Pete Best has never been told why he was dismissed from The Beatles, as the only reason Epstein gave was, "The lads don't want you in the group anymore". It has been documented that while Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison usually spent their offstage time together in Hamburg and Liverpool, writing songs or socializing, Best generally went off alone. This left Best on the outside, as he was not privy to many of the group's experiences, references, and in-jokes.
The Beatles played a Parlophone audition at Abbey Road Studios for George Martin on 6 June 1962. Ron Richards and his engineer Norman Smith recorded four songs, which Martin listened to at the end of the session. The recording convinced Martin that the group was good enough to be signed to a contract with one exception; Martin and his engineers did not like Best's playing.
When the group heard that Martin did not like Best's drumming, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison asked Epstein, who had taken over as manager in January, to fire Best from the band. Before Epstein became The Beatles' manager, Best had arranged all the bookings in Liverpool. Epstein agonized about the decision, and asked Bob Wooler if it was a good idea, to which Wooler replied that Best was too popular with the fans to get rid of him. Nevertheless, Epstein dismissed Best on August 16, 1962, which was almost exactly two years after Best had joined the group.
Neil Aspinall was waiting downstairs in Epstein's NEMS record shop after Best's dismissal, and was the first one to talk to the then ex-Beatle in The Grapes pub, across from The Cavern Club, where The Beatles had often played. Aspinall was furious and said that he would stop working for them as well—he had been employed as the band's road manager and personal assistant—but Best strongly advised him not to. Aspinall decided to stay and asked McCartney and Lennon at the next concert why they had fired Best, to which they replied, "It’s got nothing to do with you, you’re only the driver."
The article in the Mersey Beat claimed the separation was amicable, but would Best Buy it? He would later say "if I had it my way, I'd run them out of town on a guardrail".
Ringo Starr took Best's place, as Starr had previously played with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, the alternate band in the Kaiserkeller, and had stepped in to drum with The Beatles in Hamburg and Liverpool when Best was ill or unable to play. Best's dismissal was reported on the front-page of the Mersey Beat magazine, upsetting many Beatles' fans. The Beatles had to suffer jeers and heckling in the street and on stage for weeks afterwards, with fans shouting, "Ringo never, Pete Best forever!" One agitated fan headbutted Harrison in The Cavern, giving him a black eye. Lennon would later comment about Best's dismissal by saying, "We were cowards, we got Epstein to do the dirty work for us."
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