Page 19 - LB-programme2018b

July 15, 1958: Julia is killed when she’s struck by a car in Menlove Avenue on her way
home from visiting her sister Mimi. The driver is an off-duty policeman.

August 29, 1959: The Quarrymen – in the incarnation of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison
and Ken Brown – play at the opening night of The Casbah Club, Mona Best’s new base-
ment club in West Derby, opened after son Pete asks for somewhere for himself and his
friends to meet. The Quarrymen also help to decorate the venue, although short-sighted
John accidentally uses slow-drying emulsion instead of gloss paint.

1960: John starts sharing a flat with fellow Liverpool College of Art student Stu Sutcliffe.
In May, Sutcliffe, who has been persuaded to buy a bass guitar, joins the then-named Silver
Beetles.

August 1960: The newly-named Beatles hire Pete Best as a permanent drummer and on
August 17 they arrive in Hamburg to take up a residency at the Indra Club and later the
Kaiserkeller.

February 9, 1961: The Beatles make the first of 292 appearances at the Cavern. The line-up
features Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Pete Best and Stu Sutcliffe.

November 9, 1961: Brian Epstein is introduced to the group at a lunchtime session at the
Cavern.

January 1, 1962: The Beatles audition for Decca, but are turned down. Three months later
they are hired by George Martin at Parlophone, part of EMI.

April 10, 1962: Stu Sutcliffe dies from a brain haemorrhage.

August 15, 1962: Pete Best makes his final appearance with the Beatles before being
sacked and replaced by Ringo Starr.

August 23, 1962: John and a pregnant Cynthia marry at Mount Pleasant register office.

October 5, 1962: The Beatles first single, Love Me Do, is released, with PS I Love You on
the B-side. It reaches 17 in the charts.

The Beatles at the Cavern Club ~ 1961
(Photo courtesy of The Cavern Club)
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