BackBeat Cheat Sheet

by Pete Sheehy | Published May 7, 1994

While everyone is familiar with the story of The Beatles's meteoric rise from working class obscurity to international fame, and most people are at least aware of the story of Pete Best, the drummer who quit the group just before the band made it big, very few people have heard the name Stuart Sutcliffe, the man who gave the band its name and was John Lennon's best friend. This appears to be the last unturned stone in the Beatles legacy, and it is beautifully turned in lain Softley's new film, BackBeat.

A docudrama that explores the tragic friendship between a pair of turbulent, talented young men, BackBeat raises Sutcliffe from his status as a long-time rock 'n roll asterisk to his rightful place as a creative, original artist. At the same time, this film serves to bring the legend of John Lennon into sharper focus; we see the John Lennon of the early days, the surly, acerbic, often violent young man too sensitive to fully enjoy the rewards of life because he was always certain that disappointment or disaster was just around the corner. This certainty spanned the widest gap imaginable in 1962 when Sutcliffe died and The Beatles launched themselves toward incomprehensible fame with the release of Love Me Do.

John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe met while attending Liverpool Art College in 1957. An extremely talented and accomplished painter, Sutcliffe sold one of his early paintings to a local art collector and Lennon talked him into using the money to buy a bass guitar so he could join his rock band. Without much (if any) musical talent, but a love for rock music, Sutcliffe played with the band during the lean years and endured dangerous gigs in the violent working-class taverns of England, where he was eventually beaten so severely by a gang of hooligans in 1959 that the incident may have led to the brain hemorrhage that killed him in 1962.

When the band left for Hamburg, Germany in 1960, Stuart was still with them. Although his musical incompetence bothered McCartney, Harrison, and Best, Lennon refused to let him go. Running on a diet of free beer, amphetamines and non-stop sex, The Beatles played the clubs and strip joints of the notorious Reeperbahn red light district of Hamburg, hoping to be discovered. One night a bohemian photographer named Astrid Kirchherr walked into the club and she and Stu fell in love. As their relationship developed, Astrid wielded more and more influence over Stu, and eventually the rest of the band. She invented the famous Beatles haircut and other aspects of their "look." When the band broke a contract with one club owner to get a better deal down the street, the authorities were tipped off that Harrison was a minor and he was promptly deported. In the following days McCartney and Best narrowly escaped being charged with arson and were also deported. Lennon and Sutcliffe returned to England . A few weeks later Stu returned to Hamburg, quitting the band and resuming his art career. As soon as Harrison turned 18, The Beatles were back in Hamburg. Upon arrival they learned that Stuart was dead.

Backbeat is the type of film that is always subject to historical inaccuracies in order to assist the flow of the narrative. While watching it, one wonders what is real, what has been exaggerated, and what has been ignored or played down. Although there are several inaccuracies and omissions in the movie, only one of them really undermines the credibility of this otherwise fantastic film: the omission of the arson incident. It's hard to believe such an episode was ignored, considering how much flavor it could have added. But this film doesn't live and die by its historical authenticity; its true vitality lies in the story of the friendship— a story that turns a rock 'n' roll trivia answer into a human being we wish had lived.

Although Sutcliffe probably wouldn't have lasted as a member of The Beatles, the influence he and Astrid had on the most successful pop band of all time is undeniable. Astrid's is evident in the haircuts, clothing and style; Stuart's is immortalized by his presence in the crowd on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper album (he's on the far left in the third row from the top).

With Stuart Sutcliffe fully explored in BackBeat, it appears now there are no mysteries left surrounding The Beatles; no questions left to ask, except, perhaps, "what would Paul McCartney have said if someone had told him he'd one day lose the rights to the entire Beatles catalogue to an accused child molester?" MM

COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Comment by Tim 'Gonzo' Gordon on 11/01/07 at 12:43 pm

Your characterization of “Pete Best, the drummer who quit the group just before the band made it big” is a little off mark.

He was unceremoniously dumped from the group. And as the story goes, the band didn’t even have the guts to tell Pete face-to-face he was out and Ringo was in. They sent Brian Epstein to do the job.

But you’re absolutely on target to play up the movie “Backbeat” - even non-Beatle fans would find something to like. It’s a darn good flick.

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