The Casbah Coffee Club

The Casbah Coffee Club was a rock and roll music venue in West Derby, Liverpool, started by Mona Best in 1959 in the cellar of the family home. The Casbah, as it became widely known, was planned as a members-only club for Best's sons Pete, his younger brother, Rory, and their friends. Mona came up with the idea of the club after watching a TV report about The 2i's Coffee Bar in London's Soho where several singers had been discovered. She decided to open the club, which was located in her cellar, on 29 August 1959, for her sons, their friends and young people to meet and listen to the popular music of the day.

The Quarrymen—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ken Brown—went to the club to arrange their first booking, to which Mona agreed, but said she needed to finish painting the club first. All four took up brushes and helped Mona to finish painting the walls with spiders, dragons, rainbows and stars. The group often played at The Casbah as other venues, like the The Cavern Club, had a jazz-only policy at that time. The cellar—with its original decoration—still exists.

In 2006, Culture Minister David Lammy announced that the Bests' ex-coal cellar was to be given Grade II listed building status and a blue plaque, after being recommended by English Heritage. It was opened as a tourist attraction in Liverpool, along with McCartney and Lennon's previous homes at 20 Forthlin Road and 251 Menlove Avenue respectively.