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Stuart
Sutcliffe was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June
23, 1940. At 19, Stu was regarded as one of the most
talented and promising students at the Liverpool Art
College, when he met fellow art student John Lennon.
All of the girls liked Stu because of his moody, romantic
scowl, sunglasses, and resemblence to James Dean. Stu
even lived like an artist, in a cramped, paint splattered
house near the school. John lived there with Stu for
a time, spending long nights drinking and sharing their
passions for art.
When
Stu sold a painting in 1959 for £65, an unheard-of
sum for a student's painting in those days, John convinced
him to buy a bass guitar and join the band, never mind
that he couldn't play. Before their first big break,
a two-week tour to Scotland backing Johnny Gentle, Stu
is partially credited with coming up with the name Beatles,
by jokingly suggesting "Beetles" as a play
on Buddy Holly's Crickets. Back in Liverpool, violence
was common at the shows they played at, and one night,
after a show at Litherland Town Hall in the north of
Liverpool, the Silver Beatles were ambushed as they
made their way out into the car park to their van. In
the fight, Stu went down and was kicked in the head.
Later at home, still bleeding from the gash in his head,
he refused to let his mother call a doctor.
While
in Hamburg, Stu met Klaus Voorman, who introduced him
to Astrid Kirchherr, and they quickly fell in love.
Astrid changed Stu's clothes and gave him a new, distinctive
hair style, which all the Beatles later adopted. While
on their second Hamburg trip, Stu started to study art
again, at the Hamburg State Art College, where Astrid
had studied, allowing him to quit the Beatles gradually.
When the tour ended and the rest of the Beatles went
back to Liverpool in 1961, Stu stayed in Hamburg with
Astrid. Stu died on April 10, 1962, from a brain hemmorrhage,
following a series of violent headaches. Ironically,
the Beatles were to arrive the next day to start their
third Hamburg tour.
Biographical info from the book Shout! by Philip
Norman, The Love You Make, by Peter Brown and Steven
Gaines, and The Beatles, The Ultimate Recording Guide
by Allen J. Wiener.
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