Rare photos showing the Beatles performing at the Cavern Club, 1961

Photographs of the band performing in Liverpool more than a decade before the release of their first single. There are rare photographs of the Beatles performing at the Cavern Club, Liverpool long before any music was released.

These images were taken in July 1961, a little over a year after the release of their debut single Love Me Do. They feature John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison at the microphone. Pete Best is partially obscured, and this is the original drummer of the group.

Mark Lewisohn, a Beatles historian and author said that these photos were taken inside Liverpool’s dank Cavern Club. They show the Beatles performing for an evening or lunchtime audience in July 1961.

“Just back from Hamburg, slogging 500 hours on stage in 90 days – the Beatles are whippet-thin, undernourished lads 20 (John), 19 (20 (Paul and Pete), 18 (George).

“So slim has this marathon made them. It’s almost as if their heads are foreign to each other.” The unusual clothing – leather trousers and cotton tops – emphasizes this look. They are not shown in any other photos.

John and Paul returned to Paris three months later with what Lewisohn called “the Beatle haircut”, three months after the photos were taken.

“Days later Brian Epstein saw the Beatles at the Cavern and offered to be their manager. This set us on a course that would change our world.

In 1962, Best was removed from the band and replaced by Ringo starr.

Starr, now at 82, cancelled a North American tour with his All-Starr Band following contracting Covid-19. According to his management, he is currently recovering at home. “He and the All Starrs wish their fans peace and love, and we hope to see them on the road again soon,” said his management.

Tracks Ltd, a Chorley-based dealer, is offering rare music memorabilia valuations for free to mark the 60th anniversary of Love Me Do’s publication. On 5 October, the The Beatles Story Exhibition at Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock will host the valuation day. It runs from 11 am to 6 pm.

Musicians are recalling the influence the Beatles’ debut had upon their lives and careers. Joe Elliot of Def Leppard said that “it was my first song” while Gene Simmons, Kiss, stated that “the lyrics were simple rhymes consisting of ‘do, ‘you, and true, but this strange little song grabbed me.”

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