The Beatles’ former drummer Pete Best is to have a street in Liverpool named after him.
Another is to be named after the Casbah Coffee Club, which was started by his mother Mona in 1959.
Pete Best Drive and Casbah Close will be situated on a new housing estate to be built on Everton Football Club’s former training ground at Bellfield in West Derby. The building which housed the Casbah Coffee Club, where The Beatles played some of their earliest shows, is less than half a mile away.
I feel very humbled, very flattered and very honoured that the city of Liverpool, council members and the people of Liverpool have thought to honour me in such a fantastic way.The Cashbah Coffee Club was the catalyst for the Merseybeat sound. It was the original birthplace of The Beatles on August 29 1959 and it is great that I’ve been associated with that as well.
I just wish that she [Mona] was still here to receive the honour herself because she was the mother of merseybeat and her memory, The Casbah Close, will live on alongside my name.
In the early 1980s a set of Liverpool streets were named after the other Beatles. John Lennon Drive, Paul McCartney Way, George Harrison Close and Ringo Starr Drive were approved by Liverpool council in the late 1970s, and are situated in the Kensington Fields housing estate. The estate officially opened in November 1981, and a few years later Epstein Court, Apple Court and Cavern Court were built in the area.
Also on this day...
- 2018: Paul McCartney live: Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, Liverpool
- 2017: Paul McCartney live: Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Tinley Park
- 2010: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Prior Lake
- 2008: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Silver Legacy, Reno
- 2005: UK album release: Choose Love by Ringo Starr
- 2003: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Casino Rama, Rama
- 1995: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Warwick Musical Theatre, Warwick
- 1989: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Poplar Creek Music Theatre, Hoffman Estates
- 1969: Recording: Sun King, Mean Mr Mustard, Come Together, Polythene Pam, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
- 1968: Recording: While My Guitar Gently Weeps
- 1967: John Lennon and Ringo Starr go sightseeing in Athens
- 1964: Television: Juke Box Jury
- 1963: The Beatles live: Odeon Cinema, Weston-super-Mare
- 1962: The Beatles live: Cabaret Club, Liverpool
- 1962: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (evening)
- 1962: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
- 1961: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (evening)
- 1961: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
No matter how much Mona and Pete did for the formation of the group, it still seems so wrong.
How can you make the comment “no matter how much they did” and then think them not worthy of any recognition for their contribution to the history of the Beatles? You should never forget he WAS one of the Beatles.
And you think I have forgotten? So, by your logic, Chas Newby should be included? Maybe Jimmie Nicol? I can make that comment because he isn’t deserving. Should he have also been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame when they entered in 1988? I’m fine with you disagreeing with me – I’ve made people annoyed with my opinion’s on Pete before – but I have the right to say anything I so choose. It seems you disagree – so be it.But, never, ever, insinuate I know not of what I’m saying.
Very deserving. Pete Best was a member of the group when they were forging their sound, improving as musicians and refining their stage presence. The Casbah Club gave them their first opportunity to play together as a group and was also the catalyst for Pete to join for their tours in Hamburg which was paramount in their development.