Hamburg, Germany, the Reeperbahn in 1960

Today We Look at a Group of Young German Artists Whose Sense of Style Transformed the Beatles.

They were slightly older, more sophisticated, and considerably better educated. Their influence helped the Beatles to evolve from greasy-haired Elvis-clones to the iconic long-haired musicians who dominated the music scene for decades. Their influence affected an entire generation of young people worldwide.

If you recognize this face you are probably a serious Beatles fan.

Klaus Voormann grew up as the son of a German physician. He was exposed to classical music, studied classical piano for seven years, and was encouraged by his parents to pursue commercial art. By the time he met the Beatles he had already worked for magazines doing layouts. One night after an argument with his girlfriend and another close friend, he stormed out and went for a walk to cool off. He was walking through the Reeperbahn, see photo above, and heard music coming from the basement of the Kaiserkeller Club. He was no fan of rock & roll, but was pulled in by the energy and sound.

The clubs clientele were leather clad rockers, rowdy drunken sailors, pimps, and prostitutes -- not the sort of place for a sensitive artist type there on his own. But the music was irresistible. The next night he excitedly cajoled his reluctant girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr and their friend Jürgen Vollmer to venture into this seedy club on the Reeperbahn.

The three young artists and their friends became regulars at the Kaiserkeller, and developed a deep and lasting friendship with the Beatles. Paul McCartney notes from the CD Anthology:

One of those days we were doing our stuff and some slightly strange-looking people arrived who didn't look like anyone else. Immediately we felt, 'Wey-hey... kindred spirits... something's going on here.' They came in and sat down and they were Astrid, Jürgen and Klaus.

George Harrison notes from the CD Anthology:

"He (Klaus) went back and told Astrid and brought her and some of their friends - there were ballet dancers with them - and they started coming in on a regular basis to see us. Astrid and Klaus would come in most frequently. They liked our band and she wanted to photograph us."

Astrid's parent's home became a home away from home for the Beatles. She visited the Beatles in Liverpool before they became famous, as did Klaus. At the urging of George and Ringo who shared an apartment in London, Klaus stayed with them while he was seeking work as a graphic artist in London.

The quick Steemit overview: Klaus became a bass player, joined the Manfred Mann group after Jack Bruce left to join Cream, and eventually became a very successful session player in Los Angeles.

He also played bass on several of the Beatles solo albums. Here he is with George Harrison on stage at the Concert for Bangladesh

He also did the iconic album cover for the Beatles Revolver album:

His credits and achievements are simply too numerous to mention. Do yourself a favor and visit his website to see his great graphic art, it's wonderful.

Here is a great conversation with Klaus if you would like to learn more, and on YouTube you can also find several German language interviews with him.

I want to give credit to someone. The reason I decided to do these posts on The Beatles, Made in Germany was because of a post on Steemit by @shortcut -- A Sax, a VIC-20 and a Tombstone. For some reason that post made me think of Klaus Voormann

You see, Klaus also played some sax, some classical guitar, and his drawings made me think of Shortcut's art. Shortcut and Klaus share an artistic sensitivity I've often encountered in Germany. I strongly suspect if Shortcut had been alive and had passed by the Kaiserkeller that night, he too would walked down those steps into the unknown.

Astrid Kirchherr

A wonderful photographer who captured some of the most iconic images of the Beatles in their early days. She vacationed with the Beatles on their first real vacation just as Beatlemania was beginning.

She worked for Stern magazine to take behind the scenes photos of the filming of A Hard Day's Night.

She also took this sleeve photo for George Harrison's solo album Wonderwall

Here is a very nice interview on the NPR radio show Fresh Air with photo in the background.

Jürgen Vollmer

Another great photographer, of whom John Lennon said:

"Jurgen Vollmer was the first photographer, to capture the beauty and spirit of the Beatles (tho I say it myself)! We tried very hard to find someone with his touch after we returned from Hamburg, Germany . . . Nobody could. He loved rockers . . . And rock and roll . . . The photographs speak for themselves."

Photos:
Reeperbahn 1960 source
Klaus Voormann both are YouTube Screencaptures
Revolver album artwork
Astrid Kirchherr & George Harrison photographer unknown
George Harrison artwork from album Wonderfall
John Lennon Cover from the book: Rock 'n' Roll Times: The Style and Spirit of the Early Beatles and Their First Fans Paperback – September 21, 1983 by Jurgen Vollmer (Author) and photographer.