Star-Club

Ringo's first TV appearance in Germany miming to Pete Best's drumming.

By the time the Beatles returned to Hamburg and their first stint at the Star Club in April 1962, they had Brian Epstein as their manager and were actively trying to sign to a British label.

Bad Comfort was happy to let them go, but he said, just do one more session.

On the 24th of May, John, Paul, George, Pete and pianist Roy Young convened with Comfort at the newly built Studio Rahlstedt in Hamburg.

But this is like comparing apples to carburetors.

The Beatles' energy was born from endless hours spent woodshedding their playing in front of violent and rowdy crowds, mainly soldiers and prostitutes at the Star Club in Hamburg's Reeperbahn district.

The only way for the band to make it through their Star Club shows, sets that were sometimes six, eight, even 10 hours long, was with levity.

Levity led to drunkenness and, yes, imperfection.

The result of this performance reality was a band that could not only play, but a band that had serious charisma, energy, that George Martin was keen to get down on tape, even if it meant sacrificing some of the perfection of the band's recorded performances.

Again, if this is true.

If it's not true, if Bernard Purdie was lying, why didn't The Beatles ever deny his many claims? Why not directly confront the claim that Ringo's parts were replaced? After all, when Quincy Jones made his statement about Paul McCartney that he was the worst bass player I ever heard, Paul McCartney was anything but quiet.

[gentle music]Paul McCartney handled the stovetop in the kitchen of his St. John's Wood home like a Reaperbon bouncer handled unruly star club patrons, roughly and with little care.