Pete Best Reveals Why He Was Kicked Out Of The Beatles | Letterman

this is a uh uh do I hold this up now okay oh  okay all right we're going to take a look now   at a picture of The Beatles in 1960. uh John  Lennon George Harrison and Paul McCartney of   course are easily recognized but the fourth member  of the group doesn't really look much like Ringo   Starr and that of course is because he is not uh  he is Pete best he was the original drummer in   this group until he was bumped for Ringo that took  place in 1962 he is now out of the music business   and is making a special appearance here tonight  we're pleased to welcome Mr Pete best ladies thank you he's gonna have balloons to touch this  thing no there's no that's no no balloons we had   a guy here the other night who went up in  a lawn chair with the balloons attached   to him uh welcome to the program that you're  honestly one person I never thought I would get   the opportunity to meet but you're somebody that  I've known about uh well since 1962 essentially   um let's just uh start at the beginning what  how did how did the relationship come about   between yourself and John Lennon and George  Harrison and uh Ringo Starr well very shortly   um I haven't first met the guys when they opened  my mother's club to Casper way back in 1958 when   they were known as The Quarrymen now and there was  John George and Paul another guy called Ken Brown   but we needed a group to open the club Saturday  night this is a club that your mother operated   that's right yeah under the basement of a  house and how old were you at that time oh   I'd be about 16. and uh the the other guys were  roughly the same age also yeah you know we were high school kids yeah yeah but uh funny  thing was the club needed some decorating   so Dion and his wisdom for those of  you who don't know Jim was a little   bit short-sighted uh we were painting a Club  Seal in Black and it was supposed to be matte   plate since young did it in gloss paint  and uh that was it you know so when um now   the you and the rest of the guys were helping to  finish or fix up this club in order to open it for   business they came over and were painting and so  forth that's right yeah now when did you get to be   part of the uh uh the musical group well uh Justin  aside I joined them uh August 1960 simply because   of the fact that they disappeared and they went  and had an audition for a guy called Larry Barnes   and by this time they changed the names  of the silver Beetles and there was a guy   who joined him called Steve Sutcliffe who  very tragically died a couple years later   but uh after this particular tour when they  went up to Scotland there was a guy called   Tommy Moore who was playing drums with him and  he came back and he said whoa he said I've had   enough I said I'm quitting so Paul knew that  I'd been uh playing drums and uh he said Pete   you know we got the offer to go to Germany so he  said he interested I said yeah very much so and   so come down and audition which is what I did  do and went down the next day bashed off about   six numbers and five minutes later they said yeah  Pete you're in yeah so uh what was the extent of   your musical background at that point I mean you  were good enough to pass the audition obviously   but what did you had you done much drumming  before Oh for about uh two years on enough I   had a small combo my own you know which is like a  fun group yeah but nothing sort of professionally   based because uh I knew the guys had to go back to  job go back to school yeah so now when you went on   the tour to Germany was this the beginning of the  feeling that this thing may go right through the   roof or was this still a little earlier no when we  went over to Germany and we've been out there for   about a month and we suddenly realized you know  hey chair Maloney says are going wild about us and   uh there was always an inner feeling Dave which it  was funny to explain but we knew you know that uh   you know in fact we had a saying a lot of  people don't know this but uh we used to   get on stage and we used to stand there you  know and say you know where are we going guys   to the top yeah that was the inner belief which we  had arrest ourselves right and it was funny but we   knew that somewhere along the line we were going  to make it big now truthfully wise I don't think   even they would have been visited that we want  to become the phenomena they were yeah uh were   you close to these gentlemen at the time were you  all really good friends did you get to be a really   tight unit oh sure yeah I mean you know when  you're playing take Hamburg for instance seven   hours a night seven days a week here you know 15  minute break if you were lucky or something like   that uh we grew up together yeah you know a lot  of hard sounds a lot of fun together so we were   close compact unit okay let me uh pause here for  a second Pete uh we're gonna uh run a commercial   or something and uh we'll be back to continue this  discussion with Mr Pizza welcome back to the show   this uh gentleman is uh Pete best and we're uh  talking about his uh was the drummer for The   Beatles prior to a Ringo Starr you would went on  the tour to Germany and you were their drummer for   two years at least yeah uh and you you mentioned  you guys were all pretty good friends now how did   the the did you have any hint that you were going  to be leaving the group no that was the amazing   thing Dave uh when the incident happened uh you  know it just happened completely out the blue yeah   there was no you know foregone and it's all about  it it just uh it was called into Brian's office   