Astrid Kirchherr Witnessed a Profound Moment Between George Harrison and John Lennon After The Beatles’ Original Bassist Died
Astrid Kirchherr, The Beatles‘ friend, said George Harrison comforted John Lennon following the death of the group’s original bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe. She witnessed the profound moment and couldn’t help but document it.
Astrid Kirchherr and Klaus Voormann met The Beatles during their residency in Hamburg, Germany
In 1960, The Beatles left for one of the naughtiest cities in the world, Hamburg, Germany. Their manager at the time, Allan Williams, had set up their residency at Bruno Koschmider’s Indra Club and the Kaiserkeller, where German artist Klaus Voormann first saw them perform.
He’d argued with his girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr, and “wanted to let steam off.” So, he went to the Reeperbahn. What he witnessed at the Kaiserkeller amazed him.
In Martin Scorsese’s documentary, George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Kirchherr said, “Klaus was pretty laid back. You couldn’t impress him by things. He always said, ‘Yeah, great, fantastic.’ But when he came home, seeing The Beatles for the first time, I’ve never seen him like that before. He just went crazy.
“When I came down to the Kaiserkeller with Klaus, then after he had to persuade me for three days I just freaked out. Seeing them on stage, faces I always dreamt of taking pictures of because they had so much personality and were still young like I was.”
Klaus said, “We loved this band. We were knocked out, and we didn’t realize how they lived.” Kirchherr added, “Klaus introduced me to them, and John did his ‘I’m a man, I’m a man’ thing. And Paul was doing his ‘I’m a good boy, good education’ bit. Said help and shook my hand. And George just looked at me and said, ‘Oh, hello. And you are Klaus’s girlfriend?’ But he was ever so sweet. I came to know George then.
“He was interested in so many things, but let’s say on the quiet because Paul was the one who said, ‘Oh, who is that?’ and ‘Who wrote this book?’ and ‘Who is that on that picture?’ George was just sitting there looking at my room. I think at first George thought I was a bit mad, but that became very shortly a very lovely and nice friendship.”
Kirchherr witnessed a profound moment between George Harrison and John Lennon following the death of The Beatles’ bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe
Voormann and Kircherr made friends with The Beatles very fast. Eventually, the young photographer fell in love with The Beatles’ bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe. Their relationship allowed Kirchherr to go up to him and the band to take photos of them while they performed. Soon, Kirchherr was taking some of the most famous portraits of The Beatles, including one picture between George and John.
Kirchherr said she witnessed a profound moment between the young bandmates following Sutcliffe’s untimely death in 1962. She couldn’t help but snap a shot of it.
“I always had a vision that I want to take pictures of outstanding faces who can tell a story behind the mask,” she said. “Imagine what is behind this rough man John Lennon, and what is behind the funny joking Paul, or the lovely sweet little George.
“After Stuart’s death, John and George really cared about me. They used to come and see me in my home. It was actually John’s suggestion. John said, ‘Can I see where he used to paint?’ So I said, ‘Of course, you can.’
“In that moment, I had to take a picture of them. I just grabbed this old chair and put it there. And John was so full of emotion, being in the same room where his friend was just painting, that he nearly burst out in tears. And George was all a bit worried. So I just said to George, ‘Well, stand behind him.’ You could see how quickly George understood what it was all about, death and being alive.
“He was only just turned 18, and when you look at the picture and see his eyes, they’re so full of protection for John. And John was just falling to bits sitting there, and you could see that in his face.”
The photographer took ‘the definitive image of the group before they attained fame’
Without Kirchherr, The Beatles would’ve drowned during their residency in Hamburg. She took care of them and brought them to her house to cook for them. She also gave them one of their most famous portraits.
According to the New York Times, Kirchherr picked the band up in her Volkswagen and brought them to a fairground where she shot their individual portraits. She also shot the group’s portrait, which Beatles historian and biographer Mark Lewisohn calls “the definitive image of the group before they attained fame.”
“It was early in the morning, because I only used daylight,” Kirchherr told The Age in 2005. “So the poor guys had to get up very early. They only stopped playing at four o’clock in the morning, and we met about nine or 10.
“They looked quite rough, having their hair combed back with grease, really looking like rock ‘n’ rollers, so I thought it would suit them the most between all these wagons and steel and rust.”
Kirchherr has gone down in Beatles history as one of the most important figures of their pre-fame career. She captured their essence as a young band.
