A deputy Beatle dies
RIPThe death has been reported of Chas Newby, a Liverpool musician who stood in on bass guitar for the early Beatles on their return home from Hamburg, replacing Stu Sutcliffe.
He gave up playing with Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison to study chemistry at university and spent the rest of his life as a secondary-school maths teacher. Chas Newby was 81.
Absolutely gutted to learn from Roag Best that Chas Newby, the Beatles' first left handed bass player, and friend of the Best family for nearly 70 years has passed away. A lovely man, always generous with his time. God bless you, Chas x @BeatlesPod @marklewisohn @IAmTheEggPod pic.twitter.com/aljhucM8v9
— There Are Places I Remember (@hinge71) May 23, 2023
A fifth Beatle I had not heard of before!
There may be more fifth Beatles than Beatles.
Like Eric Griffiths, guitarist for the Quarrymen. From his obituary in the New York Times, Feb 4, 2005:
“At a concert on July 6, 1957 — a hallowed date in Beatles lore — the Quarrymen were heard by a 15-year-old Paul McCartney, who soon joined the group. The next year George Harrison joined as another guitarist and Mr. Griffiths was asked to switch to bass. The instrument was prohibitively expensive, so he left the group and joined the British merchant navy. He first heard “Please Please Me,” the Beatles’ first No. 1 hit, on the radio while on duty in the Persian Gulf.”
I hope he had a fulfilling life. Teaching is a noble profession, but not as remunerative as shouting yeah, yeah, yeah, or telling your baby to c’mon and twist and shout. The law of supply and demand can be very strange at times.