Stuart Sutcliffe was the original bassist of The Beatles from May 1960 to August 1961. Though Sutcliffe was much more of an artist/painter than a musician, his friend John Lennon convinced him to buy a Höfner bass guitar with money that Stuart earned from an art exhibit.
When the Beatles played in Hamburg, Germany, Stuart met and fell in love with fellow artist and photographer, Astrid Kirchherr. In November 1960, Stuart and Astrid got engaged. Sutcliffe decided to leave The Beatles and concentrate on painting again. He stayed in Hamburg with Kirchherr and enrolled at the Hamburg College of Art. Stuart lent Paul McCartney his bass until he could buy his own and Paul became the permanent bass player for The Beatles.
While he was studying in Hamburg, Sutcliffe started suffering from debilitating headaches. His condition worsened and he died of a brain hemorrhage on the way to the hospital on April 10, 1962. He was only 21 years old.
Related post: Who was the original drummer of The Beatles?
When the Beatles landed on US soil in February 1964, it was George Harrison‘s second trip to the states. While on vacation in September 1963, he visited his sister, Louise, at 113 McCann Street in Benton, Illinois. The home where he stayed in is now the Hard Day’s Nite Bed and Breakfast. While in Illinois, Harrison also performed with a band at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Eldorado.
In an interview, Louise recalled “his real first visit to America was when he came to the midwest in September of 1963 and he met these wonderful, warm, friendly, real warm Midwesterners… school teachers, retired miners and all kinds of just wonderful people… and a little band. He had a fantastic time. He thought they were just wonderful people.”
Joe Cocker performed “With a Little Help From My Friends” as the last song of his Woodstock set, August 17, 1969. Cocker’s version is slower, and in a different key and meter than the Beatles version.
His studio recording of the song, released in October 1968, eventually reached number one on the British charts. In the US, it reached number 68 on the charts. The single featured Jimmy Page on lead guitar and Steve Winwood on piano. In later years, it was used as the opening theme song of the American TV series The Wonder Years (1988-1993).
Julian Lennon made his musical debut at age 11 playing drums on his father’s first studio version of “Ya-Ya”. The 1974 recording would appear as the last track on John Lennon’s ‘Walls and Bridges’ album. This short, casual version of the song features just Julian on drums, and John on piano and vocals.
May Pang later recalled that Julian was disappointed when he found out the recording would make the ‘Walls and Bridges’ album, telling his father “If I’d known, I would have played better”.
“Ya-Ya” was originally performed by Lee Dorsey in 1961 and later covered again by John in a full length version on his “Rock ‘n’ Roll” album.
Click the Play button to hear the version with Julian:
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