SHORT TAKES : No Sour Tune From Ex-Beatle

Fired Beatles drummer Pete Best works in an unemployment office now and says he holds no grudges against the Fab Four.

Best, who lives in Liverpool, England, where the Beatles got their start, attended a memorabilia swapping, movie viewing convention for Beatles fans over the weekend.

Ringo Starr took over for Best in August, 1962, just days before the Beatles recorded a demo single of “Love Me Do.”

Best spent the years after his dismissal trying for a musical career of his own. He also tried to commit suicide. Now, he says, he’s not bitter about his firing.

“You try to erase yourself from what happened. You can say, ‘I’m going to follow right behind them,’ ” Best said. “But the space and the direction that they were going in was so great. They were on their way to becoming mega-stars.

“There comes a time when you have to say, ‘It’s not going to happen to you,’ ” he said.

Best said he still doesn’t know why he was tossed out. Explanations range from his James Dean, leather-jacket style not suiting the Beatles’ changing image to professional jealousy.