Billy Hatton obituary

Founding member of the 1960s Liverpool pop group the Fourmost who shared similar origins to the Beatles but testy relations with the young John Lennon

Billy Hatton, who has died aged 76, was the bass player and harmony singer with the Fourmost, the Liverpool beat group signed in 1963 with the Beatles manager Brian Epstein’s NEMS company.

Their first hits, Hello Little Girl and I’m In Love, released later that year, were produced by George Martin and written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Hatton’s relationship with Lennon was strained, however, as he had stopped the Beatle from beating up the Cavern Club’s DJ Bob Wooler at Paul McCartney’s 21st birthday party. “Lennon deserved a smack, no doubt about that,” Hatton said, “but someone shouted out: ‘Billy, if you hit him, your career will be over!’”

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