 IN THE grand scheme of things, there are many rock music historians and Beatles' fans to whom the name Stuart Sutcliffe is instantly recognizable. Yet it's fair to say that to just as many, little or nothing about Stuart Sutcliffe is actually known. Across the rank and file of the generation who grew up on music of the Beatles, a vague remembrance of him exists. He has become like shadow on the wind - a fleeting image that passed through too quickly for us to know and appreciate. His brief life belongs forever to the storied days from a time that now lives only in yellowed newspaper articles, and in the distant memories of those who came of age in those times. To the generation that came of age with the Beatles and who were inspired by them, and who still love their portfolio of timeless songs, Stuart Sutcliffe is a figure who is often shrouded under the gauzy veil of time. People recall him as the lost Beatle; the one who died before the band realized their dream. For at just 21 years of age, Sutcliffe passed away tragically, in Hamburg, Germany, of a brain haemorrhage. It was April of 1962, and he was just two months shy of his 22nd birthday when he left this world. Stuart Sutcliffe died before he ever really had a chance to live. His times were the pre-Ringo days, long before Please, Please Me and I Want To Hold Your Hand went to number one like a rocket. Sutcliffe's times were the days when the Fab Four were actually the Pre-Fab Five, whose members included John, Paul, George, Stu, and Pete Best. They were the long-ago times that found the Beatles playing all-night marathon session not only in Liverpool's fabled Cavern Club, but also in the wild and seedy clubs along Hamburg's notorious Reeperbahn. Even with the clarity that the passing of time provides, so many years later some wonder what the Beatles may have like had Stuart Sutcliffe lived, and remained a part of the band. Today, 44 years after his untimely death, the mystique and the long shadow of Stuart Sutcliffe still hangs over the Beatles landscape. Arguably, had he lived and remained as a member of the band, his creative talents may have been a key element in the Beatles mix, and quite possibly have significantly altered the Beatles as we remember them today. So who was Stuart Sutcliffe, and why is there still this mystique that surrounds his short life? He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1940, and he came of age as a sensitive and talented artist growing up against the often harsh and unforgiving backdrop of life in the tough port city of Liverpool. Life in post-war Britain was difficult for everyone in the 1950s, and artistic pursuits and creative endeavours often had to take a back seat to the realities of earning a living and surviving. | 
