The Beatles, with Pete Best on drums, at the Cavern Club in 1961; Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesToday marks the 60th anniversary of the first time that The Beatles played a show at the famous Cavern Club in the band’s hometown of Liverpool, U.K.
At the time, the group — which then featured John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison on guitar, Stu Sutcliffe on bass, and Pete Best on drums — had just returned from performing for several months in clubs in Hamburg, Germany.
The Beatles’ debut Cavern Club performance took place at lunchtime from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and the band was paid five pounds — about $14 U.S. then and the equivalent of about $125 today. According to a post on Lennon’s official Facebook page, the group played at the venue a total of 292 times between that first gig on February 9, 1961, and its final show there on August 3, 1963.
It was at the Cavern Club in November 1961 that Brian Epstein first saw The Beatles play and decided to manage them. For more details about the venue and its history, visit CavernClub.com.
Interestingly, three years to the day after the band played their first Cavern Club show, The Beatles made their famous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
By Matt Friedlander
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