Today in 1960, a turning point for The Beatles - and the first rumblings of Beatlemania, over three years before they hit America.
Reunited in Liverpool following George's deportation from Germany, as well as the incarceration there of Paul and Pete, the group was booked to perform at Litherland Town Hall by promoter Brian Kelly. Which is why, largely unknown in that northern part
of the city, their "Direct from Hamburg" billing confused ticket buyers.
"They thought we were from Hamburg," John recalled seven years later. "They said, 'Christ, they speak good English!'"
"We probably looked German, too," George remarked in 'Anthology'. "Very different from all the other groups... and we played differently. We went down a bomb."
They did so without Stu Sutcliffe who, suffering from a cold, had decided to recoup mit Astrid in Hamburg. In his place on bass, for the third of four consecutive gigs, was left-hander Chas Newby. Here’s a sample of his recent appearance on ‘Buskin
with The Beatles’:
https://youtu.be/8k78nCVgMDo
Performing eight or more hours a night in Hamburg paid off at Litherland as soon as The Beatles opened with 'Long Tall Sally'.
"We were playing for dancing in a hall that could accommodate some 1,500 on the dance floor at one time," Pete would explain, "but they stopped dancing when we played and surged forward in a crowd to be nearer to us, to watch every moment and above all
to scream. People didn't go to a dance to scream: this was news."
According to John, "It was that evening that we really came out of our shell and let go. We stood there being cheered for the first time. This was when we began to think that we were good. Up to Hamburg we'd thought we were okay, but not good enough. It
was only back in Liverpool that we realised the difference and saw what had happened to us while everyone else was playing Cliff Richard shit."
Paid £6 for their performance, The Beatles had just ascended to another level.

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