Former drummer of The Beatles talks to Terry from 6 Towns Radio about his career, the Casbah Coffee Club and his gig in Stoke for the Bobby Moore charity. www.6towns.co.uk @6townsradio
I did a show in Florida with Pete, And he is one of the nicest , humble and sweetest guys you could ever meet! After the show the whole cast and crew went out on the town and he sat and told us some amazing stories about those days with the Beatles. Just a wonderful person !
Ryan Purple Nintendo Eater . Pete has a different style than Ringo’s , as history shows Ringo was the right drummer for the Beatles and the Beatles weren’t the right band for Pete . He’s a very nice person and held steady the beat in the show with us. I was surprised when he copped Ringo’s fills lick for lick on each song. But to give credit his due, it mostly was Ringo that came up with most of the “ funny Ringo fills” that he made legendary, under the constant direction of Paul and John.
I mean look at what really matters. He's been married to the same beautiful woman, had two daughters and five grandchildren that adore him. Unruined by fame, Pete hasn't had all these rocky divorces, heartbreak, drug abuse, intrigue, murder and death. Yeah, I think Pete was really "best" in what absolutely matters. And then, due to Anthology he wound up with "a "few quid" from working for the Beatles all those years ago. Not bad, not bad at all!
@Randy Hodder People get fired from bands every day of the week. Some because they are unreliable and others because they can't play well enough. Best couldn't play well enough..he was not ripped off at all.
Saturday 26th of August 2017 , Casbah Coffee Club I was at a Pete Best concert. Very beautiful concert. I talked to Pete, thanked him, I hugged Pete. I have a picture with him. Pete is very nice, and a great drummer.
This guy talks and seems just like a natural beatle,reckon they would still have been also world class with him , what a great story to have in your life
His importance in The Beatles (especially the early years of course) should never be underestimated. He has been very brave to give interviews like this throughout the last 35 years or so (Letterman was an early one). And of all The Beatles, from any moment in time they had been, he has some of the nicest stories! Bless you Pete! xx
tyronerodgers Oh Yes! The Beatles conquered Hamburg and Liverpool with Pete. He was important to the band in the early years as you wrote . It is interesting that Pete’s predecessor Tommy Moore, QUIT the Beatles to be a fork lift driver! He hated Lennon, and saw more future in manual labor than drumming for the Beatles! Pete was a great addition to the band in 1960. He deserves his place in Beatle history.
I like this guy! He has never let one bad word out of his mouth in public about the Beatles... I think Pete Best is a very nice man.. His story has happened many times in music history.. Sadly Class act Pete Best
He wasn't stupid was he, if he was to make a mint in later years, he had to be very careful in what he said. He waited until Lennon was dead and canonized by crazed fans before he mentioned about being closest to John and having so many wonderful times spent talking with him in the pub, but Lennon wasn't alive to verify it. Lennon being the most outspoken would have called his bluff
Good on you Pete. Who could imagine how tough it was for him watching them take the world by storm. He could easily have been a bitter old man but I’m glad he isn’t. He has a good amount of fame himself and he made some cash from the Beatles Anthology Albums so good for him. It would be nice if Macca would invite him to do a show together but it will never happen. Pete has earned the respect of Beatle fans. You never hear him say a bad word about them . I do think they were cowards as John famously said one time.
This guy is one of the most forgiving and hate free person I have ever seen in a man’s heart. After all he’d been through, being dumped and alienated from the greatest band ever he never talked bad/trash about them, he only speak for the good memories he had with them. Pete Best maybe not the best drummer of The Beatles but I’m certain that he’s the “Best” when it comes to class act and humbleness. I mean, how could anyone love or like the guy?
@Peter Sokol Well, actually I am not stupid, I was lucky to be born with a good level of intelligence which took me to Edinburgh College of Art and into a successful career in the teaching profession. I did not mention what sort of music The Beatles played in their early days, I just pointed out that Pete Best was the first drummer in The Beatles. Brian signed the band with Pete as the drummer. The Beatles became a "tight" band in Hamburg with Pete as their drummer. As a teacher I became very capable of dealing with immature pupils who swore at me. I also taught many of my pupils how to deal with their own aggression by instructing them on how to box as I am a qualified boxing coach. You really do your own argument damage by resorting to bad language and name calling.
