Cover designed by Klaus Voormann
The Beatles spent plenty of time in Hamburg in the early 1960’s. Stu Sutcliffe their bass player had fallen in love with Astrid Kirchherr, a girl he had met in many of the seedy clubs that the Beatles played in the Reeperbahn. He refused to follow the Beatles home to the U.K.
Excerpts from a letter that George Harrison writes Stu Sutcliffe while Sutcliffe was living in Hamburg with Astrid.
25, Upton Green
Speke, Liverpool. 24
Friday, December 16
Dear Stu,
“I hope you are going on OK there with Astrid. I arrived okay (24 hours exactly), but spent a packet on porters, taxis, etc.”
“I went to see your mum & dad the day after I arrived and they were pleased to see me. Your dad doesn’t seem to mind the idea of being engaged, but your mum seemed a little disapointed (sic) in you, (that is far as I can mke out).”
“Anyhow, I would like to have the whole group appearing for our first bookings at least, so as to go down well from the start, So how about coming home soon! This hasn’t been talked about with the others in the group and is just my opinion. Wouldn’t it be good, Astrid’s first Christmas in England!”
“Anyway Stu, get home here smartish, and remember me to the wife, Jurgend & the blonde as well. Remember, the trip is quite good even alone, and you too can be in Uller RD in exactly 24 hours.”
Cheerio, George
(From the Glass Onion, The Beatles in their own words by Geoffrey Guiliano and Vrnda Devi, Da Capo Press, 1999)
Stu Sutcliffe died of a brain haemorrhage in April 1962. He was portryed by Stephen Dorff in the film Backbeat. He was a more talented artist than a musician. Astrid Kirchherr prior to meeting Sutcliffe was dating Klaus Voormann, who designed the Beatles Revolver album when they returned to Hamburg in the mid 60’s and recorded with EMI in 1966. Voormann became the bassist for the rock group Manfred Mann, the group that sang a great cover of “Do wah diddy diddy.”
Revolver contained some of the Beatles most beautiful and popular songs, “Taxman,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Got to get you inito my life”, “Yellow Submarine”, “Good day Sunshine.”
That was the last year that England won the World Cup. In 1966.
Bruce Arena and the US soccer team are living in a city that saw the birth of the most famous band in the world. The Liverpool lads were called The Quarrymen before they moved to Germany.