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Pete Best Biography
Best joined The Beatles on August 12, 1960, only one day before they were to go to Hamburg to play a season of concerts. He was dismissed from the group two years later, on August 16, 1962, but was never given a full explanation as to the reason why. It may have been because he did not fit stylistically. He later worked as a civil servant for 20 years, before starting The Pete Best Band. Best has been married for over 40 years to Kathy Best; they have two daughters and four grandchildren. On their first trip to Hamburg, The Beatles realised that the stage suits they wore could not stand up to the hours of sweating and jumping about on stage every night, so they all bought leather jackets, jeans and cowboy boots, which were much tougher. Best preferred to play in shirtsleeves, so did not follow the style of the group, even though he was later photographed wearing a leather jacket and jeans
Pete Best - In His Own Words
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Pete Best (b. November 24, 1941, in Madras, British India) is a British musician, best known as the original drummer for The Beatles.
Best has never been told why he was dismissed from The Beatles, as the only reason Epstein gave was, "The lads don't want you in the group anymore". It has been documented (notably in Cynthia Lennon's book John) that while Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison usually spent their offstage time together in Hamburg and Liverpool, writing songs or socialising, Best generally went off alone. This left Best on the outside, as he was not privy to many of the group's experiences, references, and in-jokes.
Best's popularity with fans was a source of friction, as many female fans considered Best to be the band's best-looking member. In addition, Epstein became exasperated with Best's refusal to adopt the mop-top-style Beatle haircut as part of their unified look, although Best later claimed that he was never asked to change his hairstyle. In a 1995 BBC Radio Merseysde interview, Kirchherr, who was former bassist Sutcliffe's girlfriend at the time, explained: "My boyfriend, Klaus Voorman, had this hairstyle, and Stuart liked it very, very much. He was the first one who really got the nerve to get the Brylcreem out of his hair, and asking me to cut his hair for him. Pete Best has really curly hair, and it wouldn't work."
