Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

After a absence of some forty odd years I managed to trace an old friend I shall call Tony.
I last saw my friend in the mid sixties when he left Liverpool to start a new career in Lima Peru, his position was Professor of Constitutional Law advising the Peruvian Government.
He is now living in America,but owing to the sensitive nature of his work wishes to remain anonymous, he has however given me permission to
quote from his letter.

Quote:- My memories of our time together are exceptionally vivid,but I have never tried to capitalize on them or re-create them in print;they would hardly have fitted my currant persona!.What I do remember you can use it..Tony
transgressors... we now resume the letter:- Back to Ringo. As you will recall,he played drums for Rory Storm & the Hurricanes at the Storyville(I never knew the Iron Door personally) at lunchtimes
I never spoke to him at any time...
Tony transgressors once more he then describes Brian Epstein calling for the money for a gig the Beatles are doing at the club...Epstein who I had never met privately,although I had spoken to him on the telephone during the early part of 1962 had but recently assumed management of the Beatles.I have a distinct first sight of him.I was at or close to the front desk when he came in,in his black suit & enquired,rather comically "Where do I get the loot"? I directed him to you.
Now,back again to Ringo.
One night,much further down the road you and I were alone in the club in one of the booths drinking coffee & having one of our serious chats about the parlous state of business & finances generally when,between midnight & 1 a.m.
we had visitors; the door (the wonderful Iron Door)was rarely locked after business hours & we had many visitors,most inconsquential.These, however,were Brian,Paul,John & George.Without any polite introduction Paul blurted out the reason for their visit saying (& this is perfect recall),"We can't play with Pete anymore he's on drugs".Brian then cut in,soothingly & said Do you have Ringo under contract, Tony?.He knew of course,that I was (am!) a lawyer.I looked over at you(You WERE the boss, after all!),you were smoking(when were you not!),you nodded indicating I should reply.I said No he just plays as part of the group at lunch times & they divvy up the fee" which I recall was 35/-each between the five of them.
Paul then said "We are intending to give Ringo a try with us?".You like a good host offered them coffee which they declined & left.John & George said not a word throughout.We gave the matter little thought at the time.Bands and personnel came and went, who could have predicted the future.

The real significance of this,as I have already indicated to you, is that only Paul,you & I are alive to tell this tale,the other three are dead;John has a place in my book On Assassination (1984).I can see this scene in my minds eye as clearly as the desk on which I am now writing to you.

Tony as indicated is a lawyer we had some days before signed up Freddie Starr & the Kansas City Five,we were also contemplating the signing of the Searchers.
Tony to his credit would give the groups the benefit of free legal advise,he had on numerous occasions been asked about contracts.
Unfortunately unlike Tony I do not have perfect recall,only a vague recollection of the visit.
I relate the story because it paints a picture of the atmosphere in the Iron Door at the time and did not take a back-seat.

Rich with detail from the heyday of the Iron Door Club, Geoff. Thanks for sharing this information. Stories like these are priceless and serve to remind others of their time there as well. Let's hope it stirs the memory as much as it warms the heart.

Holy Cow! I've been away for a week--I'm surprised no one has commented further on this one!

This is a puzzle piece Beatle-ists have been wondering about to this day, and here is fresh info from first-hand sources. No interest??

I wonder what "drugs" Paul was talking about...?

Thanks for posting this, Geoff.

It's hard to say, as all of them have admitted to being on Preludin during their trips to Hamburg.

Interesting to say the least.

Oops, Double post

"On drugs" is also a way to say someone is "out there" or "barmy" so it might not even refer to real drugs---which we all know the Beatles used in one form or another since at least the Hamburg days.

So Geoff, you don't really remember much about this? It sort of gets to the heart of why Pete was sacked, but none of the books we read ever has a definitive reason. Very interesting to me.

Howdy,

Interesting post. Unless Paul's willing to talk, we may never really know anymore about this..
I think that there's some margin for Paul's comment about Pete "Being on drugs" to not necessarily be a literal statement, but perhaps that the lads couldn't get "on" with him for whatever reasons; MHO. Also, Ringo was a better drummer, simple as that.

Eggman

I'm somewhat surprised Paul's doing the (rather harsh) talking. One gets the feeling that Lennon was the leader/mouthpiece.

My impression is that Paul was more of a move and shaker all along within the Beatles than given credit for.

Anyhow, that is a wonderful post Geoff, and I feel privileged to be one of the few to read it on this wonderful forum. Thanks.

Whilst there are only three alive in Geoff, McCartney and "Tony" to clarify this meeting and Geoff admits to a vague recollection there is one other alive to dispute what McCartney said, Pete Best.

A fascinating story and thanks for sharing it Geoff, but I do find it amazing that in 45 years the real reason has never come out, unless it simply is Martin did not fancy him as drummer.

One assumes Geoff that this meeting would have taken place in June/July as Ringo appeared officially with The Beatles in August, it is also my understanding that Ringo did fill in for Best on drums on some sessions for whatever reason during the previous weeks leading up to Best getting the boot.

Forgive me for perhaps my ignorance or naivete in bringing up a notion that you may well have debunked long ago on the Forum, but isn't it still the most popular story, in print and on the DVDs, that Ringo simply kept better time than Pete, and it was a question of a better drummer versus a nice guy who was a lesser drummer?

Certainly that is the story quoted Elys but Geoff is one of those guys who was there and very much part of the scene so to speak.

Why this is so intriguing to many of us is because the Beatles have never wanted to talk about this, to this day. Radio silence, for nearly half a century. So this is like a break in a cold case.

I recall reading, that Ringo would fill in for Pete because Pete was "sick" So now the question is, What is the definition of sick?

It wasn't too difficult, by the way, to verify the lawyer's identity based on the hints in the post and a little Googling. I believe we should respect his privacy, but it helps to know this is all for real.

Geoff, you really held a lot of power back in the day. It seems to me you used it with good conscience and class. Thanks for that! The things you did have had a meaningful impact upon the whole world, really, when you think about the birth pangs of the Beat sound and the so-called British Invasion. Not many people can boast that. Wish I could have been a fly on the wall during some of those after-hours coffee breaks...