The Beatles at the Cavern Club

This page covers the period 1961–1963. For The Beatles' later relationships with The Cavern Club and Brian Epstein, see The Beatles, The Cavern Club, and Brian Epstein

The Cavern Club was the Liverpool venue where The Beatles' UK popularity started, and it was here that they were first seen by Brian Epstein. Epstein played a major part in The Beatles' success from that point on, continuing until his death in 1967. After seeing the band perform at The Cavern Club, Epstein developed a relationship with them and eventually became their manager, going on to secure them their first UK record contract.

The Cavern club originally opened in January 1957 as a jazz club. In August of that year, The Quarrymen, who later became The Beatles, made their first appearance at the club, which was at that time owned by Alan Synter. By February 1961, when the band first performed there as The Beatles, the club was under new ownership, and it changed hands several more times before eventually being demolished to allow construction of an underground railway extraction duct. A replica of the club was built in 1984.

The Beatles had been playing at clubs on the Reeperbahn, in the German city of Hamburg, and had recorded the single "My Bonnie", with Tony Sheridan. On Tuesday, 21 February 1961, they made their first lunchtime appearance at The Cavern Club. From 1961 to 1962 The Beatles made 292 appearances at the club, culminating in a final appearance there on 3 August 1963, a month after the band recorded "She Loves You" and six months before the Beatles' first trip to the United States.

Background: The Cavern Club, late 1957

In August 1957, the band that would eventually adopt the name The Beatles was called The Quarrymen. Whilst playing golf with Dr. Joseph Sytner, Nigel Whalley—a friend of Lennon’s who was an apprentice golf professional at the Lee Park Golf Club—asked Dr. Sytner if his son, Alan, could book The Quarrymen at The Cavern Club in Mathew Street, which was one of three jazz clubs he managed. Sytner suggested that the band should play at his golf club first, so as to assess their talent. The band set up in the downstairs lounge of the golf club, and were surprised when nearly one hundred people filed in to listen. The performance was a success, and a hat was later passed around that held almost 15 pounds, which was much more than any other bands were paid. Alan Sytner phoned Whalley a week later and offered the band an interlude spot playing skiffle between the performances of two jazz bands at The Cavern.

Before The Cavern Club performance, the band argued amongst themselves about the set list, as rock 'n roll songs were definitely not allowed at the club, but skiffle was tolerated. After starting with a skiffle song, Lennon called for the others to start playing "Don't Be Cruel", but banjo-player Rod Davis warned Lennon that the audience would "eat you alive", which Lennon ignored and started playing it himself, forcing the others to join in. Halfway through, Sytner pushed his way through the audience and handed Lennon a note which read, "Cut out the bloody rock 'n roll". In 1960, The Quarrymen changed their name, initially to the Silver Beetles, and finally to The Beatles.

Epstein and The Cavern

The Beatles' name was first noticed by Brian Epstein in issues of Mersey Beat (which he sold in his NEMS music store) and on numerous posters around Liverpool, before asking Bill Harry who they were. The Beatles were featured on the front page of its second issue.

Epstein's version of the story was that a customer, Raymond Jones, had walked into the NEMS shop on Saturday 28 October 1961, and asked Epstein for the "My Bonnie" single the group had recorded with Sheridan. Alistair Taylor later claimed that he had used the name of Jones (a regular customer) to order the single and paid the deposit himself, knowing that Epstein would notice it, and order further copies. Two girls requested the record the following Monday, and supposedly this sparked Epstein's interest. It was the policy of the NEMS shop to look into every request that was made, so Epstein talked to his contacts, and was told that they were playing The Cavern, having just returned from Hamburg. Harry and McCartney later repudiated this story, as Harry had been talking to Epstein about The Beatles for a long time (being the group he promoted the most in the magazine) and by McCartney saying, “Brian [Epstein] knew perfectly well who The Beatles were - they were on the front page of the second issue of 'Mersey Beat'.”

