The Jacaranda, 21-23 Slater St, Liverpool, L1 4BW, UK

August 1960

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best

The Jacaranda Club at 21-23 Slater Street, Liverpool is the location at which The Beatles first performed under this name. It was the first public performance of the band comprising of the line up of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best. The performance took place in the cellar stage area of the coffee bar in August 1960 at which Lennon introduced the band as The Beatles. Not The Silver Beetles as billed. This Accreditation is based on: 1) The research by Beatles historian David Bedford including his interviews with beat poet Royston Ellis who knew The Beatles at this time. 2) The hand written letter by Paul McCartney stating their association with the Jacaranda Club that summer with his spelling of the band’s name as The Beatles. 3) The 1990 video tour (part 3) by Allan Williams who was then the group’s manager and owned the Jacaranda Club at the time. In the tour he re-visits the Jacaranda Club and states “where they first played as The Beatles”. We are aware of an earlier press report of the band’s performance with their name spelt as The Beatles. The venue related to this report does not claim these performances as having been by The Beatles but by The Silver Beetles as billed. It must be assumed that they were exploring the name change as a suitable replacement for the name The Silver Beetles during this time. McCartney’s letter confirms that they considered themselves to be called The Beatles whilst at the Jacaranda Club. The performance was the band’s last in the UK before their tour to Hamburg when they were named The Beatles. This is also supported by The Beatles Story Museum in Albert Dock, Liverpool (est 1990) as being the location of the first performance by the band called The Beatles.