Was Pete Best really that bad of a drummer?

He was the Walrus.

 

Opposition is futile. He's the Supreme Court of Beatle theorists, undoubtedly rendering his judgments on history from the bedroom of his parents' house.
"Mom! I want some meatloaf!"

 

Bill, THAT was really funny. If he eats all his meatloaf, he gets scones for desert. ..

 

If they had thought Pete was "lousy" at that point, he never would have gone to EMI. George Martin's comments meant very little (if anything). The recording contract would have to have been the impetus there.

 

i presume there is a conspiracy theory in there, maybe you could remind me save me going back over the whole thread ?

 

Well, at least the Fabs did the right thing by including Pete as one of the interviewees in the Anthology TV series. I know, they were obliged to because not including him would have made them look extremely petty for excluding him. Wait - they didn't include him???

 

Here are some reasons to be skeptical of "Pete's paternal grandfather's medals story." Lennon and Mona Best are dead. There is no mention of this in either of Best's first 2 autobiographies. There is no mention of this in the liner notes of the 2009 Sgt. Pepper CD. There is no mention of this in Sgt. Pepper and the Beatles. I have looked through many biographies of John Lennon and never seen this story. John Lennon's first wife wrote an autobiography and there is no mention of it in there either. Considering Pete still lived with his mother, it would seem if Lennon called the house, he would have wanted to speak to Pete directly. He didn't do this. Also, if he wanted to honor Pete, he would have used something of Pete's not some ancestor Lennon never met. I don't believe this story, despite whatever Pete Best has claimed.

 

I believe you have that backwards.

 

i am sceptical too - there have been many rows about this already, I believe that PB claims John spoke to Mona so my beef is that it is at best a second hand conversation that could have been misinterpreted over time.

 

It's very interesting. Much has been said about how Pete Best "never smiled" etc. However, if you look at these publicity photos taken just after Ringo joined, it's George who doesn't smile and looks very unhappy, certainly some of this had to do with his black eye, but it still seems rather odd.

 

? There aren't any. The earliest recording of Ringo on drums is Some Other Guy from August 1962, very soon after joining the Beatles.

 

Yes, it is a very good book.

 

Rory wanted Pete, but Pete turned Rory down.

 

Brian Epstein was integral to the Beatles success.

 

Pete Best has zero acting ability, so movies would not have worked with him. He probably would have been like Lenny Davidson in Having a Wild Weekend and had no lines. I completely disagree about the press conferences though. I think he would have been quite funny there.

 

No, the Dave Clark 5 not only made great music, but even sold a large number of records despite having a terrible drummer.

 

He's looking at his drums.

 

Yes. Please note he didn't try firing the drummer, despite the certainty of many that he was "lousy."

 

I recommend taking another listen. This time though, make sure your speakers are turned on.

 

Pete Best maintains no studio drummer was used on any Pete Best Combo recordings. Producer Bob Gallo wrote in the 1990s, long after there would have been any need to hide "the truth" that Pete was a great drummer and great to work with. There were no studio drummers used on Pete Best Combo recordings-Pete Best carried his own.

 

Instead of carpet-bombing this thread with your witty rejoinders, why not just use the +Quote feature?

 

Well, according to you, he's an accomplished liar, what with that whole business with the medals.

 

That video is garbage. None of the Beatles ever told Best "either improve your drumming or we are going to throw you out." The Polydor session is misrepresented here. Best was not told not to play the bass drum because he was a terrible drummer. I would like an explanation for why Tony Sheridan felt a need to play drums with "the world's biggest loser," over 40 years after the fact. Sheridan must have still been upset over getting beaten up by Best back in 1961.