Why Pete Best Was Not Sacked

PETE BEST WAS NOT SACKED AND HERE IS WHY

Since 1962, one of the hottest debates has centred around Brian Epstein’s dismissal of Pete Best from The Beatles. The controversy has inspired articles, chapters and even entire books, all speculating on the reasons why Pete was dismissed from the group on the cusp of stardom. However, we have been looking at this most well-known chapter in Beatles history the wrong way. As we know, Brian Epstein summoned Pete Best to NEMS on 16th August 1962, for what Pete thought was a routine meeting, but finished up being the day that would define his life. Even though we will demonstrate that Pete was not dismissed by Brian, this does not mean that either Pete or Brian have ever lied about what went on that day. The accounts from both of them have been consistent through the years. After nervously exchanging some small talk, Brian then uttered those fateful words:

“The Boys Want You Out”

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but the boys want you out and it has already been agreed that Ringo is joining on Saturday.”

Pete recalled what happened next. “I was stunned and found words difficult. Only one echoed through my mind. Why, why, why? ‘They don’t think you’re a good enough drummer, Pete,’ Brian went on. ‘And George Martin doesn’t think you’re a good enough drummer.’ ‘I consider myself as good, if not better, than Ringo,’ I could hear myself saying.

Does Ringo Know Yet?

“Then I asked: ‘Does Ringo knew about this yet?’ ‘He’s joining on Saturday,’ Eppy said. So everything was all neatly packaged. A conspiracy had clearly been going on for some time behind my back, but not one of the other Beatles could find the courage to tell me. The stab in the back had been left to Brian, and it had been left until almost the last minute. Even Ringo had been a party to it, someone else I had considered to be a pal until this momentous day.”

The meeting continued. “Epstein went on to what for him was simply next business at this shattering meeting. ‘There are still a couple of venues left before Ringo joins – will you play?’ ‘Yes,’ I nodded, not really knowing what I was saying, for my mind was in a turmoil. How could this happen to me?

Why had it taken two years for John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison to decide that my drumming was not of a high enough standard for them? Dazed, I made my way out of Brian’s office. Downstairs, Neil was waiting for me. ‘What’s happened?’ he asked as soon as he saw me, ‘you look as if you’ve seen a ghost.’” Pete walked straight passed Billy Kinsley and Tony Crane of The Merseybeats, the group Brian was hoping Pete would join.”

Was Pete Best sacked? Examining the Evidence

We have to carefully look at, and challenge, every piece of available evidence, and consider the following statements:

• Pete was sacked/ dismissed by Brian – the accepted truth since 1962

• “He (Pete) was hired so he could be fired” and “John, Paul and George could fire him”

Definition of Dismissal: “Dismissal (referred to informally as firing or sacking) is the termination of employment by an employer against the will of an employee.”

Pete Best wasn’t employed by Brian, so Brian couldn’t sack him. Pete wasn’t hired/ employed by John, Paul and George, so they couldn’t sack him. In fact, Pete was a self-employed musician, so couldn’t be sacked by anybody.

“He Wasn’t Sacked”

Now that we know he wasn’t sacked, we have to examine what really happened.

The reason Brian used those exact words, “the boys want you out and it has already been agreed that Ringo is joining on Saturday” was not accidental; they were carefully chosen. Brian, as we know, was terribly nervous about the meeting and was clearly agitated, as Pete Best observed. It was because Brian had to get the wording right, or it could have had dire consequences. That is because Brian had to convince Pete that he was being sacked and replaced, without saying those words.

Why?

Getting rid of Pete Best was not an easy matter; he couldn’t be “fired, because he had been hired” (Tune In), because when he joined The Beatles, he wasn’t hired as a paid employee; it was as an equal member, and therefore they became a partnership. The Beatles of John, Paul, George and Pete signed a Partnership Agreement at the end of 1961.

Further evidence is provided by the management contract that John, Paul, George and Pete signed as members of The Beatles, and that Brian failed to sign. If Pete Best was simply a “hired hand”, then the contract would not have included him. The four Beatles were performing as a group, as a partnership. No member of that partnership could fire another member. There needed to be a complex examination of the legal partnership among The Beatles and that management contract. Epstein needed the help of his solicitor, David Harris, to find a way to follow the instructions of John, Paul and George to get rid of Pete Best from The Beatles.

interview with Brian Epstein’s lawyer

“Best wasn’t employed by Brian,” said Harris, “he was in partnership with the other three Beatles, and they had a partnership as a group known as ‘The Beatles’. Their partnership didn’t have to be in writing – not all contracts have to be in writing – but in general terms, a contract doesn’t have to be in writing. It can be verbal, like buying something in a shop. Same with this informal partnership agreement where they would work together as a group and share their profits. They could have agreed among themselves that they could divide the profits between themselves in any way they wanted.” What Harris didn’t know at the time is that The Beatles had a formal partnership agreement arranged in December 1961.

Brian had no authority to get rid of Pete

“The problem was,” advised Harris, “that it was a Partnership; Brian had no authority to get rid of Pete. They (the other three Beatles) had to get rid of Pete, and they had to dissolve the partnership. Brian could say Pete was being replaced by Ringo. I wrote a letter saying Brian would happily place him (Pete) in another group, as that was in his character anyway. He couldn’t sack him. The personal relationships didn’t suggest it, but the legal relationship did, that Pete was engaging Brian to provide work for him.” Brian Epstein was therefore employed by Pete and the other Beatles.

Finding the Fourth Beatle

Brian Epstein, on behalf of The Beatles, had already approached Bobby Graham, Ritchie Galvin and would also ask Johnny Hutchinson later this same day, but Ringo had already been lined up.

Read the full interview with Brian’s lawyer, David Harris, in Finding the Fourth Beatle.

David Bedford