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Stuart Sutcliffe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Stuart Sutcliffe | |
|---|---|
 An Astrid Kirchherr photo of Sutcliffe in 1960. |
|
| Born | 23 June 1940 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 10 April 1962 (aged 21) Hamburg, Germany |
| Occupation | Artist, Bassist, Singer |
| Spouse | Engaged to Astrid Kirchherr |
| Children | None |
| Parents | Charles and Millie Sutcliffe |
Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was an artist, and the original bassist of The Beatles for two years. Sutcliffe earned praise for his paintings, which mostly explored a style related to Abstract Expressionism.
Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with coming up with the name for The Beatles, as they both liked Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets. Sutcliffe played with the The Beatles in Hamburg, where he met photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to whom he was later engaged. He enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art after leaving The Beatles, and studied under future pop artist, Eduardo Paolozzi.
Sutcliffe suffered from debilitating headaches whilst he was studying in Hamburg, and although tests were carried out by German doctors, no reason could be found for his worsening condition. He died on the way to hospital in April 1962, with Kirchherr sitting alongside him in the ambulance.
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Sutcliffe's father, Charles Sutcliffe, was a naval officer, who was often at sea during his son's early years. His mother, Millie, was a schoolteacher. Sutcliffe had a younger sister named Pauline.
A small but delicately handsome boy, Sutcliffe was born at the Simpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion Hospital in 1940, in Edinburgh, Scotland and brought up at 37 Aigburth Drive in Liverpool, and attended the Prescot Grammar School.[1][2] Sutcliffe sang in the local church choir in Huyton.[3] When Sutcliffe's father did return home on leave, he invited his son and Rod Murray (Sutcliffe's room-mate) for a "real good booze-up" and slipped £10 into Sutcliffe's pocket before disappearing for another six months.[1][4]
Sutcliffe met Lennon when they were both studying at the Liverpool College of Art. According to Lennon, Sutcliffe had a "marvellous art portfolio" at the age of fourteen and was a seriously talented painter who was one of the "stars" of the school.[1][5] Paul McCartney said that he was jealous of Sutcliffe's relationship with Lennon, as he had to take a "back seat" to Sutcliffe (taking second-place to Sutcliffe in Lennon's friendship).[6]
Sutcliffe lived in Percy Street before moving to Hillary Mansions at 3 Gambier Terrace, which was occupied by Beatniks.[7][8] The flat was near the new Anglican Cathedral in the run-down area of Liverpool 8, with bare lightbulbs and a mattress on the floor in the corner. Lennon moved in with Sutcliffe in early 1960.[9][10] Sutcliffe painted the rooms yellow and black, which his landlady did not appreciate.[11]
After talking to Sutcliffe one night at The Cashbah Coffee Club, owned by Pete Best's mother, Mona Best, Lennon and McCartney persuaded Sutcliffe to buy a Höfner 500/5 model, known in Europe as a President bass with the money he had won in the John Moore art exhibition.[12][13][14] Sutcliffe's fingers would often be blistered during long rehearsals, as he had never played long enough for his fingers to become calloused, although he had previously played acoustic guitar.[15][16] Sutcliffe started acting as a booking agent for the group, and they often used his flat as a rehearsal room.[9]
In July of 1960, the British Sunday newspaper The People ran an article entitled, "The Beatnik Horror", which featured a photograph taken in the flat below Sutcliffe's, with a teenaged Lennon lying on the floor. Allan Williams had set up the photograph. He took over from Sutcliffe booking concerts for "The Silver Beetles", as they were then known, which was Lennon, McCartney and Sutcliffe.[17] The Beatles' subsequent name-change came from an afternoon in the Renshaw Hall bar when Sutcliffe, Lennon, and Cynthia Powell thought up names similar to Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets, and came up with The Beatals.[18] Lennon later changed the name to "The Beatles", because he thought it sounded French and suggested Le Beat, or Beat-less.[19][20]
