Tony Sheridan
Encyclopedia
Tony Sheridan is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

. He is best known as an early collaborator of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, (though the record was labelled as being with "The Beat Brothers"), one of two non-Beatles (the other being Billy Preston
Billy Preston
William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...

) to receive label performance credit on a record with the group, and the only non-Beatle to appear as lead singer on a Beatles recording which charted as a single.

Biography

In his early life, Sheridan was influenced by his parents' interest in classical music, and by age seven, he had learned to play the violin. He eventually came to play guitar, and in 1956, formed his first band. He showed enough talent that he soon found himself playing in London's "Two I's" club for some six months straight, but at the same time he also found himself reduced to sleeping in doorways. In 1958, at 18, he began appearing on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's Oh Boy, playing electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

 on such early Rock classics as "Blue Suede Shoes", "Glad All Over", "Mighty Mighty Man" and "Oh Boy!". Sheridan was soon viewed as a very promising guitarist and as such was employed backing a number of singers, reportedly including Gene Vincent and Conway Twitty while they were in England. He also played guitar for Cherry Wainer on her recording of "Happy Organ". But his penchant for being late, showing up without his guitar etc., soon got him a reputation for having gone a bit "haywire", and cost him much of his professional standing in England. Providentially his little band was offered a gig in Bruno Koschmieder's "Kaiserkeller
Kaiserkeller
Kaiserkeller is a night club in the St. Pauli quarter of Hamburg, Germany, near the Reeperbahn. It was opened by Bruno Koschmider on October 14, 1959. The Beatles had a contract with Kaiserkeller to play there in 1960.-Biography:...

" club in Hamburg, Germany. As fate would have it, his bandmates soon packed up and left Germany, but Sheridan remained behind. In a bizarre twist a young Liverpool rock group was then booked by Liverpool club-owner/manager Allan Williams to play in Koschmieder's second club "The Indra", and thus the young, raw Beatles came face to face with "professional" musician Tony Sheridan and his now makeshift band. This face to face contact rapidly grew into mutual great admiration, particularly on the part of young George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

, who, as lead guitarist for the Beatles, never missed a chance to corner fellow lead guitarist Sheridan and practice with him endlessly.

While performing in Hamburg between 1960 and 1963, Sheridan employed various backup bands, most of which were really "pickup bands", or simply an amalgamam of various musicians, rather than a group proper. However, in 1961, the young Beatles (with their line-up at the time of John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

, George Harrison and Pete Best
Pete Best
Pete Best is a British musician, best known as the original drummer in The Beatles. He was born in the city of Madras, British India...

) who had met and admired Sheridan during their first visit to Hamburg in 1960, and who openly worked with him on their second visit, became even closer. The relationship was largely symbiotic, with the Beatles sometimes backing Sheridan, but with Sheridan often joining the Beatles during their own sets back them playing guitar. When German Polydor producer/A and R man Bert Kaempfert
Bert Kaempfert
Bert Kaempfert was a German orchestra leader and songwriter. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records, and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, such as "Strangers in the Night" and "Spanish Eyes".-Biography:He was born in Hamburg, Germany - where he received his lifelong...

 saw the pairing on stage, he suggested that Sheridan and the Beatles make some recordings together. Kaempfert viewed Sheridan as the one with "star" potential, and though they signed the Beatles to play on Sheridan's records their contract with them stipulated that the four Beatles (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Best) only had to play on a minimum of two songs. Of the seven songs recorded during Sheridan's two day-long sessions for Polydor in June 1961, it should be pointed out that at times the band behind Sheridan would be down to only two Beatles, and that conversely only on their two solo songs do all four Beatles play (minus Sheridan), while Sheridan plays on all of his tracks. These sessions produced Sheridan's "My Bonnie
My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean
"My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean" is a traditional Scottish folk songwhich remains popular in Western culture.-History:The origin of the song is unknown, though it is often suggested that the subject of the song may be...

" and "The Saints
When the Saints Go Marching In
"When the Saints Go Marching In", often referred to as "The Saints", is an American gospel hymn that has taken on certain aspects of folk music. The precise origins of the song are not known. Though it originated as a spiritual, today people are more likely to hear it played by a jazz band...

