Question : How are you?
Pete Best : I don’t know at the moment.
Question : So, do you like to do this sort of thing, signing autographs for Beatles fanatics?
Pete Best : Sure. I’m very open. Whatever people want, that’s fine.
Question : What sorts of things do people bring you to get signed?
Pete Best : Everything from guitars to drum skins to underwear. It’s very much a case of what they feel is personal to them.
Question : And what do they want to talk about?
Pete Best : The inevitable question is, `What was the reason you were kicked out of the band?’ As I’ve said many times before, I don’t know the definitive reason.
Question : Do you ever see or talk to Paul or Ringo?
Pete Best : No, but I think the time is getting closer. It’s always been an open door with me. We grew up together and did an awful lot together, and we won’t be on this earth forever. Forty years later, we could have a laugh.
Question : Do you ever feel cheated?
Pete Best : Initially, yeah, I did because of all the hard work I put in. But if you keep reflecting on that, you get bitter and cynical. I’ve still got my health, a marriage that’s held together for 40 years, two daughters, and four grandchildren. I’m the lucky one. I’m still very much my own man.
Question : Have you listened to the new « Let It Be… Naked » yet?
Pete Best : Not all of it. I’m not one of those people who eats, sleeps, and breathes the Beatles.
Question : Were you surprised that, at 61, Paul McCartney became a father again?
Pete Best : Not really. He’s from Liverpool.
