Performances of the Beatles at the Cavern Club between 1961 and 1963
This page covers the period 1961–1963. For the Beatles' later relationships with The Cavern Club and Brian Epstein, see the Beatles, The Cavern Club, and Brian Epstein
The Cavern Club at 10 Mathew Street, in Liverpool was the venue where the Beatles' UK popularity started. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best were first seen by Brian Epstein at the club. Epstein eventually became their manager, going on to secure them a record contract. Best was replaced by Ringo Starr on 16 August 1962, which upset many Beatles fans. After taunts of, "Pete forever, Ringo never!", one agitated fan headbutted Harrison in the club.
The Cavern Club was the third club managed by Alan Sytner, which originally opened as a jazz-only club on 16 January 1957, being styled after the Paris venue, Le Caveau. The Quarrymen made their first appearance at the club on 7 August 1957,[1] but by 9 February 1961,[2] when the group first performed there under their new name of the Beatles, the club was under the ownership of Ray McFall. The Cavern Club gradually became synonymous with the emerging Merseybeat music genre, rapidly becoming the most famous club in Britain.[3] According to the club's resident DJ, Bob Wooler, the Beatles made 292 appearances at the club between 1961 and 1963,[4] culminating in a final appearance at the venue on 3 August 1963—one month after the group recorded "She Loves You", and six months before their first trip to the United States.[5]
The club changed hands several more times before eventually being demolished to allow construction of an underground railway ventilation duct, before being used as a car park. A replica of the club was built on "75 per cent of the original site" in 1984,[6] built with 15,000 bricks retrieved from the original club site. On 16 January 1997, a sculpture of Lennon was unveiled outside The New Cavern Club, and on 14 December 1999, McCartney performed there, playing his last concert of the 20th century and publicising his album, Run Devil Run.
Background
Owned by Sytner, the club originally opened on 16 January 1957 as a jazz-only club, which was one of three jazz clubs he managed.[7] He styled the club after the Paris venue, Le Caveau, as the French club was also a cellar.[8][9] The Cavern was an arched cellar built of bricks, under a seven-storey fruit warehouse. It had previously been used as a wine cellar, and as an air raid shelter during World War II.[6] Because of its position underground, it was well known as being damp, and very hot when the club was full.[10]
In early August 1957, whilst playing golf at the Childwall Golf Club, with Sytner's father, Dr. Joseph Sytner, Nigel Walley—a friend of Lennon's who was an apprentice golf professional at the Lee Park Golf Club—asked Dr. Sytner if his son would book the Quarrymen at The Cavern Club in Mathew Street, Liverpool.[11] Dr. Sytner suggested that the group should play at the golf club first, so as to assess their talent.[12] The group set up in the downstairs lounge of the golf club, and were surprised when nearly one hundred people filed in to listen.[13] The performance was a success, and a hat was later passed around that collected almost £15; significantly more than other groups were paid at the time.[14] Alan Sytner phoned Walley a week later and offered the group an interlude spot on 7 August, playing skiffle between the performances of three skiffle bands at the club:[15] Ron McKay's Skiffle Group, Dark Town Skiffle Group, and The Deltones Skiffle Group.[16]
Before their first Cavern Club performance, the group argued amongst themselves about the set list, as rock 'n roll songs were not allowed at the club, but skiffle was tolerated. After starting with a skiffle song, Lennon told the others to start playing "Don't Be Cruel", by Elvis Presley. Banjo-player Rod Davis warned Lennon that the audience would "eat you alive", which Lennon ignored, starting the song by himself, which forced the others to join in. Halfway through, Sytner pushed his way through the audience and handed Lennon a note which read, "Cut out the bloody rock 'n roll".[17] In 1959, Sytner sold the club to an accountant, McFall, for £2,750.[18] In 1960, the Quarrymen changed their name, initially to the Silver Beetles, and finally to the Beatles, before their initial residency in Hamburg.[19]
The Beatles' history with the Cavern Club is also explored in two documentary films: I Was There: When the Beatles Played the Cavern (2011),[20] directed by John Piper; and Good Ol' Freda (2013), directed by Ryan White. (See note below in "Epstein".)