", and the Beatles' "Ain't She Sweet
Ain't She Sweet
Ain't She Sweet was an American album featuring four tracks recorded in Hamburg in 1961 by The Beatles featuring Tony Sheridan and cover versions of Beatles and British Invasion-era songs recorded by the Swallows...

" and "Cry for a Shadow
Cry for a Shadow
"Cry for a Shadow" is an early Beatles instrumental. It was recorded on 22 June 1961 at the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg-Harburg, Germany while they were performing as Tony Sheridan's backup band for a few tracks, under the moniker The Beat Brothers. It was written by George Harrison with John...

" (formerly titled "Beatle Bop"), plus three other songs. Polydor's beliefs in Sheridan's coming stardom were so strong that they buried the two solo Beatle tracks until much later. And additionally both John Lennon and Tony Sheridan swore that there were several other Beatle tracks that were recorded during the two-day session, but that either they were not preserved OR something else happened to them.

In 1962, after a series of singles (the first of which, "My Bonnie"/"The Saints" made it to #5 in the Hit Parade), the record was released in America on Decca with a black label and also in a pink label for demo play. The record has the distinction of being one of the most expensive collectible 45 rpm with the black label in mint condition selling for $15,000 in 2007 and the pink label selling for $3000. Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...

 also very briefly played in Sheridan's backing band during very early 1962, before returning to Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Starr was reportedly unhappy with Sheridan performing songs he had not rehearsed with his band. Ringo thus narrowly missed playing on Sheridan's album debut.

Also in 1962, Polydor released the album My Bonnie
My Bonnie
My Bonnie is the name of a 1961 single, a 1962 album and a 1963 EP by Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers, better known as The Beatles.-History:...

 across Germany. The word Beatles was judged to sound too similar to the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 Pidels , the plural of a slang term for penis
Penis
The penis is a biological feature of male animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates...

, hence the album was credited to Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers. After the Beatles had gained fame, the album was re-released in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, with the credit altered to "Tony Sheridan and The Beatles". The Beatles' Hamburg studio recordings, as well as some live recordings from the same period, have been reissued several times over the decades.

At a point in the mid-Sixties Sheridan's whole musical style underwent an abrupt transformation, away from his rock and roll roots and towards a more blues and jazz oriented sound. Though these recordings were praised by some, many fans of his earlier work felt disappointed. This change was presaged by liner notes from his 1964 album Just A Little Bit Of Tony Sheridan where his musical preferences are listed as "jazz and classical" rather than rock. The same 1964 liner notes mention his wanting to go to the southern US "to hear at first hand the original negro music and experience the atmosphere that has been instrumental in creating negro jazz and the spiritual, for which he has a great liking".

Tony Sheridan went on very successfully singing and playing in Hamburg at the same club for quite a number of years, but eventually lost his recording contract with Polydor.

By 1967, Sheridan had become disillusioned with his Beatle-brought fame. As he was more concerned by the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, Sheridan agreed to perform for the Allied troops. While in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 however, the band that he had assembled was fired upon and one of the members was killed. Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...

 reported that Sheridan himself had died. For his work entertaining the Allies, Sheridan was made an honorary Captain of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 army.

In the early 1970s, Sheridan managed a West German radio programme of blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 music, which was well-received. In 1978, the Star Club was reopened, and Sheridan performed there along with Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

's TCB Band
TCB Band
The TCB Band was a group of professional musicians who formed the core rhythm section of Elvis Presley’s band from August 1969 until his death in 1977. TCB stands for Taking Care of Business, a personal motto Presley adopted in the early 1970s...

.

On 13 August 2002, Sheridan released Vagabond
Vagabond (album)
-Track listing:-Personnel:*Jon Boden *John Spiers ....

, a collection largely of his own material, but also including a new cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of "Skinny Minnie", a song he had years earlier recorded for his first album. Tony played guitar and sang for the Argentinean rock musician Charly Garcia
Charly García
Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...

. The album was called Influencia and it was released in 2002.

