Archive: Stu Sutcliffe, Apr.10, 1962

[deb...@comcast.net]

Wikipedia

Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (June 23, 1940 - April 10, 1962)
was an artist who, until his sudden death, worked in a style related to
Abstract Expressionism. He was a member of The Beatles for two years,
and is often credited for naming the band (after Buddy Holly's band The
Crickets). He is sometimes referred to as "the fifth Beatle". He was
born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and brought up in Huyton, Merseyside. He
attended Prescot Grammar School, and was himself a schoolteacher's son.

.While Sutcliffe was a gifted painter who showed great promise, and
had personal charisma and looks comparable with James Dean's, his
musical skills were not remarkable. Sutcliffe became a Beatle mostly
because of his friendship with John Lennon, whom he met while studying
at the Liverpool College of Art. Lennon convinced him to buy a bass
guitar (choosing a Hofner President) with the money he had made from
the sale of one of his paintings. He was very uncomfortable on stage
and usually played with his back to the audience. His musical style was
elementary, mostly sticking to root notes of chords. (An example of
Sutcliffe's bass playing with the early Beatles is the track "Cayenne",
on the Anthology 1 album.)

Regarding Sutcliffe's musical talent, it should be noted that Bill
Harry, founder and editor of the Mersey Beat newspaper, contended in a
recent interview that Sutcliffe was a competent, if not brilliant,
bassist, and that accounts of his musical ineptitude were exaggerated.
Pete Best has expressed similar views. [1] Nevertheless, Sutcliffe's
importance to the group came from his artistic rather than musical
talent. He was the first in the group to have a "mop-top" haircut, and
his sense of style, influenced by his (and later John Lennon's) lover
Astrid Kirchherr, contributed to the Beatles' early "look."

He left the Beatles to pursue his career as an artist before they
achieved their success, and Paul McCartney, previously second lead
guitarist in the group, replaced Sutcliffe on bass. Months afterwards,
in the spring of 1962, Sutcliffe died from a cerebral hemorrhage. It
has been claimed that this was the result of a beating sustained in
Liverpool while still a member of the group, but it is more likely to
have been a hereditary condition. Lennon later said that he was
profoundly affected by his friend's death.

Stuart's sister, Pauline Sutcliffe, has always claimed John Lennon was
the cause of Stuart's death, based on a fight they had had in Hamburg
earlier. According to her account, Lennon had repeatedly kicked Stuart
in the head, who never recovered from the injuries. (Her claims are
echoed in Albert Goldman's book The Lives of John Lennon.) However,
this appears to be unsupported. Astrid Kirchherr denies that any such
incident occurred, no action was ever taken against Lennon, and when he
asked Sutcliffe's mother for Stuart's old scarf he'd worn at art
school, it was given to him as a memento.

As an artist, Sutcliffe displayed considerable talent from an early
age. His few surviving works show the influence of the British and
European abstract artists contemporary with the Abstract Expressionist
movement in the United States. His more figurative work is reminiscent
of the kitchen sink school, particularly John Bratby. His later
gestural abstractions were influenced by his art tutor in Hamburg,
Eduardo Paolozzi. They also bear comparison with the work of John
Hoyland and Nicholas de Stael, though they are more lyrical.

Sutcliffe's role in the Beatles' early career, as well as the factors
that led him to leave the group, is dramatised in the movie Backbeat,
in which he was portrayed by Stephen Dorff. He was also portrayed by
David Wilkinson in the film Birth of the Beatles.

[William Brownstein]

Just eight years later on that day, Paul McCartney announced the break
up of The Beatles. The Beatles officially died 36 years ago today.

[deb...@comcast.net]

If Sutcliffe had lived another 2 years, he would've died from bashing
his head against a wall for leaving the Beatles!

[robertc...@yahoo.com]

deb...@comcast.net wrote:
> Wikipedia
>
> Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (June 23, 1940 - April 10, 1962)
> was an artist who, until his sudden death, worked in a style related to
> Abstract Expressionism. He was a member of The Beatles for two years,
> and is often credited for naming the band (after Buddy Holly's band The
> Crickets). He is sometimes referred to as "the fifth Beatle". He was
> born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and brought up in Huyton, Merseyside. He
> attended Prescot Grammar School, and was himself a schoolteacher's son.
>

Too bad we never got to know him. Some related visuals:

http://beatlesnumber9.com/stupete.html

http://www.beatlesagain.com/bstu.html

This site shows a couple of his paintings

http://magicalbeatletours.com/liv.jacaranda.murals.jpg

At the Jacaranda Bar, a mural by Sutcliffe and Lennon

http://i.realone.com/assets/rn/img/2/3/4/6/7606432.jpg

Sutcliffe's grave

[Ed Varner]

deb...@comcast.net wrote:
> Wikipedia
>
> Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (June 23, 1940 - April 10, 1962)
> was an artist who, until his sudden death, worked in a style related to
> Abstract Expressionism. He was a member of The Beatles for two years,
> and is often credited for naming the band (after Buddy Holly's band The
> Crickets). He is sometimes referred to as "the fifth Beatle".

How many people have been referred to as "the fifth Beatle"? Off the
top of my head, I can think of George Martin, Stu Sutcliffe, Pete Best,
Tony Sheridan and Billy Preston. Any others?

Ed

[deb...@comcast.net]

How many people have been referred to as "the fifth Beatle"? Off the
top of my head, I can think of George Martin, Stu Sutcliffe, Pete Best,

Tony Sheridan and Billy Preston. Any others?

Murray the K.

[R H Draney]

Ed Varner filted:

Murray Kaufman and Yanni Alexis Mardas so styled themselves...Yoko's probably a
contender but I doubt she'd accept the title....r

--
We are the parents our people warned us about.

[deb...@comcast.net]

How many people have been referred to as "the fifth Beatle"? Off the
top of my head, I can think of George Martin, Stu Sutcliffe, Pete Best,

Tony Sheridan and Billy Preston. Any others?

Murray the K.

[Paul Grayson]

Ed Varner wrote:

> How many people have been referred to as "the fifth Beatle"? Off the
> top of my head, I can think of George Martin, Stu Sutcliffe, Pete Best,
> Tony Sheridan and Billy Preston. Any others?

Neil Aspinal - started out as their driver back in 1960, before the
first trip to Hamburg, and still works for them running Apple Corps.

[King Daevid MacKenzie]

Ed Varner sez:

> How many people have been referred to as "the fifth Beatle"? Off the
> top of my head, I can think of George Martin, Stu Sutcliffe, Pete Best,
> Tony Sheridan and Billy Preston. Any others?

...fond as I am of the memory of Murray "The K" Kaufman, he only really
joked about becoming The Fifth Beatle, and it stuck to him. There were
also attempts by WABC to pin that label on "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, but
like everything else about him, the hype wasn't matched with the talent,
let alone any tenuous connection to The Beatles. The _real_ Fifth Beatle
is and has always been Neil Aspinall, their trusted friend and road
manager who they turned to when Apple Corps was established to head up
the business. He's still in that position and, considering the egos
involved, has done a helluva job with it over the years...

--
King Daevid MacKenzie, WLSU-FM 88.9 La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
heard occasionally at http://www.radio4all.net
http://www.myspace.com/kingdaevid
"You can live in your dreams, but only if you are worthy of them."
HARLAN ELLISON