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On this day, June 23, 1940, Stuart Sutcliffe was born.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_23• 1940 – Stuart Sutcliffe, Scottish painter and musician (d. 1962)
Stuart Sutcliffe
Sutcliffe in 1961
Born: Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe; 23 June 1940; Edinburgh, Scotland
Died: 10 April 1962 (aged 21); Hamburg, West Germany
Occupations: Painter, musician
Origin: Liverpool, England
Formerly of: The Quarrymen, The Beatles
Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a British painter and musician best known as the original bass guitarist of the Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as a painter, having previously attended the Liverpool College of Art. Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with inventing the name "Beetles" (sic), as they both liked Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets. They also had a fascination with group names with double meanings (as Crickets, for example, the word referring to both an insect and a sport), so Lennon then came up with "The Beatles", from the word beat {though Lennon's original spelling was "Beatals"}. As a member of the group when it was a five-piece band, Sutcliffe is one of several who are sometimes referred to as the "Fifth Beatle".
When he performed with the Beatles in Hamburg, he met photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to whom he was later engaged. After leaving the Beatles, he enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art, studying under future pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi, who later wrote a report stating that Sutcliffe was one of his best students. Sutcliffe earned other praise for his paintings, which mostly explored a style related to abstract expressionism.
While studying in West Germany, Sutcliffe began suffering from intense headaches and experiencing acute light sensitivity. In February 1962, he collapsed in the middle of an art class after complaining of head pains. German doctors performed tests, but were unable to determine a cause. After collapsing again on 10 April 1962, Sutcliffe was taken to a hospital, but died in the ambulance on the way. The cause of death was later found to have been a brain haemorrhage — severe bleeding in the right ventricle of his brain.
{snip}
Death
While studying in Germany, Sutcliffe began experiencing severe headaches and acute sensitivity to light. According to Kirchherr, some of the headaches left him temporarily blind. In February 1962, Sutcliffe collapsed during an art class in Hamburg. Kirchherr's mother had German doctors examine him, but they were unable to determine the exact cause of his headaches. They suggested he return to the UK and have himself admitted to a hospital with better facilities; however, after arriving, Sutcliffe was told nothing was wrong and returned to Hamburg. He continued living with the Kirchherrs, but his condition soon worsened. After he collapsed again on 10 April 1962, Kirchherr took him to hospital, riding with him in the ambulance, but he died before they arrived. The cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage, specifically a ruptured aneurysm resulting in cerebral paralysis due to severe bleeding into the right ventricle of the brain. He was 21 years old.
On 13 April 1962, Kirchherr met the group at Hamburg Airport, telling them Sutcliffe had died a few days earlier. Sutcliffe's mother flew to Hamburg with Beatles manager Brian Epstein and returned to Liverpool with her son's body. Sutcliffe's father did not hear of Stuart's death for three weeks, as he was sailing to South America on a cruise ship, although the family arranged for a padre, a military chaplain, to give him the news as soon as the ship docked in Buenos Aires. After Sutcliffe's death, Kirchherr wrote a letter to his mother, apologising for being too ill to attend his funeral in Liverpool and saying how much she and Lennon missed him:
The cause of Sutcliffe's aneurysm is unknown, although authors of books on the Beatles have speculated it was caused by an earlier head injury. He may have been either kicked in the head, or thrown head first against a brick wall during an attack outside Lathom Hall after a performance in January 1961. According to booking agent 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's little finger was broken. Sutcliffe refused medical attention at the time and failed to keep an X-ray appointment at Sefton General Hospital.
Although Lennon did not attend nor send flowers to Sutcliffe's funeral, his second wife, Yoko Ono, recalled that Lennon mentioned Sutcliffe's name often, saying he was "[My] alter ego ... a spirit in his world ... a guiding force".
Sutcliffe is buried in Huyton Parish Church Cemetery (also known as St. Michael's) in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside in North West England.
