Stuart Sutcliffe
Stuart Sutcliffe | |
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Born | Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe 23 June 1940 Edinburgh, Scotland |
Died | 10 April 1962 Hamburg, West Germany | (aged 21)
Occupations |
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Years active | 1957–1961 |
Partner | Astrid Kirchherr (engaged 1960) |
Musical career | |
Origin | Liverpool, England |
Genres | Rock and roll |
Instrument(s) |
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Formerly of | |
Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a British painter and musician best known as the original
When he performed with
While studying in
Early years
Sutcliffe was the eldest child of Martha, known as Millie (1907–1983), a teacher at an infants' school[3] and Charles Sutcliffe (25 May 1905-18 March 1966), a senior civil servant. Charles had moved to Liverpool in 1943 to help with wartime work and subsequently signed on as a ship's engineer, so he was often at sea during his son's early years.
Sutcliffe had two younger sisters, Pauline and Joyce; three older half-brothers, Joe, Ian, and Charles; and an older half-sister, Mattie, from his father's first marriage to a woman also named Martha.[4][5]
Sutcliffe was born at the
During his first year at the Liverpool College of Art, Sutcliffe worked as a
Sutcliffe shared a flat with Murray at 9 Percy Street, Liverpool, before being evicted. He moved to Hillary Mansions at 3 Gambier Terrace, home of art student Margaret Chapman, who vied with Sutcliffe to be the best painter in class.[14] The flat was opposite the new Anglican cathedral in the rundown area of Liverpool 8, with bare lightbulbs and a mattress on the floor in the corner. Lennon moved in with Sutcliffe in early 1960.[15][16] (Paul McCartney later admitted he was jealous of Sutcliffe's relationship with Lennon, as he had to take a "back seat" to Sutcliffe.)[17]
Sutcliffe and his flatmates painted the rooms yellow and black, which their landlady did not appreciate.[18]
After talking to Sutcliffe one night at
In May 1960, Sutcliffe joined Lennon, McCartney, and
In July 1960, the Sunday newspaper
The Beatles and Hamburg
Sutcliffe's playing style was elementary, mostly sticking to root notes of chords.[30] Harry—an art school friend and founder and editor of the Mersey Beat newspaper—complained to Sutcliffe that he should be concentrating on art and not music, as he thought that Sutcliffe was a competent musician whose talents would be better used in the visual arts.[31] While Sutcliffe is often described in Beatles biographies as appearing uncomfortable onstage and occasionally playing with his back to the audience, Pete Best, their drummer at the time, denies this. Best recalled Sutcliffe was usually good-natured and "animated" before an audience.[32] When the Beatles auditioned for Larry Parnes at the Wyvern Club in Liverpool, Williams later claimed Parnes would have hired the group as the backing band for Billy Fury for £10 per week (equivalent to £291 in 2023[33]), but as Sutcliffe turned his back to Parnes throughout the audition (because, as Williams believed, Sutcliffe could not play very well), Parnes said he would hire them only if they got rid of Sutcliffe. Parnes later denied this, stating his only concern was that the group had no permanent drummer.[34] Klaus Voormann regarded Sutcliffe as a good bass player,[35] although Beatles' historian Richie Unterberger described Sutcliffe's bass playing as an "artless thump".[36]
Sutcliffe's profile grew after he began wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses and tight trousers.[37] His high spot was singing "Love Me Tender", which drew more applause than the other Beatles and increased the friction with McCartney. Lennon also started to criticise Sutcliffe, joking about his size and playing.[38] On 5 December 1960, an underage Harrison was sent back to Britain. McCartney and Best were deported for attempted arson at the Bambi Kino, which left Lennon and Sutcliffe in Hamburg.[39][40] Lennon also returned home, but as Sutcliffe had a cold, he stayed in Hamburg.[41] Sutcliffe later borrowed money from his girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr so he could fly back to Liverpool on Friday, 20 January 1961, although he returned to Hamburg in March with the other Beatles.[38]
