Tony Sheridan
With his 1961 recording of "My Bonnie," Tony Sheridan forever secured rock & roll immortality; while the song was certainly a respectable hit during its heyday, its place in music history is instead assured as the first studio session to feature the Beatles. Anthony Sheridan McGinnity was born in Norwich, England on May 21, 1940; he formed his first band, the Saints, at the age of 15 before relocating to London a few years later. In 1959, he joined Vince Taylor & the Playboys, one of the most popular of the many British groups which rose to fame on the decadent Hamburg, Germany club scene; over time, the band evolved into a new unit called the Beat Brothers, originally featuring Sheridan on vocals and guitar backed by guitarists Ken Packwood and Rick Richards, bassist Colin Melander, keyboardist Ian Hines, and drummer Jimmy Doyle.
The Beat Brothers' lineup was notoriously nebulous, and among the various musicians which briefly passed through their ranks were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best; it was this early incarnation of the Beatles which backed Sheridan in mid-1961 on at least three tracks -- "My Bonnie," "The Saints," and "Why (Can't You Love Me Again)." (Much of the information about the sessions remain murky, based on memory and conjecture; the true circumstances will likely never be definitively determined, although it is also widely agreed that the same date generated "Ain't She Sweet," sung by Lennon, as well as the instrumental "Cry for a Shadow.") "My Bonnie" sold some 100,000 copies and reached the West German Top Five; it was credited to Tony Sheridan & the Beat Brothers as a result of label fears that "Beatles" bore too much similarity to the German word "peedles" -- slang for the male organ.
In April 1962, the Beatles also joined Sheridan for a performance at the Hamburg Star Club; two more tracks, "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Swanee River," are believed to have been recorded at that time. (Again, conclusive proof is lacking.) By this time, Sheridan was fronting a new group called the Tony Sheridan Quartet; at one point, their ranks included drummer (and future Beatle) Ringo Starr. By 1964, Sheridan had joined the Bobb Patrick Big Six, but by now the Hamburg beat craze was dying; at that juncture he journeyed to Vietnam to play U.S. army bases. When he returned to Hamburg in 1968, he remained a cult hero, and played a number of triumphant live dates before gradually retiring from show business. Years later Sheridan converted to the Sannyasin religion, rechristening himself Swami Probhu Sharan and settling in Germany. He died in Hamburg in February 2013 at the age of 72. Tony Sheridan was a footnote in rock history, to be sure, but an important and enduring one.
© Jason Ankeny /TiVo
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Discography
20 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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The Early Tapes Of
The Beatles, Tony Sheridan, The Beat Brothers
Pop - Released by Polydor on 1 Jan 1970
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My Bonnie
Tony Sheridan, The Beat Brothers
Schlager - Released by Hot Rock Records on 15 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Savage Young Beatles
Rock - Released by Brownbeats Records on 1 Jun 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live in Berlin - The Rias Session (Live)
Jazz - Released by AMB on 2 Dec 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Vagabond
Pop - Released by Peer Southern Productions Germany on 1 Jan 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tony Sheridan (feat. The Beatles)
Pop - Released by Sound and Vision on 17 Nov 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cry For A Shadow
Rock - Released by Golden Phonorecords on 26 Feb 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My Bonnie
Tony Sheridan, The Beat Brothers
Jazz - Released by Black Sheep Music on 15 May 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Presenting Tony Sheridan
Pop/Rock - Released by Universal Digital Enterprises on 19 Jan 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Early Years
The Beat Brothers, Tony Sheridan
Pop - Released by Ap music on 17 Sep 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tony Sheridan & The Savage Young Beatles
Tony Sheridan, The Savage Young Beatles
Pop - Released by Red Cab Records on 26 Nov 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ya Ya
The Savage Young Beatles, Tony Sheridan
Pop - Released by Dance Plant Records Inc on 3 Apr 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Joy in Your Heart (Live)
Rock - Released by Ulrich Holst on 19 Feb 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Illusion of the Mind
Pop - Released by Ulrich Holst on 15 Feb 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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My Bonnie / The Saints (All Tracks Remastered)
Rock - Released by Hit Singles Records on 22 Jun 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sweet Georgia Brown / Let's Twist Again (All Tracks Remastered)
Rock - Released by Hit Singles Records on 17 Jan 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Skinny Minnie / I Know Baby (All Tracks Remastered)
Rock - Released by Hit Singles Records on 12 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo