Five Beetles from 5 Beatles return to Liverpool!

The Best family and the Beatles Story celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Casbah Club with display of unique piece of Beatles memorabilia

Sir Paul McCartney described the Casbah Coffee Club as "the place where it all started" and now to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this unique and historical venue, the Best family and the Beatles Story will be jointly displaying a bracelet displaying 5 scarab Beetles, bought by the then 5 Beatles in Hamburg, Germany in 1960, as a thank you to Mona Best, club owner and mother of Beatles drummer, Pete Best.

[5 Beetles bracelet]

The remarkable Mona Best is truly one of the unsung heroes of the Beatles' rise to fame. Opening the Casbah Coffee Club in the cellar of the Best family home, she quickly turned this unlikely venue in the Liverpool suburb of West Derby into a Mecca for the burgeoning Merseybeat scene.

The Beatles (then known as the Quarrymen) played the Casbah's opening night on the 29th August 1959 and went on to play the club many times before becoming the last band to appear there on 24 June 1962.

During this period Mona became the closest thing the early Beatles (then made up of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison with Mona's son Pete Best on drums and Stuart Sutcliffe on bass) had to a manager. When Best, McCartney and Harrison were deported from Hamburg, Germany in November 1960, Mona made numerous calls to German club owners and authorities to recover the groups equipment. It was this kind act that prompted the 5 Beatles to purchase this bracelet showing 5 beetles as an affectionate and amusing present to Mona—a unique present for a unique woman.

"I think it's a pretty cool way of celebrating the original Beatles hooking up together for the first time. If it wasn't for the Casbah we may never have met and the whole thing wouldn't of happened. My mother Mo threw the pebble that made the ripple that caused the wave that shook the world. Who would have thought?" —Pete Best

This amazing piece of Beatles memorabilia will be on display at the Casbah Coffee Club on the 29th August and then at the Beatles Story from 1st September–1st December 2009.

The Casbah Coffee Club will be holding a series of events throughout the day on 29th August to commemorate the club's 50th anniversary—these will include live performances from the Pete Best Band, The Undertakers feat Jackie Lomax and Karl Terry and the Cruisers.

Check out petebest.com for more information.

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