Epstein and The Cavern
The Beatles' name was first noticed by Epstein in the first issue of Bill Harry'sMersey Beat magazine (which Epstein successfully sold in his NEMS music store), on numerous posters around Liverpool, and on the front page of the second issue of Mersey Beat.[21] before asking journalist Harry who they were.[22]
The Beatles—then consisting of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Best—were due to perform a lunchtime concert in The Cavern Club on 9 November 1961,[23] as part of a residency, for £3, 15 shillings a concert.[9][24] According to Sytner, Epstein had visited the club quite a few times previously on Saturday nights, once asking Sytner to book a group for his twenty-first birthday party.[25] Epstein asked Harry to arrange for Epstein and his assistant, Alistair Taylor, to watch the Beatles perform, so Epstein and Taylor were allowed into the club without queuing, with a welcome message being announced over the club's public-address system by Wooler, the resident DJ.[26] Epstein later talked about the performance:
I was immediately struck by their music, their beat, and their sense of humour on stage—and, even afterwards, when I met them, I was struck again by their personal charm. And it was there that, really, it all started.[27]
After the performance, Epstein and Taylor went into the dressing room, which he later called "as big as a broom cupboard", to talk to them.[28]
The Beatles, who were all regular NEMS customers, immediately recognised Epstein, but before Epstein could congratulate them on their performance, Harrison said, "And what brings Mr. Epstein here?"[29] Epstein replied with, "We just popped in to say hello. I enjoyed your performance". He introduced Taylor, who merely nodded a greeting, and then said, "Well done, then, Goodbye," and left.[30] Epstein and Taylor went to Peacock's restaurant in Hackins Hey for lunch, and during the meal Epstein asked Taylor what he thought about the group. Taylor replied that he honestly thought they were "absolutely awful", but there was something "remarkable" about them. Epstein waited a long time before saying anything further, eventually saying, "I think they're tremendous!" Later, when Epstein was paying the bill, he grabbed Taylor's arm and said, "Do you think I should manage them?"[31]
The Beatles were scheduled to play at the club over the next three weeks, and Epstein was always there to watch them. Epstein contacted Allan Williams (their previous promoter/manager), to confirm that Williams no longer had any ties to them, but Williams advised Epstein "not to touch them with a fucking barge pole [to stay away]", because of a concert percentage the group had refused to pay him while playing in Hamburg.[32][33] Epstein later signed singer Cilla Black, who had been working as a hat-check girl in the club.[34] The Beatles were recorded playing live at the club on 22 August 1962, by Granada Television,[35] and their producer at EMI, George Martin, later thought of recording them live there, calling the projected album Off The Beatle Track, but soon realised the club had terrible acoustics.[36]
Brian Epstein at The Cavern Club in 1963
Epstein also hired Beatles secretary Freda Kelly, whose memories of him, the Cavern and the Beatles over the group's duration are detailed in the documentaries noted above[37] and in the 2013 documentary Good Ol' Freda.
Dress code
Although Epstein had had no prior experience of artist management, he made it clear that he wanted to change the Beatles' early dress-code and attitude on stage, as they wore blue jeans and leather jackets, smoked, ate and swore, stopped and started songs when they felt like it, pretended to hit each other, and turned their backs to the audience.[38] Epstein put a stop to their behaviour, insisting they wear more suitable clothes, and later suggested the famous synchronised bow at the end of their performances.[39][40] Epstein: "I encouraged them, at first, to get out of the leather jackets and jeans, and I wouldn't allow them to appear in jeans after a short time, and then, after that step, I got them to wear sweaters on stage, and then, very reluctantly, eventually, suits".[41]
McCartney was the first to agree with Epstein's ideas, believing it was due to Epstein's RADA training.[40][42] Lennon was against the idea of suits and ties, but later said, "Yeah, man, all right, I'll wear a suit. I'll wear a bloody balloon if somebody's going to pay me".[43] According to McCartney, "The gigs went up in stature and though the pay went up only a little bit, it did go up", and that the group was "now playing better places".[44] Epstein pushed McFall to raise the group's fee for a concert at the club from the previous £3, 15 shillings, to £10.[45] Another improvement was that the group was now far more organised; having a single concert diary in which to record bookings, rather than using whoever's diary was to hand.[44]
Worldwide interest
During their "Welcome Home" session at The Cavern in June 1962, the Beatles gave what Wooler described as "one of their finest ever performances", drawing "a feverish reaction" that was equal, Wooler said, to the "Beatlemania" that broke out nationwide a few months later.[46] The Cavern Club's popularity grew; rapidly becoming the most famous club in Britain.[46]
