Back where it all began

Sep 16 2006 by Kate Mansey, Liverpool Daily Post

Club where Beatles played first gig has been listed, writes Kate Mansey

IT MAY not be as famous as the Cavern, but the part it played in Beatles history is unquestionable. And now the basement where the Beatles played their first-ever gig has been given listed status, official recognition of its importance to modern British history.

The Casbah coffee club, in Hayman’s Green, West Derby, was created in the family home of original Beatles drummer Pete Best in West Derby, Liverpool.

It is now owned by Best’s younger brother, Roag.

Last night the family welcomed the news.

Roag said: “Some people from English Heritage came round a few months ago to take photographs of the Casbah.

“Then this week we literally got a phone telling us it had got listed status.

“It’s absolutely tremendous to think that the Casbah now has the same status as Hadrian’s Wall. The whole family is over the moon.

“The Casbah was the start of beat music because bands like the Beatles played here when the Cavern was still just a jazz club.

“They were a band who broke all the boundaries and this is where it all started.”

Best’s mother, Mona, bought the Victorian property following a win on the horses and converted its coal cellar and basement after reading about beat clubs in London.