Mersey Beat - The Casbah

8 Hayman's Green, West Derby, Liverpool.

Without a doubt if it had not been for the catalyst of Mona Best and her opening of this coffee bar, the history of popular music could have been a very different story.
Purchasing a large Victorian house in Hayman's Green, West Derby, with 15 bedrooms and an acre of land, with it came also a large complex of cellars which, when Pete was sixteen, Mona decided to turn part of that area into a private 'members only' club for Pete, his younger brother Rory and their friends who were coming round to the house. Mona Best had the idea for opening the club after seeing a television report on the 2i's Coffee Bar in London's Soho district. It soon turned it into a club for young people with live groups performing there and it became one of the first cellar clubs to present rock 'n' roll exclusively when it opened on the 29th of August 1959.

Charging half a crown ( 12.5 pence ) for annual membership, and serving soft drinks, snacks and cakes, the Casbah also had, unusually for the time, an espresso coffee machine. When there weren't live performances Mona played records on a small Dansette record player, amplified through a 3" speaker. Pete Best had decided he wanted to be in a music group so Mona bought him a drum kit from Blackler's music store in Liverpool and Pete formed his own band, 'The Black Jacks'. Ken Brown and George Harrison having played The Lowlands Club in Hayman's Green around that time had heard about a new club opening and went around to have a look. This is where George first met Pete Best and his new set of drums, which would prove invaluable later on.

For the opening night Mona had booked the Les Stewart Quartet to play, who included George Harrison on guitar, but they cancelled the booking after Les Stewart and Ken Brown had a quarrel. Stewart was angry that Brown had missed a rehearsal, because Brown was helping Mona to decorate the club. With 300 membership cards already sold, George Harrison said that he and two mates were in a band called 'The Quarrymen' who could play instead so they went round to arrange the booking on the understanding they would finish decorating the club. Cynthia Powell also helped, and painted a silhouette of her future husband John Lennon on the wall; it can still be seen there today. It is said that John mistook gloss for emulsion - because of his short sight - which took days to dry. At this point 'The Quarrymen's' line-up was John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ken Brown. Paul McCartney has gone on record to say, "The Casbah was the place where it all started. We helped paint it and stuff. We looked upon it as our personal club."

John in front of  'Spider's Web' mural at The Casbah

George, Paul, Ken and John at The Casbah

The opening night was attended by about 300 local teenagers and included Rory Storm with his new drummer Ringo. After the success of the first night, Mona gave 'The Quarrymen' a residency and they played a series of seven Saturday night concerts for £3 a night, 15 shillings each. On the 7th night Ken Brown had the flu and was unable to play so Mona deducted his money which resulted in 'The Quarrymen' angrily cancelling their residency and storming out. 'The Black Jacks' would take their place as resident band with Ken Brown joining Pete Best in the group.

Paul, Stu and Pete at The Casbah

 

'The Hurricanes' also played there several times in 1960 and the club was also host to the early careers of other local bands such as 'The Searchers', 'Gerry and the Pacemakers', 'The Dominoes', 'The Remo Four' as well as Cilla Black, 'The Beatles' following their return from Hamburg, and many more.
 After her son Pete and Paul McCartney were thrown out of Germany during their first Hamburg trip, it was Mona who wrote Pete and Paul's apology letters and started up all the conversations with the German consulate.
The Beatles played at the Casbah club 44 times between their first appearance, as 'The Quarrymen' , on the opening night of the club on Saturday the 29th of August 1959 up to their final appearance on the 24th of June 1962. Even though the membership list had grown to over a thousand, Mona closed the club on the 24th of June 1962, with 'The Beatles' being the last group to perform there. Her decision to close the club was twofold; her mother Mary had died following a battle with cancer and she was then eight months pregnant with Roag Best whose father was Neil Aspinall.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2018/01/mersey-beat-jacaranda.html