The Early Beatles Show That Saw Paul McCartney Fight a Bandmate on Stage
Learn more about an early Beatles show that saw Paul McCartney get into a brawl with a bandmate on stage, below.
The Beatles were no strangers to in-fighting. The end of their career was rife with spats, eventually leading to the bandâs breakup. Though fans might not be aware, that affinity for a row was present throughout the entirety of their careerâpublicly too. Learn more about an early Beatles show that saw Paul McCartney get into a brawl with a bandmate on stage, below.
[RELATED: The Crass Inspiration That Led to Paul McCartney Writing âWhy Donât We Do It In The Road?â]
Stuart Sutcliffe was the Beatlesâ original bassist. Prior to McCartney taking over the duty, Sutcliffe led the rhythm section to success during their Hamburg residencies. Though he would eventually leave the band to focus on other artistic pursuits, itâs a wonder one on-stage fight with McCartney didnât send him packing earlier.
As the story goes, McCartney committed the cardinal sin of talking about Sutcliffeâs girlfriend. Naturally, the bassist wasnât too pleased with Macca.
[RELATED: The Beatles Post Video Presentation Looking Back at the Release of âNow and Thenâ in Honor of Songâs Grammy Victory]
âPaul was saying something about Stuâs girlâhe was jealous because she was a great girl, and Stu hit him, on stage,â John Lennon once explained. âAnd Stu wasnât a violent guy at all.â
âStuart and I once actually had a fight on stage,â McCartney added. âI thought Iâd beat him hands down because he was littler than me. But he was strong and we got locked in a sort of death-grip, on stage during the set. It was terrible. We must have called each other something one too many times: âOh, youâŠâ â âYou calling me that?â Then we were locked and neither of us wanted to go any further and all others were shouting, âStop it, you two!â â âIâll stop it if he will.ââ
âOf course, all the big gangsters round there were all laughing at us because they were used to killing people,â Macca continued. âHere were me and Stu â neither of us big fighters. None of this helped my relationship with Stuart or Pete [Best].â
In the end, that fight didnât matter much in the Beatlesâ trajectory to success. They managed to do quite well after leaving Hamburg behind. But, nevertheless, it is an interesting pit stop in an era of their career that doesnât get discussed much. Check out a clip from a Beatles Hamburg performance, below.
(Photo by Mark and Colleen Hayward/Redferns)