Overview

Across the universe

A new drummer, a new manager, a new record contract, a new look. But a rocky start preceded the Beatles’ ascent to pop stardom.

Producer George Martin, who would shepherd the Beatles through 22 singles and 13 albums, recalled that his first meeting with their newly minted manager, Brian Epstein, was something of a last-ditch effort for the band.

“In January of 1962, Brian Epstein was, by then, quite wary of interviewing record company executives; he’d been to all of them,” said Martin (during a 1999 lecture in Red Bank, NJ, which I attended). “By then, the Beatles were a joke in the business. Even our own company (EMI) had given the thumbs down to this group. No one would touch them. I didn’t know that. When my name was given to Brian Epstein, he knew he had hit rock bottom.

“I immediately liked the four boys — not for their music, but for their wacky sense of humor. They were four young men desperate for someone to recognize their talent. George was 19.

“The Beatles actually confirmed what I already knew about going out on a limb. They never disappointed me with a song. Each song that came off the line was a gem. They never rehashed; they never gave me ‘Star Wars II.’ They were never content with what they could see; they were always looking beyond the horizon. It was damned exhausting. But it was invigorating, too.”

Epstein, who was fastidious about his own appearance, oversaw the band’s new look. (Goodbye, leather; hello, matching suits.) Their Hamburg days behind them, the Beatles continued to hone their craft at Liverpool’s Cavern Club as they embarked on their recording career. The rockiness came in during their earliest Cavern gig with newly installed drummer Ringo Starr. “The first gig in the Cavern after I’d joined was pretty violent,” Starr said in the 1995 “Anthology” TV documentary. “There was a lot of fighting and shouting. Half of them hated me, half of them loved me. George got a black eye.”

SINGER-GUITARIST TERRY SYLVESTER was playing the Cavern during this period with his band, the Escorts. “It was very tightly packed,” Sylvester said of the venue when we spoke in 2005.

“Hard to explain. Very small place. Very frightening place. There was only one entrance and exit: the front door. There was no back door. You’d go to the dressing room — you had to carry your amps through the crowd.

“It wasn’t a licensed venue; in other words, you couldn’t get alcohol. Your best chance was a Coca-Cola and a hot dog. It was more like a youth club, a very small youth club. You’d see the same people all the time. They dressed a little bit differently down there than they did elsewhere in the country.”

Sylvester confirmed the prevailing wisdom that the bustling music scene in Liverpool stemmed from its status as a port city.

“Liverpool was kind of unique,” he said. “There’s many reasons why. The Cunard ships used to leave Liverpool and go to New York. In Liverpool — and the Cavern Club in particular — a DJ called Bob Wooler was playin’ records that weren’t gettin’ played anywhere else in the U.K. There were records by, for instance, the Shirelles. They weren’t gettin’ played on the BBC at the time, but were gettin’ played in Liverpool at the Cavern Club.

“All the Liverpool groups used to hear these songs, and we’d just go, ‘I want that song!’ We’d borrow records off of Bob Wooler to take home and rehearse. I mean, I love Cliff Richard, but he would do one type of thing. But the Beatles were doin’ Larry Williams’ ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy,’ Chan Romero’s ‘Hippy Hippy Shake.’ There was a definite scene happenin’ there that was happenin’ nowhere else.”

THE BEATLES WERE CLIMBING THE charts in England in 1962 and ’63 with “Love Me Do” (#17), “Please Please Me” (#2) and “From Me to You” (#1). New York-based promoter Sid Bernstein, a self-described Anglophile, took notice.

“As a soldier in World War II, I spent a lot of time in England before we went into Germany and other lousy places,” Bernstein told me in 2001.

“I got so involved with English people, the English countryside and the English press and newspapers, that I carried that habit on long after I left the Army. I loved reading about what was going on in England, so I’d pick up one or two English newspapers almost every week, OK?

A Liverpool institution: The Cavern Club.