The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best—were due to perform a lunchtime concert in The Cavern Club on 9 November 1961. Epstein asked Harry to arrange for Epstein and his assistant Taylor to watch The Beatles perform, so Epstein and Taylor were allowed into the club without queuing, with a welcome message being announced over the club's public-address system by Bob Wooler, who was the resident DJ. Epstein later talked about the performance:

I was immediately struck by their music, their beat, and their sense of humour on stage—and, even afterwards, when I met them, I was struck again by their personal charm. And it was there that, really, it all started.

After the performance, Epstein and Taylor went into the dressing room, which he later called "as big as a broom cupboard", to talk to them.

The Beatles, who were all regular NEMS customers, immediately recognised Epstein, but before Epstein could congratulate them on their performance, Harrison said, "And what brings Mr. Epstein here?" Epstein replied with, "We just popped in to say hello. I enjoyed your performance." He introduced Taylor, who merely nodded a greeting, and then said, "Well done, then. Goodbye," and left. Epstein and Taylor went to Peacock's restaurant in Hackins Hey for lunch, and during the meal Epstein asked Taylor what he thought about the group. Taylor replied that he honestly thought they were "absolutely awful", but there was something "remarkable" about them. Epstein waited a long time before saying anything further, just sitting there smiling slightly, but eventually saying, "I think they're tremendous!" Later, when Epstein was paying the bill, he grabbed Taylor's arm and said, "Do you think I should manage them?"

The Beatles played at The Cavern over the next three weeks, and Epstein was always there to watch them. Epstein contacted Allan Williams (their previous promoter/manager) to confirm that Williams no longer had any ties to them, but Williams advised Epstein "not to touch them with a barge pole", because of a concert percentage the group had refused to pay him in Hamburg.

Management contract

Brian Epstein at The Cavern Club in 1963, with The Beatles in the background

In a meeting with the group at NEMS on 3 December 1961, Epstein would propose the idea of managing them. Lennon, Harrison and Best arrived late for the meeting—they had been drinking at the Grapes pub in Mathew Street—and Epstein was irritated to see that McCartney was not with them, because, as Harrison explained, he was "taking a bath". Lennon had invited Wooler to be at the meeting so he could later give his opinion of Epstein, but introduced him by saying, "This is me dad". Epstein was reticent throughout the short meeting, only asking if they had a manager (to which they replied in the negative) and culminating with, ""It seems to me that with everything going on, someone ought to be looking after you." Epstein had further meetings with the group on 6 December and 10 December 1961. On 13 December 1961, Mike Smith of Decca records in London to came and watched The Beatles at the The Cavern Club (after Epstein's invitation) which led to an audition in London on 1 January 1962 (see The Decca Audition).

The Beatles finally signed a five-year contract with Epstein on 24 January 1962, which gave Epstein 25% of their gross income. The Beatles would then share any income after various expenses had been deducted. He then formed the management company NEMS Enterprises, telling his mother and father that managing The Beatles was only a part-time occupation, and would never interfere with the family business.

Although Epstein had had no prior experience of artist management, he wanted to strongly influence The Beatles’ early dress-code and attitude on stage, as they wore blue jeans and leather jackets, ate and swore, and stopped and started songs when they felt like it. Epstein insisted they wear suits and ties, that they stop swearing, smoking, drinking or eating onstage, and also suggested the famous synchronised bow at the end of their performances. McCartney was the first to agree with Epstein's ideas, believing it was due to Epstein's RADA training, although Lennon was against the idea of suits and ties, but later said, "Yeah, man, all right, I'll wear a suit. I'll wear a bloody balloon if somebody's going to pay me". According to McCartney, "The gigs went up in stature and though the pay went up only a little bit, it did go up", and that the band was "now playing better places." Another improvement Epstein made was that the group was now far more organised; having a single concert diary in which to record bookings, rather than using whoever's diary was to hand.