{snip}
Sutcliffe in 1961
Born: Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe; 23 June 1940; Edinburgh, Scotland
Died: 10 April 1962 (aged 21); Hamburg, West Germany
Occupations: Painter, musician
Origin: Liverpool, England
Formerly of: The Quarrymen, The Beatles
Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a British painter and musician best known as the original bass guitarist of the Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as a painter, having previously attended the Liverpool College of Art. Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with inventing the name "Beetles" (sic), as they both liked Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets. They also had a fascination with group names with double meanings (as Crickets, for example, the word referring to both an insect and a sport), so Lennon then came up with "The Beatles", from the word beat {though Lennon's original spelling was "Beatals"}. As a member of the group when it was a five-piece band, Sutcliffe is one of several who are sometimes referred to as the "Fifth Beatle".
When he performed with the Beatles in Hamburg, he met photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to whom he was later engaged. After leaving the Beatles, he enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art, studying under future pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi, who later wrote a report stating that Sutcliffe was one of his best students. Sutcliffe earned other praise for his paintings, which mostly explored a style related to abstract expressionism.
While studying in West Germany, Sutcliffe began suffering from intense headaches and experiencing acute light sensitivity. In February 1962, he collapsed in the middle of an art class after complaining of head pains. German doctors performed tests, but were unable to determine a cause. After collapsing again on 10 April 1962, Sutcliffe was taken to a hospital, but died in the ambulance on the way. The cause of death was later found to have been a brain haemorrhage — severe bleeding in the right ventricle of his brain.
{snip}
Death
While studying in Germany, Sutcliffe began experiencing severe headaches and acute sensitivity to light. According to Kirchherr, some of the headaches left him temporarily blind. In February 1962, Sutcliffe collapsed during an art class in Hamburg. Kirchherr's mother had German doctors examine him, but they were unable to determine the exact cause of his headaches. They suggested he return to the UK and have himself admitted to a hospital with better facilities; however, after arriving, Sutcliffe was told nothing was wrong and returned to Hamburg. He continued living with the Kirchherrs, but his condition soon worsened. After he collapsed again on 10 April 1962, Kirchherr took him to hospital, riding with him in the ambulance, but he died before they arrived. The cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage, specifically a ruptured aneurysm resulting in cerebral paralysis due to severe bleeding into the right ventricle of the brain. He was 21 years old.
On 13 April 1962, Kirchherr met the group at Hamburg Airport, telling them Sutcliffe had died a few days earlier. Sutcliffe's mother flew to Hamburg with Beatles manager Brian Epstein and returned to Liverpool with her son's body. Sutcliffe's father did not hear of Stuart's death for three weeks, as he was sailing to South America on a cruise ship, although the family arranged for a padre, a military chaplain, to give him the news as soon as the ship docked in Buenos Aires. After Sutcliffe's death, Kirchherr wrote a letter to his mother, 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's] just crying his eyes out ... John is marvellous to me, he says that he knows Stuart so much and he loves him so much that he can understand me.
The cause of Sutcliffe's aneurysm is unknown, although authors of books on the Beatles have speculated it was caused by an earlier head injury. He may have been either kicked in the head, or thrown head first against a brick wall during an attack outside Lathom Hall after a performance in January 1961. According to booking agent 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's little finger was broken. Sutcliffe refused medical attention at the time and failed to keep an X-ray appointment at Sefton General Hospital.
Although Lennon did not attend nor send flowers to Sutcliffe's funeral, his second wife, Yoko Ono, recalled that Lennon mentioned Sutcliffe's name often, saying he was "[My] alter ego ... a spirit in his world ... a guiding force".
Sutcliffe is buried in Huyton Parish Church Cemetery (also known as St. Michael's) in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside in North West England.
{snip}
I wasn't expecting this.
Love Me Tender - Stuart Sutcliffe
Astrid Shapiro
331 subscribers
130,555 views Oct 22, 2011
A stunning recording which only just begins to capture his beautiful soul... I can't tell you how much this means to me, please enjoy it, and any hateful comments will be deleted as a sign of respect to Stuart and the Sutcliffe family.
Astrid Shapiro
331 subscribers
130,555 views Oct 22, 2011
A stunning recording which only just begins to capture his beautiful soul... I can't tell you how much this means to me, please enjoy it, and any hateful comments will be deleted as a sign of respect to Stuart and the Sutcliffe family.