learning curve pleasing Hamburg gangsters and drunken unpredictable sailors.

Ringo Starr with The Hurricanes

By October 1960 the Hurricanes were also in Hamburg enjoying top billing over the vastly improved five piece Beatles. The Beatles were making important contacts in Hamburg even though one of these Klaus Voorman set eyes on the Hurricanes first he was mesmerised by the Beatles and through him Astrid Kirchnerr came into the picture. Astrid took many stunning photographs of the Beatles and also of Rory, but through her relationship with Beatle bassist Stu Sutcliffe she was to influence their image into mop tops the Beatles were evolving maybe the Hurricanes’ needed to do the same.

In this same month music history was to take place although it is not widely known. Hurricanes bassist Lou Walterswanted to cut some tracks in the recording studio three songs were laid down in Hamburg “Summertime”, “Fever” and “September Song” but it is the musicians Lou used to back him for this session which is worth noting, for the first time ever together in the recording studio were John, Paul, George and Ringo! Pete Best was buying drum sticks in Hamburg Stu Sutcliffe was elsewhere and why no other Hurricane bar Ringo was present remains a mystery as does sadly the whereabouts of the four discs that were cut that day.

By the time the Beatles returned to Liverpool in December of that year and played Litherland Town Hall and the first screams of Beatlemania began it was clear that the balance of power was changing and the