Bill Hillman Tracks
THE BEATLES IN HAMBURG
1960-1962

Photos by Bill Hillman accompanied by information
compiled from personal interviews and various Beatles Bios and Web Refs
www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES
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At the invitation of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. of Tarzana, California, Disney Theatrical, NY and Phil Collins, I flew to Hamburg for an almost two-week stay in October 2008. This gave me time to explore Hamburg before and after the main focus of the visit: the German Tarzan Stage Musical Premiere.

I've been a Beatles admirer since the early '60s, having performed many of their songs in our stage act, as well as having played in a Beatles tribute band. Their favoured leather outfits in the early years were even my stage gear of choice throughout most of the '60s and '70s. It was natural then, that I take advantage of the opportunity to study the Beatles' early influences in Hamburg's Reeperbahn district. Making daily treks from my home base, Hotel 66 on Hein-Hoyer, in the heart of the St. Pauli district I tried to follow the footsteps that The Beatles would have taken during their formative, pre-fame time in Hamburg.

I interviewed people who actually remembered the band in those early years, talked to many more who were impacted by them, including tourists who had come here from all over the world. I also visited so many of the places that have been mentioned in the countless biographies of the band. During this adventure I took hundreds of photos, many of which I share in this project and I've included many more photos that I've discovered during my later research. 

It was a strange feeling exploring the city that my uncles had flown missions over in their WWII RCAF Lancaster bombers in those sad and terrible years, so long ago. This was a really wonderful experience visiting with so many warm, friendly and welcoming people. My one regret was that my partner in life, Sue-On, couldn't share this adventure with me -- she had to stay back in Canada to teach her classes at Brandon University -- luckily I was on research leave.

THE BEATLES IN HAMBURG: 1960-1962
www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES

Be sure to visit my follow-up Beatles Tribute:
THE BEATLES: POST-HAMBURG YEARS
www.hillmanweb.com/beatles4

CONTENTS
PART I: Gigs  |  PART II: Digs | PART III: Echoes
 | PART IV: Reeperbahn | PART V: Hangouts
CONTENTS
Alternate Logo Links
I. Beatle Gigs:
Overview
www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES/gigs.html



www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES/indra.html
www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES/kaiser.html
 www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES/topten.html
www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES/starclub.html
www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES/other.html







II. Beatle Digs
www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES/digs.html
III. Beatle Echoes
www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES/echoes.html
www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES/best.html
IV. Along the Reeperbahn
www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES/reeper.html
V. Beatle Hangouts
www.hillmanweb.com/BEATLES/places.html
HAMBURG
HAMBURG
VI. Hagenbeck Tierpark
Jungle Animals in Hagenbeck Tierpark
Expedition to Tarzan's Pellucidar Home
Trek Around Tarzan's Pellucidar
VII. Hamburg Live Theatre
TARZAN THE MUSICAL PREMIERE
Intro & Pre-Production
Cast ~ Credits ~ Invitation
Opening Night Press Reviews I
Opening Night Press Reviews II
VIII. Hamburg Trek
Tarzan Swings Through Hamburg I
Tarzan Swings Through Hamburg II
IX. Supplementary Photo Albums
Along the Elbe River Today
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X. The Hillman / UK Music Connection
www.hillmanweb.com/uk
XI. Hamburg:
Beatles Return to Hamburg
 
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EARLY YEARS PHOTO ALBUMS
Album I: UK
The Liverpool Years
Album II: 
Hamburg I ~ Rock School
Album III: 
Hamburg ~ The New Look
 Photos IV | Top Ten Club Photos
Photos V | Beatlemania
Photos VI | Beatlemania and Beyond
Photos VII | "Baby Killers"
Photos VIII | More Beatlemania
Leather | The Leather Years
Photos X: Early Years in Colour





Hamburg Gets Its Official Beatles Memorial at Last
EfluxMedia.com ~ September 11th 2008
Hamburg - "All you need is..." patience and money.
28 years after the then completely unknown Beatles played their first gig in Hamburg,
and seven years after the idea was born of honouring the band with a memorial square,
the legendary mop tops are back in the city.

Image by David Crossland
The commemorative square, which Hamburg Mayor Ole von Beust officially opened,
is marked by a dark granite circle 29 metres in diameter which looks like a record.
It features steel sculptures of each of the Fab Four.
To one side stands a sculpture of original Beatles' bassist Stuart Sutcliffe,
who died of a brain haemorrhage in Hamburg in 1962.
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BEATLES TRIBUTE :: PART II
Learn what happened to the Beatles 
after they left Hamburg.
Hundreds of Photos ~ Articles ~ Trivia
Visit Part II of our Tribute to the Fab Four at:
www.hillmanweb.com/beatles4

WEB REFS
The Edgar Rice Burroughs / Hamburg Connection
The Edgar Rice Burroughs / Carl Hagenbeck Connection
Hamburg with the Beatles
BeatleSource.com
The Beatles Hamburg Recordings
The Jets | The Beatles in Hamburg
TravelBlog Hamburg
Beatles in Hamburg Slide Show
Horst Fascher: He brought the fledgling Beatles to Hamburg
Scotty Moore Meets the Beatles
Beatles Photos
Reeperbahn Action
Beatles and their Rickenbacker Guitars
Fab Guitars of the Beatles
With the Beatles
The Beatles Story
John Lennon's Kenwood Estate
Beatles History - Many Links
2013 Photo Exhibit

PRINT REFS
The Beatles Anthology by The Beatles
Paul McCartney by Barry Miles
A Day in the Life by Mark Hertsgaard
The Beatles: 10 Years That Shook The World - Ed. Paul Trynka

PART I: Gigs  |  PART II: Digs | PART III: Echoes | PART IV: Reeperbahn | PART V: Hangouts

Photos I | Photos II | Photos III | Photos IV | Photos V | Photos VI | Photos VII | Photos VIII | Leather

Photos X: Early Years in Colour

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