Recording contract

The Beatles were still under contract to Polydor following their Hamburg work with Tony Sheridan for Bert Kaempfert. As Kaempfert was only interested in The Beatles as a backing group for Sheridan, he agreed to release The Beatles from their Polydor contract. This left the band with no recording contract, so Epstein made numerous trips to London to visit record companies, but was rejected by many, including Columbia, Pye, Philips, Oriole, and most famously, Decca [see The Decca audition]. The Beatles later found out that Epstein had paid Decca producer Tony Meehan (ex-drummer of the Shadows) to produce the studio recordings. While Epstein was negotiating with Decca, he also approached EMI marketing executive Ron White, who later contacted EMI producers Norrie Paramor, Walter Ridley, and Norman Newell, but they all declined to record the group. White could not contact EMI's fourth staff producer (George Martin) as he was on holiday.

On 8 February 1962, Epstein visited the HMV (EMI) store at 363 Oxford Street, London, to have the Decca audition tape transferred to 78rpm acetates. A HMV disc-cutter named Jim Foy liked the recordings, and suggested that Epstein should contact Sid Coleman, the head of EMI's record publishing company, Ardmore & Beechwood, who had offices on the top floor. Coleman liked the recordings, and sent Epstein to Martin, the A&R manager of Parlophone. The Beatles were signed by EMI's small Parlophone label after the group had been rejected by almost every other British record company, and without Martin ever having seen them play live. Martin later explained that Epstein's enthusiasm, and his conviction that The Beatles would one day become internationally famous, convinced him to sign them.

Martin scheduled an audition at Abbey Road Studios which convinced Martin that they were good enough, but with one exception: He felt the recording would be better served by an experienced session drummer in place of Pete Best. When the news came that Martin wanted to replace Best on their recordings with a session drummer, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison asked Epstein to fire Best from the band. Epstein agonised about the decision, and asked Bob Wooler if it was a good idea, to which Wooler replied that Best was very popular with the fans and they would not like it at all. Epstein went ahead with Best's dismissal and Ringo Starr took his place, as Starr had previously played with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and had previously stepped in to drum with them when Best was ill or unable to play.

Worldwide interest

During their June 1962 "Welcome Home" session at the Cavern, The Beatles gave what Wooler described as "one of their finest ever performances", drawing "a feverish reaction" that was equal, Wooler says, to the Beatlemania seen nationwide a few months later. The club expanded as its popularity grew, rapidly becoming the most famous club in Britain. A "Cavern trip to Hamburg" was organized, involving a visit to the Star-Club where The Beatles had been a resident band, and The Beatles' press officer Tony Barrow wrote the book The Cavern. The international media became a regular presence at the Cavern, with television cameras, radio broadcasters and press representatives from all over the world in attendance, along with reporters from the U.S. magazines Time, Life and Newsweek. It became the habit of numerous international celebrities including Chet Atkins, Anna Neagle and Arthur Fiedler to visit the club. When the Cavern grew to incorporate adjacent premises, and a recording studio and new stage were built, there was such great international demand for what the club sold as "Beatleboard", pieces of wood from the old stage where The Beatles had played so many times, that it took four months to process the orders.

Hit record

With The Beatles' growing popularity, and a record contract now secured by Epstein, recording sessions followed the June 1962 audition at Abbey Road Studios. The 4 September 1962 session yielded a minor commercial success in the form of the debut single Love Me Do which reached #17 in the UK. The significant breakthrough to chart success, however, came with the follow-up single. Please Please Me, recorded on 30 November 1962, achieved the #2 position in the UK chart.

List of Cavern appearances

Over the course of a two-and-a-half year period, which began when they first played at the venue in February 1961, The Beatles made a total of 292 appearances at The Cavern Club, culminating in their final performance there on 3 August 1963.

During this time, The Beatles also had periods of residency in Hamburg.

