said to chop a verse off. John said no. John Lowe could see Phillips from where he was sitting and he was apparently telling John to finish. We kept going, so the record ended with the song going almost to the centre of the disc, right to the hole in the middle.
We had a record!
In Spite of all the Danger by The Quarrymen
“He gave us the disc and off we went. It was a big thing. How many people had records like popular crooner, Matt Monro? So we had a record too, and could listen to ourselves. We had heard our group before because the girl who lived next door to me, Geraldine Davies, had a Grundig tape recorder. She’d record us and then we’d all sit down and listen to it. It was a momentous day for us. I can still remember it so clearly”.
On 10th July 1964, The Beatles arrived in Liverpool for a civic reception at Liverpool’s Town Hall, as well as holding the Northern Premiere of A Hard Day’s Night. The image of them standing on the balcony was so iconic, I decided it should grace the cover of my first book “Liddypool: Birthplace of The Beatles“, published in 2009.
The reception was difficult to arrange, but Brian was determined to make it happen. His letter explained it:
“Thank you very much for your charming letter of the 4th instant. As you probably know the boys and I set forth for the United States tomorrow morning. On their return the boys have an intense filming schedule, which will take them up to the end of April. They will then be resting for most of the month of May. So therefore while I look forward very much to accepting your kind invitation, for which the boys and I are most appreciative, I think the actual date may have to be left in abeyance for the present. With many thanks and best wishes. Yours respectfully, Brian Epstein
On the flight home their thoughts were occupied with this visit to Liverpool. One of the travelling journalists who had accompanied the group down under was from the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo, named, ironically, George Harrison—no relation whatsoever. Harrison’s observation was astute: “Probably for the first time in their show-biz lives our world-famed troubadours are nervous. They aren’t sure how their fellow citizens will react to this home-coming triumph. The four boys are thrilled to their fringes at the honour Liverpool is bestowing upon them. But in the back of their mind is a niggling doubt”.
Harrison spoke to each of The Beatles about how they were feeling as they came closer to their return to Liverpool. Even though all the preparations had been made, Paul McCartney didn’t know if it would click with Liverpool people. “I can’t somehow see all the kids I used to go to school with from Mather Avenue and their parents, turning out to watch young Paul McCartney drive by in a big car, along the road where we used to play together. I don’t think I’d bother to go and cheer for somebody else”, McCartney said honestly, “and I’ve got a feeling that they won’t do it for us either.
“And who is going to stand outside the Town Hall just to see us arrive? Only a couple of years back hardly anybody in Liverpool had heard of us. Now this! I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that everything comes off all right, but I have butterflies in my tummy over it”.
Harrison (the reporter) observed that the manner of The Beatles was one of humility and that “there still isn’t a big head among the four of them. They just can’t believe they are important”.
John Lennon, never normally short of words, could hardly explain how he felt about the forthcoming event. “The only time I’ve ever been at the Town Hall was when they sent me from art school to draw it. Going back like this, in state, or whatever they call it, is a bit scary”. Ringo, however, was more forthcoming. “It’s a funny feeling. Makes you feel small and yet ten feet tall. I mean, all those other places in Australia and New Zealand where we went to civic receptions, they were only parties of people we didn’t know, like. But this is different”, Ringo enthused. “It’s Liverpool. Think of being in that parade from Speke to the Town Hall with some of our old mates probably looking at us and saying; ‘I knew that lot when they were poor’. And that wasn’t so long ago either, was it?” he said with a smile.
Even the “quiet” Beatle had an opinion. George spoke to his namesake with his own perspective. “It’s great that our own home town should do this for us”, he said seriously, “but deep down I have the feeling that there are a lot of Liverpool folk who deserve this honour far more than we do. After all”, he continued modestly, “what have we done? Sang some songs around the place and made money. It doesn’t seem much compared with some things that have been done by many Liverpool men and women who’ve never been honoured”.
The Fab one hundred and Four
The above is taken from my first book “Liddypool“. Little did I know when Liddypool was published what would happen next. Now in its third edition, it has sold over 5,000 copies worldwide, and led to me publishing two further books, “The Fab one hundred and Four: The Evolution of The Beatles” and “Finding the Fourth Beatle“, plus co-authoring “The Beatles Book” with Beatles biographer Hunter Davies. Last year, the first documentary I have consulted on was released; “Looking for Lennon”. I have visited the US a dozen times at various Beatles conventions, and been a guest at other events in Europe, and have several other projects on the go which keeps me in mischief!
Liddypool by David Bedford
Everywhere I go in Liverpool, I see so many Beatles tour guides using “Liddypool” to help give tours to their visitors. I am so privileged, and cannot thank everyone enough for your support.
I love what I do; it is a labour of love. I just want to share my amazing city of Liverpool, and why it was crucial in the evolution of The Beatles; they could not have come from any other city.
