Casbah Coffee Club 50th Anniversary Celebration

It was Fifty Years ago Saturday! August 29, 1959, to be exact that four Liverpool lads debuted as The Quarrymen at the premiere launch of the Casbah Coffee Club. Mona Best opened the basement of their West Derby home, Hayman's Green, and is responsible for rebooting the musical partnership of Lennon & McCartney.

Those long-ago lads all sporting guitars were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ken Brown. When Mona learned the Casbah was in need of an immediate replacement group for opening night, Harrison suggested The Quarrymen as a suitable act. The Quarrymen had not played together since January 24, 1959.

The vibrations of The Quarrymen began in 1956. This Liverpool Skiffle Group was founded by Teddy Boy John Lennon. Rotating personnel would routinely replace amateur musicians alongside Lennon who held the position of lead singer. It was on July 6, 1957, that Paul McCartney was introduced to John Lennon by Ivan Vaughn during a break at a Quarrymen appearance.

The Quarrymen had toiled about before ragtag audiences across Liverpool communities. The Skiffle combo even competed in a talent contest appearing on stage at the Liverpool Empire Theatre in June 1957. McCartney was responsible for inviting George Harrison to join up as lead guitarist in 1958.

Sincere in their endeavor to pursue a recording career, The Quarrymen recorded an original composition, "In Spite Of All The Danger", co-written by McCartney and Harrison in 1958. With John, Paul & George all on guitars, the trio were supported by John Lowe on piano and Colin Hanton on drums.

As an aside, members of the original Quarrymen reformed to celebrate their 40th Anniversary at the Cavern Club in July 1997, and have remained an active global touring unit. The Quarrymen recorded two studio albums in 1997, and 2004. To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of their first vinyl acetate, the gents released a downloadable single "Never Stop Rockin' Rollin'".

Rock The Casbah:

The Quarrymen were granted a residency at the Casbah Coffee Club, but it ended abruptly in October 1959. Pete Best was an average British teenager at the time and took up an interest in playing drums. Ken Brown would soon team up with Pete Best to form The Black Jacks with Bill Barlow on guitar and Chas Newby on bass.

Truth be told, Pete Best made his first appearance as a Silver Beatle in Liverpool, prior to Hamburg, at the Jacaranda Club on August 15, 1960. This impromptu performance was hastily arranged by manager Alan Williams who wanted the new drummer to have an opportunity to play before a live audience after a crash course in rehearsals held at the Casbah.

Once the lads headed off to Hamburg, the Greatest Show On Earth was underway. Their stage name now refined, The Beatles played the Indra Club with as little fanfare imaginable on August 17, 1960. The Fabs conducted three tours of duty with Pete Best bashing out the beat. Stu Sutcliffe eventually resigned as bassist from The Beatles, but unexpectedly died from a brain hemorrhage in April 1962.

The first actual Beatles performance in Liverpool transpired on December 17, 1960. Billed as being direct from Hamburg, The Beatles delivered their inaugural gig at the Casbah Coffee Club. During a four month absence while the lads had been hammering away on their instruments, entertaining German audiences in non-stop marathons had transformed the quintet.

The British premiere of The Beatles at the CCC featured John, Paul and George on guitar, Pete Best on drums, and Chas Newby on bass guitar as a temporary stand-in for Stu who spent his holiday season in Hamburg with Astrid Kirchherr's family. The Beatles with Pete Best as their Fab drummer gave their final CCC appearance on June 24, 1962.

The exploits of the leather clad Beatles in Hamburg and their popularity at the Cavern Club in Liverpool are stale tales often repeated that detail their meteoric rise to international fame. However, it was indeed their connection with the Casbah Coffee Club that grounded the growing musicians and propelled them to global notoriety that most Beatles fans are unaware of even today.

Exclusive RockonTour Report:

What a long strange trip it's been. 50 years have passed since the Casbah Coffee Club in West Derby opened its doors for the first time. Mona Best has been gone for 21 years, but the importance of her legacy in providing a musical venue to the embryonic Beatles deserves celebration.

The Best brothers, Pete, Rory and Roag, hosted a once in a lifetime event commemorating the 50th Anniversary of The Quarrymen inviting the public inside this international shrine to the Fabulous Beatles. The Pete Best Band headlined two concerts held at the Casbah Coffee Club on Saturday, August 29, 2009.

Beatles fan from all over the globe converged upon Liverpool during Beatles Week to participate in modern history. Pilgrimages to Hayman's Green was the primary objective of tourists compelled to see where it all began. Beatles Tours of Liverpool were all fully booked for this momentous occasion. A number of fans paid their respects by visiting the gravesite of Stuart Sutcliffe, the original bassist with the Silver Beatles.

Hayman's Green is a large West Derby estate with hulking trees that provided shade back in the day when John, Paul and George marched up the driveway all those decades ago. The expansive backyard complimented the grounds of the property. The tight doorway descending into the CCC has an overhang which requires careful navigation to avoid a considerable conk on the noggin nicknamed a 'Casbah Kiss'.