In July 1961, Sutcliffe decided to leave the group to continue painting.[42] After being awarded a postgraduate scholarship,[13] he enrolled at Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg, where he studied under the tutelage of Eduardo Paolozzi.[37] He briefly lent McCartney his bass until the latter could earn enough to buy a specially made smaller left-handed Höfner 500/1 bass of his own in June 1961. However, Sutcliffe specifically asked McCartney (who is left-handed) not to change the strings around or restring the instrument, so McCartney had to play the bass as it was.[43]
In 1967, a photo of Sutcliffe was included on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (extreme left, in front of fellow artist Aubrey Beardsley).[44]
Astrid Kirchherr
Sutcliffe met Astrid Kirchherr in the Kaiserkeller, where she had gone to watch the Beatles perform. She had been brought up by her
He wrote to friends that he was infatuated with her, and asked her German friends which colours, films, books and painters she liked. Best commented that the beginning of their relationship was "like one of those fairy stories".[47] Kirchherr and Sutcliffe got engaged in November 1960 and exchanged rings, as is the German custom.[37] Sutcliffe later wrote his parents that he was engaged to Kirchherr. They were shocked because they thought he would give up his career as an artist,[48] although he told Kirchherr he would like to be an art teacher in London or Germany.[49] After moving into the Kirchherr family's house, Sutcliffe used to borrow Astrid's clothes. He wore her leather trousers and jackets, oversized shirts and long scarves, and collarless jackets. He borrowed a corduroy suit with no lapels to wear on stage, which prompted Lennon to sarcastically ask if his mother had lent him the suit.[49]
Art
Sutcliffe displayed artistic talent at an early age.
Sutcliffe was turned down when he applied to study for an Art Teacher's Diploma (ATD) course at Liverpool Art College,[42] but after meeting Kirchherr, he decided to leave the Beatles and attend the Hamburg College of Art. In June 1961, he did so, under the tutelage of Paolozzi, who later wrote a report commending Sutcliffe.[37][53][54] In Paolozzi's words: "Sutcliffe is very gifted and very intelligent. In the meantime he has become one of my best students."[7]
Sutcliffe's few surviving works reveal influence from British and European
Hamburg Painting No. 2 was purchased by Liverpool's
Death
While studying in Germany, Sutcliffe began experiencing severe headaches and acute sensitivity to light.
On 13 April 1962, Kirchherr met the group at
Oh, Mum, he (Lennon) is in a terrible mood now, he just can't believe that darling Stuart never comes back. [He's] just crying his eyes out ... John is marvellous to me, he says that he knows Stuart so much and he loves him so much that he can understand me.[67]
The cause of Sutcliffe's aneurysm is unknown, although authors of books on the Beatles have speculated it was caused by an earlier head injury. He may have been either kicked in the head, or thrown head first against a brick wall during an attack outside Lathom Hall after a performance in January 1961.[68] According to booking agent Allan Williams, Lennon and Best went to Sutcliffe's aid, fighting off his attackers before dragging him to safety. Sutcliffe sustained a fractured skull in the fight and Lennon's little finger was broken.[69] Sutcliffe refused medical attention at the time and failed to keep an X-ray appointment at Sefton General Hospital.[70]
Although Lennon did not attend nor send flowers to Sutcliffe's funeral, his second wife, Yoko Ono, recalled that Lennon mentioned Sutcliffe's name often, saying he was "[My] alter ego ... a spirit in his world ... a guiding force".[4]
Sutcliffe is buried in Huyton Parish Church Cemetery (also known as St. Michael's) in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside in North West England.
Posthumous music releases
The Beatles' compilation album
In 2011, Sutcliffe's estate released a recording claimed to be Sutcliffe singing a cover of Elvis Presley's "
Film, television, and books
Part One of The Beatles Anthology video documentary covers Sutcliffe's time with the group. There is no mention of his death in the documentary, but it is discussed in the accompanying book.
Sutcliffe was portrayed by David Nicholas Wilkinson in Birth of the Beatles (1979) and by Lee Williams in In His Life: The John Lennon Story (2000).[73] Sutcliffe's role in the Beatles' early career and the factors that led him to leave the group are dramatised in the 1994 film Backbeat, in which he was portrayed by American actor Stephen Dorff. Sutcliffe does not appear in Nowhere Boy (2009), but is briefly mentioned toward the end of the film.