The Quarrymen, including John, on the wagon during the parade
On 6th July 1957, the day John Lennon met Paul McCartney for the first time, there was a parade around the village of Woolton. At the front of the parade was a marching band, and at the back was The Quarrymen. In the above photo, you can see that John is singing, though nobody else is doing anything!
The Quarrymen (left to right) are: Pete Shotton, Eric Griffiths, Len Garry, John Lennon, Colin Hanton and Rod Davis. The photos of the parade were taken by Rod’s father James Davis. This photo appeared in my first book, Liddypool, and was inserted at the last minute, when the book was on the printing press ready to go! We literally said; “Hold the presses!” It was the first time it had appeared in a book.
When I was working on my second book, “The Fab one hundred and Four: The Evolution of The Beatles”, I gained permission from Rod Davis to reproduce all of the photos from the parade, the only book to include all of the photographs. These include the marching band, brownies and guides, the youth group, the Rose Queen and another of The Quarrymen. They are incredible. You can get your copy of the book here.
As the parade finished, everyone left the parade, as The Quarrymen clambered down from the wagon, and walked along the side of the church to the field behind the church. In that crowd watching closely was Ivan Vaughan, and his school friend Paul McCartney. Who could have predicted what would happen this day would still be talked about all these years later.
When you’ve been researching The Beatles for nearly 20 years like I have, there aren’t many things that can surprise me. Having gone to Ringo’s school in the Dingle, and lived near Penny Lane for 30 years; my three daughters were born in the same hospital as John Lennon, and attended the same primary/ elementary school as John and George. But there was one surprise waiting for me when I spoke to Charlie Roberts.
Meet Charlie Roberts
Charlie Roberts
Charlie decided to ask his friend Colin Hanton’s group The Quarrymen to perform in his street in Toxteth; Rosebery Street. The occasion was the 750th anniversary of the founding of Liverpool in 1207. Charlie thought that a skiffle group would add some great fun to the celebrations. Not only did he invite The Quarrymen, but when he borrowed a little camera and took a few photos. These turned out to be the very first photos ever taken of John Lennon performing with The Quarrymen.
The Quarrymen by Charlie Roberts
“At that time,” remarked Charlie, “The Quarrymen would play anywhere for free, because they were doing it for fun. They became more serious after Paul joined, and maybe John was taking it serious, but it was really just friends having some fun. They all turned up, and set themselves up on the back of a wagon that Fred Tyler had brought along. He also wired up a speaker system so that they had something for the microphones, so they made quite a loud noise, which was good.”
The Quarrymen (2) by Charlie Roberts
“I thought they were great, playing good music and entertaining. When you compare them to other bands, I suppose they weren’t that good, but I enjoyed listening to them, and so did the crowd “I can’t remember what songs they played, but it was good fun. The street was decorated with bunting, and we had sandwiches and drinks, and had a good time.”
The Quarry men (3) by Charlie Roberts
John Lennon causing trouble!
“There was an incident involving John, who seemed to upset some of the lads in the crowd. I think he had been winking at some of the girls, and it became obvious that there could be trouble, so as soon as they finished, they grabbed their instruments, and ran into my mum’s house. Some reports have said that the police came and escorted them to the bus stop, but The Quarrymen just stayed in our house for about an hour, and then after everyone had gone, they went home.”
“The party was such a success,” said Charlie, “that the City Council awarded us a prize for the best decorated street, and so the following week we had a second party, with entertainment provided by The Merseysippi Jazz Band, all paid for by the City Council, which was great.”
Charlie followed The Quarrymen to many of the venues they played, like Wilson Hall in Garston, where one particular incident sticks in his memory. “I remember Wilson Hall, when we all had to suddenly run away after the performance. I don’t know who started it or what it was about, but everyone legged it! I was okay, because I hadn’t been performing, so nobody knew me, but the others had to run. The first thing to discard was the tea-chest bass, which was too big and heavy to run with.”
The Quarrymen often went to “Barneys”, the club at St. Barnabas Church Hall. But, like most venues, alcohol was not available. “We used to meet in the Rose of Mossley pub on Rose Lane,” recalled Charlie, “and then we would go on to “Barneys”. We all had to wear proper suits and ties to get in there. After “Barneys” closed, we would then go to the Dutch Café on Smithdown Road, which was open late, one of the few places still open into the early hours of the morning.”
Cement in the Lock!
One of Charlie’s funniest memories takes place in an area called Ford to the north of Liverpool: “The Quarrymen had been booked to play at a party, and so we all travelled up there on the bus as usual. However, the party was in a house, and so there was not much room for the boys to play. By the time they had realised what time it was, the last bus had gone, and so they all decided to stay the night in the house. At some point, John and Paul went out for cigarettes, and there were obviously road works nearby, because they returned with a warning lamp they’d picked up. Everything went quiet, but when we tried to go home, we went to open the door, but somebody had put cement into the door lock! Nobody admitted doing it, but we all had our suspicions, because only John and Paul had been out. So, we all just left through the back door and said nothing.”
