Post by Dr Winston on Jan 11, 2006 13:19:43 GMT 1
Will Pete Best be included?
In the beginning, there were five Beatles, and Ringo Starr wasn't one of them. But the city of Hamburg, Germany is choosing to overlook that fact in its plans to honor the band's contribution to the city's musical heritage.
The members of what eventually became the Fab Four all said they matured as musicians and as a group during the months of all-night performances in the nightclubs of Hamburg, Germany. Now the city's establishment, spurred on by a local radio station's promotional push, plans a commemorative statue in the center of the Hamburg's bawdy and wild Reeperbahn district, where the Beatles and dozens of other Liverpool groups served lengthy stewardships.
During those early years, Stuart Sutcliffe was the Beatles bassist and Pete Best was their drummer. Sutcliffe left the band in 1961 to pursue an art career but died the next year from a brain hemorrhage. Best continued with the band until August of 1962, when Ringo Starr replaced him. There have been decades of speculation as to why Best was replaced, but he had been an integral member of the Beatles during their formative years and was the drummer of record during all but the last of the band's stays in Hamburg.
Though Sutcliffe is represented in the planned sculpture, Best has been supplanted by Ringo Starr, and a number of fans of the early Beatles are outraged by the slight. An on line petition campaign is now underway to assure Pete Best's undeniable part in the Beatles' story.
"There's no denying that Ringo Starr is the Beatle drummer most of the world recognizes," says campaign co-organizer Elizabeth MacDonald of Sonoma, California, "but ask anyone who remembers the Beatles during those days and they say it was Pete who stood out even while he sat at his drum kit, behind the others. We feel it's a huge disservice to deny him his rightful spot in the Hamburg sculpture."
www.beatleshamburgstatue.com/
In the beginning, there were five Beatles, and Ringo Starr wasn't one of them. But the city of Hamburg, Germany is choosing to overlook that fact in its plans to honor the band's contribution to the city's musical heritage.
The members of what eventually became the Fab Four all said they matured as musicians and as a group during the months of all-night performances in the nightclubs of Hamburg, Germany. Now the city's establishment, spurred on by a local radio station's promotional push, plans a commemorative statue in the center of the Hamburg's bawdy and wild Reeperbahn district, where the Beatles and dozens of other Liverpool groups served lengthy stewardships.
During those early years, Stuart Sutcliffe was the Beatles bassist and Pete Best was their drummer. Sutcliffe left the band in 1961 to pursue an art career but died the next year from a brain hemorrhage. Best continued with the band until August of 1962, when Ringo Starr replaced him. There have been decades of speculation as to why Best was replaced, but he had been an integral member of the Beatles during their formative years and was the drummer of record during all but the last of the band's stays in Hamburg.
Though Sutcliffe is represented in the planned sculpture, Best has been supplanted by Ringo Starr, and a number of fans of the early Beatles are outraged by the slight. An on line petition campaign is now underway to assure Pete Best's undeniable part in the Beatles' story.
"There's no denying that Ringo Starr is the Beatle drummer most of the world recognizes," says campaign co-organizer Elizabeth MacDonald of Sonoma, California, "but ask anyone who remembers the Beatles during those days and they say it was Pete who stood out even while he sat at his drum kit, behind the others. We feel it's a huge disservice to deny him his rightful spot in the Hamburg sculpture."
www.beatleshamburgstatue.com/
