The following day [15 August 1962], The Beatles played two sets at the Cavern. On Thursday August 16, Pete [Best] was sacked. sacked. Brian [Epstein], who did the deed with no other band members present, promised to keep Pete on his current wage and find him another group. Liverpool was shocked. The "mean and moody" Pete may have been adored by fans but he never really gelled with his bandmates. "Pete was very straight," says [The Beatles' friend] Klaus Voormann. "Not a very good drummer but he kept good timing. He had only one fill he could do. Ringo was very different, so loose and so lovely. It allowed the band to change a lot." Following a couple of shows with Johnny Hutch from The Big Three on drums, Ringo made his debut on August 18 at Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight. The Beatles became The Beatles.
"It came as shock to everybody except The Beatles, but you knew immediately it was the right decision," says [then-roadie Tony] Bramwell. "Ringo was a better drummer and he was a good guy who would socialise with them. Ringo was a Beatle. It was that simple." Not everybody agreed. George Harrison ended up with a black eye after an altercation at the Cavern with a Pete fan called Bruno from West Derby.
- Peter Watts, 'Not a bad 12 months, was it?', Uncut, August 2022, p.97
See also:
Blog: John's Aunt Mimi, 5 December 2013
Blog: Ringo Starr 1992 interview, 20 September 2013
Blog: Nowhere Boy & Backbeat, 10 February 2010
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