and he turned around I could tell he was agitated  simply because of the fact that he was you know   pacing up and down and you know sort of biting his  fingernails so to speak but uh after about three   or four minutes he turned around and said Pete  I've got bad news for you he said uh in a nutshell   you know the boys want you out and they want Ringo  starring well I was completely shell-shocked by   this Dave uh couldn't sort of get my mind together  or you know whatever you know trying to sort of   get things into perspective did you then go to  talk to any members of the group uh John or Paul   or no no the funny thing about it was uh after I  was kicked out very shortly after that I joined a   group called Lee Curtis and the All-Stars and  on two occasions I played on the same bill as   them one was at the cabin in Liverpool and the  other was at the Majestic ballroom and we were   playing support to them on these occasions and  it meant that as we were coming off stage The   Beatles were going on stage but nothing was  ever mentioned there was no acknowledgment   nobody said sorry Peter we'll talk to you  later about it or it was business or nothing yeah and from the the time that you got let  go to the time that did you know Ringo at all   had you met him before sure yeah Bingo and I  were very good friends yeah so from the time   you got let go to the time that they just  became an unbelievable success what what   amount of time was that oh uh basically  they had a record in the English charts   whether the Montessori being kicked out and  after that it became history everyone knows   about it now what does that do to a person  uh what is their resentment there is it uh I mean first you had these guys were your  friends yeah and suddenly they're not your   friends that's tough enough but to suddenly see  them uh skyrocketed like that not to mention the   economics involved in the thing thank you were you  angry at them mad at him no just in a birthday uh   they caused me a lot of hardship grief you know  Financial embarrassment but uh I persevered with   my own lifestyle and you know that was strong  enough in character to sort of turn around and   say okay no matter what happened in the past  let's forget about it okay and at this present   moment in time I've managed to retain my identity  in my own sweet way did you uh continue in music   did you mentioned you were with another band  did that uh I mean at that time there was a   good chance that a band coming out of Liverpool  could be a big success many were oh sure yeah   um diet and mediocre success and I got a couple  of Records in the church you know a couple of   TV spots nothing fantastic yeah but uh the Gap  was always widening you know the Beatles were up   there somewhere down on the lower rank side was  slotted in somewhere yeah so then um what you're   no longer in music what happened after you used  to mentioned that these uh had some other hits or   smaller hits what minor successes what did you  do then well uh up to about 1968 we persevered   did it sort of America in Canada had a couple of  albums released over here but uh unfortunately   through no circumstances of our room we had to  go back home and we found when we got back home   that things had drastically changed you know we'd  been away for about nine months we got a lot older   and the scene had changed and when we tried to  break back into the normal routine it wasn't there   yeah you know we sort of persevered but uh it  just didn't happen well here is the album uh we'll   pause here for station identification we'll be  right back uh Pete best is here in a minute we're   going to take our second look at the national  fancy food and confection convection convention   you know what I'm talking about it was held here  a couple of weeks ago we were all there uh and I   want to ask you about the album the other thing  I wanted to to ask you was what was the reason   ultimately given to you for the change at the  position of drummer uh in a nutshell Dave jealousy   um we found out afterwards uh at the meeting  they turned around and said that it wasn't a   good enough drummer but consequently when we  saw the turn around a lot of people you know   found out that jealousy was creeping into the ACT  there was actually uh some some demonstrations   and people in the streets yelling and they were  upset at the the time it was a nice feeling you   know to realize that I had true loyal support  yes but uh there was a hell of a fan reaction   yeah Billboards and everything uh and anyway the  album which we alluded to in the last half hour   called silver Beetles what is this essentially  when people put this on their machines at home   what are they going to hear well what they're  going to hear is uh hopefully so is the Decker   rotation material which was recorded way back  generally the first 1962 it was the first   major attempt for the Beatles Till under English  recording contract and never before heard as far   as it could have been bootleg versions but this  is the the one which everyone's going to go for   okay well I certainly hope this is uh is a big  success for it it was a pleasure meeting you sir   it's a an interesting pale I'm sorry it didn't  work out better for you though thank you sir thank you

Channel: Letterman

Views: 553,406

Keywords: letterman, david letterman, dave letterman, interview, letterman interview, letterman official, letterman late show, letterman late night, late night, stupid pet tricks, stupid human tricks, top ten, late show, top ten list

Id: A3j7nqx0Pgs

Length: 10min 53sec (653 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 29 2023