Chas Newby, former bassist for The Beatles, has died at the age of 81.
The news of Newby’s passing was announced on the Cavern Club Liverpool’s Facebook page Tuesday.
“It’s with great sadness to hear about the passing of Chas Newby. Chas stepped in for The Beatles for a few dates when Stuart Sutcliffe stayed in Hamburg and latterly he played for The Quarrymen,” the music venue wrote.
Continuing, the venue wrote, “Interestingly, he was also the first left-handed bass guitarist in The Beatles. RIP Chas Newby thoughts and well wishes from everybody at The Cavern Club.”
In an interview with Birmingham Mail in 2012, Newby admitted, “Music was never going to be a living for me.”
“All of us at that time were thinking what we were going to do with our lives, some doing teaching, or science, or whatever,” he added.
However, Newby revealed he and the rest of The Beatles members were originally not on the same page with their life plans.
“I wanted to do chemistry. John, Paul, and George, they just wanted to be musicians,” he explained.
Newby also disclosed which band member he was closest to at the time.
Chas Newby, former bassist for The Beatles, dead at 81 https://t.co/esRfWRpEN7 pic.twitter.com/stm6Iq2LwQ
— New York Post (@nypost) May 24, 2023
“George (Harrison) was the one I got on the best with. He knew Pete (Best) already. He was always telling funny stories about getting deported from Germany whenever we sat around chatting,” he said.
In an interview with Rock and Roll Globe in 2020, Newby got candid on how he got the opportunity to perform with The Beatles in the first place.
“When The Beatles were playing their first gig in Hamburg, I was starting my second year at college. I was in touch with Pete by post and was vaguely aware of George’s deportation, but there was no way I was going to give up my college place,” he shared. “When the band reunited in Liverpool mid-December, Pete organized a bass guitar for me and we had a couple of rehearsals, which must have gone OK.”
Newby reminisced about playing with the band after they gained huge success.
“My overall memory was playing a right-handed bass upside down, and playing with the best band in the world. Dave Bedford, a good friend from Liverpool, always reminds me that I was the first left-handed bass player in The Beatles,” he added.