I understand it has been written about for years and years but I must chime in. What a lovely man. The band - Apple - whomever - really needed to have taken care if Pete monetarily early on. He was an integral part of their success. If true, which I believe it is, I am really quite annoyed to know that none of the boys took care of Pete IN A BIG WAY financially. I know he made some royalty money later but early on that should have been at the top of the list. Funny how he has survived - and quite well. Lesson to be learned on how to accept heartache and move on. Not sure I could have done it.
It's easy to forget that he was the drummer for a fifth of their career as The Beatles. He played with them the whole time that they were in Hamburg and was there for the first recording sessions. proper member of the band, deserved to get his royalties and his due as a part of their story.
Back in those days, drummers were only really important in big jazz bands. The rock drummer, like Rock 'n Roll, was in it's infancy. Ringo was up front developing the art. From my perspective, he was one of the first guys to use the matching grip for both sticks giving him a bigger punch, or beat. Hence he put the "beat" in Beatles.
There is great story to tell here it could turn into a great movie.What Pete endured showed what kind of guys the Beatles were.One word that describes them is ruthless.Well done Pete for keeping your Dignity.
A good interview. Pete has accepted his early disappointment and had a good, happy life with his family. He was a founder member of the Beatles and you cannot have a complete history of The Beatles without Pete Best`s contribution in the first two years of the band. He was with them in Hamburg and he was with them when Brian Eptsien signed them up at The Cavern in Liverpool.
@Jim McCracken not a founding member, but I think you know what he means. A permanent fixture in their formative yrs after Moore couldn't go to Hamburg.
He went through a hard time, but the truth is he is better off being the drummer the Beatles axed, than not being the drummer the Beatles axed. He has aged well.
They sang “All You Need Is Love” and were into Indian philosophy and yet they left this guy behind broken in struggle. Pete is a great drummer and such a lovely human. Respect!
The last time I looked at Pete Best's official website there was quotes of his on there praising John, Paul and George but no mention of Ringo, which is a bit churlish really.
LoungeJay he's a Prick and uses their names to promote his own. In this video he mentioned Ken Brown very briefly at the start and the rest of the interview he puts himself in with the john Paul and George. It's obvious he's playing the victim here and looking to make a buck out of it. Pete was has he says 'one of the top drummer's' stories of fans in his garden, the main name in the Beatles. Yet despite being in several bands afterwards desperately looking for fame nothing happened. He and his band rode on the coat tails of the beatles, constantly telling everyone ' I was in the Beatles'
Forgive what? He got the cut! The better one got it who belonged. A sports team can't win because of feelings about a player. They need the best one who has the chemistry with them.
C'mon! Can you imagine what it'd be like being asked your whole adult life what it was like to be the guy kicked out of the Beatles? Do you think this interview would have happened if it weren't for that story -- which is HIS story, after all? If he's made peace with that, and he's making music for charity, what's the point of slagging him?
Y salio ganando Los ultimos dias como beatles fue horrible diferencias entre ellos John murio asesinado George sufrio para morir Paul aun no se sabe su destino karma?....solo dios sabe Pete veanlo gozando de cabal salud tranquilo que no encajaba en el grupo ? una vulgar excusa para justificar esa cruel ingratitud
1) He's still a foxy old man 2) It's all a matter of perspective, he could think "man I am so unlucky I could have been so famous and a part of something so huge"... or he could think "man how lucky am I? I'm just a decent drummer and I got to spend time playing with some of the greatest songwriters in popular music history"
That might be the case however Ringo played 12-16 hours a day for 8 years in the studio creating the drum parts that made the Beatles sound....no way could Pete Best do that. Ringo revolutionized rock drumming for years to come.
Nothing against Pete but if he was a good Drummer He Would of made it With Another Possibly Iconic band .At Least he was in the early Beatles and that's Something.