The Beatles' press officer, Tony Barrow, wrote a book called On the Scene at the Cavern, using the pseudonym Alistair Griffin. "On the Scene at the Cavern," a book including text as well as photographs from the crowds and performances at the club, was celebrated at a launch party at The Cavern Club in August 1964. In the book, Barrow described in vivid detail the scene at the Cavern Club in its heyday. "Even on a night when the Beatles weren’t billed to appear there were odds-on chances you’d find Paul or George or one of the other boys propping up the counter of The Cavern’s coke bar and chatting to groups of fans," Barrow tells readers of "On the Scene at the Cavern". "And if you looked in at a lunchtime session Cillia Black would have checked your coat into the cloakroom or spooned out a plate of tomato soup for you." On the Scene at the Cavern" was published by Panther Books, and it was reissued in 1984 with additional pictures and text from the days of the Cavern Club. Barrow also wrote for The Beatles Monthly Book at this time using the pseudonym Frederick James. And a "Cavern trip to Hamburg" was organised, involving a visit to The Star-Club where the Beatles had been a resident group.[46]
International attention became regular at The Cavern Club, with television cameras, radio broadcasters and press representatives from all over Europe visiting the club, along with reporters from the US magazines, Time, Life and Newsweek.[46] It was also visited by numerous international celebrities, including Chet Atkins, Anna Neagle and Arthur Fiedler.[46] When The Cavern grew to incorporate adjacent premises and a recording studio and new stage were built, there was such a great international demand for what the club sold as "Beatleboard" (pieces of wood from the old stage where the Beatles had played so many times), that it took four months to process the orders.[46]
List of Cavern appearances (abbreviated)
According to DJ Wooler,[4] over the course of a two-and-a-half-year period which began when they first played at the venue in February 1961, the Beatles made a total of 292 appearances at the club,[6] although author Barry Miles, in his book The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years states that it was 275 times.[16] Their final performance at the club was on 3 August 1963.[47] During their time at the club, the Beatles also had residencies in Hamburg.
The Beatles made their first appearance. As a jazz club, it is experimenting with allowing rock 'n roll, at lunchtimes only.[48]
21 March 1961
Second appearance by the Beatles. Tuesday had become "Blue Jeans Guest Night". The evening featured Dale Roberts & The Jay Walkers, The Remo Four and the Beatles.[48]
14 July 1961
The Beatles' "Welcome Home" session (after their first Hamburg residency), which also featured Johnny Sandon and The Remo Four and The White Eagles Jazz Band.[48]
25 July 1961
Another "Blue Jeans Guest Night", when the Beatles performed with Gerry & The Pacemakers and the Remo Four.[48]
2 August 1961
The first of a long series of the Beatles' resident nights.[48]
1 September 1961
During a traditional jazz evening, the Beatles performed in the interval as the only rock group.[48]
23 December 1961
During an all-night session, including jazz, the Beatles performed along with Gerry & the Pacemakers and Johnny Sandon and the Searchers.[48]
28 February 1962
The Beatles appeared along with Gerry & the Pacemakers and Johnny Sandon and the Searchers.[49]
5 April 1962
The Beatles' fan club night, which also featured a performance by the Four Jays.[49]
7 April 1962
Between two sets by the Saints Jazz Band, the Beatles gave a two-hour performance.[49]
9 June 1962
The Beatles "Welcome Home" session after their second Hamburg residency.[49]
The Cavern's Good Friday session, headed by the Beatles and featuring seven other local bands, among them the Road Runners, Faron's Flamingos and the Dennisons.[49]
3 August 1963
The Beatles make their final and 292nd appearance at the club. They received a fee of £300 pounds for the performance.[49]
New Cavern Club
The sculpture of John Lennon outside The New Cavern Club was unveiled on 16 January 1997. (Photo: George Groutas, 16 May 2008.)
On 3 August 1963, a month after recording "She Loves You", the Beatles performed at the club for the last time.[47] McFall ran the club until 1965, before closing it due to bankruptcy.[6] The fans of the club were incensed at the closure, and barricaded themselves inside.[52] The club changed hands several more times before eventually being demolished in 1973 to allow construction of an underground railway ventilation duct, before being used as a car park.[6] A replica of the club was built on "75 percent of the original site" in 1984,[6] and supposedly built with 15,000 bricks retrieved from the original club site.[8][53]
On 16 January 1997, a sculpture of Lennon was unveiled outside The New Cavern Club. On 14 December 1999, McCartney performed at the club, playing his last concert of the 20th century and publicising his album, Run Devil Run,[6] with backing musicians David Gilmour, Mick Green, Ian Paice and Pete Wingfield.[54]
John Winston Ono Lennon was an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame as the founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. His work included music, writing, drawings and film. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history.
Randolph Peter Best is an English musician who was the drummer for the Beatles from 1960 to 1962. He was dismissed immediately prior to the band achieving worldwide fame and is one of several people who have been referred to as a fifth Beatle.
Sir Richard Starkey, known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, usually for one song on each album, including "Yellow Submarine" and "With a Little Help from My Friends". He also wrote and sang the Beatles songs "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden", and is credited as a co-writer of four others.
