Mersey Beat - Stuart Sutcliffe

Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe was born on the 23rd of June 1940 in Edinburgh, Scotland but his family moved to Aigburth, Liverpool and Stuart attended Park View Primary School, Huyton and then Prescot School before joining Liverpool College of Art. It was here that Bill Harry introduced him to his schoolmate and friend John Lennon who found him to be a really talented artist and he helped Lennon with his artistic skills and exam work. At first he lived at 9 Percy Street, Liverpool before moving to share a flat at 3 Gambier Terrace with fellow art student Margaret Chapman who competed with Stuart to be the best painter in class. John and Stuart developed a mutual like of each other, one being very friendly and a great artist and the other played a guitar and had a strong personality. In early 1960 Lennon moved into Stuart's flat and they both painted the rooms yellow and black. After selling one of his paintings, exhibited in the 'John Moores Exhibition,' to John Moores himself for £65 he was persuaded by Paul and John to purchase a Hofner bass guitar from Frank Hessey's music shop in Liverpool and join the band, now including George Harrison and Paul McCartney, also students who visited the Art College. The trouble was Stuart couldn't play very well.

John & Stuart in the early days

In a situation that was to replicate itself when Pete Best joined the band Paul has admitted "When he came into the band, around Christmas of 1959, we were a little jealous of him; it was something I didn't deal with very well. We were always slightly jealous of John's other friendships. He was the older fellow; it was just the way it was. When Stuart came in, it felt as if he was taking the position away from George and me. We had to take a bit of a back seat. Stuart was John's age, went to art college, was a very good painter and had all the cred that we didn't."
So it was that in May 1960, Sutcliffe joined Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison in a group then known as the 'Silver Beatles' and also acted as a booking agent for the group as they often used his Gambier Terrace flat as a rehearsal room. He was taught by them to perform the basic guitar chords necessary but would often be found to be playing in the wrong key and because of this often played with his back turned from the audience. 

Hamburg

 

Stuart became well acquainted with Tony Sheridan performing in Hamburg between 1960 and 1963 with Sheridan employing various backup bands rather than a group proper. It was Polydor’s A&R (Artists and Repertoire) man, Bert Kaempfert, who arranged in 1961 for the Beatles to back Sheridan for an LP called 'My Bonnie'. Stuart looked 'cool' with his Ray-Ban sunglasses and tight trousers, especially during their first spell in Hamburg and was involved in the music scene there. He’d been to the studio, played with the bands, knew Kaempfert and had all the right connections. 'Love Me Tender' was his signature song; a ballad he performed so well in Hamburg it received the best applause during 'The Beatles' sets at the Kaiserkeller and Star Club. One night a certain Klaus Voorman wandered into the Kaiserkeller club and enthralled with 'The Beatles' music brought his girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr, to watch them perform the following night. Stuart enjoyed the attention Astrid in particular gave him and when she discovered he was a painter they became closer and began dating. Within a couple of months, in November 1960, they became engaged and he enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art to study painting which was to result in him leaving the band. However they all still remained close friends and when they returned to Hamburg in April 1961 Astrid met them wearing a leather trouser suit which Stuart loved and asked for one to be made for himself. The others, also liking the look, had cheap ones made for themselves and when Stuart copied the 'Beatle' style haircut worn by many of Astrid's art friends by asking Astrid to cut it for him, they all copied the style as well, except Pete Best. This was to define their early image that set them apart from others.

 

 

After the others returned to England Stuart kept in touch with John by letter but collapsed one day in late 1961 at the Hamburg Art College after suffering from a series of headaches. This happened again in February 1962 before finally on 10 April 1962 he was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, with Astrid Kirchherr by his side, but died before its arrival.

 

Astrid and Stuart

His funeral took place at his home church of St. Gabriel (Huyton), where he had grown up and had been a choirboy and head chorister. He was buried in Huyton Parish Church Cemetery.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2017/03/mersey-beat-pete-best.html