Before Ringo Starr became famous for playing drums, Pete Best was The Beatles’ drummer. The best played drums for the band up until 1962. But eventually, the group concluded that Starr would be a better choice. They stopped communicating with Best after he was summarily fired.
The Beatles and Best met during a concert after Best switched bands. While entering the stage, Paul McCartney and John Lennon asked for security because they thought Best might assault them. The Fab Four, as they were popularly called, rose to fame as one of the greatest bands of all time and helped launch a new musical movement in the 1960s.
Although Best was in the group for about a year before they became well-known, he is frequently called the fifth Beatle. Here, we examine Pete Best’s motivations for quitting The Beatles and his subsequent professional development.
The Fab Four, as they were popularly called, rose to fame as one of the greatest bands of all time(credit: Rock and roll Garage)
Who was Pete Best?
One of the founding members of the Beatles, Pete Best, appeared in numerous of their initial concerts at clubs near Liverpool, such as The Cavern Club. November 24, 1941, Randolph Peter Scanland was christened in Madras, British India.
Following his mother, Mona wed Johnny Best in 1944, and his biological father passed away during World War II; the family soon relocated to Liverpool. The Casbah Coffee Club, created by Mona in the bottom of the Best family house, later served as the setting for the Quarrymen, an early iteration of the Beatles. At the time, the ensemble included Ken Brown and future household names like Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison.
Pete Best was The Beatles’ drummer(credit: Grunge)
After a disagreement with the remaining band members in the late 1950s, Brown left the group. The Quarrymen disbanded, and The Beatles became a popular new band. After Pete Best performed an audition to join the group in August 1960, The Beatles decided to hire him as their new drummer.
Ringo Starr took Pete Best’s place in The Beatles.
With a string of successful concerts in Liverpool music venues by 1962, The Beatles’ fame was rising. The band had successfully passed a Parlophone Records audition and was starting to prepare to release their debut album, which would be named Please Please Me.
Despite Best’s drumming, George Martin, the producer, had generally favored the music. Onstage, Best could still be used by the band, but Martin informed them that he would be swapped out with a session drummer for the recordings. McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison of the band chose to dismiss Best after discussing the matter with their supervisor Brian Epstein.
Ringo Starr took Pete Best’s place in The Beatles(credit: ScoopWhoop)
Since Best’s departure from the band, rumors have circulated that he was once the band’s most famous female performer and that the other members were envious of his good looks. Ringo Starr, who joined The Beatles in 1962 and completed the band’s puzzle after Best’s departure, took Best’s place.
They requested security from their previous bandmate
Best joined Lee Curtis and the All-Stars following his departure from The Beatles. Within a short time, both bands gave performances at New Brighton’s Tower. The Beatles would follow Lee Curtis and the All-Stars, and McCartney became worried that Best would retaliate against them, and he requested that the stage manager Sam Leach lead them there.
When they make the change, “Will you walk John and me onstage?” he said. Paul McCartney: A Life by Peter Ames Carlin, according to Leach. “Pete might give us a smack,” he responded when I questioned why.
As they made their way to the stage, Leach agreed and moved in between Lennon and McCartney. Due to Pete’s kindness, “I knew he wouldn’t do anything,” Leach asserted. Pete lowered his head as they passed in the hallway.
The Beatles(credit: Toledo Blade)
Pete Best claimed he doesn’t harbor resentment toward The Beatles
Best claimed that since being fired by The Beatles, he has not spoken to any of his fellow companions. Although he hasn’t contacted him, he believes McCartney would like to speak with him.
Paul has always made it known that he’d like to get together, he added. The door has always been wide open. “You know, I’m not the guilty party. He can choose to do it either publicly or in private; that is entirely up to him.”
Where is Pete Best presently?
As soon as Pete Best was kicked out of The Beatles in 1962, the Pete Best saga was over for many music enthusiasts. Even though Best left the band, he pursued a music career. When Lee Curtis and the All Stars broke away from Best’s band in 1963, Pete Best and the All Stars were formed.
Mike Smith, who rejected the Beatles as a band, concluded that Best’s new band was what he sought and chose to sign the group with Decca. The Pete Best Four became the group’s new name in the end.
Best started the Pete Best band(credit: YouTube)
Despite taking a 20-year break from music, Best resumed playing professionally in 1988 after retiring in 1968. Best started the Pete Best band when he started playing music again, and the group is still going strong. The group reproduces The Beatles’ original early sound faithfully.