Ringo Starr

“I was in the greatest show on Earth — for what it was worth,” goes a lyric written by John Lennon and sung by Ringo Starr.

The song is “I am the Greatest” (from the 1973 album “Ringo”), in which Starr reprises his Billy Shears character from the Beatles’ 1967 masterpiece, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Starr was one quarter of the Beatles, arguably the most influential band in rock, if not music itself. I interviewed the drummer by telephone in 2001 and 2008. He also answered my questions during press conferences held in New York City in 1999, 2000 and 2003.

Q: In the book “The Beatles Anthology” (2000), you said the Beatles were “just a group of scruffs” when you first saw them.

STARR: Even though I said that in the book, they were the band that I would go and watch. You know, I still loved them as a band, but we were the big shots, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. It was in Liverpool, and they were rehearsin’ in the back of a coffee bar (the Jacaranda), and we were off to go to Butlin’s (a resort played by the Hurricanes) to be professionals. Q: John asked you to shave your beard and get a haircut when you joined. Were you insulted?

STARR: No. Because they all had this — now, it’s called the “Beatle cut,” of course, which a guy in Germany (Jürgen Vollmer) did for them. That was just one of John’s lines, you know. I mean, nothing would have happened if I’d have kept the beard. I would still be in the band (laughs).

Q: What do you remember about first touching down in America on Feb. 7, 1964?

STARR: It’s probably one of the many exciting moments I’ve had in my life. To come to America as a musician from England and get that reception was incredible. And that our records were sellin’ in America by then — because, we had two that didn’t sell (laughs). It’s just still one of the incredible memories for me. I even felt New York while I was on the plane flyin’ into it. I felt it even from the plane — the engines.

Q: What did the four of you think might happen once you landed?

STARR: Well, we were hopeful, that’s all. You know, George had gone to America on holiday, and kept goin’ into the record stores askin’ for our record, and nobody had heard of us. So we didn’t know what to expect. But as soon as we got off the plane, everything was OK (laughs). And then to get that reception (at the Plaza Hotel) that we knew nothin’ about, it was just brilliant.

And then, besides the kids outside waitin’, just the thrill of bein’ in the hotel and havin’ all these TVs on and radios — you know, the media madness that was goin’ on. We could actually talk to the radio stations and hear ourselves on radio. We were just from England; it’s a bit different over there. So it was exciting. Q: When you filmed “A Hard Day’s Night,” it’s amazing how four amateur actors communicated so well on the screen. Were you surprised at your own success, the four of you? STARR: No. We were four clowns, really, who play instruments. Q: “A Little Help From My Friends” became like a theme song for you. What do you recall of recording the vocal track (in 1967)? STARR: The only difference of opinion we had: The original line said, “What would you do if I sang out of tune / would you throw a tomato at me?” I said, “I’m not gonna sing that.” Because we’d just been bombarded with all those jelly beans on tour, so I was not going to sing that. Q: For (the 1970 film) “Let It Be,” how did the four of you agree to play on the roof? STARR: Well, it was an idea we had around that time. You know, first of all, we were gonna play in a volcano in Hawaii and places like that. In the end, the Beatles always took the easy route. So we said, “Oh, let’s go on the roof!” Q: In the “Anthology” docuseries, it almost seemed like you, Paul and George were burying the hatchet before our eyes. STARR: Well, what hatchet was that, you know what I’m sayin’? I mean, you know, we’re all together; we’re doin’ that; we’re gettin’ on; and we finished filming; and we all went home. Q: Have you and Paul grown closer since George’s (2001) death? STARR: We’re just still old pals, you know? We’re not hangin’ out with each other any more than we did. We’re not phonin’ each other any more often. If we’re in the same city, we’ll hook up. Q: You’ve toured all your life. Do you still get a buzz from it? STARR: The gig, playin’ the show, is the best part for musicians. Gettin’ there is boring. You gotta get on the bus, the plane, the train, whatever it is. If they had a transporter — if it was actually “Star Trek” — it would make life a lot easier.