The Beatles at the Top Ten Club In Hamburg
Drawn by Klaus Voormann. As a young artist living in Hamburg, Germany in 1960, Klaus was on his way to a successful career in commercial art. That year he had his first encounter with the music that would eventually take his life in a completely different direction.
One night, Klaus was on the Reeperbahn in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, when he was drawn to the sound of music coming from a basement window. It was the Kaiserkeller Club. Klaus went down into the club to better hear and see the band playing onstage. Despite being alone and feeling out of his element and uncomfortable among the leather clad rockers, Klaus stayed on for the next band. It was The Beatles—John, Paul, George, Stuart Sutcliffe on bass, and Pete Best on drums. Coincidentally, Klaus also saw Ringo Starr that night because he was the drummer for the first band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.
Klaus brought his friends Astrid Kirchherr and Jürgen Vollmer back to see the Beatles the following evening. Astrid would later be known for creating The Beatles look with haircuts and photography; as well as marrying Stuart (making room for Paul on bass). And Klaus would go on and (among other things) draw the cover of Revolver.
Click on the picture to get to Klaus Voormann’s web site.
