1960–62: Hamburg, Cavern Club and Brian Epstein

Finding themselves drummerless before their upcoming engagement in Hamburg, the group invited Pete Best to become their drummer on 12 August 1960. Best had played with The Blackjacks in The Casbah Coffee Club, owned by Pete's mother, Mona Best; a cellar club in West Derby, Liverpool, The Beatles played there and often visited.^[17] Four days after hiring Best, the group left for Hamburg. The Beatles began playing in Hamburg at the Indra Club and moved to the Kaiserkeller in October 1960. They were required to play six or seven hours a night, seven nights a week. On 21 November 1960 Harrison was deported for having lied to the German authorities about his age.^[18] A week later, having started a small fire at their living quarters while vacating it for more luxurious rooms, McCartney and Best were arrested, charged with arson, and deported.^[19] Lennon followed the others to Liverpool in mid-December while Sutcliffe stayed behind in Hamburg with his new German fiancée Astrid Kirchherr. The reunited group played an engagement on 17 December 1960 at the Casbah Club, with Chas Newby substituting for Sutcliffe.^[20]

The Indra Club, where The Beatles first played on arriving in Hamburg, as it appears today.

The Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961, performing at the "Top Ten Club". While playing at the Top Ten Club, they were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan to act as his backing band on a series of recordings for the German Polydor Records label,^[21] produced by famed bandleader Bert Kaempfert.^[22] Kaempfert signed the group to its own Polydor contract at the first session on 22 June 1961. On 31 October Polydor released the recording "My Bonnie (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur)", which appeared on the German charts under the name "Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers", a generic name used for whoever happened to be in Sheridan's backup band.^[23] A few copies were also pressed under the Decca label for United States disc jockeys, as American Decca had a distribution deal with Polydor parent Deutsche Grammophon.^[24] When the group returned to Liverpool, Sutcliffe stayed in Hamburg with Kirchherr.^[25] McCartney took over bass duties.^[26]

The band returned to Liverpool from Germany, and on Tuesday February 21, 1961 they made their first lunchtime appearance at The Cavern Club in Mathew Street. Their stage show had been through a lot of changes, and some in the audience thought they were watching a German band. From 1961 to 1962 The Beatles made 292 appearances at the club. On 9 November 1961, Brian Epstein, owner of the NEMS music store on Great Charlotte Street, saw the Beatles for the first time in the club.

In a meeting with the group at North End Music Store (NEMS) on 10 December 1961, Brian Epstein proposed the idea of managing the group.^[27] The Beatles signed a five-year contract with Epstein on 24 January 1962.^[28] Epstein led The Beatles' search for a British recording contract. Epstein had been manager of the record department at NEMS, an offshoot of his family's furniture store. He played on the status of NEMS as a major record dealer to gain access to producers and recording company executives. In a now-famous exchange, Decca Records A&R executive Dick Rowe turned Epstein down flat, informing him that "guitar groups are on the way out, Mr. Epstein."^[29] (See The Decca audition.) While Epstein was negotiating with Decca, he also approached EMI marketing executive Ron White.^[30] White, who was not himself a record producer, in turn contacted EMI producers Norrie Paramor, Walter Ridley, and Norman Newell; all of them declined to record The Beatles. White did not approach EMI's fourth staff producer—George Martin—who was on holiday at the time.^[31] The Beatles returned to Hamburg from 13 April to 31 May 1962, where they performed at the opening of The Star Club.^[32] Upon their arrival, they were informed of Sutcliffe's death from a brain hemorrhage.