In the early days of The Beatles, the lineup was John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Stuart Sutcliffe. The group eventually brought Pete Best as the drummer, but the four musicians founded the band. Both McCartney and Harrison admitted that they didn’t think Sutcliffe was a very good musician, but they still felt jealous of him. McCartney shared why they couldn’t help but feel this way.
Paul McCartney said he and George Harrison felt jealous of Stuart Sutcliffe
McCartney and Harrison got to know Sutcliffe through Lennon. They went to art school together and formed a tight bond. Lennon had been working with McCartney and Harrison in The Quarry Men, and the group worked to convince Sutcliffe to join them. He didn’t have any musical background, but he did have enough money to buy a bass guitar after he sold a painting.
“It was a fortune in those days, like an inheritance,” McCartney said, per The Beatles Anthology. “He said he had to buy canvases or paint. We said, ‘Stu, see reason, love. A Hofner, a big ace group … fame!’ He gave in and bought this big Hofner bass that dwarfed him. The trouble was he couldn’t play well. This was a bit of a drawback, but it looked good, so it wasn’t too much of a problem.”
They worked hard to convince Sutcliffe to join the band, but once he relented, McCartney and Harrison grew jealous of him.
“When he came into the band, Christmas of 1959, we were a little jealous of him; it was something I didn’t deal with very well,” McCartney said. “We were always slightly jealous of John’s other friendships. He was the older fellow; it was just the way it was. When Stuart came in, it felt as if he was taking the position away from George and me. We had to take a bit of a backseat.”
With the presence of Sutcliffe, Lennon’s peer at art school, McCartney and Harrison felt young and out of place.
“Stuart was John’s age, went to art college, was a very good painter and had all the cred that we didn’t,” McCartney explained. “We were a bit younger, went to a grammar school, and weren’t quite serious enough.”
This shows how much Paul McCartney and George Harrison admired John Lennon
At this stage in their careers, McCartney and Harrison idolized Lennon. He was older, had been in a band for much longer than them, and had a formidable reputation in Liverpool. While McCartney and Harrison had more technical mastery over music when they met him, they considered Lennon their leader.
Their jealousy of Sutcliffe is evidence of how much they admired Lennon. He was not replacing them — they remained in the band and were better musicians than Sutcliffe — but he was close friends with the painter. McCartney and Harrison wanted Lennon’s full attention.
How long was Stuart Sutcliffe in The Beatles?
Sutcliffe’s time with The Beatles was fleeting. While he helped name the band, making an indelible mark on the group, he decided to focus on his art career and quit in 1961.
He had a lingering impact on the band, especially Lennon, because of his sudden death in 1962. After dealing with worsening headaches, Sutcliffe died of a brain hemorrhage. Lennon reportedly wrote the song “In My Life” with Sutcliffe in mind.
