Drummed Out 
The Sacking Of Pete Best

By Spencer Leigh

‘We got Pete Best because we needed a drummer for Hamburg,…… Pete Best was a great drummer, but Ringo was a Beatle’. Harsh words from John Lennon, but were they the truth?

For almost 40 years everyone associated with The Beatles has had his say as to why Pete Best was sacked, and now ‘Drummed Out - The Sacking Of Pete Best’ attempts to paint the complete picture.

Spencer Leigh’s book is a collection of quotations and interviews by people who were around Pete at the time, and who knew him best; but it is the additional research which the author has done that makes this book fascinating.

For example, did you know that Pete and Roag Best are actually half brothers, and even more dramatic is the fact that Roag Best’s father is none other than Beatle faithful stalwart, Neil Aspinall! Shocking revelations indeed!

But let’s not get too side-tracked here; this book is not about exclusives, it is a collection of peoples' opinions. Paul McCartney said, "Pete had never been quite like the rest of us….he was slightly different from us…..he wasn’t artsy as we were and we just didn’t hang out that much together….we never really went to places together".

He may be telling the truth, may not be, but for me Cynthia Lennon confirms what both John and Paul have said in the past…. "their personalities were not in tune with that of Pete. Musically yes; but as personalities they didn’t gel. Ringo was just nutty enough to fit in, whereas Pete was too serious for them."

So who was to blame for Pete’s sacking? The Beatles? Brian Epstein? George Martin? Pete Best? The good thing about this book is that it doesn’t provide the jigsaw, just the pieces. Whether it was his poor drumming, his unreliability, his good looks or his personality that proved to be his downfall it is up to you to draw your own conclusions. I have read the book twice, and in finding out how an elephant drowned and how many German number ones Sweet had, I have resolved the last unresolved Beatle mystery for myself!!!

I recommend that you also resolve it for yourself.

By Michael Lynch

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