Best Of The Beatles

Yes, I am a Beatle freak, and will remember the night they were on the Ed Sullivan show as strongly as I remember the day JFK was assassinated. But as in all success stories the rise to fame is always the most interesting, and the Beatles' is hard to match. What makes this set so interesting is the thoroughness of it. The appearances of so many people from those days (who have rarely been seen) was astonishing. There are many books that will spell out incomparable details of those years, but visually, this is the most in-depth and accurate look at what really happened. Like Lennon said many times, the Beatles would never have happened without Hamburg.I write this partly because of another reviewer who was correct that Pete Best simply wasn't a first class drummer. He was little more than a novice when the Hamburg scene started, and regular gigs at bars is hardly a good way to develop style. It gets so noisy that all one can do is bash away and keep the beat, that's all. And most people don't realize (many musicians too) that the drummer is the most important part of a band. The drummer is the foundation of it, and if the foundation is shaky, then the house will fall down sooner than later. The 'clinical', clean, precision-minded environment of a professional recording studio compared to a rowdy bar is indescribable, and it was clear to Parlophone that the Beatles had a lot of drawbacks, not just Best's drumming. Plus, Parlophone was a 'specialty' label. Their sales were so low that the parent company (EMI) was considering shutting them down completely. George Martin was in serious need of a rock 'n' roll band - ANY band with potential - which he saw in the Beatles, and why he gave them a try. Of all that came before and was to follow, this was the Beatles key stroke of luck. Without Parlophone's predicament the Beatles would have been a 'local' band forever because they had already been turned down by every record label in the country. Martin's plan was to refine their sound, find better songs, maybe change their name, and use a session drummer for recordings instead of Pete Best. At the threshold of professional entertainment - no more bars - and not being aware of Martin's full assessment of them, the only real impact personally was the drumming glitch. Heck, I know fellows who might trade in their Mothers for a chance like that, so the Beatles weren't going to risk a contract on a so-so drummer. Since Ringo was the best drummer in town he was their choice. It might have been the worst thing Pete Best would ever experience, but what Ringo brought to the Beatles is unquestionable. History now speaks for itself.It's very sad that Pete Best will always be remembered as the 'former Beatle', but the truth is, there were many others who came and went before him. It's an anguish he'll always feel, but the one great thing he can be proud of is being exactly that - a former Beatle. Even with Ringo, a twist of fate could easily have made the Beatles a 'one hit wonder', and today nobody would know anything about Pete Best. But he was there in those magic, wistful days, and he'll be well remembered for it. I think it's extremely commendable of him to come forward and share all those fantastic memories. "Best of the Beatles" is a must have. It's a much closer, more personal look at those wonderous days. It's so well made, and presented with such zest that even a moderate Beatle fan would find it hard not to watch. The cast of characters included in this DVD was a phenomenal feat. Many of them are only names we've read in endless books, have never been seen before, never even heard their voices. "Best of the Beatles" is far more in-depth than the Beatles Anthology, to the point where one is tempted to 'fast forward' through it. The most telling importance of the early years was a quote from Lennon: "We were performers in Liverpool and Hamburg. What we generated was fantastic. But as soon as we made it, the edges were knocked off. Brian put us in suits and all that, we made it very, very big, but we'd sold out... The Beatles died then, as musicians. We never improved as musicians. We missed the club dates because THAT'S when we were playing real music..."

This is for any Beatles fan. This is the story of the Beatle that was given away, Pete Best. This story is from the man himself, Pete Best, and many insider interviews, Among them Astrid Kircherr, Cynthia Lennon, George Martin, Rory Best, Klaus Voohrman, Stu Sutcliff's sister Pauline, John Lennon's sister Julia, just to name a few.It all boils down to this, It was a dirty deal they handed Pete. IMHO, I believe that once George Martin made a comment about the Pete's drumming, John and Paul took it to Brian and that was it. No doubt Brian felt terrible because he knew what a terrible thing it was. I think Lennon and McCartney put it in Brian's hands and let it go with the guilt and obviously Brian was left holding the bag.I always loved the Beatles, although after seeing this, my feelings have been slightly changed. Love the music, but the Beatles were not always nice guys. Come to think of it, Lennon was not always a nice guy anyway. I cannot hand off my love of their music, but I know Pete Best could have easily been one of the greats himself and one of the drumming greats.We hear samples of Pete's band performances in this documentary. Pete does not sound like a bitter guy, and I don't know how he couldn't be. Pete Best's songs are good, but I detected a hint of Beatles in the melodies.Pete Best is like the man who lost the winning lottery ticket.

Pete Best heads the lists of people who got screwed in the 20th Century. No other entertainment figure was so badly treated and so misunderstood by the general public - including me. This is an excellent documentary produced by Pete that tells his side of the Beatles rise to fame. Pete comes across as a really likable guy with a lot to say and great stories that even Beatle history nuts like me never heard told before. Very interesting and well worth a watch. I especially love the scene with Pete and Astrid Kirchherr sitting in the KaiserKeller in Hamburg Germany talking about their time there all those years ago. Bravo Pete and you deserve a lot, lot, lot more! A great companion piece for the DVD about Stu -"Stuart Sutcliffe - The Lost Beatle " and the book "Tune In" by Mark Lewisohn all about the early Beatle days.

You get the feeling this guy is tired of being asked questions about being a Beatle. I re-listened to a few Hamburg recordings and he repeated himself more than Ringo and tried to grab attention (which Ringo never once did.) Over the long run it couldn't work. Too bad George Martin didn't speak. There is some new insight on Liverpool clubs but very little new about the Beatles.

As stated, this was a used purchase, which I've done before, but probably never will again! Fortunately the price was good. Unfortunately I just can't get past the case. Someone wrote "ha, ha, ha" in Sharpie, and drew eyebrows and a mustache on Pete Best. The case was also cracked. Had I known any of this, I never would have purchased it. As for the content, nothing special, the description was a bit misleading. Extremely disappointed.

Zee

I purchased this for my boyfriend who is a die-hard Beatles fan and has every book, every video, etc. ever made about the Beatles! I mean, he grew up with the Beatles music. I was very nervous about this purchase for that reason... I fully expected him to not watch it and promptly tell me I'd wasted my money. We nearly broke up in 2007 after I purchased two books (about the Beatles) for him that he said were junk. Much to my surprise though, he enjoyed listening to Pete Best tell stories about his days with the Beatles. I'm not really even a Beatles fan (not really my generation's music) but I loved this video. I'll have to say that my opinion of the Beatles has changed since hearing Best's side of the story. I think he got a very raw deal...

Finalmente un dvd in cui si parla di Pete Best!Pete Best che si racconta e che viene raccontato dagli amici e da coloro che lo hanno conosciuto.Interessante.Peccato nessun sottotitolo in italiano....

All good . Good delivery. Enjoyable for all of us BEATLE Fans!!!

I finally got around to watching this dvd. It was interesting to see Pete Best talking about his life and the years spent with The Beatles. I don't think it will ever be known why he was sacked from the band. I think it was a combination of several reasons why he was let go, my personal theory being it was mostly Paul McCartney's idea. Once he got John to go along with the idea, then it really didn't matter what George thought, even though George wanted Ringo in. Since John was the supposedly the leader, he could have possibly vetoed any changes in the band. I thought the dvd was well done considering how much time had passed since this happened.