The Beatles’ first manager, Allan Williams, arranged for the Silver Beetles, as they were then called, to tour Scotland as the backing band for fellow Liverpudlian singer Johnny Gentle, who was managed by London-based music impresario Larry Parnes.
We had to tell Stuart to turn the other way: ‘Do a moody – do a big Elvis pose.’ If anyone had been taking notice they would have seen that when we were all in A, Stu would be in another key. But he soon caught up and we passed that audition to go on tour – not with a furious name at all like the other acts, but with a guy called Johnny Gentle.
During the tour the group members each assumed stage names: Sutcliffe became Stuart de Staël, after the painter Nicolas de Staël, whose style influenced many of his works.
We were terrible. We’d tell Stu he couldn’t sit with us, or eat with us. We’d tell him to go away, and he did. That was how he learnt to be with us. It was all stupid, but that was what we were like.
In August 1960 The Beatles traveled to Hamburg for the first in a series of performances. Joining the group was drummer Pete Best.
Stuart was entering the good-looking period. Earlier than that he looked a bit pimply and art-studenty. He had never been number one in our pecking order. Pimply and small, but onstage in Hamburg his stature grew. He wore his James Dean glasses, a nice pair of RayBans, and he looked groovy with his tight jeans and his big bass. Suddenly there was this transformation, and with his shades and haircut Stu became a complete dude. It was great.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
Hamburg was a popular destination for Liverpudlian musicians, who found the crowds of sailers, prostitutes and drunks on the Reeperbahn suitably appreciative. Among the groups was Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, whose drummer would later defect for greater things.
One morning, when I first got to Germany, I was wandering around, wondering where to go, and I bumped into Stuart in Grosse Freiheit. I didn’t really know him at all, but he took me to a cafe that sold pancakes and got me my first meal.
One night a local resident, Klaus Voormann, wandered into the Kaiserkeller club, where he saw Rory Storm play. Voormann remained in the club to watch the second group, The Beatles.
Enthralled with The Beatles’ music, Voormann brought his girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr and their friend Jürgen Vollmer to watch them perform the following night.
Just recently I have found the most wonderful friends, the most beautiful looking trio I have ever seen. I was completely captivated by their charm. The girl thought I was the most handsome of the lot. Here was I, feeling the most insipid working member of the group, being told how much superior I looked – this alongside the great Romeo John Lennon and his two stalwarts Paul and George: the Casanovas of Hamburg!
Anthology
Sutcliffe was entranced by the Germans, and made efforts to get to know them. He quickly began dating Kirchherr, whose relationship with Voormann had by then become mostly platonic.
He would put his shades on and stand there with his bass – it was all a big pose. At first, they were blown away by Stuart: they evidently weren’t looking for musicianship – it was image. And when Stuart turned out to be a painter, and as John was an art student and they were art students, there was this great connection. So we had drinks with them and chatted, and soon really got to know them well.
Anthology
Despite the outward show of unity, The Beatles often fought among each other. As the newest members of the group, Sutcliffe and Pete Best were particularly targeted by the other members. There was particular volatility between Sutcliffe and McCartney.
Stuart and I once actually had a fight on stage. I thought I’d beat him hands down because he was littler than me. But he was strong and we got locked in a sort of death-grip, on stage during the set. It was terrible. We must have called each other something one too many time: ‘Oh, you…’ – ‘You calling me that?’ Then we were locked and neither of us wanted to go any further and all the others were shouting, ‘Stop it, you two!’ – ‘I’ll stop it if he will.’
Anthology
John Lennon claimed the fight was over Astrid Kirchherr.
Paul was saying something about Stu’s girl – he was jealous because she was a great girl, and Stu hit him, on stage. And Stu wasn’t a violent guy at all.
Anthology
Typical. This is one of those articles you just start to read, then can’t let go. I’m hooked!!
Awesome article!I’m impressed. It had a lot of information I didn’t know about…
Do you think that the release of “Love Me Tender” here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Tender-Elvis-Presley-cover/dp/B005XLTRLO
is really Stu??
elvis Presley did a cover of the song but stuart did make the song
I look after Stuart’s grave in Hyton cemetry,Liverpool…R.I.P
It’s been said that Sutcliffe’s mental health declined heavily after Lennon kicked him in the head.
There is absolutely no proof whatsoever that lennon “kicked” sutcliffe in the head. Lets be clear about that. Eyewitnesses do not recall sutcliffe being struck in the head when he was attacked in liverpool either. (the time lennon came to his aid)
John was not with Stu in the four months prior to his death. No head trauma causes cerebral bleeding and death after that long an interval.
The sad truth is that it is far more likely sutcliffe’s tragic death was the result of an Aneurysm. Possibly acerbated by the huge amount of speed that he was taking. But that just isn’t as sensational a story though.
Very touching, very moving article. Impossible to stop reading. Thank you so much for this deeply emotional and beautiful bit of writing.
Just been to Stuart’s grave this morning. 55 years gone yesterday. Only a kid x
My son dated a distant relative of Stuart’s her name is Sarah sutcliffe
Being an artist himself, I wonder what Stu would’ve thought of Yoko Ono, and/or John’s fascination with her?
I feel that Paul sounds a liar when he involves George in his jealousy towards Stu, when the reality is that George liked Stu, he was never jealous of him, it was only Paul who felt that jealousy very strongly. Paul has a tendency to involve others in feelings that are uniquely his own.