Four television documentaries have been broadcast that deal with Sutcliffe's life:
- Midnight Angel (1990) Granada TV (networked) U.K.[74]
- Exhibition (1991) Cologne, German TV[7]
- Stuart, His Life and Art (2005) BBC TV[7]
- Stuart Sutcliffe, The Lost Beatle[75]
Books about Sutcliffe:
- Backbeat: Stuart Sutcliffe: The Lost Beatle (1994) Alan Clayson and Pauline Sutcliffe [76]
- Stuart, The Life and Art of Stuart Sutcliffe (1995) Pauline Sutcliffe and Kay Williams [77]
- The Beatles Shadow, Stuart Sutcliffe, & His Lonely Hearts Club (2001) Pauline Sutcliffe and Douglas Thompson [7]
- Stuart Sutcliffe: a retrospective (2008) Matthew H. Clough and Colin Fallows [78]
- Baby's in Black (2010) Arne Bellstorf [79] - graphic novel
The Stuart Sutcliffe Estate sells memorabilia and artifacts of Sutcliffe's, including poems written by him and the chords and lyrics to songs Lennon and Sutcliffe were learning.[80]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Spitz 2005, p. 175.
- ^ "Report by Eduardo Paolozzi, 23 October 1961". liverpoolmuseums. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
- ^ Norman 2005, p. 62.
- ^ a b Kane 2007, p. 52.
- ^ Sutcliffe, Tufnell & Cornish 1998, p. 30.
- ^ McGinty, Stephen (12 August 2011). "Stephen McGinty: Scotland meant a lot more to the Beatles than just Mull of Kintyre". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
- ^ a b c d e "Stuart". Stuart Sutcliffe Estate. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ Pawlowski 1989, p. 88.
- ^ "Stuart Sutcliffe's school reports reveal he had a 'mischievous character'". 23 June 2016.
- ^ a b c Spitz 2005, p. 105.
- ^ a b Sutcliffe's cheque book - Archived 8 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2007
- ^ a b Spitz 2005, p. 107.
- ^ a b Sutcliffe, Tufnell & Cornish 1998, p. 31.
- ^ Painting by Sutcliffe in Percy Street flat Archived 25 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2007
- ^ a b c Miles 1997, p. 50.
- ^ Lennon 2005, p. 63.
- ^ "The Beatles Anthology" (DVD) 2003 (Episode 1 – 0:27:24) McCartney talking about being jealous of Sutcliffe's friendship with Lennon.
- ^ Norman Allanson "I heard that Stuart had painted his room", triumphpc.com. Retrieved 26 November 2007.
- ^ "The Beatles Anthology" (DVD) 2003 (Episode 1 – 0:28:02) Harrison and McCartney talking about Sutcliffe's first bass guitar.
- ^ Sutcliffe's President Bass rockmine.com. Retrieved: 9 May 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005, p. 173.
- ^ Photo of Sutcliffe in church choir Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2007
- ^ Coleman 1995, p. 212.
- ^ Lennon 2005, p. 66.
- ^ Lennon 2005, p. 64.
- ^ Sutcliffe's first guitar Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2007
- ^ Ryan 1982, p. 43.
- ^ Ryan 1982, p. 53.
- ^ Miles 1997, p. 53.
- ^ Spitz 2005, pp. 184–185.
- ^ Spitz 2005, pp. 173–174.
- ^ An Evening With Pete Best, Part I: The Interview rickresource.com. Retrieved 20 January 2007
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ Bill Harry interview on Beatle Folks – Retrieved 28 November 2007
- ^ "Stuart Sutcliffe, The Lost Beatle" documentary
- ^ Unterberger 2006, p. 7.
- ^ a b c d Miles 1997, p. 65.
- ^ a b Spitz 2005, p. 242.
- ^ Lennon 2005, p. 93.
- ^ a b The BeatlesTimeline Beatles.ncf.ca. Retrieved: 9 May 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005, p. 230.
- ^ a b "Issue No.23 Mersey Beat Reveals The Beatles Are To Record!". Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ Miles 1997, pp. 74–75.
- ^ Mcnab, Ken (9 November 2008). "The Beatles in Scotland: Stuart Sutcliffe's story". Sunday Mail (Scotland). Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ Miles 1997, p. 64.
- ^ Spitz 2005, p. 224.
- ^ Spitz 2005, p. 225.
- ^ Spitz 2005, p. 235.
- ^ a b c "Fresh Air interview with Astrid Kirchherr (15 January 2008)". WHYY-FM. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ Lennon 2005, p. 47.
