KLAUS VOORMANN:ONE BEATLE FRIEND

Klaus Voormann,photo from his own website

It was August 1971,a bearded man was playing bass for George Harrison's Concert For Bangladesh benefit show.As some people might ask "who's that guy playing bass?",as if he was a new kid on the block picked by George and invited him on the show.Truth is,he's been in the music scene for years and has known the Beatles even before the band rose to fame.

Klaus Voormann is a German artist,bass player and album producer.His heavy involvement with the Beatles had started way back in 1960 when the band was  playing clubs in Hamburg,Germany.As John Lennon had noted "I was born in Liverpool but I grew up in Hamburg",his early meeting with the fab four(whose drummer back then was Pete Best) would mean a long-term association that would last even after the band had already broke up:playing on  solo albums by George Harrison,Ringo Starr and doing a stint as a bass player on John Lennon's post-Beatle outfit-Plastic Ono Band.

Klaus is also responsible for being the guy who had influenced the fabs by having that now famous mop-top hairdo.As German boys usually have that "bowl cut" outfit during that time,his girlfriend at the time,Astrid Kirchheer first did the now famous mop top to Stuart Sutcliffe who was then the Beatles' bass player after he saw Voormann wearing that hairstyle.Eventually,Voormann's relationship with Kirchheer would not last as she left him later on for Sutcliffe.The 1994 film Backbeat which hightlights the Beatles' life as a bar band in Hamburg portrays a young Klaus Voormann weeping after he was spurned and left by his lover Astrid.Though the film itself was marred with controversies over some "inaccuracies" with Paul McCartney even stating that he was not very much impressed with the outcome of the movie.Though no one can ever know what really happened out there on Voormann's part after Kirchheer shitted on him and left him cold for Stu,it was later claimed that the two of them remained close friends.Sutcliffe,on the other hand,died of  a brain hemorrhage in 1962 shortly after he left the band.Kirchheer went on to be a photographer and took photos of the Beatles during the early days of Beatlemania.Voormann on the other hand,had moved to England with the fab four where he shared a flat with George Harrison.

Klaus Voormann with the famous Beatle "haircut"

Voormann was said to be speaking in halting English when he first met the fabs but he learned quick and even became the bass player for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969.Perhaps Voormann is best known by Beatles fans as the man who is responsible for the artwork of  Revolver-the Beatles' 7th studio album known for its psychedelic rock and was ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the greatest albums of all time.The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die along with other Beatles albums.Voormann had worked on a collage with part line drawing of John,Paul,George and Ringo.The photographs attached to the drawings were taken by Bob Whitaker with Voormann's own photo and signature attached on Harrison's hair on the cover.The album was the last to be altered by Capitol Records in the United States in the 1960s where it was released with only 11 songs--with three of its tracks removed and was included on the US compilation album Yesterday And Today hence known for its famous butcher cover with the Beatles' expressing their protest towards their American distributor.The album with its original 14 track lineup was finally released domestically in 1987 thanks to EMI's unification effort and the band's American albums by then were deleted and was available only in bootlegs and box sets.The album went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic.With its timeless appeal,the album was even parodied several times including that of the Simpsons with Homer and some of his 'friends' gracing the cover.

Revolver album cover designed by Klaus Voormann

Voormann had also worked with other bands like the Bee Gees who were then known in the 1960s as a psychedelic rock group and far from the disco trio as many young folks know them today.The album was called Bee Gees 1st and was the band's first international album after the Gibb brothers had moved back to England from Australia where they were already established celebrities.

Bee Gees 1st album cover design by Klaus Voormann

The Bee Gees by then was a quintet with the Gibb brothers Barry,Robin and Maurice plus two friends Vince Melouney on lead guitar and Colin Petersen on drums.The band then was managed by Robert Stigwood  in partnership with Brian Epstein-the Beatles' manager as to how Voormann and the Bee Gees' paths have come across.Released in 1967,Bee Gees 1st was a success with mixed reviews pointing on several US deejays and other countries mistaking it as a Beatles record.

Talking about the Bee Gees,while we were on the subject,Voormann is also repsonsible for the artwork of the band's 1968 album Idea-on its American release,the album was featured with a composite head outline of Barry Gibb's with some sites claiming it was Voormann's face on it but it was more clear that it was Barry Gibb's face outlined on the American cover.

Idea,US edition,album design by Klaus Voormann

The album was also a success for the band with the British edition featuring Vince Melouney on vocals on one track called "Such A Shame".The track,however was removed on the US album release and was replaced instead with a more catchier song written and sung by Robin and Barry Gibb called "I've Gotta Get A Message To You".

Voormann busied himself as a bass player,record producer,and session musician.When Paul McCartney first announced the Beatles' breakup in 1970.It was rumored that he will be replacing Paul as bass player for the Beatles with John,George and Ringo.Wikipedia even mentioned a group with the three remaining Beatles as the Ladders as to who or what was their source on that claim is uncertain,as it was not to be,for Lennon had said in a 1971 interview for Rolling Stone that he had already told the rest of the band that he was leaving on the fall of 1969 even before Paul announced the band's dissolution the following year.Though John Lennon was reportedly present during the early days of January 1970 during the mixing and overdubs on Let It Be,some Beatles scholars admitted of being confused on the exact date of Lennon's departure or if he really left at all.John and Yoko were said to have the McCartneys on their shit list during this time period for they are mad at Paul for saying that the band was no more when they claimed they should be the one to say it first.Linda McCartney responded on an interview for Playboy in the early eighties saying that it was madness on who's going to tell it first,even remembering that difficult time wherein she had to deal with all their problems with the Beatles.So the supposed to be supergroup of Klaus Voormann with the other three Beatles didn't materialize but instead he played as a session musician on their solo albums.He also played bass for other artists like Lou Reed,Eric Clapton,Carly Simon and James Taylor.Voormann had an international hit with "The Mighty Quinn" a 1969 song by Manfred Mann where he played flute,bass and did the backing vocals.

Klaus Voormann(left) with George Harrison,Concert For Bangladesh

He produced other records in the late seventies and early eighties including the international disco hit "Da Da Da" by the German group Trio released in 1982.In 1989,he retired from the music business and settled in Munich with his second wife and two children.

In 2003,he designed the album sleeve for the Norwegian punk band Turbonegro and has worked with artists like Wet Wet Wet and former singer of the Animals Eric Burdon on one of his recent solo albums.

In 2009,he released his first and only solo album A Sideman's Journey featuring remakes and re-recordings of his past accomplishments with other artists in the 60s and 70s.The album also features contributions by former Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr along with Cat Stevens,Joe Walsh and many others.

(Right:Voormann's first and only solo album A Sideman's Journey,credited to Voormann & Friends)

Today Klaus Voormann lives in his native Germany where he spends some time painting and recording.



(c) Keith Vernon Adagio