John Lennon on the Moment He Knew the Beatles ‘Hit It Big’
The Beatles became one of the world’s biggest rock bands, even if it took time for John Lennon to feel as though they “hit it big.” Here’s what this artist said about his time in Hamburg, Germany.
The Beatles ‘hit it big’ after some performances in Germany, according to John Lennon
Before even writing for the Beatles, the songwriting duo of Lennon and Paul McCartney appeared in the Quarrymen. Most of the band members still attended school at this time, eventually morphing into the Beatles and adding Ringo Starr to their lineup.
In their early days, the band performed hours-long gigs, creating a small fan base in the UK. It wasn’t until some performances in Germany, though, that Lennon thought the artists “hit it big.”
John Lennon shared his experience performing in Germany with the Beatles
During an interview with Playboy, the Beatles were asked about the moment they “hit it big.” John Lennon mentioned the band’s performances in Hamburg, Germany — and the reaction to their return home.
“Well, we’d been playing ’round in Liverpool for a bit without getting anywhere, trying to get work, and the other groups kept telling us, ‘You’ll do alright, you’ll get work someday,’” Lennon said (via Beatles Interviews).
“And then we went back to Hamburg, and when we came back, suddenly we were a ‘Wow,’” he noted. “Mind you, 70 percent of the audience thought we were a ‘German Wow,’ but we didn’t care about that.”
Lennon explained that people from Liverpool mistakenly thought the Beatles were from Hamburg. Regardless, according to the band members, this was one of the first times they stood while an audience cheered for them.
When asked how much money they were making at that time, Lennon replied with $20 for the group (and that they’d worked for less than that before). After the release of “Love Me Do,” these artists found international success, even becoming one of the first British acts to “invade” America.
The Beatles officially added Ringo Starr to their lineup after their performances in Germany
The Beatles’ six-week stint in Germany was one of the Beatles’ first “tours.” In her 2005 memoir, Cynthia Lennon wrote these performances were noteworthy for another reason — they solidified Ringo Starr’s role in the rock band.
“Ringo Starr was the drummer with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and they’d got to know him in Hamburg,” Cynthia Lennon wrote. “Six months earlier, Ringo had sat in with the Beatles for a couple of gigs when Pete had been ill and they’d got on brilliantly with him.”
“When they heard he’d left Rory’s band, they decided to offer him a job,” she continued. “Another band offered him a job at the same time, but the Beatles were paying more and had a record contract, so Ringo said yes to them and that was it.”