Charlie with his Photograph
Charlie also talked about driving around with his friend Arthur Wong.
“Arthur’s dad had a very good business,” Charlie recalled, “and so Arthur had a Vauxhall Cresta PA, a great car with fins, two-tone paint, very much like the American cars. We used to drive around, and I clearly remember John and Paul on the back seat of the car, with Paul trying to master ‘Raunchy’. We had a great time driving around in it with Arthur and we would often end up at Arthur’s home at 42, Heydale Road, in Mossley Hill.”
John Lennon Played in My Road?
And that is where the coincidence comes in! Because, since 1989, I have lived in Heydale Road! And when we moved into this road, Mrs Wong still lived in 42, Heydale Road. As you can see, wherever I go, I am surrounded by The Beatles! A few years ago, I was giving a talk at the Liverpool History Show, and a man came up to me and wanted to see my book, The Fab one hundred and Four: The Evolution of The Beatles. Why? Because he was Arthur Wong’s brother, and told me how he remembered Charlie and friends hanging out with them. Small world this Beatle world isn’t it?
There are more great stories from Charlie in The Fab one hundred and Four, along with those other important people who played a part in Beatles history.
In June 1960, with no drummer, and very few gigs, Allan Williams
arranged for The Beatles to back Janice the Stripper at a strip club in Upper
Parliament Street, Liverpool, that Williams ran with his business partner, Lord
Woodbine. Paul played drums, accompanied by John, George and Stuart on
a tiny stage.
How? Why? A Stripper?
After some initial resistance, the four Silver Beetles had haggled out an equitable financial deal. Supposedly, Stuart was a tough negotiator and got them a fairly decent fee. “Why so much?”, Williams had asked them during the negotiations. Paul had replied, “For the indiginity. The bloody indignity of it all!”
Lord Woodbine recalled the club, and The Silver Beetles’ appearance, very well. “Allan Williams and I used to run some clubs together, and The Beatles used to play there. There were actually two clubs. In the first one, they used to play at dinner time (noon) until 3:00pm. The second was a striptease club in a basement, called the Cabaret Artistes Club.
Their job was to play music for the strippers. The strippers used to get them to play very slow numbers, which The Beatles did not really like. There was only one who wanted an up-tempo song. She used a hula hoop in her act. The Beatles weren’t interested in the strippers or the music. They just did it for the money.”
Paul obviously remembered the occasion very well, in a private letter to Bill Harry, for inclusion in Mersey Beat. “John, George, Stu and I used to play at a Strip Club in Upper Parliament Street,” recalled Paul, “backing Janice the Stripper. At the time we wore little lilac jackets, or purple jackets, or something. Well, we played behind Janice and naturally we looked at her, the audience looked at her, everybody looked at her, just sort of normal. At the end of the act, she would turn round and, well, we were all young lads, we’d never seen anything like it before, and all blushed, four blushing red-faced lads.
Janice the Stripper
“Janice brought sheets of music for us to play all her arrangements. She gave us a bit of Beethoven and the ‘Spanish Fire Dance’. So, in the end, we said ‘We can’t read music, sorry, but instead of the ‘Spanish Fire Dance’ we can play ‘The Harry Lime Cha-Cha’, which we’ve arranged ourselves, and instead of Beethoven you can have ‘Moonglow’ or ‘September Song’. Take your pick. Instead of the ‘Sabre Dance’ we’ll give you ‘Ramrod’. So that’s what she got. She seemed quite satisfied anyway.”
And The Beatles refused to play a strip club ever again! And they didn’t; well, until they went to Hamburg two months later!
As Paul was the drummer that day, it wouldn’t be the last time he sat behind the drum kit. In our recent book, “Finding the Fourth Beatle“, we discuss the times he sat in with other groups, plus the tracks that Paul played drums on for The Beatles. While working in the studio on the “White Album”, Ringo walked out on the group. Needing to keep going, Paul sat behind the drumkit, playing on “Back In The USSR”, “Dear Prudence”, “Martha My Dear” and “The Ballad Of John and Yoko”.
So from backing a stripper, to back in the USSR, Macca was more than a capable drummer, though was he as good as Ringo? We discuss that in depth in “Finding the Fourth Beatle“.
On probably the same night as Ronnie the “Ted” played drums with The Silver Beatles, one young man from Wallasey, near to the Grosvenor Ballroom, thought he could play the drums with the group.
He later said; “I even played drums for them (the Silver Beatles) one night when they didn’t have a drummer. Just one song; that was enough. I was terrible.”
That young 16 year old was Jackie Lomax, who didn’t take up the drums, but the guitar, and became the frontman on Merseybeat group, The Undertakers, one of the finest groups on Merseyside. He was later signed by Brian Epstein, and even accompanied The Beatles to Shea Stadium in 1966. Lomax was advised by John Lennon to go to see Terry Doran at Apple Publishing, as he was writing songs. George Harrison approached Lomax and offered to produce his album, which he did, on Apple Records.
