That Epic Pete Best Tweet to a Beatles Question
by Best Classic Bands Staff
The Beatles regularly engage their fans on social media by asking questions such as “What’s Your Favorite Beatles Album?”, “Which Beatles Song Best Describes Your Life?”, and “Which was the Beatles Album You Discovered First?” The questions elicit tens of thousands of responses.
On Jan. 29, 2020, the group’s Twitter account posed a new question: “Who or What Got You Into the Beatles?” The next day, one of the responses stood out over all others.
The comment, “Paul phoned me and asked me to join. That’s what got me into The Beatles,” came from the Twitter account @BeatlesPeteBest.
Paul phoned me and asked me to join. That’s what got me into The Beatles. https://t.co/HrlqdrhrvQ
— Pete Best (@BeatlesPeteBest) January 30, 2020
As if that wasn’t cool enough, several days’ later, on Feb. 6, the Beatles’ Twitter account, re-tweeted Best’s response.
On Feb. 6, the Beatles’ re-tweeted Best’s response
As most Beatles fans know, Pete Best, born Nov. 24, 1941, preceded Ringo Starr in the group when he joined them in 1960. They were due to leave Liverpool for a residency in Hamburg in just a few days, but lacked one vital element – a drummer. The solution was someone they already knew.
The Beatles in 1961, with Pete Best on drums
One of the venues where they played when still the Quarrymen was the Casbah Coffee Club, run in the basement of her home by Mona Best. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison had helped decorate the space and played there on its opening night. Mona’s son Pete, was a drummer who, like the members of The Quarrymen, was taken in by the beat group craze.
John, Paul and George had seen Best play with his group the Black Jacks. An audition at the Casbah was arranged and Best was hired. The next day they headed to Hamburg, where Best made his debut with the band that became the Beatles on August 17, 1960.
Following the Beatles’ June 1962 audition for George Martin, the producer had concerns about the steadiness of Best’s time. In August the band’s manager Brian Epstein informed the drummer he was being let go. Ringo Starr was hired to replace him.
He never spoke again to his onetime bandmates. His role in the band’s development was acknowledged in 1995 by the inclusion of 10 tracks on which he played on the first audio disc of The Beatles Anthology, Volume 1, which reportedly earned Best an estimated £1-4 million in royalties.
Related: Best appeared on the TV show I’ve Got a Secret in 1964
Watch an appearance Best made on Late Night with David Letterman in 1982
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4 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationPete Best was the unluckiest man in the history of show business.
When I was younger I always wondered why Rory Storm didn’t snap him up after Ringo jumped to The Beatles. Might’ve given The Hurricanes some more fame, no matter how Pete played.
Wouldn’t that be John Lennon? Pete Best is still alive, after all.
Sad story. Paul McCartney should close the circle, inviting Pete Best to join him onstage to play at least one song. Pete Best did release one studio solo album (now hard to find), that is pure Beatles.