Early Beatles - Germany

The boys departed Liverpool for Hamburg, Germany about 10:00 AM on August 16 to launch themselves as The Beatles.

Hamburg was a leading seaport. (Third largest after London and New York) But it had been heavily damaged during World War II leaving few older buildings. Johannes Brahms and Felix Mendelssohn were the city's two famous musicians up to this point.

Hamburg was known for its businesses of sex. "It was a jungle of neon and sex," said Pete Best, "...a place where girls were taking off their clothes, and other bizarre things, like lady mud wrestlers." Said John, "..a bit of all right.." From Paul, "I think we're going to like it here."

Their first gig was at the Indra Club. A sleazy little club, it was the step-child of the owner's (Bruno Koschmider) more popular Kaiserkeller. It was up to the boys to make the Indra as popular as the Kaiserkeller. Playing four hours a night, the Beatles went wild on stage to generate excitement and to keep the German's attention. they played American songs. Most popular was Fats Domino, Carl Perkins, Elvis, Little Richard and Ray Charles. A roudy club, the Beatles began drinking the beer sent up by the crowd. By October 3rd, the club was closed up by the police after repeated neighborhood complaints.

On October 4th, they played the popular Kaiserkeller. Ringo Starr was playing with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. It was at about this period that the boys met Astrid Kirchherr. Her boyfriend at the time was Klaus Voorman. One night, after quarreling with Astrid, he went to the Kaiserkeller. There he met the Beatles and introduced Astrid and their friends to the Beatles and the club. Two months later, Astrid and Stu Sutcliffe became engaged. Surprisingly, Klaus remained a good friend. Later he designed the cover for their Revolver album.

The grand launching of the Beatles was a disaster. In their off time, the four had been watching Tony Sheridan at the Top Ten Club. Over time, they started playing onstage with him for the fun of it. It was a contract violation. This enraged their club owner, Koschmider. The Beatles got into a fight with the informer. George was shipped back to Liverpool for being underage. After a fire at the Kaiserkeller, the boys were accussed of arson. After a short jail stint, Paul and Pete where shipped back to Liverpool. Stu (in the sunglasses above) moved to Astrid's and John arrived a few days later on a train. By the middle of December, the Beatles were again a Liverpool band.

Depressed, they all moped around. Paul picked up a job with Speedy Prompt Delivery and later with Massey and Coggins winding electric coils. On December 25th - Christmas - they were hired to perform at Litherland Town Hall two days later. Their billing: The Beatles - Direct from Hamburg. They performed in the high energy and crazy manner they had in Germany. The teenagers went wild. Instead of dancing, they crowded around the band and screamed. This was unheard of and made news. A new confidence was needed and now arrived.

Next

Early Lennon

Sponsored By: