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Showing posts with the label Hamburg

Why did Paul McCartney play bass?

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"Nobody wanted to play bass in those days."

Which songs did The Beatles record in German?

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None of The Beatles were keen linguists. Though they did learn some very basic, functional German while in Hamburg, they were resolutely English in their approach to pronunciation, intonation and attempting to mimic accent.  

Why is there confusion about George Harrison's birthday?

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Throughout his life George celebrated his birthday on February 25th. 

Why was George Harrison deported from Germany?

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George in the room above the Bambi Kino cinema George Harrison was seventeen when he first arrived in Hamburg in August 1960. Though legal the age limit for performers was eighteen  club owner Bruno Koschmider was initially unconcerned.  It was when The Beatles jumped ship to work at the bigger Top Ten that Koschmider found his conscience stirred. He then informed the police of his shocking discovery. Those devious Englishmen had an underage performer in their ranks . pen & ink sketch of Hamburg club owner Bruno Koschmider (1926-2000) The police duly deported Harrison on November 21. The guitarist spent his last night teaching John Lennon his parts before reluctantly packing a " crappy suitcase and things in boxes, paper bags with my clothes in, and a guitar." Homeward bound The logistics of getting home proved challenging, as George related in Anthology: Astrid and Stuart dropped me at Hamburg station. It was a long journey on my own on the train to the Hook of Holla...