- ^ "Beatles Browser Four (p4)". Bill Harry/Mersey Beat Ltd. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ Spitz 2005, p. 168.
- ^ Hamburg identity card, 1961 Archived 25 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2007
- ^ Eduardo Paolozzi's Report Archived 14 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2007
- ^ "The Summer Painting". Stuart Sutcliffe Estate. 2010. Archived from the original on 28 November 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ Hamburg Painting No. 2 1961 Archived 13 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2007
- ^ Sutcliffe's self-portrait (in charcoal) Archived 25 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2007
- ^ "The Crucifixion" by Sutcliffe Archived 25 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2007
- ^ Miles 1997, p. 170.
- ^ Miles 1997, p. 258.
- ^ Sefton General Hospital report Archived 14 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005, p. 278.
- ^ a b c Lennon 2005, p. 110.
- ^ a b Spitz 2005, p. 305.
- ISBN 1-84353-140-2. Accessed 25 August 2013.
- ^ Giuliano & Giuliano 1996, p. 3.
- ^ Astrid's letter to Millie Sutcliffe Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005, p. 240.
- ^ Spitz 2005, p. 884.
- ^ Spitz 2005, p. 241.
- ^ The Beatles Anthology (DVD) 2003
- ^ ""Love Me Tender", sung by Stuart Sutcliffe". stuartsutcliffefanclub.com. The Official Stuart Sutcliffe Fan Club. 2011.
- ^ "In His Life: The John Lennon Story (2000)". Rotten tomatoes. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ Walker, John. (1990). "Stuart Sutcliffe and the film Midnight angel" Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. AND: Journal of Art / artdesigncafe. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
- ^ Clark, Pete. "Stuart Sutcliffe, The Lost Beatle". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ Clayson & Sutcliffe 1994.
- ^ Sutcliffe & Williams 1996.
- ^ Clough & Fallows 2008.
- ^ Fitch, Alex (10 May 2011). "The Resonance FM podcast: Baby's in Black". Self Made Hero. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ "Artifacts/Memorabilia: Lyrics and chords for a Lennon/Sutcliffe song". Stuart Sutcliffe Estate. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.. The lyrics are from the Gene Vincent version of the song Peace of Mind released in 1958.
References
- ISBN 978-0-330-33580-5.
- Clough, Matthew H.; Fallows, Colin (2008). Stuart Sutcliffe: A Retrospective. ISBN 978-1-84631-176-5.
- ISBN 978-0-330-34568-2.
- Giuliano, Geoffrey & Giuliano, Brenda (1996). The Lost Lennon Interviews. Adams Media Corporation. ISBN 978-1-55850-638-1.
- ISBN 978-0-7624-2966-0.
- Lennon, Cynthia (2005). John. ISBN 978-0-340-89512-2.
- ISBN 978-0-7493-8658-0.
- ISBN 978-0-7432-3565-5.
- Pawlowski, Gareth L. (1989). How They Became the Beatles. ISBN 978-0-525-24823-1.
- Ryan, David Stuart (1982). John Lennon's Secret: A Biography. Kozmik Press. ISBN 978-0-905116-08-2.
- ISBN 978-0-316-80352-6.
- Sutcliffe, Pauline; Williams, Kay (1996). Stuart: Life and Art of Stuart Sutcliffe. ISBN 978-0-904351-52-1.
- Sutcliffe, Pauline; Tufnell, Guinevere; Cornish, Ursula (1998). Working with the dying and bereaved: systemic approaches to therapeutic work. ISBN 978-0-415-91993-7.
- Unterberger, Richie (2006). The Unreleased Beatles. Backbeat (UK). ISBN 978-0-87930-892-6.
External links
This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. (August 2023) |
- Official website
- The Comprehensive Stuart Sutcliffe Website at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 October 2009)
- Stuart Sutcliffe and The Beatles exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool Life
- Stuart – The Life and Art of Stuart Sutcliffe
- Stuart quote about the Romeos: Lennon, McCartney and Harrison Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- A summary of Sutcliffe's last year of life in Germany from the book Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand
- Buried in Huyton Parish Church Cemetery
- Stuart Sutcliffe at Find a Grave
- Partial letter from John Lennon to Stuart Sutcliffe at the British Library
- Stuart Sutcliffe discography at Discogs
- Stuart Sutcliffe at IMDb