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960, comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat, and 1950s rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the era's youth and sociocultural movements.
The Quarrymen are a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Quarrymen took their name from a line in the school song of their school, the Quarry Bank High School. Lennon's mother, Julia, taught her son to play the banjo, showed Lennon and Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars in a similar way to the banjo, and taught them simple chords and songs.
Brian Samuel Epstein was an English music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967.
Neil Stanley Aspinall was a British music industry executive. A school friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he went on to head the Beatles' company Apple Corps.
Alice Mona Best was a British music club proprietor, best known as the owner of The Casbah Coffee Club, a club in Liverpool which served as a venue for rock and roll music during the late 1950s and 1960s. Among the bands to play at The Casbah was the Beatles, for whom her son Pete Best was a drummer at the time. Mona also had two other sons, John Rory, and Vincent "Roag" Best. It was later confirmed that Roag's father was The Beatles' associate, music executive Neil Aspinall, although he was not registered as the father on Roag's birth certificate.
James Alistair Taylor was an English personal assistant of Brian Epstein, the manager of the Beatles. As an employee at Epstein's company NEMS, Taylor accompanied him when he first saw the Beatles perform, at the Cavern Club in Liverpool on 9 November 1961. Taylor subsequently worked as the group's so-called "Mr. Fixit", devising escape routes from crazed fans and assisting the band members in purchasing property. He later became general manager of Apple Corps but was fired soon after Allen Klein arrived to address the company's financial problems. Taylor published various memoirs of his years in the Beatles' employ, including Yesterday: The Beatles Remembered and With the Beatles.
Rory Storm was an English musician and vocalist. Born in Liverpool, Storm was the singer and leader of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, a Liverpudlian band who were contemporaries of The Beatles in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Ringo Starr was the drummer for the Hurricanes before joining the Beatles in August 1962.
"In Spite of All the Danger" is the first song recorded by the Quarrymen, then consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, pianist John Lowe, and drummer Colin Hanton.
William Harry is the creator of Mersey Beat, a newspaper of the early 1960s which focused on the Liverpool music scene. Harry had previously started various magazines and newspapers, such as Biped and Premier, while at Liverpool's Junior School of Art. He later attended the Liverpool College of Art, where his fellow students included John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe, who both later performed with the Beatles. He published a magazine, Jazz, in 1958, and worked as an assistant editor on the University of Liverpool's charity magazine, Pantosphinx.
Christopher Nigel Walley is an English former golfer and tea-chest bass player and manager, best known for his association with band The Quarrymen, the precursor of The Beatles which included John Lennon. His surname has often been spelt incorrectly as 'Whalley' in numerous books and on web pages.
Frederick James "Bob" Wooler was compère and DJ at The Cavern Club, Liverpool from 1961 until 1967. An important figure in the Merseybeat scene, Wooler was instrumental in introducing The Beatles to their manager, Brian Epstein. In later years, Wooler staged annual Beatles conventions in Liverpool with one-time Beatles manager Allan Williams.
Sir James Paul McCartney is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One of the most successful composers and performers of all time, McCartney is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing, versatile and wide tenor vocal range, and musical eclecticism, exploring genres ranging from pre–rock and roll pop to classical, ballads, and electronica. His songwriting partnership with Lennon is the most successful in modern music history.
The original lineup of the Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best regularly performed at different clubs in Hamburg, West Germany, during the period from August 1960 to December 1962; a chapter in the group's history which honed their performance skills, widened their reputation, and led to their first recording, which brought them to the attention of Brian Epstein.
The Beatles were a rock group from Liverpool, England. This timeline chronicles their activities.
The Cavern Club is a music venue on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England.
The English rock band The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, north London, on 1 January 1962. They were rejected by the label, who instead opted to sign a contract with Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. The audition was recorded, and five of the songs—"Searchin'", "Three Cool Cats", "The Sheik of Araby", "Like Dreamers Do" and "Hello Little Girl"—were officially released on the Beatles rarities compilation Anthology 1 in 1995.
The English rock group the Beatles toured the United States and Canada between 19 August and 20 September 1964. The 32 concerts comprised the second stage of a world tour that started with the band's tour of Europe, Hong Kong, and Australia and finished with their UK Autumn tour. The shows in the United States were a return to the country after their brief February 1964 tour.
Wiener, Allen J. (1994). The "Beatles": The Ultimate Recording Guide. Adams Media Corporation. ISBN978-1-55850-414-1.
Further reading
The Beatles Anthology DVD (DVD). Geoff Wonfor. All Regions: Apple Corps. B00006GEMA.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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