Tickets for the daytime and evening CCC concerts had sold out in advance. The Casbah Coffee Club was overwhelmed with spectators cramped shoulder to shoulder. Some CCC ticket holders were stranded out on the lawn listening to the Mersey Beat pulsating from within the basement club. Recurring rain curbed the outdoor staging of live music inside Hayman's Green.

With the level of sound on stage and bodyheat generated in the CCC, the 2009 crowd got to experience what it must have been like for 1959 CCC members. The guest performers sharing the bill with the PBB were well received by the ecstatic audience. The Pete Best Band closed both Anniversary concerts.

Original Black Jacks guitarist and guest performer Ken Brown shared his thoughts on the Casbah Club's 50th anniversary, "Like everyone who was fortunate enough to experience this great and historical event, I had a fantastic time! It was great to meet and chat to so many really lovely people from home and abroad, and I thank you all for helping make my visit such a pleasurable experience."

"I was lucky enough to attend both the afternoon and evening events and the attendance for both were exceptional. Of course for me, the evening event was extra special and it was an honour to be invited to play a couple of numbers with Pete and his band, that was something really special indeed, and an experience I shall never forget!"

"So many thoughts were passing through my mind while I was performing, the first time I met dear Mo (bless her), meeting Pete and Rory for the first time also, the great times we all had getting the club ready for the grand opening, the opening night itself playing alongside John, Paul and George, and here I was 50 years later doing it all again, amazing, just as hot and just as pact!!

"What a night ... very special, and very emotional. I would like to extend a special thank you to Phil, Tony and Paul, each of whom (individually) were kind enough to thank me personally for joining them on stage, great guys and great musicians, the pleasure was all mine lads! Oh and a big thank you to Tony for letting me use his guitar, cheers mate."

"There are many other fond memories of my time spent with the Best family over the years, however, these remain personal so I hope you'll understand. Pete will know what I mean though. It was great to meet and chat to you all too. I'm so pleased you all had such a great time and enjoyed your visit to the Casbah. It was a fantastic event for sure!! Here's hoping we can all meet again in the not too distant future."

Roag Best remarked about jamming with Ken Brown, "What can I say. It was an absolute honour to have Ken on stage performing with us. A GOLDEN MOMENT. We love you to bits Ken, but you know that."

Mike Bialaszewski, a PBB frember who attended the CCC 50 gig with his wife commented about Ken, "You were one of the highlights of the whole event. I was so glad to meet you in person and get a great picture with you. You are living history, and when you took the stage, it was awesome."

"Fifty years to the day, back in the same club that you helped create, guitar in hand and playing the same music that you and a few other guys helped shake the world with. It was such an honor to have you there and to play too was a cherry on top. May you be able to play again, again, and again in the future. I wish you all the best. You are a great guy."

"The first persons to greet us were Roag's Daughters, who checked out tickets. Then to the second room, history, art work and memories all over the walls, never before seen pictures of the Best family and early Beatles history. Then to the 'Rainbow Room', then straight on to 'The Room where it all happened'. The collective blood, sweat and tears of of Liverpool's musical youth was literally soaked into the walls, how did they fit all those people in to this place?"

"We then found the Star Room. Found Roag first, tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned around, big smile and hugs, introduced us to everyone, daughters, Roag Jr. who we knew, and his lovely wife Leigh. He then introduced us to the mayor of the CCC, his brother Rory, who gave us the tour of the place, WOW, what history."

"Meeting and talking to to Jackie Lomax of the Undertakers was very cool, what history, what an animated fellow. Picture Wild Bill Cody and you've got a good picture of Jackie (10 gallon hat and all). We settled in for a listen. We decided to get a bite to eat and we ventured just around the corner for some postcards."

The Best family heritage is forever interconnected with the amazing story of The Beatles. Mona Best welcomed The Quarrymen to enjoy a residency at the Casbah. Paul McCartney telephoned Pete Best and asked him to audition as drummer for the Silver Beatles. During his tenure as a Beatle, Best toured for hundreds of concerts over a 24 month period.

Pete Best and brother Roag Best share the drumming chores for the Pete Best Band. Going on five years now, the professional musicianship of the PBB has developed over a steady touring schedule. Lead guitarist Phil Melia, bassist Paul Parry, and rhythm guitarist Tony Flynn all take turns singing lead vocals for the PBB.

Search online to view live performance clips of the Pete Best Band appearing on stage at the Casbah Coffee Club from the two 50th Anniversary concerts. PBB frembers kindly recorded a few numbers for posterity. Tickets for the 51st Anniversary CCC concert scheduled for Saturday, August 28, 2010, may now already be on sale!

Come with me, Rhythm that moves to the beat of a drum, Lights up the darkness when all become one, Come with me are the lyrics to "Come With Me" the lead track on Haymans Green, the first original studio album released by the Pete Best Band in September 2008. Come with me down to the Casbah Club was a familiar invitation heard five decades ago. This PBB disc is highly recommended as a must have album for all serious Beatles fans.

RockonTour Issue #96
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