Brigadoon Weekend = Global Street Smarts
February 20, 2021
Where is your Hamburg?
The Beatles might have hailed from Liverpool, but the band got its big break in Hamburg.
The band had secured a bid to play the Indra, a seedy strip joint complete with a neon-lighted elephant beckoning the passersby in Hamburg's infamous red-light boulevard.
On August 17th, 1960, The Beatles, who then used the stage name used the stage name Silver Beatles, played their first gig in the Indra Club in Hamburg. A 48-night stint at this "musical venue."
The band's contract required the five of them - John, Paul, George, drummer Pete Best, and bassist Stuart Sutcliffe - to perform for 30 hours a week. Each one received a generous weekly sum of about fifty-one bucks in those days.
Indra's owner was generous; he did provide the group free lodging.
The Beatles slept behind the stage in two dark, dank, cramped storage rooms with small beds, folding cots, and a couch. The nearby men's room, where broken toilets often overflowed into their rooms, served the group's personal hygiene needs.
The days of Hamburg are a far cry from Paul McCartney's concert riders of today.
McCartney now has an amusing list of plant demands - yes, plant demands: "No trees please! We want plants that are just as full on the bottom as the top, such as palm, bamboo, peace lilies, etc. No tree trunks!"
Also, of course, the McCartney rider requires a pre-show sweep by some bomb-sniffing dogs.
Paul has come a long way from a pre-show neon-lighted elephant.
However, playing Hamburg was essential to the band's success.
After two months of incessant playing, Indra's owner Bruno Koschmider promoted The Beatles to his flagship club, the Kaiserkeller.
"We had to learn millions of songs because we'd be on for hours," George Harrison later said. "Hamburg was really like our apprenticeship, learning how to play in front of people."
This apprenticeship, learning millions of songs, and properly playing in front of people was essential.
Hamburg is where The Beatles celebrated their first successes, dropped the word "silver" from the band's name, and devised their infamous mop-top haircuts.
Where is your Hamburg?
Where is the place you can work on your craft, build your skills, and harness your talents regardless of the environment?
THE BEATLES IN HAMBURG DEEP DIVE
How The Beatles found their sound in Hamburg, 60 years ago: DW reports, The Beatles' unique career took off in Hamburg in 1960 — it's where the band from Liverpool became the magical Fab Four.
Forget Liverpool. Hamburg, Germany, made the Beatles into the band they became: Dean Owen writes, on a business trip to Germany, I spent three days in St. Pauli, the Hamburg district where The Beatles became really good before they became really, really famous. My expert guide: Peter Paetzold, a bearded 68-year-old with the street cred of a chain-smoking rock drummer, well versed about St. Pauli’s music scene of the 1960s.
61 years ago: The Beatles play their first Hamburg: UCR reports, the stints the Beatles did in Hamburg, Germany, are widely credited with turning them from just another teenage band in Liverpool into a tight rock 'n’ roll combo.
Dreams Traveled: The Beatles in Hamburg
Ophelia Belleu: The Beatles in Hamburg
Eliodue: The Beatles sites in Hamburg
BeatlesArchivesHQ: Tony Sheridan talks about Hamburg and The Beatles
BRIGADOON READS | BOOKS ON THE BEATLES IN HAMBURG
The Beatles in Hamburg: The Stories, the Scene and How It All Began by Spencer Leigh
The Beatles in Hamburg by Ian Inglis
Harry Benson. The Beatles by Harry Benson
The Beatles Anthology by The Beatles
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Brigadoon June Call | Adventures with Fiat Pandas + Autogrills + Negronis
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June 16, 2021
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Thanks for supporting Brigadoon. See you next week.
-Marc
Curation + commentary by Marc A. Ross | Founder + Chief Curator @ Brigadoon
Brigadoon is always powerpoint free and conversation-driven for better insights and connections.
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