August 29, 1959 Casbah Coffee Club, Liverpool, ENG

Ken Brown was a young guitarist who played in a group that George Harrison occasionally performed with during the lull in Quarrymen gigs between January and August 1959, called the Les Stewart Quartet. In August 1959, the Les Stewart Quartet landed a short residency at the new club for teenagers called The Casbah that was in the basement of the house owned by Pete Best’s parents.

However, the quartet’s leader Les Stewart and Ken Brown apparently had a disagreement about playing at the Casbah and Les and the group’s drummer (Geoff Skinner) walked out leaving just Ken and George Harrison. Not wanting to lose the gig for which Pete Best’s mum was expecting a quartet, George suggested bringing in his pals John and Paul. Since three of the players in this new lineup of the Les Stewart Quartet were also members of the dormant Quarrymen, the Quartet temporarily renamed itself the Quarrymen for just 6 shows - thus making Brown briefly an honorary Quarryman.

Ken had a falling out with John, Paul and George when he was too ill to play one night – but well enough to work on the club door selling tickets. Pete Best’s mother paid Ken one-quarter of the money due to the four musicians even though he hadn’t played music that night. The three musicians who HAD played thought it was unfair to share their meagre stipend with someone who hadn’t played a note – and the disagreement led to the end of Ken’s brief tenure in the Quarryman.

Subsequently Ken joined a new ensemble with Pete Best playing the drums that he acquired as a Christmas present in December 1959. By a quirk of fate, that new group called themselves the Blackjacks. The group lasted approximately 8 months until August 1960 when the remaining Quarrymen members (now calling themselves the Beatles) were desperate for a drummer to accompany them at a new residency they had secured in Hamburg and offered the position to Pete Best.

Ken Brown passed away in June 2010.