The interviewer chuckles politely but can't wait to get into the elephant in the room...what was that group again? It's great that Pete got past being a permanent footnote for that early group. Drum on Pete and outlive 'em all!
Ringo was the perfect drummer for what became the Beatles we all knew...not a powerhouse..nor straight drummer...he was a "musical" drummer who fit a group that was with their original songs totally musical..I would never knock Pete Best he seems like a great guy..but the Beatles we know are the Beatles we know
Ringo wasn't even a very good drummer back then. The music papers used to slag him off. I don't know whether they would have been as successful with Pete Best on drums - we'll never know that - but he was good enough to play with them until they got a recording contract, so I think there must have been another reason they got rid of him. We may never know the real reason unless Paul tells us one day.
Henri Fenger I agree with what you wrote. Still, in August 1960 Pete was the best (no pun intended) drummer available in Liverpool, and did the Beatles a favor going with them to Hamburg. Pete had options to continue his education that John, Paul, and George didn’t have. For two years he played to the best of his abilities and helped the Beatles hit several milestone.
The Bobbie Moore Appeal! Moore invented the skip container, you know. All Alan Partridge fans know this. Pete seems like a nice chap, and the king's ransom he (rightfully) received for his tracks on Anthology 1 has to be the world's most grossly delayed pay cheque.
People commenting on Pete being a nice guy. Maybe he is so nice because he ultimately wasn't a Beatle. Fame can really do a number on you and reports about his personality back when he was a Beatle were that he was very moody and not approachable. Hardship in life creates character. Pete has gone through a lot and has come out of it a much better human being than a lot of us.
It's very strange how he never states anything about his mother having intimate relations, and subsequently a child, with The Beatles Road Manager Neil Aspinall (at the time about the same age as the boys in the band). Also, his dismissal came approx. 3 weeks after this child, his half brother Vincent Rogue Best, was born. Yet, that fact is never mentioned? He always say's that there was never a reason for his dismissal, but if the above statement is true, wouldn't that be grounds for dismissal in 1962 Britain? Hey, I'm just saying...
It was great to hear Pete’s opinion of the film BACKBEAT. I never liked that movie, because it was so inaccurate historically. Like Pete said, the soundtrack was GREAT.
Pete Best era muy buen Baterista y lo mas importante un muy buen ser humano , no tenia cabida en un grupo de arrogantes , como the beatles, Geroge Harrison John Lennon y Paul Mccartney , no tubieron la valentia ni la honestidad de comunicarle en persona que estaba despedido , tres grandes musicos , y a la vez , tres grandes cobardes y traidores , asi les va y asi les fue viva Pete Best un gran ser humano y musico !!!!!
Pete Best was not the Beatles' original drummer, he was the third drummer. He only got the job because he owned a drum kit and was able to go to Hamburg on short notice. The sudden need for a drummer came about because the regular drummer, Tommy Moore, suddenly quit.
Oh come on. He was not so good, ringo was far better, no one could’ve told they’d become a worldwide sensation at the time. This happens in most bands. In the early years, you look for the good fit and not all musician will be. End of the story. The guy still milks the story to this day. A bit pathetic if you ask me.
The Beatles original drummer was Tommy Moore when the fellas were known as The Silver Beetles. But only for about a month in 1960, Pete was the best known and was with them two years, so is really the real original drummer.
Pete BEST. A proper name for a proper chap! Always a sincere class act. I always wished the best for him too! It's true some girls were showing up just to see Pete; some for Paul & the others as well. It's true his drumming was barely sufficient. So when the boys felt(knew) they could really go somewhere with a top knotch drummer & rhythm guy... well the move to go with Ringo was made. They knew all along to have a chance Pete wasn't good enough; he didn't share the desire to better his play & skills every day. He had 2 years to blossom, and I f he had, he'd have stayed a Beatle. ALL the boys knew it. That's why he handled with such dignity the opportunity just missed and all the rest. That, and because he's a fine soul.