Sutcliffe's playing style was elementary, mostly sticking to root notes of chords.[21] Bill Harry, an art school friend of Sutcliffe's and the group, 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 but not brilliant bassist.[22] While Sutcliffe is often described in Beatles biographies as appearing very uncomfortable onstage, and as often playing with his back to the audience, Pete Best denies this, recalling Sutcliffe as usually good-natured and "animated" before an audience.[23] When The Beatles auditioned for Larry Parnes at the Wyvern Club, Seel Street, Liverpool, Williams stated that Parnes would have taken the group as the backing band for Billy Fury, but as Sutcliffe turned his back to Parnes throughout the audition—because, as Williams believed, Sutcliffe couldn't play very well—Parnes said that he would only employ the group if they got rid of Sutcliffe. Harry has said that the story is not true, as Parnes' only concern was that the group had no permanent drummer.[24]
McCartney has said that Sutcliffe was a typical art student, with bad skin and pimples, although in Hamburg, his stature grew after he began wearing dark Ray-Ban sunglasses and tight trousers.[25] On 5 December 1960, George Harrison was sent back to England for being under-age. McCartney and Best were deported for attempted arson at the Bambi Kino, which left Lennon and Sutcliffe in Hamburg.[26][27] Lennon took a train home, but as Sutcliffe had a cold he stayed in Hamburg.[28] Sutcliffe later borrowed airfare money from Astrid Kirchherr in order to fly to Liverpool in early January of 1961, though he returned to Hamburg, in March 1961, with the other Beatles.[29] Sutcliffe's high spot was singing Love Me Tender, which drew more applause than the other Beatles, and increased the friction between him and McCartney. Lennon also started to critcise Sutcliffe, and made jokes about Sutcliffe's size and playing.[29]
After Sutcliffe left The Beatles, he lent McCartney his President bass until the latter could earn enough money to buy a bass guitar of his own. Sutcliffe asked McCartney (who is left-handed) not to change the strings around, so McCartney had to play it upside down.[30] In 1967, The Beatles included a photo of Sutcliffe among those on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album (he appears at the extreme left, next to fellow-artist Aubrey Beardsley).
Kirchherr was raised by her widowed mother, Nielsa Kirchherr, in Eimsbütteler Strasse in the wealthy Hamburg suburb of Altona.[31] Sutcliffe met Kirchherr in the Kaiserkeller club, where she went to watch The Beatles perform. After a photo session with them, Kirchherr invited the group to her mother's house for tea and showed them her bedroom, decorated in all black —- including the furniture -— with silver foil on the walls, and a large tree branch hanging from the ceiling. Sutcliffe began dating Kirchherr shortly thereafter.[32]
Sutcliffe wrote to friends that he was infatuated with Kirchherr, and asked her friends which colours, films, books, and painters she liked. Pete Best commented that the beginning of their relationship was, "like one of those fairy stories".[33] Kirchherr and Sutcliffe got engaged in November, 1960, and exchanged rings, as is the German custom.[25] Sutcliffe wrote to his parents that he was engaged to Kirchherr, something they were shocked to learn, as they assumed he would give up his career as an artist.[34]
Kirchherr and Sutcliffe traveled to Liverpool in the summer of 1961, as Kirchherr wanted to meet Sutcliffe's family and to see his home city before their marriage.[35]
Stuart Sutcliffe collapsed in the middle of an art class in Hamburg. Nielsa Kirchherr had German doctors perform various tests, but they were unable to determine exactly what was causing the intense headaches from which he had been suffering. Whilst living at the Kirchherrs' house in Hamburg, his condition grew steadily worse. After collapsing again, Sutcliffe was taken to a hospital by Kirchherr (who rode with him in the ambulance), but he died before reaching the hospital. The cause of death was Cerebral Paralysis, after bleeding in the right ventricle of his brain.[36][37]
On the 13 April 1962, Kirchherr met The Beatles at the Hamburg airport and told them that Sutcliffe had died from a brain hemorrhage a few days before.[36][27]
