Lost Beatle's Magical History Tour
John Whelan
Link:
http://www.sunherald.com/living/docs/beatle013098.htm
ROGER TREDRE
1998, LONDON OBSERVER SERVICE
Newly discovered lyrics from the early days of the
Beatles are to be offered to Noel Gallagher of Oasis
for recording.
The songs are among a treasure trove of memorabilia
relating to the life of Stuart Sutcliffe, the "fifth Beatle," which
will be exhibited in London next month.
Sutcliffe died of a brain hemorrhage in 1962 at the age of 21,
six months before the Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do," was
released and the group made its name.
The newly unearthed lyrics are thought to have been written in
1960 or 1961 by Sutcliffe, with input from John Lennon, with
whom he shared lodgings in Liverpool and traveled to Hamburg.
Pauline Sutcliffe, the younger of Stuart's two sisters, plans to give
Gallagher first option on the lyrics and intends to show them to him
when Oasis returns from its current tour of the United States. "I would
love to see Noel and Oasis do something with them," she said.
"Oasis are the closest to a new original Beatles sound I've heard in
30 years - and I mean that as the highest possible compliment."
However, her enthusiasm for Oasis is not shared by at least two of
the surviving Beatles. Last year George Harrison and Paul McCartney
criticized the band in separate interviews. McCartney said: "They mean
nothing to me. They're derivative and they think too much of themselves."
One of the songs recounts the loneliness of a young man without a
girlfriend. "Everybody is getting ready/ Everybody is going steady/
Everybody but me/ I stay home on Friday night, go to bed at eight/
On Saturday nights I'm all alone/ 'Cos I don't have a date."
The five Sutcliffe-penned songs, some of them incomplete, are part of
a retrospective exhibition, "From Liverpool to Hamburg," which opens
next month at the KDK Gallery in Notting Hill Gate, west London. The
gallery is jointly owned by Pauline Sutcliffe, who is a family
psychotherapist,
and her friend, Kate Delia Kilroy.
The exhibition will show a broad span of memorabilia, much of it never
seen before, including photographs, extracts from letters, sketchbooks
and notebooks, and drafts of essays from art school.
Part of the exhibition will be devoted to more than 50 paintings and
drawings by Stuart Sutcliffe, whose life story was made into the 1993
film, "Backbeat." His paintings have a cult following in America, where
they have been exhibited at Washington's Govinda Gallery.
"I think the exhibition will show that Stuart was exceptionally
multi-talented,"
Kilroy said. "He could have been a great writer or film director as well as
a
great painter."
Sutcliffe broke away from his Scouse roots to embrace the world of
bohemia with his soul mate, Lennon. The two thought up the Beatles' name
in a brainstorming session - it was derived from the Beetles, one of the
motorbike gangs in the Marlon Brando film "The Wild One."
Pauline Sutcliffe has safeguarded the memorabilia for decades. She said
that she felt the time was right for it to be made public. "It's an
instinctive
thing. I feel comfortable with this decision."
Sutcliffe, who met Lennon at art school, was a prolific artist. During the
Beatles' days in Hamburg he would play bass with the band through the
evening and then paint through the night. He also studied at the Hamburg
State Art College under Eduardo Paolozzi, who appreciated Sutcliffe's
raw talent.
Sutcliffe's artistic flair earned him the funds to join the group. In 1959
one
of his paintings sold for $107 - enough to buy him a Hofner President bass
guitar. But as a musician he made little contribution to the Beatles. He was
a poor bass player with little innate musical talent.
In the early days he would avoid connecting his guitar to a power point
during stage performances in a bid to disguise his failings. Sutcliffe's
musical inadequacies led to a rift between him and McCartney - eventually
patched up - and caused tensions in the Lennon-McCartney relationship.
While Sutcliffe was with the Beatles for five months in Hamburg in 1960, he
met photographer Astrid Kirchherr, who became his girlfriend.
Despite his poor bass playing, letters and other writings confirm that
Sutcliffe was a major influence in the development of the look and image
of the group, even after he had severed his formal involvement with them
to devote his time to art.
In the collection is a letter to Pauline Sutcliffe from Hamburg in January
1962. In it Sutcliffe talks enthusiastically about a new lapel-less suit
Astrid
was making for him - the look which became the core of the Beatles'
image when they returned to England. "The one Astrid was making for
me . . . is corduroy very wide in fawn, same style trousers, very beautiful,
but the jacket's different. Buttons all the way up the front and a collar
like
a vicar - very different."
The high-waisted trousers also had no pockets around the tight hips, which
gave the entire suit a smooth, streamlined look.
Lost Beatle's Magical History Tour
The following month, Sutcliffe returned to Liverpool with Astrid where,
occasionally accompanied by Pauline, they hung out at the city's beat
clubs in their hand-made suits. McCartney teased Sutcliffe: "Wearing
your sister's suit then, Stu?" But months later the Beatles were wearing
them, too. Astrid is also credited with getting the group to comb their
hair forward into the "mop-top" style that defined their look.
The illness that dogged the last months of Sutcliffe's life mystified
doctors
in both Britain and Germany. In a letter to his elder sister, he speculated
that it was "almost all psychological, you understand, mental."
After many months of declining health accompanied by severe headaches,
Sutcliffe died on April 10, 1962, in Hamburg. The next day Astrid met his
friends at Hamburg airport and broke the news to them. Lennon, his closest
friend, broke down in tears.
-- end of article.