{"id":557265,"date":"2025-11-08T12:46:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T12:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/557265\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T12:46:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T12:46:23","slug":"someone-out-there-was-nearly-in-the-beatles-and-never-knew-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/557265\/","title":{"rendered":"Someone out there was nearly in the Beatles and never knew it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul McCartney, aged 18, scoured the city for a new member before fate took a turn\"GrahamGraham Stanley, 47, co-owner of the Jacaranda, with the famous mural (left) reportedly painted by Beatles John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe.(Image: Liverpool ECHO)<\/p>\n

A young drummer almost found themselves in the most successful band in history<\/a> after he took out an ad in the ECHO<\/a>. The advert was spotted by a desperate Paul McCartney<\/a>, aged 18, as the band scoured the city for a fifth member to take on their first legendary trip to Hamburg days later.<\/p>\n

McCartney wrote a letter to the mystery drummer inviting them to audition for the newly-christened \u2018Beatles\u2019 at the Jacaranda club<\/a> on Slater Street<\/a>. The letter marks the first time the name \u2018The Beatles\u2019 was ever used in correspondence, with the band performing under various names up to that point, including Long John and The Silver Beatles, Johnny and The Moondogs, and The Silver Beatles.<\/p>\n

But Graham Stanley, 47, co-owner of the Jacaranda, believes the letter was never sent. The note, signed \u2018Paul McCartney of THE BEATLES<\/a>\u2019, was discovered stashed in a cookery book bought at a car boot sale in Bootle<\/a> in 2011, and was sold at auction later that year for \u00a335,000.<\/p>\n

A copy of the letter hangs in pride of place by the front door of the Jacaranda club, where Graham believes the letter was written, and where the Beatles first performed under the name that would become famous around the world.<\/p>\n

Graham said: \u201cThis drummer never gets auditioned or anything. No-one knows who he is. It\u2019s my understanding that the letter wasn\u2019t sent, because the next day, they do this audition with Pete Best in what is now the Blue Angel. They sort of knew Pete, and he got a drum kit for Christmas.<\/p>\n

\"JacarandaJacaranda co-owner Cath Nixon with a scan of the letter. (Image: Liverpool ECHO)<\/p>\n

\u201cI imagine this situation where they\u2019re all sat around in here [The Jacaranda], and Paul is reading the ECHO, and saying \u2018Hey John, there\u2019s a drummer here\u2019, and writing the letter, and John saying \u2018Hang on Paul, what about Besty?\u2019, and they go over to the phone in the corner and call the Casbah.\u201d<\/p>\n

The advert in the ECHO on August 10, 1960, offers little clue as to the mystery drummer\u2019s identity, reading simply: \u201cDrummer, young, free\u201d. It was posted just seven days before the drummer-less Beatles were due to leave for Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really couldn\u2019t find a drummer,\u201d Graham said. The band had cycled through numerous drummers before settling for a while on Norman Chapman, who had been called up for National Service before the young band toured Scotland in the summer of 1960 with Paul on the kit.<\/p>\n

When they returned, manager and Jacaranda owner Alan Williams informed John, Paul, George and Stuart that they were heading to Hamburg for a two-month run of gigs. Graham said: \u201cAlan tells them it has been booked as a five piece, so you\u2019re going to have to find a drummer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA reproduction of the letter written by Paul to the mystery drummer hangs in the Jacaranda.(Image: Liverpool ECHO)<\/p>\n

The letter, written just five days before the band\u2019s first Hamburg show at the Indra Club, reads:<\/p>\n

Dear Sir, In reply to your advertisement in the Echo, Wed. night, we would like to offer you an audition for the position of drummer in the group. You will, however, need to be free soon fpr a trip to Hamburg (expenses paid \u00a318 per week (approx.) for two months.) If interested, ring Jacaranda Club, Slater St. [Royal 65\u201944] and ask for either a member of the \u2018BEATLES\u2019, Alan Williams, or else leave a message, stating when you will be available. Yours Sincerely, Paul McCartney of THE BEATLES<\/p>\n

\u201cThat, as far as I know, is the first time the name \u2018The Beatles\u2019 is ever written down,\u201d said Graham. The letter, a copy of the original, was stolen in August by a man who thought he was pinching an early-Beatles relic that sold at auction for \u00a335,000 in 2011.<\/p>\n

It was quickly reprinted and replaced, but is now screwed into the wall to save on purchasing a new frame.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe advert (bottom-right) Paul McCartney responded to in the Liverpool Echo, printed August 10, 1960.(Image: British Newspaper Archive)<\/p>\n

Do you know the identity of the mystery drummer? Contact jonathan.blackburn@reachplc.com<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey audition Pete Best, and the very next day they do an all-day rehearsal in the basement of the Jacaranda because they\u2019re going to Hamburg the next day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn interviews with Pete and Alan, they both talk about how time was marching on, and Alan had to open the club. The band kept playing, and people were coming in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had changed their name to The Beatles, we know that from the letter, but they had never played in front of an audience as The Beatles.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Beatles in Arnhem on August 15, 1960, en-route to Hamburg, days after Paul wrote the letter. L-R: Allan Williams, Beryl Williams, Lord Woodbine (Harold Phillips), Stuart Sutcliffe, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pete Best. The image was likely taken by John Lennon.(Image: Keystone Features\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

They do this rehearsal that turned into a gig, and the famous story is that Pete and Alan tell is that people in the audience were holding broomsticks with microphones taped to them because they didn\u2019t have mic stands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe very next morning, they all pile in a VW van and go over to Hamburg. The next night they are playing the Indra Club as The Beatles.\u201d<\/p>\n

In August 2024, the club was recognised as the first place the band ever played under the name \u2018The Beatles\u2019 by World Origin Site .Org, with a plaque outside the venue now proclaiming the fact.<\/p>\n

\"GrahamGraham Stanley, 47, outside his Jacaranda club. The club is the first venue that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best played under the name ‘The Beatles’. (Image: Liverpool ECHO)<\/p>\n

Graham added: \u201cWhat we do is put on kids who are playing their first gigs on that stage, and I think it\u2019s amazing that they\u2019re doing it on the same stage where John and Paul started.<\/p>\n

\u201cHalf the young bands coming in probably have no idea. It\u2019s not the biggest drum we bang, and if we were just about The Beatles then I couldn\u2019t run it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur focus is very much on new music, just as it was in 1958. It just so happens that the first band that broke out of here happened to be The Beatles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you have a story? Contact jonathan.blackburn@reachplc.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paul McCartney, aged 18, scoured the city for a new member before fate took a turnGraham Stanley, 47,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,179,2349,4162,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-557265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-liverpool","12":"tag-liverpool-city-centre","13":"tag-the-beatles","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115514153325393587","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}