Who Was The Fifth Beatle?

Not a straightforward one this. The Beatles did in fact have 5 members at an early stage in their career when they were playing primarily in Hamburg, Germany. The five were Stuart Sutcliffe, (Bass), Pete Best, (Drums), Paul McCartney, (Guitar/Vocals - later switching to bass), George Harrison, (Guitar) and John Lennon, (Guitar/vocals). On that basis then, both Sutcliffe and Best have been cited as the "fifth Beatle" but until the band returned from Germany in 1961 they were a five-piece in any case so the question of "who was the fifth Beatle" is irrelevant. Following Sutcliffe's departure Paul switched to Bass and the band became a four piece with Best continuing as drummer for a short while. Best was finally replaced by Ringo Starr in 1962, just before they hit the big time, and so could be considered the fifth Beatle on that basis. Unfortunately Stuart Sutcliffe died from a brain hemorrhage shortly after leaving the band.
A totally different slant was put onto the matter by John Lennon when he suggested that, in fact, their manager Brian Epstein was effectively the fifth Beatle. However, irrespective of how crucial epstien was in securing the record contract that the Beatles needed so badly and making them famous, Epstein never contributed to the band as a musician and must, therefore, be excluded.