It has never been known precisely what caused the brain hemorrhage that took Sutcliffe's life. Some believe that the cause was an earlier head injury, sustained during a fight outside Lathom Hall after a live performance in January of 1961 (although Sutcliffe had been beaten up before).[38] According to former manager 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 broke his pinky finger.[39]
Sutcliffe had refused medical attention at the time (and had not kept an X-ray appointment at the Sefton General Hospital). He saw a doctor only months later in Germany, when he began experiencing severe headaches and acute sensitivity to light.[40] Kirchherr said later that some of the headaches left Sutcliffe temporarily blind.[35][37]
After Sutcliffe's death, Kirchherr wrote a letter to Millie Sutcliffe, apologising for being too ill to attend his funeral in Liverpool and saying how much she and Lennon missed him:
| “ | Oh mum he [Lennon] is in a terrible mood now, he just can't believe that darling Stuart never comes back. He just crying his eyes out John is marvellous to me, he says that he know Stuart so much and he love him so much that he can understand me."[41] | ” |
Sutcliffe displayed artistic talent at an early age.[1][42] Helen Anderson (a fellow student) remembered his early works as being very aggressive, with dark moody colours, which was not the type of painting she expected from such a quiet student.[5]
One of Sutcliffe's paintings was shown at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool as part of the John Moores exhibition from November 1959 until January 1960. After the exhibition, John Moores bought Sutcliffe's canvas for £75, which was then equal to 6-7 weeks' wages for an average working man.[9]
After meeting Kirchherr, Sutcliffe decided to leave The Beatles and enrolled at the Hamburg College of Art in June 1961, under the tutelage of Paolozzi who respected Sutcliffe's talent, and later wrote a report stating that although Sutcliffe had missed some lessons because of illness, he was considered by Paolozzi to be one of his "best students".[25][43][44]
Sutcliffe's few surviving works reveal influence from the British and European abstract artists contemporary with the Abstract Expressionist movement in the United States. His earlier figurative work is reminiscent of the kitchen sink school, particularly of John Bratby, though Sutcliffe was producing abstract work by the end of the 1950s, including The Summer Painting, purchased by Moores. Rod Murray remembered that the painting was painted on a board, not a canvas, and had to be cut into two pieces (because of its size) and hinged. Murray added that only one of the pieces actually got to the exhibition but sold nonetheless.[45]
Sutcliffe's works bear some comparison with those of John Hoyland and Nicolas de Staël, though they are more lyrical. His later works are typically untitled, constructed from heavily impastoed slabs of pigment in the manner of de Staël, and overlaid with scratched or squeezed linear elements creating enclosed spaces. Hamburg Painting no. 2 was purchased by Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery and is one of a series entitled "Hamburg" in which the surface and color changes produced atmospheric energy. European artists (including Paolozzi) were influencing Sutcliffe at the time.[46] The Walker Art Gallery has other works by Sutcliffe, which are "Self-portrait" (in charcoal) and "The Crucifixion".[47][48]
Lennon later hung a pair of Sutcliffe's paintings in his house (Kenwood) in Weybridge. McCartney had a Paolozzi sculpture in his Cavendish Avenue home.[49][50]
The Beatles' compilation album Anthology 1, consisting mostly of previously unreleased recordings from the band's early years, was released in 1995. Sutcliffe is pictured on the front cover, as he was on Sgt. Pepper 28 years before. More importantly, he is featured playing bass with the Beatles on three songs that the band recorded in 1960: "Hallelujah, I Love Her So", "You'll Be Mine", and "Cayenne". These songs are, to date, the only officially sanctioned recordings of Sutcliffe playing with the Beatles.
Sutcliffe's role in the Beatles' early career, as well as the factors that led him to leave the group, is dramatised in the film Backbeat (1994), in which he was portrayed by Stephen Dorff. He was also portrayed by David Wilkinson in the film Birth of the Beatles (1979) and by Lee Williams in In His Life: The John Lennon Story (2000).
