In 1962, the Beatles soon got themselves a spot on Parlophone Records and had then gotten their very first single produced. It was a really big hit and their fans all loved it. What they didn't love however was when George Martin got them to replace their old drummer Pete Best.They were outraged that John, Paul and George would just agree to send him away and let some newcomer named Ringo Starr take his place. "I bet he'll never be the Best drummer of the group. I mean, what kind of a name is Ringo anyways." One of the fans sneered.
"Probably just some stupid nickname his mother gave to him. But he's not star to us! We got to convince the Beatles that they need to bring back Pete, he's a way better drummer than this Ringo will ever be!"
And so a tirade of angry fans against the new drummer had begun. Every day when they entered the Cavern Club when the Beatles were performing they would do nothing but shout "Pete Best forever! Ringo never!" Over and over again.
The Beatles didn't want their fans to be upset, but they felt that Ringo was a better drummer than Pete was and wanted to keep him. Not to mention they felt that he fit in better than Pete. "Looks like those fans are at it again." John sighed.
"It would be a miracle if they stopped." Paul added. "We don't want Ringo to feel bad about all this and think it's his fault that people are shouting. Good thing some accepted that Ringo is our new drummer and like him."
"I hear you Macca. They just won't let up. We don't want Ringo to end up leaving because the fans keep yelling at him. He's been hurt a lot already, don't need those guys to keep rubbing salt in the wounds."
"But there's got to be something we can do." George chimed in. "I hate seeing our new friend being miserable because some dumb fans won't accept him. I don't want to lose him.. He's like our brother."
"I hate it too, but I doubt there's any way to convince those guys to like Ringo. He's done nothing wrong and yet these fans are all up in arms about him."
"It's a really sad sight.. But I guess we'll just have to go along with it.. C'mon, time for us to go onstage."
George was still a bit upset that his bandmates think that the problem would soon go away if they just keep ignoring it. "If they won't do something about this I will. Ringo needs us and I need to make sure that he's okay. Sometimes I wonder who's the youngest around here."
And so they picked up their guitars, plugged them into the amps and waved to their crowd. There weren't as many 'Pete Besters' (as the Beatles called them) as before, but there were definitely a large number of them waiting to boo Ringo and hoped that he would have been kicked offstage.
"Welcome one and all! Now our first song we would like to sing is off of our single, and it's called From Me To You!" John announced before he strummed his guitar and began to sing.
Paul and George then chimed in as soon as John started. Ringo felt a bit nervous onstage with all the yelling about, but he knew that the band needed him and that he shouldn't pay attention to the angry 'Pete Besters'. So he drummed away and tried to ignore the constant chanting of "Pete Best forever! Ringo never!"
"They just want to see me cry and run offstage, well I won't give into their demands." Ringo thought to himself. "I'll just keep on drumming and I won't pay attention to them one bit."
But the fans wouldn't take Ringo not noticing them too lightly either. One then ran right up to the stage and attempted to climb it. At this point, George had enough of the angry people who call themselves Beatles fans.
"Hey!! Get off our stage you!" He bellowed. "Ringo doesn't deserve all this pain you're causing him!!"
"Oh yeah?! You replaced your old drummer with this big nosed, blue eyed freak!" The man on the stage shouted back.
"Freak?! How would you like it if I called you a freak?!! How would you like it if you were in a band and was a replacement to someone and then everyone started yelling at you to leave?!"
"Shut up you stupid guitar player!!" Then with that, the man punched George right in the face, leaving him with a black-eye before storming back offstage.
Many fans and his bandmates were absolutely appalled by what he did to poor George. "I'm sorry everyone for the inconvenience, but it seems like we must have a ten minute break at the moment. Our Georgie needs some special care." John announced to the crowd.
The four all headed back offstage and went to go check George's eye.
"Hm.. Just a small black-eye. I think it should get better soon." Paul told his younger friend.
"Okay Paulie.. I think we can go back onstage now.." George told everyone.
"Not right now, we need a little time for ourselves." John told him. "Also I just wanted to say that you really stuck up for Ringo back there."
"Yeah George." Ringo chimed in. "But why did you do it?. You know you didn't have to, I co-"
"I did Ringo. And I'm glad I did. I don't care about this black eye, all that matters is that I stood up to defend you from those angry people and that you're safe." George explained. "I hate seeing people hate each other. I don't like violence at all."
"Aww.. You're so kind George." Ringo said with a small smile, then he pulled him into a hug. "You're like a little brother to me. Thanks for defending me then.. Want me to get some ice for your eye?"
"Yes please Ringo.. It does sting a bit, but I would have had a bigger pain of guilt if I didn't do this."
Smiling at their youngest band member, the older three Beatles all lead him to the bathroom to get some ice and wash up a bit before heading back onstage. The fans then saw that Ringo was really hurt by the things they had said about him and that his bandmates are willing to defend him even if it meant getting hurt for him. So that day foreward, the fans accepted Ringo as a Beatle and never yelled at him again.