Chas Newby, the British musician who played bass for the Beatles in 1960, died recently, friends confirmed. He was 81. A cause of death was not immediately shared. “We’ll miss him. Forever in our thoughts,” wrote Roag Best, the brother of former Beatles drummer Pete Best, in a Facebook post on Tuesday that memorialized the bassist as “laid back Chas with the big smile.” A musician who played with John Lennon in his first band, The Quarrymen, Newby was known for playing several shows with the still-fledgling Beatles as their original bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe, weighed pursuing a career as a painter. Lennon reportedly wanted Newby to continue playing with the band as they kicked off a tour in West Germany, but he declined, according to The Guardian. “Music was never going to be a living for me,” Newby said in 2012. “I wanted to do chemistry.” He later went on to become a high school mathematics teacher. “RIP Chas Newby, fill-in Beatle and fair chap,” tweeted Beatles historian Mark Lewishon. “… A charming man, always a pleasure to meet.”
RIP Chas Newby, fill-in Beatle and fair chap. He deputised for Stuart on a few dates when the Beatles returned from Hamburg the first time, end-1960, including the momentous Litherland date. Latterly he’s been one of the Quarry Men too. A charming man, always a pleasure to meet. pic.twitter.com/f3EqtlIL3I
