Lenny looked scornful. “You’ve never played with us.”

“I hear your whole act three nights,” Walli said. “I can play all those songs.”

Dave looked at Walli and saw in his eyes an eagerness that was touching. He was evidently yearning for this opportunity.

Lenny was skeptical. “Really?”

“I can play. Is not difficult.”

“Oh, isn’t it?” Lenny was a bit miffed.

Dave was keen to give Walli a chance. “He’s a better guitarist than I am, Lenny.”

“That’s not saying fucking much.”

“He’s better than Geoff, too.”

“Has he ever been in a group?”

Walli understood the question. “In a duo. With a girl singer.”

“He hasn’t worked with a drummer, then.”

That was a key point, Dave knew. He recalled how startled he had been, the first time he played with the Guardsmen, to discover the tight discipline imposed on his playing by the drumbeat. But he had managed, and Walli could surely do the same. “Let him try, Lenny,” Dave pleaded. “If you don’t like what he does, you can send him off after the first number.”

Herr Fluck put his head around the door and said: “Raus! Raus! It’s showtime!”

“All right, all right, wir kommen,” Lenny replied. He stood up. “Pick up your axe and get onstage, Walli.”

Walli went on.

The opening number of the second set was “Dizzy, Miss Lizzy,” which was guitar-led. Dave said to Walli: “Do you want to warm up with an easier one?”

“No, thanks,” said Walli.

Dave hoped his confidence was justified.

Lew, the drummer, counted: “Three, four, one.”

Walli came in right on cue and played the riff.

The group came in a bar later. They played the intro. Just before Lenny started to sing, Dave caught his eye, and Lenny nodded approvingly.

Walli played the guitar part perfectly without apparent effort.

At the end of the song, Dave gave Walli a wink.

They did the set. Walli played every number well, and even joined in some of the backing vocals. His performance lifted the group’s energy and they got the girls out on the floor.

It was the best set they had played since they got to Germany.

As they went off, Lenny put his arm around Walli and said: “Welcome to the group.”

• • •

Walli hardly slept that night. Playing with Plum Nellie, he had felt he belonged, musically, and that he enhanced the group. It had made him so happy that he began to fear it might not last. Had Lenny really meant it when he said: “Welcome to the group”?

Next day Walli went to the cheap boardinghouse in the St. Pauli district where the group lodged. He arrived at midday, just as they were getting up.

He hung out for a couple of hours with Dave and Buzz, the bass player, going through the group’s repertoire, polishing up beginnings and endings of songs. They seemed to assume he would be playing with them again. He wanted confirmation.

Lenny and Lew, the drummer, surfaced around three in the afternoon. Lenny was direct. “Do you definitely want to join this group?”