The Fab Five? Klaus Voormann offered to replace Stuart Sutcliffe in The Beatles: “I thought they were great”
German bassist Klaus Voormann has confirmed he offered to join The Beatles in 1961 following the departure of Stuart Sutcliffe.
Voormann, who was in the Fab Four’s inner circle, became friendly with the Liverpudlians during their pre-fame residencies in Hamburg, which is when he made the offer to join the band.
Following Sutcliffe’s departure, who sadly died in 1962 due to brain aneurysms, to focus on his career as an artist, Voormann let his friends know that he was more than willing to fill the void left behind on bass.
During a new interview with The Sunday Telegraph, he shared, “Well, it’s a silly story, because the band then was not important.”
Voormann continued, “Nobody knew who those boys were. But I thought they were great and would have loved to play with them. We were all outside and sat on a heap of wood, and we were all a little stoned. Just for fun, I said, ‘Well, maybe I could play.’”
However, John Lennon quickly thwarted his plans, interjecting to explain, “‘Ah, Paul’s already bought a bass.’”
The bass in question is McCartney’s iconic Höfner 500/1, which he lost for over 50 years before eventually being reunited with the instrument, a story that is detailed in the new documentary McCartney: The Hunt for the Lost Bass.
Rather than thinking about what could have been if he had joined The Beatles, Voormann insists, “It’s a question I’ve never thought about”, and also shared, “Well, I tell you what – that’s hard to imagine. If the Beatles had a fifth member, it might have changed a lot.”
But Voormann always knew they had what it took to reach the big time, adding, “It was really refreshing to see those boys onstage. For me, it was mind-blowing. They were special. I knew they were going to go somewhere.”
Voormann remained close with The Beatles throughout the 1960s, living in the band’s London flat and designing the cover art for Revolver, which won him a Grammy in 1967. He also later played with The Plastic Ono Band.
During the early 1970s, there were strong rumours that John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison were set to reunite with Voormann on bass rather than McCartney, but, despite playing together on a Ringo Starr solo track, it never came to fruition.
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