The Beatles: The True Beginnings - Hardcover

Best, Roag

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1901680657 ISBN 13: 9781901680652

Publisher: ScreenPress Books, 2002

Synopsis

The Casbah Coffee Club, which opened in Liverpool on 29 August 1959, was the brainchild of Mrs. Mona Best, the mother of Pete Best. It is well known that Pete Best was the drummer for The Beatles in their early days in Liverpool and Hamburg. Less well known is that The Beatles' origins were in fact at Pete's mother's club - it was at the Casbah and with Mona Best's blessing that the greatest popular music phenomenon of the twentieth century began.
This book tells the story of how Mona Best created the Casbah, and in the process played a major part in creating The Beatles. The band played the Casbah over ninety times, first as The Quarrymen, then as The Silver Beatles and finally as The Beatles. The Casbah's significance cannot be overestimated - it brought together some of the greatest names in rock music and became the catalyst for the Mersey Beat phenomenon which swept Liverpool in the early sixties.
Seen here for the first time in forty years is the club's interior as it was at the very beginning, juxtaposed with the rooms as they are today, and still showing the ceilings that were painted by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best. A wealth of rare material from the Casbah and the Bests' own archives, together with newly commissioned images by photographer Sandro Sodano, documents the club's and The Beatles' intertwined story. Accompanied by a personal memoir of this extraordinary time, written by Roag Best with his brothers Pete and Rory, this is both a moving family tribute from the Bests to their mother, and a unique insight into a remarkable period of Beatles history.

About this title

About the Author

Roag Best has worked in the music industry since he was fifteen. He has traveled all over the world as a musician, songwriter, promoter, and manager.

Pete Best is world-renowned as the ‘fifth Beatle’ who played drums alongside John, Paul, and George through 1962. Today he writes, records, and tours with his own group, The Pete Best Band.

Rory Best found the house at 8 Haymans Green, which was to become home to the Casbah Coffee Club, the birthplace of The Beatles and the catalyst for Mersey Beat.

Sandro Sodano (Art Photographer) graduated from St. Martin’s College of Art and Design in 1989.

Synopsis

Fully authenticated by Sir Paul McCartney, this extensively illustrated book examines the significance of Pete Best's mother, Mona, and the Casbah Coffee Club - the club she and The Beatles built in the basement of her home. It was a truly significant and influential place - perhaps the main catalyst for the Merseybeat scene - where John Lennon, Pete Best, Paul McCartney and George Harrison signed their first contract with Brian Epstein as The Silver Beetles.

Edition details

• Publisher: ScreenPress Books
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1901680657
• ISBN 13: 9781901680652
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200