Pete Best stands on the top floor of his former home and stares at a collection of framed photographs.
Now 82 years old, he looks back at a younger version of himself. A person with dark hair and a leather jacket sits in front of a drum kit.
The three men standing next to him are easily recognizable – his former bandmates George Harrison, Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
They became part of the most famous quartet in music history.
Although Best was dropped from the band and replaced by Ringo Starr, he says that six decades later he has had time to reflect on one of the biggest “what ifs” in pop history.
“I had 60 great years as Pete and as Beatles. It’s a part of your life, it’s nice to be associated with it, but life goes on,” he said.
“There was a lot of misery and financial embarrassment in the beginning, but life makes up for it. Maybe it was my karma, maybe it wasn’t meant to be that way.”
Best not only took the time to reflect, but also developed business ventures based on his connection to the group.
The latest project, launched today by Best and his younger brother Roag, gives the public the opportunity to stay in their old home.
It was also one of the places where the Beatles took their first steps in the industry.
The Casbah Club is a Grade II listed Victorian mansion purchased by Best’s mother Mona, who had the idea of creating a members-only club where her sons and their friends could meet and listen to music.
The footprints of the Beatles, then known as The Quarrymen, can be found all over the basement where they played.
The group helped decorate the room and you can still see where John Lennon carved his name into the walls with a penknife. On sultry nights, hundreds of people would crowd inside to watch their performances.
Today there were dozens of people downstairs and even more people in the rooms upstairs, which guests can now book.
The suites are named after Paul, John, George, Peter and original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe – but not after Ringo.
“The Beatles played here, the Beatles partied here and the Beatles slept here,” said Best, adding that the accommodation was a “projection” of his mother’s dream.
This moment is also a reminder that Beatlemania was followed by a nostalgia that still has appeal and still sells.
Evelyn and Andy were the first to book a room and travelled from Glasgow.
Sitting in the Paul McCartney Suite, which is littered with pictures of the man it is named after as well as a replica of his guitar, Evelyn described the Beatles as “almost like friends” to her, adding that she does her best to attend Beatles-related events and places whenever she can.
But the house is not just a business opportunity, it is now used as a bed and breakfast and also shows how close Best was to becoming part of Beatlemania.
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Debbie Greenberg, who ran the Cavern Club, another Liverpool venue known to be associated with the group, remembers when he was taken off the schedule.
“Pete was a very good-looking guy and had a lot of followers. Word got around that he had been replaced by Ringo and we all started chanting,” Ms. Greenberg recalled.
“We all sang ‘Pete forever, Ringo never’. To suddenly be replaced when they were on the verge of something big must have been so devastating for him, so you know he deserves everything he has today,” she added.
