From May 1960 to April 1961,
the Quarry Men (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Stuart Sutcliffe)
were managed by Allan Williams, 29-year-old owner of the Jacaranda, a
small coffee bar in central Liverpool. Through a connection with Bruno Koschmider, a Hamburg
club-owner, Williams was able to book the Quarry Men,
now renamed The Beatles, for an engagement at the Indra club in Hamburg's
notorious Reeperbahn red-light district.
Passports were quickly arranged, a drummer was found (Pete Best), and
on August 16, 1960 the musicians loaded their gear into a van and departed
by ferry from Harwich to Hamburg. There was no time to arrange for work
permits. That was left until their arrival in Hamburg on August 17.
The Beatles performed at the Indra until October 4 when they moved to
another of Koschmider's clubs, The Kaiserkeller. Five weeks into their
stint at The Kaiserkeller, German authorities
discovered that George Harrison was underage (17). On November 21 he was deported,
returning to Liverpool while the rest of the group remained in Hamburg to
play out the terms of their contract.
Soon afterwards, McCartney
and Best were also deported for allegedly causing a fire in their
living quarters at the club. They too returned to Liverpool.
John followed on December 10, while Stuart remained in Hamburg with his German girlfriend, Astrid.
Shrewdly, before leaving Hamburg The Beatles negotiated a return visit
in April 1961, this time at the more upscale Top Ten club, owned by Koschmider's
competitor Peter Eckhorn.
In all, The Beatles' time in Hamburg breaks down as follows: August 17-October
3, 1960 (Indra Club); October 4-November 30, 1960 (The Kaiserkeller);
April 1-July 1, 1961 (Top Ten Club); April 13-May 31, 1962 (Star-Club).
The 20 pages below are John Lennon's German work permits, covering the
time periods mentioned above.
I acquired the papers several years ago from a Beatle collector
who purchased them at auction in the mid-1980s. Page 10 is of particular interest as
it includes a passport photo of John Lennon, age 19. The photo may have
been taken in Liverpool, an "extra" from the passport photo
session ... or it may have been taken at a coin-operated photo-booth in
Hamburg in mid-August, 1960. Either way, it's "one of a kind". |
