George Harrison Was ‘so Embarrassed’ to Be Deported From Germany That He Avoided His Bandmates for Weeks

In 1960, The Beatles began playing a series of shows in Hamburg, Germany, but authorities ended their run when they discovered George Harrison was underage. They deported Harrison and, almost immediately after, sent Paul McCartney and drummer Pete Best packing. Soon, John Lennon and guitarist Stuart Sutcliffe followed. Harrison didn’t realize this, though. He was so embarrassed to have been sent home that he didn’t speak to his bandmates for several weeks. 

The Beatles played early shows in Hamburg

In August of 1960, The Beatles arrived in Hamburg to play a residency at several different clubs in the city. Per the LA Times, their contract stipulated that they would play six nights a week, adding up to 30 hours a week. Each of them received the equivalent of $51 a week for their performances. Their stint in Hamburg allowed them to grow as musicians. 

“They were never again as free as they were in Hamburg,” musician and Beatles tour guide Stefanie Hempel said. “As John Lennon said, ‘We could try anything and the audience liked it, as long as it was really loud.'”

George Harrison avoided his bandmates after they left Germany

The band’s stay in Hamburg came to an end when German authorities deported Harrison from the country. In November, The Beatles broke their contract with the Kaiserkellar club when they played shows at another venue. In retaliation, the club owner informed authorities that Harrison was only 17 years old.

“I the undersigned hereby give notice to Mr George Harrison and to Beatles’ Band to leave on November 30, 1960,” the notice read, per the book George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door by Graeme Thomson. “The notice is given to the above by order of the Public Authorities who have discovered that Mr George Harrison is only 17 (seventeen) years of age.”

Shortly after this, authorities also deported McCartney and Best for lighting a condom on fire while trying to move out of their room. With most of their band missing, Lennon and Sutcliffe went back to Liverpool, too. They didn’t contact one another for a bit. According to Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia, Harrison felt so embarrassed that he didn’t even know his bandmates were back in England.

“After Hamburg John didn’t contact the other Beatles for a couple of weeks, but when he did they decided to get back together,” she wrote in her book, John. “Poor George had been so embarrassed at having been sent home that he didn’t realize for some time that the others were back too. He’d got another job, and so had Paul, who, urged by his dad, had done a stint at the post office, then started at a delivery firm.”

They began performing together again, and they returned to Hamburg in 1961, after Harrison turned 18.

George Harrison said playing in Germany was a formative experience for the band

The shows in Hamburg were small compared to the ones the band played at the height of Beatlemania. Still, Harrison said their time in Germany was important to the group’s development.

“We had to learn millions of songs because we’d be on for hours,” he said, per the LA Times. “Hamburg was really like our apprenticeship, learning how to play in front of people.”