Just watched a superb special on Public TV titled, Best of the Beatles...narrated by original Beatles drummer Pete Best....(as stated in the Public TV reviews on the show)...
...Viewers learn the facts about the Beatles' experiences in Liverpool and Hamburg at the time when the band redefined the vanguard. They also learn how it all went horribly wrong for Best, the fifth Beatle.
For the first time, viewers will hear (Pete) Best's story, his role in forming the Beatles and how he survived a public nightmare, all illustrated with a variety of music, archival material and interviews. Pete's story reveals the unlikely chain of events that led to his becoming the drummer in the Beatles in the first place: his mum, the formidable Mona, pawned all her jewelry and placed a 33-to-one bet on a horse called Never Say Die. The horse won. With her winnings, Mona bought her dream home, and sent Pete, his brothers and friends into the basement to socialize and play their music. From this was born the Casbah Coffee Club, which became Beatles headquarters. Thus the legend began -- the wild revelry of playing the clubs on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg' red light district, the beginning of Beatlemania, recording for Polydor, establishing their authority as Liverpool's number one group by winning the Mersey Beat Poll, signing manager Brian Epstein, the Decca Records rejection, meeting George Martin, signing for Parlophone, recording Love Me Do at Abbey Road Studios, and finally Best's dismissal from the Beatles.
This is really an insightful program, even for a die-hard Beatles freak like myself of 40-plus years. If any picker (or kicker) ever had the right to be bitter or depressed, it was Pete. In the show Pete expresses gratitude for his drumming version of Love me Do being included on a recent Beatles Anthology. I viewed it as appreciation for services rendered in the past, he said. Things happen. What a class act. Interviews with his mother in 1964 showed her to be a very intelligent and wise person with absolutely no mean spirited nature. Some who had a hand in getting Pete replaced say they'd like to apologize to him and ask his forgiveness...... Pete Best is a true class act!
...graphic from Pete Best official website..
