Photographs courtesy of Roag Best
What were your recollections of John’s Aunt Mimi?
She was very typically English. Not long after we met, John said he was
living with her ‘cause his mother had died. She was quite strict and
would make sure he had his hair combed, suit brushed and his pants
had a nice neat crease in them it before he went out. I remember once
we were laughing and joking in the house and suddenly John jumped
up and said “Oh God I can see Mimi’s coming up the road!” Then he ran
upstairs, took off his scruffy jeans and put on a pair of nice grey pants
just before she opened the front door. (Laughs) Sometimes, if we ever
got home really late from a gig, he’d ask to spend the night in The Casbah
for fear of waking Mimi up!
The Beatles were successful all over the world but particularly in the
US. Why was that?
We were influenced by American artists like Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent
and Eddie Cochran. We heard them on the radio and managed to get
their records from the transatlantic ships that docked in Liverpool. We
took that sound, put our own slant on it, then we flogged it back to them!
The Americans were the gods to us. It was wonderful when we actually
got to play with some of those guys. The English rock ‘n’ roll singers like
Cliff Richard and Terry Dene were pale imitations by comparison. The
Beatles came up with a much harder sound, we were wild and we played
from the heart.
There are a number of versions of how you left the band. How do you
remember it?
We had played at The Cavern the night before and Eppy (Brian Epstein)
said he’d like to see me in his office the following morning. This wasn’t
a surprise – until he became The Beatles’ manager I’d looked after the
business side of things, arranging the bookings and making sure we got
to the gigs. Brian and I had many brain-picking sessions together so I
bounced into his office happy as Larry. That morning though, I could tell
Brian wasn’t his normal, cool, calm self. He seemed quite agitated. He
talked around the subject for a while and then said, “the boys want you
out and it’s already been arranged that Ringo’s going to join the band on
Saturday”. The key word was, ‘already’. I was devastated, mainly because
of the way it happened. It would have been nice if the three of them
were there to tell me themselves, especially after everything we’d been
through together over the previous couple of years.
You’ll always be known as ‘former Beatle Pete Best’, does that bother
you?
Far from it. I’ve proved myself in so many different walks of life but,
inevitably, the conversation always comes back to my time with the
Beatles. I mean, I wasn’t just with them for a couple of weeks, I knew
them for three years and played with them for two. They were the vital
years when the Beatles sound was created and with that sound they went
on to conquer the whole world. I’m very proud to have played a part in
all of that.
How did you feel when you were contacted by Apple about using some
of the tracks you played on for inclusion in the Beatles Anthology?
I knew the Anthology was coming out but I never really thought I’d be
part of it. But they said they wanted to use the BBC session recordings
I’d made with the band and some of the other stuff we did for the Decca
auditions and then for Parlophone-EMI. They eventually used 7 of them
20 wirrallife.com
in the Anthology, including my versions of ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘PS I Love
You’. And I got paid for it!
Of all the tracks you recorded with The Beatles, which is your
favourite?
I like ‘Cry For A Shadow’ the best. It was written by George and John.
It’s very haunting.
Almost 60 years on from when you first met John Lennon, your paths
are going to cross again when you’ll be making your acting debut in
the brand new stage play, Lennon’s Banjo. Tell us about it.
The writer of the play, Rob Fennah, had written a novel (Julia’s Banjo)
a few years earlier with co-author, Helen A Jones. I read it and found
it to be very humorous but still factual at the same time. It was a very
enjoyable read. Then I bumped into Rob about a year ago and he told
me he was adapting the book for stage. I said, well if you do, I’d be
interested in playing a part. He laughed and I said, ‘no...I’m serious’!
And low and behold, a few months ago my manager called me and said,
Rob wants to know if you still want a part in his play, which is going to
be called, ‘Lennon’s Banjo’.
What part are you playing?
I’m playing myself, which is fine, ‘cause it’s set present day. I’ll only be
doing a few special performances due to prior commitments but I’m
really looking forward to it. It’s another new challenge for me.
So what’s the basic storyline?
Without giving too much away, it’s about a nerdy Beatles tour guide who
stumbles across a clue to the whereabouts of the first instrument John
ever learned to play – the banjo owned by his mother Julia. The thing
is, it’s been missing for 60 years and no one knows what happened to it.
All we know is that if it was found it would be worth millions because,
without it, there wouldn’t have been a Beatles.
So there really was a Lennon’s banjo?
There really ‘is’ a Lennon’s banjo. It’s out there somewhere.
As we celebrate the 100th year of women getting the vote, what do
you think your mother, Mona, would think about her contribution to
the world’s music scene?
I think she rightly deserves her recognition for being a leading figure of
the modern music scene. She had a dream, and the Casbah Coffee Club
she created is where it all began. But if you were to tell her she was