Over the years I had heard many different stories and opinions as to why Pete Best had been sacked from the Beatles and I decided to write a book exclusively on the subject. It was called Drummed Out! The Sacking of Pete Best and it was published in the UK in 1998. I thoroughly enjoyed researching the book and it was the closest I have got to writing a detective story.
Rather pleasantly, there has been a groundswell of good opinions about this book. People seem to have enjoyed it and have asked where they can get hold of it. To this end I am very happy to say that an updated and revised book is being published by the excellent McNidder & Grace, with thanks to Michael Heatley at Northdown for letting me use the original text.
When I wrote the original book, a couple of critics said that I should have included the sources for all my quotations. I didn’t do this because it was intended to be an entertaining read, a readable book, and not an academic discourse. The majority of the quotes come from my own interviews and conversations with musicians and if anyone does need to know the source material, they can get in touch with me through my website (www.spencerleigh.co.uk). I can assure any reader that all the quotations are genuine and in most cases, I have them on tape.
The Beatles may have ceased to be but much has happened in the Beatle world since 1998. There are new books published every month and the amount of research is breathtaking. Only recently I met an academic who is writing a book linking the Beatles’ lyrics and the Mersey poets. Mark Lewisohn published the first volume of his history of the Beatles and their times, The Beatles – All These Years: Tune In, in 2013 but his meticulous research does not, I think, close the door to future investigation but rather highlights what else could be done. As Van Morrison remarked in another context, “It’s too late to stop now.”
I’ve also done further research of my own on the sacking of Pete Best since 1998 and this has been included in this delightful new book. Hope that you enjoy it.
Spencer Leigh
March 2015