Today, Tony Sheridan lives in Seestermühe
Seestermühe
Seestermühe is a municipality in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany....

, a village north of Hamburg. In addition to music, he is interested in heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

 and designs coats of arms.

Discography

  • 1961: My Bonnie
    My Bonnie
    My Bonnie is the name of a 1961 single, a 1962 album and a 1963 EP by Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers, better known as The Beatles.-History:...

     with The Beat Brothers/Beatles
  • 1962: single "Ich Lieb' Dich So (Ecstasy)/Der Kiss - Me Song" ("Ecstasy" was co-written by Phil Spector, who turns up in the Beatles' lives much later)
  • 1964: Just A Little Bit of Tony Sheridan with The Big Six
  • 1964: "Ain't She Sweet" (side 1) with the Beatles, recorded 1961
  • 1965: My Babe
    My Babe
    "My Babe" is a blues song and a blues standard written by Willie Dixon for Little Walter. Released in 1955 on Checker Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records, the song was the only Dixon composition ever to become a no...

     with The Big Six
  • 1966: Meet The Beat (two versions, on 10" and 12" & CD, but with radically different tracks, sharing only two songs. The 12" features 1966 recordings of "Jailhouse Rock
    Jailhouse Rock (song)
    "Jailhouse Rock" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit for Elvis Presley. The song was released as a 45rpm single on September 24, 1957, to coincide with the release of Presley's motion picture, Jailhouse Rock...

    ", "Fever", and "Shake, Rattle and Roll
    Shake, Rattle and Roll
    "Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a prototypical twelve bar blues-form rock and roll song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone under his assumed songwriting name Charles E. Calhoun. It was originally recorded by Big Joe Turner, and most successfully by Bill Haley & His Comets...

    ")
  • 1974: Live in Berlin '73
  • 1976: On My Mind (private release)
  • 1984: Novus
  • 1986: Ich lieb Dich so'
  • 1994: Here & Now! - features the rhythm and blues classic, "Money Honey", and new recordings of "What'd I Say" and "Skinny Minnie"
  • 1996: Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers Live And Dangerous [band—Howie Casey
    Howie Casey
    Howard William "Howie" Casey is a British rhythm and blues and rock saxophonist. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as a member of Derry and the Seniors, the first rock and roll band from Liverpool to play clubs in Germany, and later, as leader of the renamed Howie Casey and the...

    , Roy Young] - recordings of "Good Golly Miss Molly" and others.
  • 2001: Fab Four Collection "with The Beat Brothers" - 1996 recordings of "Johnny B. Goode
    Johnny B. Goode
    "Johnny B. Goode" is a 1958 rock and roll song written and originally performed by American musician Chuck Berry. The song was a major hit among both black and white audiences peaking at #2 on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.The song is one of Chuck Berry's...

    ", "Money
    Money (That's What I Want)
    "Money " is a 1959 hit single by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. The song was written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, and became the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise....

    ", "My Bonnie
    My Bonnie
    My Bonnie is the name of a 1961 single, a 1962 album and a 1963 EP by Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers, better known as The Beatles.-History:...

    ", "Skinny Minnie
    Skinny Minnie
    Skinny Minnie is a 1958 song co-written and recorded by Bill Haley and The Comets. The song was released as a Decca single which became a Top 40 chart hit in the U.S....

    "
  • 2002: Vagabond
  • 2004: Chantal Meets Tony Sheridan - only known recording of the early McCartney/Sheridan song "Tell Me If You Can"
  • 2008: ...and so it goes
    ...And So It Goes
    ...And So It Goes was the actual debut full-length album by the North Carolina post-hardcore band Beloved. It was released independently and sold exclusively at their concerts...

     by Dave Humphries; Sheridan plays on 5 of 11 tracks

Reference-Books

  • Thorsten Knublauch und Axel Korinth: Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand – Die Beatles in Deutschland 1960–1970. Books on Demand Gmbh: 2008. ISBN 978-3-8334-8530-5
  • Eric Krasker, The Beatles - Fact and Fiction 1960-1962, Paris, Séguier, 2009. ISBN 978-2-84049-523-9

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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