Look, Paul’s memory is not perfect and nobody’s is. In the “Anthology”, Paul has complimented Stuart by calling him a very good painter and when he says that the only trouble with Stuart being the bassist was that he couldn’t play, he may have been referring to the formative days.
George even said that Stuart did learn a few tunes, but never fully felt at ease being in The Beatles, so he decided to return to the Liverpool College of Art or perhaps in Hamburg – I’m not really sure. It’s not like Stuart never put any effort into learning how to actually play.
Paul also denies that he ever tried to force Stuart out of the group so that he could take over on bass himself and it has to be noted that he reluctantly took over bass guitar duties.
Allan Williams alleged that Paul would surreptitiously unplug Stuart’s bass from the amplifier without his knowledge, but AFAIK, I have never seen any photographic evidence to prove it.
I’m not talking about Stu’s musical abilities. Nor am I talking about why Stu left the group. I’m talking about Paul saying that he and George were jealous of Stu, because of his friendship with John. But the only one jealous was Paul. This is very clear in Mark Lewisohn’s Tune In. It is not right for Paul to involve George in feelings that are exclusively his own.
@Isa. I wonder why you are assuming it’s Paul who is lying rather than George. George looked up to John, followed him and Cyn everywhere, according to John who felt irritated by it. George could have felt humiliated or silly years later after the acrimonious Beatles split and not admit to being jealous for all we know.
We’re talking about the relationship between Paul and Stu, nothing to do with Cynthia and John. According to the people who were there, Paul was jealous of John’s relationship with Stu, but George was not jealous of Stu, on the contrary, he got on very well with him. Therefore, Paul’s statement that “we were a bit jealous of him (Stu)” is a way of ascribing to someone else feelings that were his alone, nobody else’s. Moreover, Paul was not “a little jealous” of Stu, he was “very jealous”, according to the testimonies of Dot Rhone (Paul’s girlfriend in those days), Astrid Kirchherr, and even his brother Mike McCartney, among others.
Well, if anyone knows jealousy it is George since he spent his entire Beatles and Post Beatles life jealous of Paul for many reasons but especially because of how John favored Paul above everyone, including his own wife! Just look at Geo’s face in every interview when Paul and John are going on about something or joking – George looks like a jilted GF! You see it clearly in Get Back. George has this angry, sad puss on his face the entire time. In 1970 John finally gave George attention because he USED him to set the campaign against Paul to dis-barge his career. Sad but all true!
Back to Stu…Paul has admitted many times he was jealous of John’s relationship with Stu but John also admitted he would go overboard with attention to Stu to get a rise out of Paul because he loved how it bothered him. Paul, not one to show affection – so this what the only way John got to see that Paul really dug him, cared for him. That is what people do to get attention – they go out of their way to make the person they truly love jealous and that is exactly what John did with Stu. Not saying John didn’t love Stu, he certainly did.
Lets face it… John and Paul had one of the most loving, toxic, incredible, strange and erotic relationships in Rock history. Not even Yoko could deny John’s feelings, deep deep feelings for Paul – let alone either of them. Paul, still today at 80, still grapples with his emotions concerning John. What a love story!
“…but John also admitted he would go overboard with attention to Stu to get a rise out of Paul because he loved how it bothered him. Paul, not one to show affection – so this what the only way John got to see that Paul really dug him, cared for him.”
Really? Have you the source? I’m curious!
Why shouldn’t Paul be jealous? It’s quite normal in young male and female friendships and there doesn’t have to be any romance involved. John and Paul shared their mutual love of writing songs when they met and Paul taught John many chords he didn’t know. He helped get the Quarrymen going and got George on board. Then John, nearly two years older than Paul, went to art school befriending Sutcliffe and started treating Paul like a school boy. He minimized their friendship and everything Paul had contributed. And, according to Lewisholn, both of them played some pretty mean tricks on him. Why shouldn’t Paul feel upset? John pulled rank on him again years later when he replaced Paul with Yoko Ono. Who cares whether George was jealous of Stu or not; he was undoubtedly jealous of John and Paul. I’m sure he enjoyed every moment of Paul’s distress and I’d say it’s Paul’s way of not letting George off the hook. Paul’s detractors really seem very smug about all this.
This page busts the misconception that Stuart was a mediocre bassist and even Klaus Voormann praises him as a good bassist. It wasn’t like he had no prior musical experience and his father did teach him some chords on the guitar.
The circumstances surrounding Stuart and Pete Best’s exists were vastly different – Stuart chose to leave the band to return to art college and focus on visual arts, so he wasn’t fired, whereas Pete got kicked out of the group for a myriad of reasons.
We can only speculate what Stuart could’ve done with his life had his life not been cut so short – he could very well have done album covers for The Beatles if they asked him to provide paintings and John himself was a talented visual artist in his own right or perhaps become an art teacher in Hamburg or Liverpool.
I know that lots of biographies state that Stuart had two sisters named Joyce and Pauline, but a lot of them don’t mention this: he also had three elder half-brothers named Joe, Ian and Charles and an elder-half sister named Mattie, all of whom were the offspring of his father’s first marriage to a woman whose name has never been disclosed to any biographers. Until I knew of the existence of his elder half-siblings, I used to think that Stuart’s only siblings, half or full, were his two sisters Joyce and Pauline.
Who knows what Stuart could have done with his life had he lived?
” In 2001 she published a memoir which alleged that Sutcliffe and Lennon had had a homosexual relationship” That shocked me a lot.