See also: The Beatles in Hamburg

Date	Event
21 February 1961	The Beatles make their first appearance at The Cavern Club: as a jazz club, it is experimenting with allowing rock and roll (lunchtimes only).
21 March 1961	Second appearance by The Beatles at The Cavern Club. Tuesday has become "Bluegenes guest night", and tonight's event features Dale Walker & the Jay Walkers, the Remo Four and The Beatles.
14 July 1961	The Beatles' "Welcome Home" session, also featuring Johnny Sandon and the Remo Four and the White Eagles Jazz Band.
25 July 1961	Another "Bluegenes guest night", when The Beatles perform with Gerry & the Pacemakers and the Remo Four.
2 August 1961	The first of a long series of The Beatles' resident nights at The Cavern Club.
1 September 1961	During a traditional jazz evening, The Beatles perform in the interval, as the only rock group.
23 December 1961	During an all-night session, including jazz, The Beatles perform, along with Gerry & the Pacemakers and Johnny Sandon and the Searchers.
28 February 1962	The Beatles appear along with Gerry & the Pacemakers and Johnny Sandon and the Searchers.
5 April 1962	The Beatles' fan club night, also featuring a performance by the Four Jays.
7 April 1962	Between two Saints Jazz Band sets, The Beatles give a two-hour performance.
9 June 1962	The Beatles "Welcome Home" session after their Hamburg season.
1 July 1962	The first Cavern evening with no jazz. Performing are The Beatles, the Swinging Bluejeans, Gene Vincent and Sounds Incorporated.
1 August 1962	The Beatles perform along with Gerry & the Pacemakers and the Merseybeats.
28 August 1962	Another "Bluegenes guest night", when The Beatles perform along with the first Birmingham group to feature, Gerry Levene and the Avengers.
9 September 1962	The Beatles perform along with Billy J. Kramer and the Coasters, and a jazz singer, Clinton Ford.
12 September 1962	A London singer, Simone Jackson, performs with The Beatles as her backing group.
12 October 1962	The Beatles perform along with "their idol" Little Richard.
5 December 1962	The Beatles perform along with Gerry & the Pacemakers.
20 January 1963	The Beatles perform along with the Dennisons, the Swinging Bluejeans and the Merseybeats.
3 February 1963	The Cavern's "rhythm & blues marathon", featuring The Beatles, the Hollies, the Merseybeats, the Fourmost, the Swinging Bluejeans and Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes.
12 April 1963	The Cavern's Good Friday session, headed by The Beatles and featuring seven other local bands, among them the Road Runners, Faron's FRlamingos and the Dennisons.
3 August 1963	The Beatles make their final, 292 appearance at The Cavern Club. They receive a fee of 300 pounds for the performance.

After The Cavern

On 3 August 1963, a month after recording "She Loves You", The Beatles performed at the club for the last time. Six months after their final appearance at The Cavern, Epstein would organize the most significant event in the history of the band's commercial success: The Beatles' first visit to the United States.

On 14 December 1999, McCartney performed at The New Cavern Club, playing his last concert of the 20th century and publicising the album Run Devil Run. His backing musicians were David Gilmour, Mick Green, Ian Paice, and Pete Wingfield.

References

• The Beatles; et al. (2000). The Beatles Anthology. Apple Corps. ISBN 0-304-35605-0. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)
• Best, Pete (1989). BEATLE! The Pete Best Story. Plexus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0859650779.
• Coleman, Ray (1989). Brian Epstein: The Man Who Made The Beatles. Viking. ISBN 0-670-81474-1.
• Coleman, Ray (1984). Lennon: The Definitive Biography. New York: Pan Books. ISBN 0-060-98608-5.
• Hill, Tim (2007). Then There Was Music: The Beatles. Daily Mail. pp. 10–381. ISBN 0-9545267-7-5. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Kevin Godley (director). The Beatles Anthology (DVD). Apple Records. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |year2= ignored (help)
• Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated. London: Virgin Publishing. ISBN 0-7535-0481-2.
• Harry, Bill (2002). The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0716-1.
• Lennon, Cynthia (2006). John. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-89828-3.
• Lewisohn, Mark (1992). The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years. Hamlyn. ISBN 0-681-03189-1.
• Lewisohn, Mark (1996). The Complete Beatles Chronicle. Chronicle Press. ISBN 1-85152-975-6.
• Miles, Barry (1997). Many Years from Now. Vintage-Random House. ISBN 0-749-38658-4.
• Miles, Barry (1998). Beatles Diary. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0711963153.
• Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Little Brown. ISBN 0-316-80352-9.

External links