1960 - 1962

Now that the group had settled on ‘The Beatles’ John, Paul, George, Stuart and Pete could concentrate more heavily on performing and set off for Hamburg.  In Hamburg they were under immense pressure by club owner ‘Bruno Koschmider’ to “make a show” and play very long hours.  Along with the outstanding performances in Hamburg arranged by their unofficial manager ‘Allan Williams’ and many gigs they played in Liverpool, The Beatles started to broaden their reputation.

After their first Hamburg tour ended, George was deported for being underage and their dispute with their current boss lead to a police complaint about an attempted fire to his premises.  Stuart left the group after becoming engaged and Pete Best was looked at as the most regarded member of the band.  The Beatles were now a four piece band and McCartney took over as bass guitarist.     

Lennon, McCartney and Harrison were the three front-line guitarists and alternated as lead singers with Pete Best playing drums.  Best sang occasionally but he had developed a distinctive drum sound nicknamed by the press the "atom beat", which many others tried to imitate.

The Beatles hired ‘Brian Epstein’ as their manager and he signed them up for an audition with ‘Decca Records’ but the head of Decca Records told Epstein: “Guitar groups are on their way out Mr. Epstein” and The Beatles were devastated by their failed audition.  However, Brian Epstein secured them a contract with ‘EMI / Parlophone Records’. 

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