In 1960, the Beatles went off to Hamburg, Germany for the first time. George had to lie about his age in order to perform, as he was only 17 years old at the time.
They had been performing under less-than-ideal conditions at a place called the Indra and then later, when neighbors started complaining about the noise, at the Kaiserkeller- sleeping in a storeroom at the Bambi Kino, a nearby theater owned by Bruno Koschmider, who also owned the clubs the boys were playing at. As Paul describes it: "We lived backstage in the Bambi Kino, next to the toilets, and you could always smell them. The room had been an old storeroom, and there were just concrete walls and nothing else. No heat, no wallpaper, not a lick of paint; and two sets of bunk beds, with not very much covers—Union Jack flags—we were frozen."
John was equally unimpressed:
"We were put in this pigsty. We were living in a toilet, like right next to the ladies' toilet. We'd go to bed late and be woken up next day by the sound of the cinema(porn)show and old German fraus (women) pissing next door."
In addition, the boys' only option for washing and shaving was to use cold water from the urinals in the bathroom.
Having heard of a better club called the Top Ten, they began negotiations with the owner to perform there. According to George, the sound system was better, it looked nicer and it would pay a bit more.
The story goes that Koschmider, being less than thrilled at the boys breaking their contract with him, called the cops on George and reported him for being underage. The police arranged for his deportation shortly thereafter.
George says that he stayed up all night with John, teaching him his guitar parts before he was deported so that the Beatles could continue to play.
He wasn't alone back home for very long though. Bandmates Paul McCartney and Pete Best were soon deported as well. Going back to the Bambi Kino to gather their things, they grabbed a condom from their belongings, nailed it to the wall and set fire to it. No real damage was done, but they were reported to the authorities for attempted arson.
The Indra in the 1960's:
The Beatles on their first night at the Indra club (left to right: John, George, Pete, Paul and Stu in matching lilac jackets that Paul's neighbor made for them):
George, John, Pete, Paul and Stu later in the evening:
George, John and Paul:
The Indra as it looks today:
Grosse Freiheit in the 1960's (site of the Kaiserkeller club):
concert poster for the Beatles and Rory Storm (to date, no proven photos of either band playing there in 1960 have surfaced):
the Kaiserkeller today:
The Top Ten Club:
The Beatles at the Top Ten club (left to right: Pete, Paul, George, John and Stu):
The location of the former Top Ten Club as it appears today:
George in their room at the Bambi Kino:
Paul and John in their room at the Bambi Kino:
The boys at Harold's cafe in Hamburg, with an unidentified man who looks rather enamored with George (who could blame him?):
A scantily clad John on the street:
John was known to have said "I may have been born in Liverpool, but I grew up in Hamburg."
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