- ^ a b c d Spitz 2005. p105
- ^ Prescot Grammar School uniform liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 13 May 2007
- ^ Photo of Sutcliffe in church choir liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 13 May 2007
- ^ The Comprehensive Stuart Sutcliffe Website (Basic info) geocities.com/imagine_80 - Retrieved 28 October 2007
- ^ a b Spitz 2005. p107
- ^ ”The Beatles Anthology” DVD 2003 (Episode 1 - 0:27:24) McCartney talking about being jealous of Sutcliffe’s friendship with Lennon.
- ^ Spitz 2005. p172
- ^ Painting by Sutcliffe in Percy Street flat liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 13 May 2007
- ^ a b c Miles 1997 p50
- ^ Cynthia Lennon – “John” 2006. p63
- ^ “I heard that Stuart had painted his room”, by Norman Allanson 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
- ^ Sutcliffe's cheque book - liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 13 May 2007
- ^ Cynthia Lennon – “John” 2006. p64
- ^ Sutcliffe’s first guitar liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 13 May 2007
- ^ Miles 1997 p53
- ^ Spitz 2005. p175
- ^ Cynthia Lennon – “John” 2006. p65
- ^ Renshaw Hall bar liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 9 May 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005. pp184-185
- ^ Spitz 2005. pp173-174
- ^ An Evening With Pete Best, Part I: The Interview rickresource.com - Retrieved: 20 Jan, 2007
- ^ Bill Harry interview on Beatle Folks - Retrieved 28 November 2007
- ^ a b c Miles 1997 p65
- ^ Cynthia Lennon “John” 2006. p93.
- ^ a b The BeatlesTimeline beatles.ncf.ca - Retrieved: 9 May 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005. p230
- ^ a b Spitz 2005. p242
- ^ Miles 1997 pp74-75
- ^ Miles 1997 p64
- ^ Spitz 2005. p224
- ^ Spitz 2005. p225
- ^ Spitz 2005. p235
- ^ a b Spitz 2005. p278
- ^ a b Spitz 2005. p305
- ^ a b Cynthia Lennon– “John”. p110.
- ^ Spitz 2005. p240
- ^ Spitz 2005. p241
- ^ Sefton General Hospital report liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 13 May 2007
- ^ Astrid’s letter to Millie Sutcliffe liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 13 May 2007
- ^ Cynthia Lennon – “John” 2006. p47
- ^ Hamburg identity card, 1961 liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 13 May 2007
- ^ Eduardo Paolozzi’s Report liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 13 May 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005. p168
- ^ 'Hamburg Painting No. 2' 1961 liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 12 May 2007
- ^ Sutcliffe's self-portrait (in charcoal) liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 13 May 2007
- ^ “The Crucifixion” by Sutcliffe liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - Retrieved: 12 May 2007
- ^ Miles 1997 p170
- ^ Miles 1997 p258
- Lennon, Cynthia (1980). A Twist of Lennon. Avon Books. ISBN 0-380-45450-5.
- Miles, Barry (1997). Many Years From Now. Vintage-Random House. ISBN 0-7493-8658-4.
- Spitz, Bob (2006). The Beatles: The Biography. Little, Brown and Company (New York). ISBN 1845131606.
- The Beatles (2003). The Beatles Anthology (DVD). Apple records. ASIN: B00008GKEG (Bar Code: 24349 29699).
- Houses and places of interest in Liverpool.
- The Comprehensive Stuart Sutcliffe Website
- Stuart Sutcliffe and The Beatles exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool Life
- Describes Pauline Sutcliffe's claims
- Stuart - The Life and Art of Stuart Sutcliffe
- Stuart Sutcliffe - The Lost Beatle
- Stuart quote about the Romeos: Lennon, McCartney and Harrison