When the Beatles arrived in Hamburg in 1960, George was seventeen years
old. Alan Williams had brought them there. Bruno Koschmeider, who owned some
clubs in Hamburg, had met the Beatles there.
When the Beatles were in Hamburg, they played for eight hours, while when
they were in Liverpool, they played in hour long sessions. They played loudly
in Hamburg, and the Germans loved it. Once word had gotten out about the
show, the crowds started getting bigger.
In the beginning Pete Best wasn't very good, but he started to improve.
The Beatles were playing at the Indra, but when there were complaints they
were making too much noise, they moved to the Kaiserkeller.
The Beatles would get drunk often. But at the Kaiserkeller, they were
working the hardest than ever before. They were supposed to play a six hour
shift, but there was another band scheduled to play too, so they took turns.
It was at this time, they became interested in drugs.
The Beatles used to take pills to stay awake so they could play. Plenty
of times, they had wanted to go back home to Liverpool, but they couldn't.
The boys never slept or ate right. Pete, George, and Paul knew a little German,
but John didn't.
The boys did fight amoung each other often, but it was never anything
too serious. Stu and Pete were the targets of the arguments since they were
the easiest to pick on. Stuart took it to heart, but Pete didn't let it bother
him. The two were very popular with the audience though. Steve wore cool
looking glasses, while Pete didn't jump around like John did. John was more
wild than the other boys.
The fights mainly happened because they were frustrated and working hard.
But most of the time, they got along. They also got along with the other
band that played there. The other band was Rory's group.
The Beatles didn't like the look of Rory's drummer, which happened to
be Ringo Starr. In fact, Ringo had played at the Casbah. This was their first
meeting with Ringo.
Other then the friendship with Ringo and Rory's group, the Beatles made no other friends. They barely left the club and didn't try making friends with the Germans.